when I was new to fantasy I was also surprised when I first heard the term Political Fantasy! I was like “yeah that is exactly what I enjoy!” It’s nice to know what exactly to look for in recommendations 🙌🏼
Ooh I would 100% recommend Dark of the West. It is such a fantastic political/military/romance fantasy trilogy. Each book builds - more intrigue, more questions, more blurred morality. You start to question more and more which faction is "right" or "wrong" (if any), and the whole series really dives into what lengths people are willing to go to for their cause, and how much of their integrity are they willing to sacrifice for power. It's my favorite.
Glad to see you added Peace and Turmoil to this video! I just finished it last month and still can’t stop thinking about it. I never would have found your book if I hadn’t started following your channel. Your 👏🏼 book 👏🏼 is 👏🏼 worth 👏🏼 the 👏🏼 hype 👏🏼
I have been in the fence about Brandon Sanderson and I finally tried your recommendation Warbreaker! I am currently obsessed and absolutely love the story.
I’m glad I’m not the only one on the fence about Sanderson. I wasn’t all that impressed with Elantris and the Mistborn trilogy so I’ve stalled picking up anything else by him. I’m sure some of it is due to them being his earlier works. Hearing your take on Warbreaker is inspiring me to give it and Sanderson a go.
I very highly recommend the Empire trilogy by Raymond E Feist and Janny Wurts. It's extremely political with a superb main character. It's connected to Feist's Riftwar series but you don't have to have read that first (I hadn't). The first book is Daughter of the Empire.
Absolutely second this! I reread this every couple of years, and it's amazing every time. Super political, amazing characters, emotional moments, quiet moments, just top notch.
I finished Furysong last night and so happy to see it here! I loved the trilogy so also thank you for the recommendation!! I binged it in a week, I never do that but it's that good.
I'm surprised you didn't recommend "The Empire of the Wolf" by Richard Swan. I find that the second book The Tyranny of Faith takes quite a political turn. And I absolutely devour it 💖
I’ve discovered in the past few years that I unexpectedly enjoy political and military fantasy. Guns of the Dawn by Adrien Tchaikovsky is a wonderful standalone military/political fantasy. The tagline of Jane Austen at war with a touch of magic is apt.
The way you describe the fantasy elements of She Who Became the Sun sounds very much like one of my favourite books, The King Must Die (and its sequel, The Bull From the Sea). I love that approach to fantasy, as I find knitting the sense of the fantastic, or the numinous, so closely to the real world - or to how we view the world - helps bring that sense out in our own lives. Which just makes a daily walk more interesting lol
Love seeing Warbreaker here! One of my favorite of Sanderson's works, and Hallandren is such a joy to explore and get to know (as well as the court of gods with all their quirks and personalities, lol).
The Ilona Andrews books usually have some degree of political intrigue. The protagonist usually rises to some degree of prominence in one faction. Then has to deal with a bunch of other factions.
Political fantasy is my favorite genre! Some others that are low in fantasy but high in politics and have main female characters are the Firekeeper saga by Jane Lindskold and the Hythurn Chronicles by Jennifer Fallon. My fav political fantasies that have more magic (and that I prefer) are the Rook & Rose trilogy (which is ending this summer!!!! Very hype, I love it to bits) and the Magister trilogy by C. S. Friedman.
The whole Queen's Thief series, honestly. The first book in particular feels very young, but they do get progressively more dark and complex. A Conspiracy of Kings (book 4) does intrigue and philosophy of leadership so well while also being coming of age story. Its a great series to get a start on when some of the more complex and bigger brick reading is too much.
Mark of the Raven by Morgan L Busse is I would say political fantasy. The trilogy is called the Raven Wood saga. I seriously love these books and they do deal with different houses trying to gain power and scheming. each house has a magical ability as well and the first book starts out with a mother training her daughters to be assassins. It's a great series!
I am very impressed with two Adrian Tchaikovsky standalone novels read early this year (2023): "Guns of the Dawn" and "City of Last Chances". Both contain strong political elements. They are also, City of Last Chances in particular, both complex and complicated (as several characters themselves opine). Guns takes place in a kingdom at war with its neighbor following the overthrown of the latter's monarchy. City is set in a city (duh!) ruled by the latest in a string of authoritarian governments, this one out to create a "perfect" world, where all must conform to their idea of perfection. In any case, I think they are worth a look-see.
