It took me a while to get through this one, but it was worth it, I feel. The pacing was a bit slower than I would've liked for a fantasy book. I lose interest easily in fantasy books if they drag, and I personally like mine to have a bit more romance than this one had, but I also understand that this is part of a series, and I think that's where this book will gain a bad rap. Unfortunately, ARC readers whose reviews I've seen seemed not to have media literacy enough to read that this is part of a series. I'm fairly certain it says either in the description on Netgalley that it's #1 in a series, or even on the cover itself. Of course it's going to feel incomplete and end in a cliffhanger, it is very much so incomplete. I could complain about how much was invested into the idea of the collective mind, and how it seemed to play a huge part in the book, but there's more to come, and in here for it, personally. I loved that this book had roots in real life history. Obviously if you don't know the history, you won't know it's based on real life events, loosely, so I feel like an added piece at the beginning might help, and who knows, there might be; this is an unfinished copy of the book, of course you're not going to see everything readers will see when they read the final published copy. But for what it's worth, I'm excited to see more, and hopefully it picks up the pace in the next book.

This book was so disappointing. First off, there is zero character growth. All the major characters are literally the same at the beginning until the end. This story could have been so much better if there had been 20% more growth. The writing in this was also telling the reader what happened vs showing it for 80% of the big events of the book. It made most of the big things that happened feel much more minor, and then I’d have to go back and see what I had missed because suddenly it was a huge deal.

Conflicts within the book, except for the main two or three, were resolved within either the chapter they first appeared or 2-5 chapters later. No conflict was allowed to grow and actually feel like a big problem because they immediately had a solution that everyone was happy with.

I did enjoy some of the relationships between characters, as well as the overall idea of the plot, but the execution was such a let down.

Thank you to Harper Voyager and Netgalley for the advanced copy!

Interesting premise. Some cool world-building. The pacing wasn't perfect. The two main characters were just too shallow for me to grow attached to. I think I'll pass on trying out the second when it comes out.

2.75⭐. Thank you NetGalley & Harper Voyager for the ARC.

I finished this novel feeling incredibly indifferent about the two POV characters, Prince Ashoka and the mayakari (witch) Shakti, which isn't a good sign given how much of a character-driven reader I am. I wasn't necessarily bored by this, but I find that I just do. Not. Care. About these two protagonists anymore. I don't like how their arcs unfolded, even less so on the implications that author Maithree Wijesekara left as a set up for the sequel.

For one, I'm so very tired of stories that don't handle well the nuances of violent resistance against an oppressive group that is literally committing a genocide. I'm not fond of seeing characters being implied to be as ~just as bad~ if they ever choose to fucking finally fight back at their people's murderers. Oh no, Ashoka the pacifist prince is going down a ~darker path~ just because he resorted to kill a bigot to protect an oppressed mayakari. Oh the horror. Do I think it's interesting he ultimately decides to enact change by overthrowing his bigoted siblings? Yes! I'd read that plotline! But instead of a solid character arc where he realizes that a staunch non-violent approach will not amount to any change in a system that has no conscience, it's tainted by the idea of GASP Ashoka is in danger of being just as bad as his genocidal tyrant of a father.

And Shakti's arc both intrigued and annoyed me. Because how are you given such an interesting plot device in the form of being able to access the knowledge and memories of every past emperor, and not utilize it to its fullest? After she gets the answers needed for like three conversations, this isn't brought up again. All the cunning and strategy she could glean from especially when she's going up against two royals who've been playing this game longer than she has.

That said, I can see Wijesekara's attempts in inserting some complexity in her plotline. Shakti struggles with the internal turmoil of going against the pacifistic ideals enforced by the mayakari's code. And because she's not inherently cold-blooded at at heart, she even feels guilt at times at the mental manipulation of the royals; though that often goes away quickly whenever either one takes pleasure at news of mayakari burnings. And yet I can only handle so much disapproval from her conscience every time, as though like Ashoka, she's in danger of becoming like her oppressors. When all Shakti has targeted were the ones sitting at the top of the system, who are gleeful over her kind being eradicated.

