1. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
You can’t talk about political fantasy without starting here. Martin turns the Seven Kingdoms into a chessboard of betrayals, backroom deals, and shifting alliances. The political web is so dense that every action has ripple effects. No one is safe, and Martin uses that instability to create genuine tension. It’s not just about thrones; it’s about how power corrupts, who survives when morality dies, and how loyalty gets tested when ambition knocks.
2. The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
This is the opposite of the grimdark bloodbath of Thrones. Addison’s court intrigue focuses on an outsider, Maia, a half-goblin heir suddenly thrust into ruling an empire after a tragedy. The novel thrives on court politics, subtle manipulation, and quiet resilience. If you like political maneuvering without endless battle scenes, this is a slow-burn, character-driven masterpiece where the real weapon is diplomacy.
3. The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
At first glance, it’s a con artist fantasy set in a Venetian-inspired city. But behind the heists and banter is a brutal political undercurrent. Lynch uses the criminal underworld and ruling elite as two halves of the same rotten structure, one rules in daylight, the other in shadows. Locke’s schemes inevitably crash into the games of powerful figures who can erase him with a whisper, making survival itself a political act.
4. The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold
Bujold crafts a sharp, court-driven fantasy with theological undertones. Cazaril, a war veteran, returns to court service only to find himself in the middle of a deadly succession struggle. This is a masterclass in how personal morality and political reality rarely align, and how playing the game means deciding how far you’re willing to bend before you break.
5. The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
Holly Black’s Folk of the Air series begins here, in a fae court dripping with treachery. Jude, a mortal girl raised among the fae, must navigate a world where every word is a weapon and every smile hides a threat. Power here isn’t just about ruling, it’s about surviving long enough to matter. The schemes are deliciously nasty, and the shifting alliances make it impossible to trust anyone, including the protagonist.
6. Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
Behind the coming-of-age adventure lies a surprisingly rich layer of politics. From the Ministry of Magic’s bureaucratic corruption to its propaganda-fueled denial of Voldemort’s return, the series shows how institutions can be manipulated by fear, self-interest, and incompetence. The later books especially (Order of the Phoenix and Deathly Hallows) dig into how political control is seized, maintained, and resisted, all under the guise of “security.”
7. The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
This standalone epic thrives on inter-kingdom diplomacy, religious rifts, and ancient prophecies weaponized as political leverage. Every alliance feels precarious, every treaty like a ticking clock. The novel shows how politics in fantasy isn’t always about who gets the crown, sometimes it’s about who gets to define truth.
8. The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson
If you want a political fantasy where the protagonist’s moral compass gets slowly dismantled by necessity, this is it. Baru is an economist who rises through an empire’s bureaucracy to dismantle it from within, but power changes her more than she changes the empire. It’s brutal, intelligent, and unflinching about the personal cost of political games.
9. Jade City by Fonda Lee
Think The Godfather meets Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The No Peak and Mountain clans fight for control of jade, the source of both wealth and supernatural power. Lee’s strength is showing how family loyalty and political strategy are two sides of the same coin, and how a single decision can shift the balance of an entire city.
10. Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey
Carey’s debut is lush, sensual, and dangerously political. Phedre, a courtesan-spy, navigates a court where pleasure is currency and alliances are sealed in whispers. Carey turns seduction into statecraft, and the political stakes, succession crises, invasions, betrayals, unfold with operatic intensity.
11. City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett
Here, politics collides with theology and colonialism. Shara Thivani is sent to investigate a murder in a city once ruled by divine beings, now under the control of her own government. Every interaction is laced with political tension, because history itself is a weapon, and Bennett explores how rewriting it can serve power.
12. A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
Part space opera, part court intrigue, Martine’s novel follows an ambassador trying to navigate a sprawling, poetry-loving empire without losing her own cultural identity. Every conversation is a political maneuver, every gift a veiled threat. The pacing is tight, the stakes are planetary, and the politics feel dangerously plausible.
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