Title: Range of Ghosts
Author: Elizabeth Bear
Genre: fantasy, eastern fantasy, political fantasy
Opening sentence:
Ragged vultures spiraled up a cherry sky.
Tag Archives: political fantasy
The Grace of Kings
Title: The Grace of Kings
Author: Ken Liu
Series: The Dandelion Dynasty, book 1
Genre: Fantasy, silkpunk, epic fantasy, low fantasy, slice of life, political fantasy
Opening sentence:
A white bird hung still in the clear western sky and flapping it wings sporadically.
11 fantasy books full of political intrigue that I recommend
Court life, political intrigue, backstabbing – figurative and literal, complex alliances, moral grays, diplomacy, spycraft, possible wars etc. These are all the hallmarks of good political fantasy for me.
I have been craving fantasy books full of political intrigue for the last year or so. I have read a number of them so I thought it was time to make a list of recommendations for you. For the purpose of this list i am not interested in assassin books, they can get their own list since there are so many of them. For this list I am interested in the diplomacy and backstappy nature of court and church politics. I like quite a bit of adventure in my fantasy books so these are not dull political meetings and they are not political in the way that they deal with current world politics. Of course current issues might be part of the issues but it tend not to be the point. In these books the protagonists are active players in the politics rather than passive victims of the politics made by other people.
Continue reading 11 fantasy books full of political intrigue that I recommend
Crown Duel
Title: Crown Duel
Author: Sherwood Smith
Series: Crown & Court, book 1 & 2
Genre: Political fantasy
Opening sentence:
The broken shutter in the window creaked a warning.
The Curse of Chalion
Title: The Curse of Chalion
Author: Lois McMaster Bujold
Genre: Fantasy, epic fantasy, political fantasy
Opening sentence:
Cazaril heard the mounted horsemen on the road before he saw them.
I picked this up because I had just finished reading Trickster’s Choice and Trickster’s Queen and was reminded just how much I adore fantasy that is all about politics. Not the politics of our world (though I like that as well) but the political games of second world fantasy. I like intrigue, spycraft and political maneuvering in my fiction. There is a reason why West Wing and Spooks are among my favourite tv-series. The Curse of Chalion had turned up in my recommendations when I based them on Trickster’s Queen. It had really good reviews from a stack of authors whom I respect so I thought, why not give it a go.
City of Stairs
Title: City of Stairs
Author: Robert Jackson Bennett
Genre: Fantasy, city fantasy
Opening sentence:
I believe the question, then,” says Vasily Yaroslav, “is one of intent.
So I read City of Stairs in November but I have not had the head space to review it before now. Apparently my brain is all squashed most days when I come home from work and my weekends have been full of x-men… because OMG x-men. But I wanted to take time to review City of Stairs before I did my best of 2014 list because this has to be up there.