This was an interesting start to a what could be a very engaging Mauryan Empire inspired fantasy series!
We have witches, rebellion, royalty, spirits and nature gods/beings.
It sadly just fell a bit flat for me. I would consider reading the next book on the series, but I found that some of the characters fell a bit flat. To begin with the FMC was interesting, but then she just kind of went all ‘gung ho’ into a downward revenge arc that I couldn’t fully get behind- I expected a bit more conflict from her? The MMC had a bit more of an interesting story arc, even though he is somewhat spoilt and very arrogant, it was good to see his point of view and opinions change when more details were uncovered for him. I got to the point where I found his chapters much more engaging than hers!
But overall it felt a bit shallow, with a one-dimensional villain, out of place dialogue, and plot points that were a bit too easily solved.

Whilst I enjoyed this book, some of the language used was totally unnecessary and clashed with the whole style of the story. When will authors realise that expletives are almost never necessary and too frequently detract from the quality of their story telling.

In spite of the above comments, I am looking forward to the second volume as the tales are worth the telling.

This book was pure vibes - and they were immaculate.

Was there a coherent plan? Nope. Did anyone have a clue what they were doing? Also nope? Were the characters engaging and lovable enough that we all just sort of roll with it and trust that Shakir is going to get us where we need to go? Absolutely.


Thank you Harper Voyager for this e-arc to review!

The Prince Without Sorrow is a thoughtful and atmospheric fantasy inspired by the Mauryan empire, with compelling themes of resistance, identity, and trauma. I loved the strong female lead, unique magic system, and how it subverted expectations—especially with no central romance.

While the pacing dragged in the middle and the male POV felt overly idealistic at times, the intricate worldbuilding and bold, emotional ending won me over. A solid start to a series I’ll definitely be continuing.

The Prince without sorrow is the first book in the Obsidian Throne trilogy. A stunning emotional, high fantasy novel inspired by the ancient Mauryan empire in South India.

It's beautifully written, thought-provoking and a captivating story. If you're looking for a fantasy novel with depth, incredible characters, then add this to your TBR.

The world-building in this book is good and I felt completely immersed in this world from the very first page.The author writes with immersive and vivid pictures of the kingdom, the magic system, and the relationships between the characters. The plot is a slow burn, building with tension and unexpected twists although the pace was quite slow.

The Prince Without Sorrow is a book that will stay with you long after you turn the final page.

Tropes
Indian folklore
Epic high fantasy
World building
Political intrigue/court politics
Witches in hiding
No spice

I really thought I would love this book, the premise sounded so good & the world it was set in too but it just fell flat for me. My main issue was the characters, the villain felt very two dimensional & I wish there had been more nuance. The two main characters too felt flat & it was obvious they were opposite views of each other but again it wasn't very nuanced.
There was a lot of potential but it just didn’t work for me unfortunately

I, unfortunately, can’t quite decide whether I liked this book or not. I spent the majority of the time while I was reading it, hoping that the ending would be near — and I think that says a lot?

While the plot was intriguing, I think the pacing and the writing never really gripped me. I enjoyed the dual POVs of Shakti and Ashoka and I thought they offered a good contrast to each other. Both are essentially on the same “side” but have remarkable differences in their standing in society.

I liked how the magic system focused on nature spirits. Unfortunately, because Shakti — and the world at large because of the burning of a library, texts, and the mayakari, themselves — was ignorant to a lot of what she could do, we as readers did not get to see much. However, it was intriguing to learn beside her and I suspect this is all part of a larger plot and this is just one part in a trilogy.

I liked that the characters were messy and dysfunctional and unlikeable, I think it added a lot of intrigue to the story. In particular, Ashoka was a very interesting character to follow as he goes through the book and how he begins to question letting go of his own morals for the greater good — because he thinks he is good. This will be interesting to see where it goes. This is the same with Shakti, how far will her vengeance take her down a dark path and away from her people?

Anyways, I rate this a 3/5 stars and will say, in the politest way, that it’s “mediocre”. There’s a lot going on that’s intriguing, and yet I found myself moving through it slowly, never truly hooked. I’ll probably stick around for the sequel as I do think there’s potential.