I'd read a story themed around vengeance becoming all-consuming that it does transform a wronged person into a "villain". Just not when it's about a marginalized person rising up against her genocidal rulers.

I will commend though that the novel didn't saddle me with an obligatory romance between the two main characters just because they're a man and a woman. In fact, I felt the achillean romance slowly brewing in the background was a nice touch. No cliched tropes like One Bed or a shoehorned Who Did This To You. Additionally, the riding on leopards and flying on winged serpents sounded fun, but the latter should've definitely been used more. It's like having dragons in your story and not using them much.

No interest in picking up the sequel.

I have had such a hard time reading this book. I am going to mark it as a DNF and try to come back later and read it again with fresh eyes.

Thank you to both HarperCollins and NetGalley for this advanced copy. I was intrigued by the name and cover art for this book first and foremost. The world we're introduced to is one that is unlike many other fantasy books that I've read. Riding winged serpents and giant leopards was a visual that I didn't know I needed in a fantasy book (most just use wyverns or horses). I also loved to see some M/M pining and hope for more of them. For a debut novel, there's plenty to enjoy. I just wish I didn't have as many critiques about the rest of the story and characters.

To start, most of the supporting characters felt underdeveloped and one dimensional. Ashoka's entire family don't have much depth to them and I hope they have more time to develop in future entries. The more underdeveloped are undoubtedly Ashoka's parents.

Other mayakari we meet, specifically those in the resistance, are hardly distinguishable from one another. With Ashoka's current location in the south, I hope to learn more about the resistance there in the future. There were plenty of people mentioned within the group but not shown.

Shakti and Ashoka have mirrored journeys. Ashoka starts as a pacifist and has a relatively fast progression to violence. While this could've remained in the book, his plans to take the thrown seemed like too much of a jump. Shakti starts with a violent streak and learns to act in subtler ways throughout the story. We don't see the repercussions of either method, with both being left to the next entry in the series.

P.S. ~ Shaak Ti and Ahsoka Tano are both characters in Star Wars. I thought about them often when I first started the book.

I have to say, the cover was doing a lot of heavy lifting for me with this one! I don’t know if I even really looked at the summary much before requesting it! It’s such a lovely, unique image, one that definitely stands out from the typical fantasy crowd!

That said, the book didn’t quite live up to my high expectations. On the other hand, what it does have to offer feels very unique to the genre, so readers looking for a new entry point to fantasy fiction may appreciate what this one has to say. I was particularly intrigued by the exploration of pacifism and the building conflict between the main characters with regards to their approaches to moving through this world. We have one character who is actively trying to approach the world in a less violent manner, and another whose life has been one tragedy after another and who feels shackled by the restraints of nonviolence taught to her.

That said, I don’t feel like the author took full advantage of this premise. By the end of the book, I was left wondering if I had somehow missed the point that was trying to be made? But I also suspect that while a lot of interesting questions regarding pacifism and necessary violence were introduced, the author was unwilling to truly stake a position on these issues, which, ultimately, undercut much of what was presented here.

I also thought the magic system itself was fairly wobbly. The witches can’t use their powers without accruing bad karma, but Shakti is seemingly rewarded for doing just this? And then, later in the story, the other witches are also convinced to do away with what we’ve been told is a deeply held moral conviction? It all felt a bit too convenient. Add that on top of several other conveniences (the good guys and bad guys are almost cartoonishly one dimensional at times and very prone to giving speeches that clear up everything for every one), the story telling itself felt shaky. This was compounded upon by some structural issues with the writing like over-use of certain words and unclear metaphors.

All of that said, I do think there are readers for this book! As I said, the themes regarding pacifism were strong (even if I wish more had been done) and I did like the two main characters, which goes far for me. If you’re looking for a new-feeling fantasy novel, this may be one to check out!

Rating 7: There were strong themes regarding justified violence and pacifism, but some of the other story elements tripped up my reading experience in the end.

I was unfortunately a bit let down by The Prince Without Sorrow. This book clearly felt YA to me and i just couldn't find myself relating too, or connecting with, the main characters for the most part.

