The Witch Without Memory by Maithree Wijesekara

Book Review

9th April 2026

Against the wishes of his sister, acting regent, Prince Ashoka has reinstated the ban on killing mayakari – witches – but many choose not to obey, forcing Ashoka to go against everything he once believed. The punishment for such defiance must be public, and he, as governor, must be there to administer it, no matter how harrowing he finds it, and no matter how much it will change him and the way others look at him.

Now, a royal summons arrives from Trikalinga, at the same time his sister is sending a consul to check on him. Amass new allies, or protect those he already has? It will not be an easy time nor an easy decision for Ashoka. And all the while his relationship with Rahil, his personal guard, hangs by a thread.

Shakti has been taken captive. ‘Mayakari,’ speaks a voice she recognises. Has she been poisoned? Or cursed? Since her father’s death, and now her older brother is unable to rule, it is Aarya who commands the empire and holds Shakti hostage. To have any hope of saving the mayakari, Shakti has no choice but to agree to a bargain with the empress, not to save her own life, but to save the life of another. Shakti discovers she has spoken a curse. A curse she cannot remember, a curse she cannot undo, and even worse, she does not know who the curse was directed at.

The Witch Without Memory picks up immediately after the first book in this Obsidian Throne series, with both Ashoka and Shakti still reeling from prior events. Shakti desperately tries to find out the details of the curse she was forced to make as Aarya’s prisoner, and Ashoka desperately tries to remove his sister from power before she can bring any more harm to innocents.

Much of the story in Ashoka’s chapters is dedicated to his increasingly complicated and deteriorating relationship with Rahil. As bodyguard, friend, and more than a friend, Rahil struggles with Ashoka’s move to violent action, and the two find the situation increasingly hard to navigate. Whilst this does mean that the reader gets a real opportunity to understand and empathise with Ashoka’s stance, it does mean that the pace and action of the story is slowed at times to accommodate the emotional exploration.

Shakti’s portion of the story helps to balance this out as she continues to explore the possibilities of her magic, and the capabilities that her bond with the previous emperor can give her. That said, the standout probably has to go to Aarya, who gets more page time in this second book and is extremely well portrayed as the ruthless and dangerous ruler she is. This is a solid read. We await the concluding part to see how things will end, and how much more our protagonists will have to sacrifice to get there.