I really wanted to love this book, but I couldn't connect.
I kept getting slightly confused and times.

The Prince Without Sorrow follows two POVs. The first is Shakti, who is a mayakari, and the second is Ashoka, the emperor’s third and least favoured child. The mayakari are witches who can commune with Spirits and who, despite their largely peaceful natures, are feared and persecuted. Ashoka’s father, Abdul, has been the primary force behind stoking this malcontent. In this book, we don’t yet understand the motivation behind Adil’s hatred. However, unlike many popular fantasy romance books, which seem to have villains with flimsy motives, a more nuanced approach is hinted at here in respect of Emperor Adil: “Hatred was not born, it was made.” And I’m hoping his gets explored and explained in the next book.

Shakti is definitely a morally grey character, who is willing to do what it takes to seek her revenge, although it’s easy to understand why when, at the start of the book, she sees her only relative burned at the stake simply for being a mayakari. The results of cursing Adil lead her to work for his family, as she starts trying to use her new dream walking power to influence the new rulers. However, her naive and, at times, clumsy attempts look like they may lead to more harm than good.

I like the way Ashoka’s character develops over the course of the book - he’s been physically and mentally abused by his father but, with Adil’s death, he starts to feel able to carve his own path for the first time. However, the change did feel a bit too abrupt for me, from a pacifist who wouldn’t kill a deer to contemplating murder for the so-called greater good.
“Ashoka, don’t you worry?…That in trying to reverse everything your father has done, you’re becoming more and more like him in the process.”
Bearing in mind this is going to be a series, I would have preferred that this happened a little more slowly and organically. I’m also rooting for him and Rahil 🤞.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for the e-ARC.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperVoyager UK for the ARC!

The Prince Without Sorrow is Maithree Wijesekara's debut novel and the first book in the Obsidian Throne Trilogy which is loosely inspired by the Mauryan Empire of Ancient India. Shakti and Ashoka are the two main protagonists of the book who both are very different including the views of their world. The magical blend of mayakari and political intrigue revolving around it made the book a fascinating story to be told. The subtle references to the actual historical locations and names were a subtle nod to the story. The characters were well developed and did not feel bland. The unique and distinctive personalities gave a larger outcome to the book and made a huge impact. The political intrigue of the book was the central plot which was amazingly done.

To historic fanatics, this is an amazing read with so many wonderful changes in the retelling which makes the story even more emotional than the original.

Overall, it was an amazing read with no romance and more political intrigue. Can't wait for the next installment!

I really wanted to love this book, but I'm afraid I just didn't.

Ashoka is the pacifist youngest son of a rather violent emperor. Shakti is a young and angry Mayakari (non-violent witches). When Ashoka's father and Shakti's aunt die on the same die, their lives are deeply affected while the empire is thrown into chaos.

I love the concept of this book, and I liked aspects of the execution, but overall it just fell flat for me. The world it's set in is really interesting, and the plot became significantly more promising near the end, but because nothing up until that point got me invested, I didn't really care anymore.

The book is very heavy-handed, and you could probably fill an old school political pamphlet with all the unnecessary moralising statements about non-violence. At times it felt a bit like an old school Christian youth novel where 'moral education' trumped good story-telling. I enjoyed the vibe of the writing, but it felt overwritten and underedited with sentences that didn't always make obvious sense. The characters felt one-dimensional, especially Ashoka and the imperial family. The plot did really get significantly more interesting near the end, but didn't necessarily feel like it logically followed from the rest.

A lot of unfulfilled potential as far as I'm concerned. For what it's worth, I do think there really was potential, and based on the ending I think the sequel will be significantly better. I'm just not sure that I'm invested enough to try once that comes out.

Many thanks to HarperCollins UK and Netgalley for providing me with an E-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Prince Without Sorrow is the debut novel of Maithree Wijesekara, and the first instalment in the Obsidian Throne trilogy. This book follows Shakti, a witch, and Ashoka, the son of the emperor, who deeply opposes his father’s brutal destruction of the witches. Shakti vows retribution for the murder of her aunt and annihilation of her village at the hands of the emperor, while Ashoka is a pacifist who wants to right his father’s wrongs. After Shakti casts a violent curse, her and Ashoka are left grappling for power.

I really enjoyed that this book took inspiration from the Mauryan Empire of Ancient India. While I enjoyed some elements of the world-building, I did struggle with the magic system. The paragraphs explaining magic felt out of place and a little info-dumpy, which took me out of the story.

I also found the writing clunky, and some sentences didn’t quite make sense. It almost felt as though the author was trying to make the writing more poetic and lyrical, but it just made it seem nonsensical. However, this could be easily solved with further editing.

The characters felt one-dimensional and I struggled to connect with them. They were very naive, acted a lot younger than they were, and lacked any kind of development. I found that the characters in this book were either pacifists or “evil” - there was no in between or morally grey, which felt unrealistic.

Despite being really intrigued by the premise of the book, the plot failed to grip me. It lacked tension and stakes, as every problem or mystery that the characters came across was so easily solved, and not by the characters actually putting in the work and finding the answers or solutions themselves. Everything is just handed to them on a plate, and it made for a very uninteresting read.

Overall, this book wasn’t for me and I won’t be continuing with the series. Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Voyager UK for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperVoyager UK for the ARC!

The Prince Without Sorrow is the first installment and debut novel of Maithree Wijesekara's Obsidian Throne Trilogy loosely inspired by the Mauryan Dynasty of Ancient India.

The book follows two protagonists, Shakti and Ashoka Maurya, two characters with lives and stories of their own who have different outlooks of the world they live in. The Prince Without Sorrow is a blend of a magical story with political intrigue with subtle references to the Mauryan Dynasty of Ancient India.

Shakti, a mayakari who is set on a journey, determined to extinguish the hate of her kind -- the mayakar, and Prince Ashoka, the third-born child of the Emperor, on his journey to right his father's wrongs and to change the 'legacy and fate' left by him.

The world building of the book was well established, with subtle nods to the source of inspiration. The characters were prominent and well developed where every character has their own minds and thought processes. The political intrigue of the book was the central plot which was amazingly done.

The development of certain characters in the book was well fledged. The morally greyness of these characters were truly shown towards the end of the book. The pacing for this setting was perfect and never felt out of place.

As someone who was educated and told tales about Ashoka the Great, this was an intriguing and heartfelt retelling of the original tale.

While the book does not have any romance or spice yet, it is subjected and deals with darker themes.

Overall, the book deals with themes of self-realization, pride and subtleness which should not be tempered with. It was an amazing read with no romance and more political intrigue. I cannot wait to read the next installments in the series!

I have to admit I really struggled to get into the story. I found it hard to follow the plot points. I kept going but found I wasn’t drawn to it.

I thought the premise for this book was very interesting, unfortunately I don’t think it really fulfilled its potential. I really wanted to like Shakti and Ashoka, but found they were rather one dimensional, so I didn’t find myself rooting for them, or being that invested in where the story was going.

Unfortunately this was not a book I could get into. I found it a bit confusing and lots of plot points but nothing really connecting.

From the start I was drawn into this story, I cannot remember seeing a viewpoint of pacifism which is held my such a number of people. It really added a different feel to the usual fantasy I read and I appreciated how it links to certain cultures and beliefs. I felt like I was learning much more about people as I read too, like there was more to understand than just the story. The drama was gripping from the beginning and I loved the balance of descriptive language and world building, the pace was great but spared enough time for details which brought it all to life.
I will post more reviews on retailer sites upon release.