I think that the reson that stormlight, and especially the way of kings, is more seen as more typical fantasy is because the politcs of the warcamp and the different countries only come to the for front in book two : words of radiance. As the main two chareters come into positions of power. You have both Dalinar and Adolin, but Dalinar has fallen off in the begining of the book and Adolin hasen't really been able to step out of Dalinars shadow yet, so the main conflict isn't as much with the other nations and power players as much as it is internal conflict and the fight for survival. The politics can only come after the characters have steped into their own heack i would say that adolin only becomes a power player after the event at the very end at book two, as this is the first time he does somting wholey on his own tearms. So while the stormlight archives as a whole is more of a politcal fantasy the way of king is more classic fantasy in my opinion
Definitely talk about your book(s?) more!! I've been watching this channel for a couple months and did NOT know you're a writer. And it sounds so GOOD. I can't wait to read it!! I'm publishing my debut novel this fall (political fantasy) [under a pen name -- please don't take this as self promo on your channel] so this was an AMAZING list for me!! I've been looking for more political fantasy to read as it's something I really enjoy but not really a useful search term with the vendors. Some of your recommendations were already on my tbr, but I haven't read any of these :)
I think it'd make sense to mention Half a Soul and Ten Thousand Stitches. At first they may seem like fantasy romance novels but they actually focus way more on the struggles of the working class and social inequality in regency England (but the commentary definitely applies to today's world as well). Another book series that comes to mind is Scholomance by Naomi Novik, where one of the main themes is the exploitation of the many by the few and how we can change power structures to build a fair society. These aren't exactly books with political intrigue (for that I'd recommend A Song of Ice and Fire although I think by now everyone's heard of it) but they're books with a political message.
No "Babel"? by R.F. Kuang. Fantastic book that grapples directly with the political effects of empire/ colonization and what that means for people- the privelege that comes with being part of the empire, the deprivation and violence that the colonized suffer, and the experience of outsiders- people who are taken out of poverty/ colonies and given power... at a price.
I've been struggling a bit with Fireborne because it reads very YA at the start. The only two POVs are the teenage main characters and it's focused on their young love story. But the politics are really interesting and the pace is good so I'll probably pick it up again at some point.
Joe Abercrombie needs no more recommendation of course, everybody knows how great he is, but the First Law sequel series The Age of Madness is also a particularly great political fantasy.
@@RosLanta I highly recommend it. It builds on the politicking and character dynamics of the first but on a much larger scale with greater stakes, something I found refreshing what with it being the second book in the trilogy.
I'm loving the Harbinger political fantasy series by Jeff Wheeler. I started it years ago. I'm still at it. I think The Poppy War series by RF Kuang (she wrote Babel) may also be classified as political fantasy. Truly fantastical. I'm excruciatingly, slowly savoring The Sword of Kaigen. It's all politics. Love it. You recommended it. Thank you.
I would also mention Joe Abercrombie's Age of Madness. I think it's the most political trilogy of his books, because we follow societal changes, transformation from a medieval society to an industrialised, literal planning of the civil war and freaking communist revolution
Could you do a recommendation video for fantasy heists? Sometime you might want the thrill of heist between the political stories, but i find no videos on that... 😢
And "Alchemised" by senlinyu will be out next year I think? It's the non-fan-fiction version of "Manacled", so if you're into heavy stuff, you're probably going to like it
Happy Saturday Elliot Hope you have a wonderful day and weekend xoxo 😘 📙❣️📙💚📚📚💚📖📖🤎🧡🧡💛💚💜💜💙💗💗💜📙📙❣️💓💓💓🖤🧡🧡💛📚📙❣️❣️📙💚📙💜💜💜💙💙❣️💓💓💓🤍🤍🧡💛💛💛💗💜💜💜💗💙💛❤️❤️❤️❤️🧡🧡🤎💘💙💙💙💜
I'm curious why Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" isn't on this list, and more broadly, why I almost never see it mentioned on the BookTube channels I've watched. I found BookTube and most of the fantasy genre within the last couple of years, so maybe the whole Game of Thrones thing was just played out by the time I found y'all? And yet I do hear other older, well-known books/series like Lord of the Rings mentioned pretty often. What am I missing?
Personally I love it and it's fascinating how Ken Liu plot the rise of the two main characters, together with the political and societal aspect of their world. It's a fantastical re-telling of the Chu-Han war in China's history but it wasn't dry, Ken Liu's writing was that good. I'm not fond of political fantasy and especially with a major military plot but I couldn't put down the book, I just kept reading especially in the second half.
Have you read/did you like The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson? VERY political with someone form a conquered people working to rise up within the oppressors' government to bring them down from the inside.