I honestly thought the prologue was the best part of the book, which set the bar too high for the rest of the story. The prologue was gripping and drew me into the world and the consequences that would ensue. However, I felt like the pace of the story became a lot slower after that, which did allow for some nice world-building, but also made parts of the book feel like a slog to get through. The magic was an interesting concept in this book, but I do feel like it had the potential to be even more than what it was. As it is, the magic was presented to be a major plot point and was at times, but other times felt much less consequential than it should have been.

I didn't love either of the characters, the FMC is driven by her sorrow and desire for revenge against those that hurt her, and the MMC is a son of a brutal king, dead-set on not becoming like his father. While the FMCs actions were understandable, there were definitely times where her act-first, ask-questions-later attitude became a bit old, and it was hard to keep reading about her acting against her own interests. The MMC was interesting, and his struggle to maintain his ethics in a family such as his was interesting to see. I did appreciate his character development and his response to conflict, but he just felt a bit flat. I feel like he could've been a much more interesting, fleshed-out character that I would really be rooting for.

The writing was a bit too *extra* for me, with a lot of use of high vocabulary and unnecessary metaphors. In general, I feel like the book would so much better if it was edited to cut out the excess language and instead focused on tightening up the plot points and creating stakes that truly feel as high as they are.

The Prince Without Sorrow follows two characters who are antitheses of each other. This is a chaotic book where no one has any thoughts or plans, which leads to many impulsive decisions. Is it a fun time? Yes. Did I love it? Unfortunately, no. There was something about these characters and their motivations that I just didn't fall in love with. I think it is good for a debut novel, but I wish it had added in more stakes and not been so convenient. While this wasn't for me, I think many will love this series and I can believe in it getting better as the series goes on.

This would appeal to YA fantasy readers.

Ashoka just didn't have the development I wanted to see, and every side character felt even flatter.
The plot and world building could shape up into something interesting, but I felt like it just moved too slowly to really intrigue me to read more. It felt almost like this book was a prologue for another story, and that it should have been posted in combination with the second book.
Overall the book was still a fun little fantasy, just not my favorite.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC copy!

The Prince Without Sorrow
by Maithree Wijesekara
Obsidian Throne #1
Fantasy
NetGalley eARC
Pub Date: Mar 18, 2025
Avon/Harper Voyager
Ages: 16+

Prince Ashoka is the third child of Emperor Adil Maurya, but he is nothing like his father and wants nothing to do with his father's bloodthirsty war against the pacifist witches, and is willing to suffer his father's insults by refusing to kill an innocent. After his father's death, the prince is sent to govern a land where nature spirits rage and where he hopes to put an end to his father's legacy.

After witnessing the burning of her aunt by the Emperor, Shakti goes against everything her aunt had taught her about being a witch and casts a curse, a curse that affected her. Knowing discovery would lead to torture before death, to undo the curse, she poses as a servant in the Emperor's palace.


While this story started off interesting as it talked about the witches and the Emperor portraying them as evil so everyone else would fear and kill them, and how Shakti retaliated, the reader both understands why she did it, but also feels the dread of losing innocents, but the story quickly started to fizz when the soft-hearted prince was introduced. He wasn't a bad character, but I felt he was a naive spoiled child instead of a young man living in a world of danger, who would rather die than kill another who is threatening to kill him, those he loves, or to provide food. Yeah, I get that he doesn't want to kill for pleasure as the rest of his family does, but...

I did like the plot and the characters' moral dilemmas, along with Shakti's situation, and what she was willing to do for family, the complete opposite of the prince. But I got bored with the rambling of the character's thoughts, and frustrated because all of the Emperor's kids (and himself) first names started with an 'A'. When they were all on the same page, it got confusing who was who, so I pretty much gave up at about halfway and started to skim.

Sure, I would like to know why the Emperor hated the witches so much, but after finishing the book, I have a few guesses, and I'm pretty confident I know where the story is going so I doubt I'll read the next book in the series.

2 Stars

I love a character who deeply adheres to the 'no thoughts, just action' philosophy. It's always fun to see them get in more trouble that way or end up pleasantly surprised when their lack of action actually leads to what their goal was. Unfortunately, this just wasn't as memorable as I wanted it to be. There were moments that were fun but there were also a lot of moments when the writing just led to me being even more confused.

