Hello! Today I’m featuring a recent 2025 release: The Prince Without Sorrow by Maithree Wijeskara. I participated in an Instagram book tour for this book and enjoyed the start of this series so much I wanted to discuss it further!
Drawing on inspiration from the Mauryan Empire of Ancient India, debut author Maithree Wijesekara plunges readers into the first amazing book of the Obsidian Throne trilogy, a new fantasy series of hunted witches, romantic angst, and political intrigue. Perfect for fans of The Hurricane Wars and The Jasmine Throne.
A prince born into violence, seeking peace.
Prince Ashoka is the youngest son of the tyrannical Emperor Adil Maurya. Considered an outcast by his father for his rejection of the emperor’s brutal onslaught against the witches of the empire, Ashoka longs for change. When the sudden and unexpected death of his father leaves the monarchy in disarray, Ashoka is sent to govern a tumultuous region annexed by Emperor Adil that is terrorized by nature spirits—a task many see as doomed to fail. Suspected by a disdainful governor and evaded by distrustful witches, Ashoka must question his rigid ideals and fight against becoming the one person he despises the most—his father.
A witch shackled by pacifism, seeking revenge.
Shakti is a witch bound by a pacifist code. After witnessing the murder of her aunt and village at the hands of the emperor, Shakti hurtles down a path of revenge, casting a curse with unexpected consequences. Posing as a maidservant in the famed palace of the Mauryas and armed with newfound powers beyond her imagination, Shakti attempts to dismantle the monarchy from within by having the royal progeny ruin themselves and turn their father’s legacy into nothing but ash.
In a world where nature spirits roam the land, and witches are hunted to extinction, Ashoka and Shakti will be forced to grapple with the consequences of to take it for themselves or risk losing it completely.
Review of The Prince Without Sorrow
Setting
The reader finds themselves in the middle of a complex world where there’s been generations of conflict and conquest by the Maurya family, who rule the Mathura kingdom. There’s magic, nature spirits, large megafauna like flying snakes and rideable leopards; and all of them contribute to a lush fantasy world that is colorful and descriptive but not overly complex to where I had a difficult time adjusting to the world. Roughly based off of ancient Hindu folklore and history, I felt like the worldbuilding was beautifully done and fun to follow.
Characters
There are two main characters: Prince Ashoka and the witch Shakti, and the narrative follows both of their point-of-views. Prince Ashoka is the youngest of three siblings, and he has vowed to take a more compassionate and conciliatory route of politics than that of his authoritarian and harsh father and siblings. He wrestles with people not respecting him, pining for his bodyguard, and being tempted with the “easy” way out of utilizing force to achieve his goals.
Our other point of view is Shakti, the mayakari witch. She has grown up with the Maurya family oppressing and killing her people, and even though her sect has vows of pacifism and to use their powers for good, she decides that it is worth any bad karma to use her powers to fight back. She ends up with a completely unexpected result of her curse and must navigate that while trying to overthrow the royal family.
Both characters orbit each other in important ways that serve to be a foil for the other. Shakti has no qualms using Ashoka as an ally of convenience, while Ashoka wants to repair political relations with the mayakari and sees them as potential allies for a better future. They both have to make split-second decisions; and their actions (or inaction) each have heavy consequences that they have to deal with later on. Both characters are well developed and set up for an interesting part two of our series.
Themes
A major theme in this book is violence versus nonviolence when creating progressive change. Shaki’s order requires her to do no harm and to take a nonviolent route, but after continuous violent oppression, Shakti feels she has no choice but to react violently in the face of genocide. She doesn’t feel bad about leaving that philosophy behind, but she is forced to confront the consequences of her actions that ultimately impact others around her.
Ashoka is brought up fully embroiled in the violent oppressor’s side, in the name of “safety” for the kingdom. He rejects these ideas, and instead sees the brutality of the killings and wants to hold all life sacred, even a deer. However, he still does have power to wield despite not having a lot of real-life experiences outside the palace. As the story progresses, he is confronted with moments where he could react violently in order to pursue his end goal, and must make a choice to rise above the violence, or force his way to a “better” future. His naivete is apparent and is a part of his character arc, and I’m looking forward to how his character will change and grow in future books.
Overall, this book was a solid debut and set up for the rest of the story. The plot ends on a cliffhanger, and I’m very excited to see where the characters end up in future installments of the Obsidian Throne!
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