Thanks to HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction | HarperVoyager for this e-arc

3.5 ⭐️

The Prince Without Sorrow is a charming fantasy tale, a little slow paced for me, nonethelessless it did pick up throughout the book.

The author did create a beautiful backdrop and great fantasy world setting of royal splendour, witches, curses and magic.

I adored the character of Prince Ashoka, and what he stood for.

A story of power, tyranny, hatred, revenge and the divide of an Empire with a little romance on the side.

Although I enjoyed this book, it just fell a little flat and left me wanting a little more.

I look forward to the next instalment though as there was so much to love about this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC.

♾️⭐ aka 5⭐

Thank you Maithree Wijesekara and Harper Voyager UK for the ARC!

THE PRINCE WITHOUT SORROW is my new lifeline! Maithree Wijesekara is now my auto-buy author! This book was mind-blowing on so many levels and as someone who loves read YA novels and diverse novels, I LOVED THIS SO MUCH! LGBTQ themes are not often explored in Indian-inspired fantasy novels, especially in YA novels! Harper Voyager UK & US picking up this book was an amazing power move and influence to readers!

I loved this plot so much. There are so many nods to the Mauryan Dynasty, Emperor Ashoka and locations in the book. There's no romance yet but the morally-greyness of these characters have me hooked for the better part! No one understands how much this book has influenced my life! I love the sibling banter, the feminine rage and the anger that's being boiling inside these characters! I love Ashoka, Rahil and Shakti so much! I loved the very subtle studio-ghibli recommendations!

I AM ALREADY BEGGING MAITHREE WIJESEKARA AND HARPER VOYAGER FOR THE NEXT BOOK! I literally CANNOT WAIT for the next installment. 🧎🏽‍♀️🧎🏽‍♀️🧎🏽‍♀️

This is a stunning fantasy debut with a rich world that draws inspiration from the real life Maurya empire.
The characters of Ashoka and Chakti are both well drawn and complex characters trying to navigate a world that's hostile to both of them.
I found this book very engagin and struggled to put it down when life got in the way of reading it. If you like a book with a well drawn engaging world, fights against oppression and winged serpents this is the book for you

I’m not going to lie, I picked up The Prince Without Sorrow by Maithree Wijesekara mainly due to its gorgeous cover. The vibes it was giving, plus the synopsis, suggested that this would be my kind of read. Unfortunately it just didn’t live up to my expectations. While the world-building and magic system of the mayakari (witches) were interesting in concept they were not executed well. I understand what Wijesekara was trying to do with the code that mayakari live by, however, all it does is place too many limitations on them.

It isn’t specifically mentioned that Shakti is the first to take action against their persecutors, but it is heavily implied that mayakari do not cast curses, and do not fight back. I just didn’t find it believable that everyone else upheld their code throughout the vicious persecution of their people for generations.

The Prince Without Sorrow is listed as a romantasy on GoodReads, and this is very misleading. The synopsis refers to romantic angst and that is a more accurate description. There is a huge amount of romantic tension between Prince Ashoka and his guard, Rahil, but that is all it is. Nothing comes of the relationship in this book, and from a comment made by Shakti about not feeling romantic love it appears that Shakti is asexual.

The storyline of The Prince Without Sorrow was not terrible, yet it did not grip me and I found the concluding events to be less than satisfactory. The decisions made by some of the characters felt quite stereotypical, and my already limited interest in the characters disappeared. This book had a lot of potential and it just did not reach it.

Despite these issues, I’ve given this book a three star rating for several reasons. While The Prince Without Sorrow did not work for me, I’ve read worse books and I didn’t struggle to finish it. I just felt underwhelmed when I did and this isn’t a series I intend to continue reading.

Unfortunately, I didn't finish this book. This wasn't for me. But thank you for the opportunity to read it.

A superb fantasy action adventure that will have you on the edge of the seat right from page one. A must read that is highly recommended.

