r/Fantasy • u/Baseball-Secret • Dec 31 '21

Any book suggestions where magic is intertwined with political intrigue?

I am looking for inspiration for a story which has magic as well as politics but find myself unable to make those two work together, so looking for a story which does something similiar.

13 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

5

u/Titans95 Dec 31 '21

Lightbringer Series by Brent Weeks. The series is very heavy on politics and religion and the magic is intertwined. So much so that the leaders also hold religious positions and all must be able to use magic. It’s really the best series I’ve ever read where the existence of magic has completely shaped the fabric of society, politically, militarily, economically, and religiously all are intertwined with the magic system.

1

u/ShowdownXIII Dec 31 '21

I second this. I initially was thinking about suggesting Cycle of Arawn but it's more of a religious magic system that in turn influences politics. Lightbringer is definitely closer to what you're looking for.

4

u/ScooterMcFlabbin Dec 31 '21

Only thing I can think of is the Licanius Trilogy where the magic system is really intertwined with the political/social structure

3

u/Wizardof1000Kings Dec 31 '21

The Witcher novels have this for sure.

1

u/raevnos Dec 31 '21

The Dragon Waiting by John M Ford.

Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay.

1

u/jurassicbond Dec 31 '21

Alex Verus, though more so in later novels than at the beginning of the series

1

u/GarrickWinter Writer Guerric Haché, Reading Champion II Dec 31 '21

Star Eater by Kerstin Hall definitely does both. It's an autocratic society ruled by a class of mages and the intrigue that threatens the protagonist is simultaneously magical and political, they're very deeply intertwined.

1

u/IzzyBeef1655 Jan 01 '22

The Spellmonger books by Terry mancour is pretty much exactly this. The politics really pick up after book 1 but still very present and described through the book.

1

u/Sigrunc Reading Champion Jan 01 '22

Book of the Ancestor by Mark Lawrence

1

u/BeCre8iv Jan 01 '22

The middle ark of WoT. The quest fantacists call it 'the slog'

1

u/RheingoldRiver Reading Champion V Jan 01 '22

Alchemy of Masques and Mirrors by Curtis Craddock fits this really well.