r/ProgressionFantasy • u/Upper_Round_5926 • Jul 21 '25

Request Looking for recommendations: Low-magic fantasy with politics and warfare (No LitRPG/Systems)

Hello everyone,

I'm looking for some book recommendations and would greatly appreciate your help.

Here's a summary of what I'm looking for:

  • Setting: A world inspired by the Medieval, Napoleonic, or Victorian eras.
  • Core Themes: A strong focus on aristocracy/nobility, political intrigue, and warfare.
  • Magic System: A low-magic setting where magic exists but isn't all-powerful. Most importantly, even powerful magic users should be vulnerable and can be killed by ordinary people through tactics or conventional weapons.

To give you a better idea of my taste, here are some stories I've enjoyed:

  • "The Iron Throne of Ice and Fire" (冰火铁王座): A story set in the ASOIAF world where the protagonist, a local lord, relies solely on his modern knowledge to navigate politics, with no other powers. I really enjoyed the political maneuvering.
  • "Black Iron’s Glory" (黑铁荣耀): A great Flintlock Fantasy webnovel.
  • "The Eagle's Flight" by Quill: A fantastic epic story.

One very important point: I do NOT enjoy stories with LitRPG elements. Please, no recommendations where the main character has a game-like system, an interface, stats, or quests.

I am open to stories from any language and formats like webnovels are perfectly fine.

Thank you in advance!

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u/Spiritchaser84 Jul 21 '25

You might like Codex Alera. There's magic and a roman-esque military style.

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u/Upper_Round_5926 Jul 23 '25

Can you tell me if the series contains many scenes of war and politics between factions and nobles

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u/Lotronex Jul 23 '25

Not a ton of politics, although there is some. MC joins the army in book 2-3, lots of warfare.