If you are into sad stories where the choice is always between bad and worse and there's no way to win the evil empire but character try nonetheless check out traitor Baru Cormorant and its sequels. TW for homophobia though.
I had never heard the term Political Fantasy, but I realized this is exactly what I like
when I was new to fantasy I was also surprised when I first heard the term Political Fantasy! I was like “yeah that is exactly what I enjoy!” It’s nice to know what exactly to look for in recommendations 🙌🏼
Usually named court politics, first time hearing it too 😅
Exactly... As a political Science major I can say that text books are really boring but I find this kind of books very interesting!! 😁❤
Ooh I would 100% recommend Dark of the West. It is such a fantastic political/military/romance fantasy trilogy. Each book builds - more intrigue, more questions, more blurred morality. You start to question more and more which faction is "right" or "wrong" (if any), and the whole series really dives into what lengths people are willing to go to for their cause, and how much of their integrity are they willing to sacrifice for power. It's my favorite.
Political fantasy with a hint of forbidden romance is my Achilles Heel.
literally the same way I'd describe mine! what are some of your favs?
Glad to see you added Peace and Turmoil to this video! I just finished it last month and still can’t stop thinking about it. I never would have found your book if I hadn’t started following your channel. Your 👏🏼 book 👏🏼 is 👏🏼 worth 👏🏼 the 👏🏼 hype 👏🏼
I have been in the fence about Brandon Sanderson and I finally tried your recommendation Warbreaker! I am currently obsessed and absolutely love the story.
I’m glad I’m not the only one on the fence about Sanderson. I wasn’t all that impressed with Elantris and the Mistborn trilogy so I’ve stalled picking up anything else by him. I’m sure some of it is due to them being his earlier works. Hearing your take on Warbreaker is inspiring me to give it and Sanderson a go.
I very highly recommend the Empire trilogy by Raymond E Feist and Janny Wurts. It's extremely political with a superb main character. It's connected to Feist's Riftwar series but you don't have to have read that first (I hadn't). The first book is Daughter of the Empire.
Absolutely second this! I reread this every couple of years, and it's amazing every time. Super political, amazing characters, emotional moments, quiet moments, just top notch.
And it's so so underrated
Came here to say the same thing!
Adding this to my TBR
I finished Furysong last night and so happy to see it here! I loved the trilogy so also thank you for the recommendation!! I binged it in a week, I never do that but it's that good.
I'm surprised you didn't recommend "The Empire of the Wolf" by Richard Swan. I find that the second book The Tyranny of Faith takes quite a political turn. And I absolutely devour it 💖
I agree. I didn’t think it could get better than book one and it DELIVERS
I’ve discovered in the past few years that I unexpectedly enjoy political and military fantasy. Guns of the Dawn by Adrien Tchaikovsky is a wonderful standalone military/political fantasy. The tagline of Jane Austen at war with a touch of magic is apt.
The way you describe the fantasy elements of She Who Became the Sun sounds very much like one of my favourite books, The King Must Die (and its sequel, The Bull From the Sea).
I love that approach to fantasy, as I find knitting the sense of the fantastic, or the numinous, so closely to the real world - or to how we view the world - helps bring that sense out in our own lives. Which just makes a daily walk more interesting lol
Love seeing Warbreaker here! One of my favorite of Sanderson's works, and Hallandren is such a joy to explore and get to know (as well as the court of gods with all their quirks and personalities, lol).
The bridge kingdom sounds very interesting!
A good political fantasy series I've read is Kushiel Legacy series by Jacqueline Carey. Will definitely be looking into some of your recs!
I was getting worried that no one in the comments mentioned this classic!
The Ilona Andrews books usually have some degree of political intrigue. The protagonist usually rises to some degree of prominence in one faction. Then has to deal with a bunch of other factions.
I’m very into the scheming and court intrigue lol. I already have Castles in their Bones on my tbr because of you. 🥰
The Tethered Mage by Melissa Caruso is also quite a political book, I would describe it as maybe new adult. I loved the whole trilogy.
I 100% agree. It is a great series.
The Dagger and Coin series is worth a look, too. It's pretty heavy on the economics and politics.
Political fantasy is my favorite genre! Some others that are low in fantasy but high in politics and have main female characters are the Firekeeper saga by Jane Lindskold and the Hythurn Chronicles by Jennifer Fallon. My fav political fantasies that have more magic (and that I prefer) are the Rook & Rose trilogy (which is ending this summer!!!! Very hype, I love it to bits) and the Magister trilogy by C. S. Friedman.