3.75 ⭐

almost 400 pages later, and I'm still unsure whether I like the two main characters or not. I mean I didn't hate them either but both Shakti and Ashoka made a lot of questionable choices. mainly they were mostly just vibes, no thoughts. and I kinda liked that in the end? I don't know. I am weirdly invested in learning how this story ends after the cliffhanger because I feel they both will just get more morally grey, and I'm here for that.

Excellent first instalment of this fantasy series...really enjoyed the characters, the pacing and the potential for further instalments....more for my to be read pile!!! Many thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and author for a chance to read this ARC.

It was okay, but I don't think I'll be continuing the series. I've rated it 3⭐️ but it's verging on 2.5⭐️

It started off interesting, and I wanted to know what was going to happen to Shakti after the curse. As the story progressed, I started losing interest in her character and just wanted to focus on Ashoka and how his journey towards justice and peace would change him as you could see his resolve starting to crumble. Shakti was a strong character at the beginning, and I liked the revenge arc she was on . She was definitely entering her villain era, but it wasn't enough to keep me interested. I liked Ashoka's character development, and it really shows that innocence doesn't last forever. You have to make tough decisions in order to see your dream turn into a reality.

Parts of the writing felt long-winded and unnecessary. It took me out of it, and I found myself skimming some parts and getting back to the dialogue. There were aspects of the book that I liked, the main one being the Mayakari. Their history and power were interesting, and I wanted to know more about the spirits.

The Prince Without Sorrow by Maithree Wijesekara is the first book in the Obsidian Throne Series. This is the story of Ashoka and Shakti.
 
Ashoka is the Prince of the Ran Empire, and he is trained to become the next king. His father is brutal and ruthless, whereas Ashoka is gentle and caring and he is looking to change things for the better. That makes him an outcast, but you immediately like him. But when he is handed the power, it isn’t all that easy anymore and I really liked how this story shows what can happen when you’re in charge and at the top.
 
Shakti is a witch, and she curses Ashoka and his family as a means to take revenge on them for killing her aunt. But that isn’t enough for her, and she wants to dismantle the monarchy from within and she starts working undercover in the palace. Shakti was my favorite part of this book, and she is strong, clever and determined and has a lot of rage.
 
The world is inspired by the Mauryan Empire of Ancient India and that was really unique and cool to see, and I always love to see and learn more about different mythologies. The world also has animal spirits and I loved how that was reflected in the cover and the beautiful illustrations in the book. The plot was also very gripping, and you have two characters who are completely opposite of each other and enemies and it was so intriguing to see them meeting and interacting. That also created the perfect angsty and slow burn romance situation and I already can’t wait to see more of it in the next books.
 
If you’re looking for a really unique and amazing fantasy story, you need to check out The Prince Without Sorrow. 4,5 stars.
 
(Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an arc.)

I didn’t go into this book with any expectations either way, so I was delighted to find it easy to read, with interesting characters and lots of representation. I got immersed really easily, and the politics of their world were easy to understand without lacking in world building.

The character journeys fascinated me and I’m really excited to see how they play out in the next book because these are two very nice characters with good morals who descend into darkness over the course of the book. It was thrilling to watch them get darker, and I’m very intrigued to see where they go next.

I also enjoyed the lack of romance in this book. While I’m not against romance, and quite enjoy it in some books, it does seem to be dominating the field right now, so it was just really refreshing to read a book where there wasn’t really a heavy romance focus.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Unfortunately I didn't really get on with the way this book was written. The prose felt quite laboured at times and there was some very odd phrasing throughout. However, the narrative was still engaging so I'm sure others will enjoy this more.

*Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction | HarperVoyager for providing me this e-book in exchange for an honest review*

Oh Boy, I didn't expected to love a book like I love "The Prince Without Sorrow". The world building was so good that I was immediately immersed. I was both Ashoka and Shaktii at the same time, feeling the betrayal, the love and every possible emotion they felt to my bone. The political aspect of the story was weaved with the magic system as harmonious as I ever. I can't wait to read the next installment. There is a next book, right? *Fingers crossed*