The characters in this were so frustrating that I almost didn’t finish the book. I did like the nature spirits, and for me the best parts of the book was the encounters with them.
Since it is the start of a trilogy, we don’t really get any resolution in this book. I’m not sure if I am interested enough to continue, if the characters do a lot of growing it might be worth it see how things play out.

Note: ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

**I was provided an electronic ARC from the publisher through NetGalley.**

Maithree Wijesekara debuts with The Prince Without Sorrow, a high fantasy inspired by the Mauryan Empire of India. Readers follow dual perspectives. Prince Ashoka is a pacifist in constant power struggles with his family set on expansion of the empire. Shakti is a mayakari, a witch who can speak to nature spirits, but also has the power to curse and to raise the dead. Mayakari have oaths of peace, but when she is witness to Emperor Adil burning her aunt and entire village due to their mayakari affiliation, Shakti makes an oath toward vengeance.

The highlight of this story is in its varied lens. The culture of the Mauryan Empire is something refreshing in a sea of western-based fantasy stories. Unfortunately, this really is the main highlight as nothing else with this story is particularly groundbreaking or against genre norms.

Shakti's storyline reminds me quite a bit of vengeance-minded Tau in The Rage of Dragons. I found her perspective (and Tau's in all fairness), extremely frustrating to follow as she continuously behaves against her own best interest in the name of vengeance. But she does give us some asexual rep, which was nice to see acknowledged. Meanwhile, Ashoka and bodyguard Rahil are reminiscent of shy Kadou and competent Evemer of A Taste of Gold and Iron. I liked Ashoka's perspective as he does navigate arguably the most on-page growth.

There is a great deal of political maneuvering and setting up of the series continuation in this book, but I'm left feeling a bit like this first book is simply a prologue for what is to come. Ultimately, I am not certain if there was enough that stood out to me about this story as it stands to continue, though I didn't encounter anything to outright dislike about it.

I would still recommend this story to anyone interested as I hope it finds the audience for whom it can resonate best.

1.75⭐️2.75🌶️

Fantasy
Witches
Royalty
Morally Grey FMC
Mythical creatures
Rebellion
🏳️‍🌈 normative society



The Prince’s name, Ashoka, means “Without Sorrow,” making the book’s title very literal. It’s a clever way to tie the character’s name to the story, but this isn’t explained in the book. I only discovered it after googling his name, wondering if it was from a Star Wars character (it’s not, but close).

Some word choices made me pause—nothing too distracting, just enough to make me think.

The dynamic between the pacifist prince, standing up to his violent family, and the righteous witch who defies her creed to do no harm, is interesting. However, the themes behind their choices weren’t explored enough. While we get a solid backstory for the FMC’s departure from the witches’ pacifist beliefs, we don’t learn much about how the MMC came to his views. This would have added depth to his character.

The side characters felt flat and one-dimensional, and many conflicts were resolved too easily by happenstance. The lack of personal growth or challenges made their journeys less believable.

The worldbuilding had great potential, but it was limited by a magical forest sprite popping in to explain things to the FMC. That didn’t do enough to immerse me.

There’s some repetition, especially in the internal monologues—like the author expects you to catch on just from restating things rather than showing them through the plot.

The premise was intriguing, but the execution fell short for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Voyager for an eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

First off, how cute is the baby winged serpent on the cover? I need one immediately. On a serious note, this was a wonderful debut fantasy. This got categorized as a romantasy, but don't expect really any romance in this novel. I did really like that I wasn't rooting for our two main characters to end up together, but rather I love Ashoka and Rahil and hope we can see a development of their relationship in the next book.

I also enjoyed that neither Shakti nor Ashoka are perfect characters. They both have obvious flaws that are affecting the story line, but not in an annoying way. I've loved seeing how they have both changed through out the book and I am hoping to see much more as the series continues.

I can't wait to get my hands on a final copy so I can see the maps! I just ordered the Waterstones exclusive version with the UK cover and sprayed edges and I'm excited to receive it!