Agree on firekeeper. Loved it and has animal companions so it's a double plus :)
Here to third Firekeeper saga, such an under appreciated series.
The sequel to She Who Became the Sun comes out in August. Will be interested in your thoughts.
The King of Attolia fits this theme but it’s more YA
The whole Queen's Thief series, honestly. The first book in particular feels very young, but they do get progressively more dark and complex. A Conspiracy of Kings (book 4) does intrigue and philosophy of leadership so well while also being coming of age story.
Its a great series to get a start on when some of the more complex and bigger brick reading is too much.
I'm so excited, my library has your book, I can't wait to read it! It is also nice to find another Arizonan!
Mark of the Raven by Morgan L Busse is I would say political fantasy. The trilogy is called the Raven Wood saga. I seriously love these books and they do deal with different houses trying to gain power and scheming. each house has a magical ability as well and the first book starts out with a mother training her daughters to be assassins. It's a great series!
I am very impressed with two Adrian Tchaikovsky standalone novels read early this year (2023): "Guns of the Dawn" and "City of Last Chances". Both contain strong political elements. They are also, City of Last Chances in particular, both complex and complicated (as several characters themselves opine). Guns takes place in a kingdom at war with its neighbor following the overthrown of the latter's monarchy. City is set in a city (duh!) ruled by the latest in a string of authoritarian governments, this one out to create a "perfect" world, where all must conform to their idea of perfection. In any case, I think they are worth a look-see.
I think that the reson that stormlight, and especially the way of kings, is more seen as more typical fantasy is because the politcs of the warcamp and the different countries only come to the for front in book two : words of radiance. As the main two chareters come into positions of power. You have both Dalinar and Adolin, but Dalinar has fallen off in the begining of the book and Adolin hasen't really been able to step out of Dalinars shadow yet, so the main conflict isn't as much with the other nations and power players as much as it is internal conflict and the fight for survival. The politics can only come after the characters have steped into their own heack i would say that adolin only becomes a power player after the event at the very end at book two, as this is the first time he does somting wholey on his own tearms. So while the stormlight archives as a whole is more of a politcal fantasy the way of king is more classic fantasy in my opinion
Definitely talk about your book(s?) more!! I've been watching this channel for a couple months and did NOT know you're a writer. And it sounds so GOOD. I can't wait to read it!! I'm publishing my debut novel this fall (political fantasy) [under a pen name -- please don't take this as self promo on your channel] so this was an AMAZING list for me!! I've been looking for more political fantasy to read as it's something I really enjoy but not really a useful search term with the vendors. Some of your recommendations were already on my tbr, but I haven't read any of these :)
I think it'd make sense to mention Half a Soul and Ten Thousand Stitches. At first they may seem like fantasy romance novels but they actually focus way more on the struggles of the working class and social inequality in regency England (but the commentary definitely applies to today's world as well). Another book series that comes to mind is Scholomance by Naomi Novik, where one of the main themes is the exploitation of the many by the few and how we can change power structures to build a fair society. These aren't exactly books with political intrigue (for that I'd recommend A Song of Ice and Fire although I think by now everyone's heard of it) but they're books with a political message.
Grace of Kings is amazing.
This was great, i love political fantasy. Warbreaker is a great rec, adding alot of these to my tbr
I’m currently devouring Warbreaker! Really loving it
I am totally going to purchase your book soon. 👍🏾
Political fantasy is my favorite sub-genre of fantasy.
No "Babel"? by R.F. Kuang. Fantastic book that grapples directly with the political effects of empire/ colonization and what that means for people- the privelege that comes with being part of the empire, the deprivation and violence that the colonized suffer, and the experience of outsiders- people who are taken out of poverty/ colonies and given power... at a price.
I just ordered your book!! I’m excited it sounds great!!
I would recommend The Traitor Baru Cormorant
I've been struggling a bit with Fireborne because it reads very YA at the start. The only two POVs are the teenage main characters and it's focused on their young love story. But the politics are really interesting and the pace is good so I'll probably pick it up again at some point.
Legends of the First Empire by Michael J. Sullivan is somewhat a political fantasy.
Great list! Thanks for the video. I have been meaning to read some more political fantasy!
Excellent and thorough!! Thank you’n
Joe Abercrombie needs no more recommendation of course, everybody knows how great he is, but the First Law sequel series The Age of Madness is also a particularly great political fantasy.
What... you have a book? Why only now I'm herring about it.
I guess people are right. You should totally talk more about it. Gonna check it out now,
The Poppy War by RF Kuang. I would say it is great political fantasy.
