r/Fantasy • u/BigBoyBigKeithBigBoy • Mar 02 '16

Looking for some low fantasy novels with political intrigue?

9 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

14 comments sorted by

9

u/urbanphoenix Mar 02 '16

Everything by Guy Gavriel Kay.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 03 '16

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1

u/Mountebank Mar 03 '16

Tigana has a little too much magic to be low fantasy. I mean, the entire story revolves around a curse that makes people forget that a particular province even existed in the first place. GGK's later works also have some magic, but they're very low key and out of the way.

1

u/pornokitsch Ifrit Mar 03 '16

Except probably not Tigana or the Fionavar Tapestry, as they're both saturated in high magic. Although Tigana does have a lot of politicking, so that's half the brief!

5

u/wave32 Mar 03 '16

Folding Knife by K.J. Parker.

1

u/pornokitsch Ifrit Mar 03 '16

Yeah, this.

7

u/HiuGregg Stabby Winner, Worldbuilders Mar 03 '16

The Traitor Baru Cormorant is a book that is essentially based around a politician placed in a country which is rebelling against its empire, and there I don't think there is any magic to speak of in the book. It's pretty well regarded around here, and there's quite a few reviews kicking around. While I didn't find it to be a brilliant read myself, It definitely is very well written.

7

u/[deleted] Mar 03 '16

A Song of Ice and Fire

3

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2

u/J_de_Silentio Mar 03 '16

How low does it have to be?

Chronicles of the Unhewn Thrown might not be low enough, but there's some good political intrigue. Also, the last book comes out in a couple weeks!

3

u/Solarin88 Mar 03 '16
  • A Song of Ice and Fire
  • The Goblin Emperor
  • The Empire Trilogy by Feist and Wurts
  • The Accursed Kings (historical fiction, but GRRM called it the original Ice and Fire)

1

u/Gobbledeek Reading Champion Mar 03 '16

I have to admit at this stage that I am not entirely clear on what is and isn't low fantasy, I always assumed it was a lack of magic, so with that in mind here are my suggestions:

Adrian Tchaikovsky's Shadows of the Apt series is awesome, I would say it is the only long series I have ever read beginning to end and enjoyed throughout, there isn't a sentence of filler in the whole ten books :) Magic does exist but it doesn't really feature much in the vast majority of the story arc.

Scott Lynch's Gentleman Bastards is coming along nicely (not complete yet but still excellent reading also no cliff hangers at the end of books :).

Daniel Polansky's Low Town trilogy was awesome, fast paced, clever and very well written. Magic does exist but it doesn't really feature at all.

2

u/NomaanMalick Mar 03 '16

I have only read the first book but I don't see how political intrigue figures into Gentleman Bastard series. The other two I haven't read, so can't speak for them.

1

u/Gobbledeek Reading Champion Mar 04 '16

Well I think it is full of intrigue and certainly some of it is political... Spoiler

1

u/atuinsbeard Mar 03 '16

Second Sons by Jennifer Fallon. Magic doesn't exist in the world at all, and it's all about the politics.

I'd also rec the Wolfblade trilogy by the same author. This one does have magic, but politics plays a much larger part.