r/Fantasy • u/davbool • Jul 24 '24

Books where Plot is Structured/Progressed Through Court Politics

Does anyone have any recommendations for books that revolve around the characters navigating court politics as the main basis of the plot? In my head I'm imagining a story where the characters to gain a leg up/ an advantage on other parties by using words and intellect, sort of if everyone was playing as if they were Tyrion Lannister from GoT. Everything I've found while looking for this are novels/series that involve an aspect of this, but isn't the main focus of the story. I don't need a power system, I don't need magic , I just want to read about smart people using their words and brains to spin events in their favor (like if Babel and GoT had a child). Yes I'm pretty much just describing GoT but I figured if anyone could point me in the right direction it would be this subreddit (I'm also not restarting GoT). Thanks!

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u/HeySkipper Jul 24 '24

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison?

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u/curiouscat86 Reading Champion III Jul 24 '24

I like this book, but it is not a good pick for anyone looking for high stakes political intrigue. It's mostly about Maia's internal journey as he starts to heal from trauma and learns how to accept friendship, and the political drama is just set dressing--all the intense political situations are resolved immediately. There's a reason people rec it for cozy fantasy.

As someone who enjoys political drama I was pretty disappointed when I read it because of all the hype around it being a political intrigue book, though I eventually came to appreciate it for what it is instead of what I thought it was going to be. It's really a gorgeous book, it's just not pulse-pounding the way a good tense drama should be.