This book is a good one to ease you into fantasy. It's based off of Ancient India and has a lot of the principles of Buddhism in it. It's definitely nice to get out of the fantasy worlds based off of medieval Europe!

Review goes live February 24

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC! All opinions in this review are my own.

2 stars. DNF’d at 30%

I could not get into this book, other than the prologue (which felt way better written than the rest), there was very little there to grip me into the story. I understand alternating POVs with characters set in different places will have a bit of a slow start but it still felt like there was no real direction for either of them really but more so with Ashoka. He was just there at the palace with his older siblings who hate him. ALL the characters also felt very one dimensional and as if they were young teens and not the early to mid 20’s they were all supposed to be. The main characters were obvious foils for one another and while I did like that, they lacked anything else about them. It also was written in a flat YA like tone but is marketed to be Adult. I honestly didn’t read anything in this novel that hasn’t already been written before in other YA books.

I also found the plot was not settled in anything concrete. I was very interested in seeing the curse Shakti put on the Emperor after he razed her village slowly unfold but then he just keeled over dead within 20% of the story which made the whole thing feel like it ended early. The only consequence she seemed to get from that was having The Collective now in her mind with no chance of rebirth but it really didn’t seem like she truly cared that much about the rebirth aspect, just about having the now dead Emperor in her head and even that didn’t have any serious ramifications or drive for her to rid herself of it other than she hates (justifiably!) the Emperor. But through some very vague explanations by someone else in The Collective, shes told to go find Prince Ashoka as he will have the information. While this seems like a direction, with Ashoka’s previous chapters there is nothing that indicates he has ever known what his father has been up to with this forbidden magic or how Ashoka would have this information anyways. He only knows of the Emperor committing genocide and making Ashoka feel worthless for being a pacifist compared to the Prince’s older siblings. Which kind of brings me to my next point, Ashoka is the youngest and isn’t even heir to the throne, he has no power, no control. In fact, he could just be exiled away at any moment and stripped of everything and with his comments during the funeral, I wouldn’t be surprised. It's a very shaky foundation and didn’t lead me to confidence over the rest of the novel unfolding satisfactorily.

Overall I was expecting more from a story with characters clearly on two opposite ends of a moral conflict and the questions raised about violence and pacifism and the dance around their goals. The concept of this all was intriguing and I was excited for this, but the execution wasn’t enjoyable sad to say.

While this book had interesting premises, it ultimately didn’t follow through. There were numerous plot holes (mainly in the characterizations and setting up clear foils/dichotomies for no reason other than creating polar opposites), but then there was never a stance taken on these dichotomies. It left me wondering why everything was so one-dimensional if not to take a philosophical stance?

After the first 80 pages, there wasn’t any stakes in the plot and the characters felt flat and unlikeable.

I was so excited for this book, but to be honest, it fell flat. The two characters existing on opposite sides of an ethnic cleansing (Shakti - a Mayakari witch who's people are being killed and Ashoka - the prince whose father is hellbent on killing every Mayakari). I felt like the characters didn't develop as much as I wanted/expected. The awful king died so fast that it felt like the story ended, like we lost our antagonist. Sadly, this book is just not for me.

Okay, so I really wanted to love this book - it sounded right up my alley with its mix of Indian-inspired fantasy, palace intrigue, and witch magic. The basic story follows Prince Ashoka, who's trying to be different from his witch-hunting tyrant father, and Shakti, a witch who sneaks into the palace for revenge. Cool premise, right? But honestly, I had such a hard time getting into it. The writing kept going over the same points, and I never felt like I really got to know the characters or their world well enough to care about what happened to them.

Maybe I had my expectations set too high since it was compared to books like The Jasmine Throne and The Hurricane Wars, but everything felt rushed and underdeveloped. I kept waiting to feel invested in the story or connect with the characters, but it just didn't happen. The magic system with nature spirits sounded interesting, but like everything else, it wasn't fleshed out enough. I hate to be harsh on a debut novel, but this one just didn't work for me. I probably won't continue with the trilogy unless I hear the next books are dramatically different.