The Ashfire King is the second book in the epic fantasy series The Sandsea Trilogy, written by Chelsea Abdullah, published by Orbit Books. Picking from the ending of The Stardust Thief (and it includes a really nice recap), we will be following Loulie and Mazen in their adventure under the Sandsea, while Aisha is facing her own challenges in the world above, still showing that magical inspiration from The Arabian Nights (some scenes are simply chef kiss), giving us an entertaining, even if slow, story that keeps us reading until the end.

Loulie and Mazen will have to embark on a long journey to discover the secrets of the jinn realm; a Loulie that is still processing Qadir's lost, and navigating the decaying and complicated landscape of the jinn cities will be proven challenging, especially as new actors will enter into play. In that sense, Qadir's absence moves Loulie to not only having to accept the revelations of book 1, but also to learn how to trust into others, and to open herself; Mazen's arc is a bit plainer, but also has some freedom to shine, especially as we abandon the main jinn city into the Sandsea.
While the main plot is focused in the jinn realm, we have an interesting secondary arc around Aisha in the lands over, with some recurring faces but also introducing us to new characters, which balances well with the principal storyline, eventually tying them together again in a really smooth way.

Overall, I found our incursion into the jinn realm incredibly enjoyable, especially as it reveals a new layer of complexity under the sands, in terms of magic and politics; it can be a bit overwhelming, but I needed to know more about how the jinn hierarchy works, and travelling across the world to break the seals was a highlight; while there is still development of the world over the Sand, it loses relevance in favour of the magic. The pacing is relatively slow at the start, and it is true that can be felt as dragging during a good chunk of the book, but it is totally worth to continue, as Abdullah gifts us amazing scenes across the story.

The Ashfire King is, overall, a charming story, a great sequel that expands the world of The Sandsea Trilogy and puts the pieces in motion for a third book that closes the story; if you liked The Stardust Thief, I think you will also like this one.