After The Tyranny of Faith I needed this list.
I really need to get to that soon, I loved The Justice of Kings
@@RosLanta I highly recommend it. It builds on the politicking and character dynamics of the first but on a much larger scale with greater stakes, something I found refreshing what with it being the second book in the trilogy.
@@bendotjones That's exactly what I was hoping it would do! Excellent.
I used to avoid and hate political fantasy but it’s so good idk what I was thinking lol
I loved engines of empire I’m so excited for the 2nd book next month 😅
The Illborn series hits some of these notes.
I'm loving the Harbinger political fantasy series by Jeff Wheeler. I started it years ago. I'm still at it. I think The Poppy War series by RF Kuang (she wrote Babel) may also be classified as political fantasy. Truly fantastical. I'm excruciatingly, slowly savoring The Sword of Kaigen. It's all politics. Love it. You recommended it. Thank you.
I would also mention Joe Abercrombie's Age of Madness. I think it's the most political trilogy of his books, because we follow societal changes, transformation from a medieval society to an industrialised, literal planning of the civil war and freaking communist revolution
Leo Carew UNDER THE NORTHERN SKY trilogy
Could you do a recommendation video for fantasy heists? Sometime you might want the thrill of heist between the political stories, but i find no videos on that... 😢
Could you please recommend adult epic fantasy books with necromancy??
The Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix is excellent and necromancy is central to its magic system. It may be a bit more YA than adult though?
@@LiaGoldie Thanks
And "Alchemised" by senlinyu will be out next year I think? It's the non-fan-fiction version of "Manacled", so if you're into heavy stuff, you're probably going to like it
Happy Saturday Elliot Hope you have a wonderful day and weekend xoxo 😘 📙❣️📙💚📚📚💚📖📖🤎🧡🧡💛💚💜💜💙💗💗💜📙📙❣️💓💓💓🖤🧡🧡💛📚📙❣️❣️📙💚📙💜💜💜💙💙❣️💓💓💓🤍🤍🧡💛💛💛💗💜💜💜💗💙💛❤️❤️❤️❤️🧡🧡🤎💘💙💙💙💜
Apologies if you've spoken about it before, but do you plan on writing any more books in The Dark Shores?
I'm curious why Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" isn't on this list, and more broadly, why I almost never see it mentioned on the BookTube channels I've watched. I found BookTube and most of the fantasy genre within the last couple of years, so maybe the whole Game of Thrones thing was just played out by the time I found y'all? And yet I do hear other older, well-known books/series like Lord of the Rings mentioned pretty often. What am I missing?
Daevabad Trilogy should be up here.
"Women's War" trilogy by Jenna Glass 👍
Did you try books by Sebastien de Castell?
A Conspiracy of Truths is amazing and unlike anything I've ever read.
Great Video!
Has anyone read Grace of Kings? What did you think of it? It’s been my longest standing tbr veteran and I don’t know if I should unhaul
Personally I love it and it's fascinating how Ken Liu plot the rise of the two main characters, together with the political and societal aspect of their world. It's a fantastical re-telling of the Chu-Han war in China's history but it wasn't dry, Ken Liu's writing was that good. I'm not fond of political fantasy and especially with a major military plot but I couldn't put down the book, I just kept reading especially in the second half.
Have you read/did you like The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson? VERY political with someone form a conquered people working to rise up within the oppressors' government to bring them down from the inside.
I love she who became the sun, the author is about to release he who drowned the world
I'm not much into political fantasy. I think the closest I enjoyed was Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko.
It read as too middle grade to me. I got three chapters in before dnfing
I bought your book
Is a Song of Ice & Fire political fantasy?
I'd consider it so (not that I'm any kind of expert)
If you are into sad stories where the choice is always between bad and worse and there's no way to win the evil empire but character try nonetheless check out traitor Baru Cormorant and its sequels. TW for homophobia though.
Witcher! Witcher! Witcher!
absolutely, just finished this amazing series and was quite surprised just how political it was
Jeff Wheeler's Muirwood and Mirrowen series is a great recommendation for political fantasy. So underhyped (and underrated).
SO EXCITED!!! 🧡💖💖🤎🤎💛💚💜🖤🤎🤎💙💚💛❤️💜💜💜🤍❤️🔥❤️🔥❣️💘💖💗💓❣️🤎💛💜💚💙💙💖🧡💜💛🤎💙💙💗💗💜💛🤎🤎🖤🖤💜📖📚📙📙📚📖📖📚📙📙📖📖📚📚📙📙📚📖📖📚📙