The plot of this book is captivating and full of unexpected twists, keeping readers engaged from start to finish.

Witch King’s Oath, written by AJ Glasser, follows Prince Anryniel, Maertyn Blackfire, and soon-to-be princess Beatrice.

Prince Anryniel attempts to reach his promised bride as his world quickly begins to crumble around him. Maertyn Blackfire is desperate to escape a living hell forced upon him by a group of mages. Beatrice is trying her best to fit in at the castle and keep from losing her fiery temper as her prince makes his way home and to their marriage ceremony. But what unfolds might be more than any of them can handle.

As Prince Anryniel stumbles from one life-changing event to the next, he learns more and more about the realities of leading a nation, the difference between right and wrong, and who he really is inside.

Maertyn finds hope in a cursed princess amid dark times. Magic and curses seem to follow him everywhere — especially now that he’s left the home he’s been hiding in for who knows how long.

Beatrice refuses to be cowed in a new nation that aims to strip her of all power. Everything she’s been raised to believe has been used as a weapon against her since she arrived to marry the prince she’s eager to meet.

The reader follows each character from one exciting moment to the next. Along the way, we learn about witches, mages, power, trickery, and curses. Can these three people come together to fight off the Lightening King and Queen Eva’s unhinged reign or will their battles all be for naught?

AJ Glasser keeps the reader engaged with action-packed scenes, identity crises, and characters we can all relate to in one way or another.

Witch King’s Oath gets 4/5 stars for its interesting plot, exciting sword and magic fights, worldbuilding, and unique characters.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The witches, the mages, the secrets…it was all very well done.

The concept was interesting so so different. The Prince’s secret was crazy! Along with everyone else’s.

Ich habe mich über das Buch sehr gefreut. Es ist nicht nur fließend zum lesen sondern auch sehr spannend.

I really did enjoy this book. The world building is interesting with many of the political moments shown during a brief school lecture — Professor Lawson’s method of treating his noble students like particularly slow puppies was cute — or overheard as Beatrice tries to listen in on the King’s council. It’s just enough to sketch out the world without bogging down the story or turning into an infodump.

Beatrice, herself, is a nice character. A bride sent to a foreign court to marry a prince she’s never met suddenly finds herself chained by a more restrictive religion and way of behaving and dress. She must now wear a veil that covers much of her body, to keep no company with men, to obey a queen she doesn’t particularly like, and to make this place her home. While she chafes, she also accepts. She doesn’t think of refusing the veil and upending the system; instead she thinks of using her husband to lessen the restrictions with the hope of eventually being free of the veil. She’s not here to make war or turn this country into her homeland, but she dreams of making hospitals and schools, of being an advisor to her husband and being a good Queen for her new people.

Anryn is in a more interesting situation, but one no less nuanced. All of his life he’s been shorter than his peers, skinny and gawky and … different. But he’s also a prince, entitled and stubborn and raised to think in a certain way, act in a certain way, and it’s all been eating at him. When he hears the witch he just rescued call him a woman, he’s offended, until the witch shows him proof. Anryn is cursed to have a male body, to live as a man, and it’s not natural to him. All in all, it’s a mind fuck for the young prince who still doesn’t know who he is other than being his father’s son.

There are politics aplenty, a wondrous amount of world buliding, and assorted action scenes, all well written and fast paced. There are hints of rival magic systems, with the natural witch magic and the more intricate magecraft, of rival kingdoms planning war, of betrayals and assassination attempts and it’s all leading somewhere. I can’t wait for the next book to see just where!

Thank you so much to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC.

Reminiscent of the Tamir Triad by Lynn Flewelling, and yet entirely its own unique tale of witchcraft and wizardry, Witch King’s Oath is a story that takes some time to find its footing, but which only gets better (and deeper) with each new chapter. By the end I was staying up far too late, devouring each page, desperate to find out how it all would end.

AJ Glasser does a lot of really interesting things with this story (I’ll get to the aspect that hooked me in a moment), but the use of magic is one of my favorites. This is a world of witches and mages, two opposing forces of magic, wrapped up in a conflict between the rival nations of Ammar and Nynomath. There are clear themes of good versus evil here, witches versus mages, but the persecution of witches in Ammar introduces various shades of grey. For a long while we’re not sure what to think or who to trust, but slowly the story teases out the truth.

What hooked me, what convinced me to give this a read, is the exploration of gender. No spoilers here (it’s in the cover blurb), but Prince Anryn is a woman cursed to grow up in a man’s body, never feeling quite right about him/herself, yet never understanding why. There’s one character who sees the truth of the Prince, and that creates a sort of dichotomy in the story where the narrative switches between he/him and she/her depending on the POV. The exploration of gender goes even deeper than that, though, contrasting two very different cultures through the eyes of Princess (to-be) Beatrice. She comes from a kingdom where women are viewed as equals, allowed to be independent, to fight, and to participate in decision-making, but finds herself in a realm where women are forced to hide behind veils and even the Queen must rely on hidden corridors just to listen in on the King and his Lords.

