A review by gardens_and_dragons
The Prince Without Sorrow by Maithree Wijesekara

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I think this is a pretty entertaining political fantasy set in an ancient Indian setting. I think it leans more young as an adult book, and would have done better to be marketed as a YA series - the characters honestly read young so i think teens probably will still have a lot to connect with these characters. It is a book about political sibling infighting after an emperor dies, nature and dream magic, the struggle of the ideals of pacifism versus the practice of it in the face of oppression. 

Ashoka is a young man dealing with his morals of pacifism butting up against many opportunities to stand up to the violence in his empire. He deals with the constant question of whether pacifism is just something he does to counter his father, a tyrant, or something he truly believes. He struggles with feeling anger and the need to strike back. I thought he started off really headstrong and overconfident, but I think that as the book goes on he gets more complex as a character.
 
Shakti starts as a woman bent on vengeance, and struggles with the guilt of how much her path takes her away from her  witches do no harm path (mayakari in this setting). I think she had a lot of potential in the beginning, but I wish she had more of a plan in how she can help her people. It seems like her revenge story is very much a reactionary path she takes. I enjoyed her corruption arc with torturing Arush and Araya via their dreams, to influence the politics of the nation, though. It’s something I hadn’t seen before. 

This definitely ends on a slight cliffhanger for the next in the series, with big questions about the direction of the moral compass for Ashoka and Shakti is pointing in. 

I think mostly I just wanted this to wow me, but I could definitely see its potential. It could have used some more rounds of editing, some phrasing and dialogue could be tightened up. I’ll still pick up the next entry to see where this goes. 

To bring about peace, you must enact justice in whatever form it requires, it purred. You think yourself to be above your father, but let me tell you otherwise, little prince. When you have the power to change the world for the better, your duty to the weak must override your duty to the self.


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