As for Anryn and Beatrice, they’re strong characters with backstory, motivation, personality, and conflict. Surrounding them is a cast of allies and enemies, each with their own allegiances (political and magical), most interestingly among them Anryn’s best friend (and rival), his Professor (and mentor), and the witch who saves his life (and reveals his curse). His parents, the King and Queen seem a bit thin for much of the book, more plot devices than people, but we come to understand them and their motives by the end of the story.

The basic plot of Witch King’s Oath is simple – Prince Anryn must get home to be married to Beatrice – but the narrative is anything but. There’s conflict and drama here, plots and schemes and conspiracies, all starting with an assassination attempt and ending with a rapid-fire series of twists that upend so many of our assumptions. I started the book a little wary, struggling with the first few chapters, but I can tell you it’s well worth sticking with because it gets much better fast.

Of course, this being epic fantasy, the story’s not done, there’s at least one more book to come, but the finale here is a climax worthy of the story, and one that (without getting into spoilers) does something really exciting with the question of gender.

Not sure I quite got the story as it seemed like there was many different plots going on at the same time. Very confused also about who was talking as the chapters did not clearly indicate what POV we were on. Maybe more clarity as to was exactly was happening. Story seemed rushed and very jumbled.

***Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the ebook.


My first DNF of 2024 at 32%, just couldn't get into it. The world building was fine, multiple POVs, magic--the potential was there and failed. Pacing was incredibly slow and to me, there wasn't much plot. It seemed like the biggest concern was if Prince Anryn was or wasn't a woman. I did skip to the end which is abrupt and not much of a cliff hanger or anything.

I hate to write a bad review of a debut novel, this just wasn't it for me.

In Witch King’s Oath, the tale of Prince Anryn and Maertyn Blackfire unfolds amidst a backdrop of witch hunts and royal intrigue. The characters are engaging, with Anryn's mysterious curse and Maertyn's tragic immortality creating a compelling bond. While the plot offers some enjoyable twists, it occasionally leans towards predictability, making some outcomes foreseeable. Nevertheless, the rich world-building and themes of friendship and sacrifice keep the narrative captivating. Overall, it's a decent read for fans of fantasy, though it lacks some surprise elements.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an Advanced Readers Copy of this book in exchange for a review.

I had requested this book as the blurb was interesting and it was in a genre that I was interested in, Fantasy. I really like reading books that incorporate witches and mages and such so I just had to pick this book up. I really loved how easily it was to identify the characters and their POV’s so it wasn’t confusing and the readers know exactly who is who.

I’d rate this book a four out of five stars. This was a great book but something just didn’t quite hit the mark for me. I just can’t put my finger on what it is but this was a great book either way.

Wow! What a twist! Great pacing and just enough info being revealed to make the plot thrilling. I felt a fondness for some of the characters; Maerten's "I need a drink" bit never got old for me it was the little bit of comedic relief that made me smile every time. Not exactly a happy ending, but it left me feeling satisfied with where we were leaving off.

this was a pretty nice start to this series! normally following multiple pov's tires me out or confuses me but i think this was done nicely enough! i do think it was a little too slow-paced for me, as i prefer books that move a lot faster, but that's not a reflection on the book at all, just my own preferences! i think it was a very interesting novels with wonderful characters, all of them with distinguished personalities, that dealt with more than one interesting layers!

We only want acknowledgement and assurance that we’re needed.

A slow paced, multiple POV fantasy that deals with more than you’d expect.

There’s a good steady worldbuilding that goes on for the book, that it might take people who typically enjoy faster paced books harder to enjoy. It gives just enough information to make one curious while leaving so much more for the rest of the series to find out and enjoy.

The plot looked really simple in the description. But there’s so much twists and turns, making it more complex than you’d expect! Making it entirely enjoyable, and a really fun read.

We follow a multiple POV, but all of the characters were engaging. I really enjoyed the touch of humor that got added to the narratives and the characters’ inner dialogue. All their thoughts and experiences were different, with varying age and mental fortitude. Enriching the experience of looking through their eyes as you read on.

This book handles a lot of sensitive and very important themes regarding understanding yourself and your identity. Feeling trapped in your station, the powerlessness of being limited in what you can do in the time you’re given, expectations too heavy to bear, the feeling of being suffocated because of everything and everyone around you, and losing a reason to live only to live long enough to find one. Everything was dealt with tastefully, with the touch of fantasy elements. It was a great read.

This was a strong start to the Heirs to Eternity series, it had that feel that I was hoping for from the genre. I enjoyed the fantasy element to this book and how everything worked with this world. It was a great novel with interesting characters that I wanted to read more from. AJ Glasser has a great way of telling the story and left me wanting more.