Rebellions, Rivals, and Ruthless Rulers: 9 Fantasy Books With Epic Political Intrigue

This poignant and thrilling debut by Shelley Parker-Chan promises plenty of political intrigue with its fantastical retelling of the rise of the Ming Dynasty. Set during Mongol rule in 1345 China, we meet the Zhu family, whose eighth son Zhu Chongba receives a fate of greatness, while their second-born daughter receives nothingness. After bandits orphan the two children and Zhu Chongba dies of despair, this daughter shakes off her fate of nothingness and takes on her brother’s identity, determining to live up to his fate.

On the continent of Meridian, we see the interactions between multiple political groups, including a number of city-states loyal to the holy city of Tova. Between a powerful religious order governing the city and the various Sky Clans that reside there, Tova itself brims with further political intrigue. With superb world-building and likable, nuanced characters, Rebecca Roanhorse weaves a compelling fantasy as Tova prepares for a dire celestial event. The story follows the Sun Priest Naranpa, bisexual and magically-gifted sea captain Xiala, a young blind man Serapio with a predestined fate, and Okoa of the Carrion Crow Clan.

While this is the fourth book in the Graceling Realm series, it spills over with so much political intrigue, and I loved it so much, I had to include it. Each book in the series focuses on a different character (though Bitterblue does star in both the third and fourth books), so they can be read as standalones. Drawn to the newly discovered country of Winterkeep after the disappearance of her political envoy, Queen Bitterblue gets lost at sea herself, leaving her companions to continue the investigation without her. Meanwhile, Lovisa Cavenda, the teen daughter of two opposing members of Winterkeep’s democratic republic, may have the answer to everything.

Drawing inspiration from the history of India, this captivating new fantasy by Tasha Suri spins a tangled web of political intrigue. Malini, a captive princess, plots her escape from her dictator brother, all while rebellion brews within the kingdom. Entrapped within an ancient temple once the source of magical deathless waters, Malini finds her path intertwined with the maidservant Priya’s after she witnesses Priya’s secret nature.

In the vein of A Song of Ice and Fire, the turbulent political situation in Saladin Ahmed’s epic fantasy leads to the overlooking of a growing supernatural threat. In the Crescent Moon Kingdoms, rebellion simmers below the surface as the current Khalif faces a threat to his power by a mysterious thief called the Falcon Prince. On the brink of retiring from his many years of ghul hunting, Doctor Adoulla Makhslood gets pulled back in after a murder close to home. With the help of his young assistant, the holy warrior Raseed bas Raseed, and a fierce lion-shapeshifter named Zamia Badawi, Adoulla will follow a string of murders and uncover a plot more sinister than any of them could have ever imagined.

This epic fantasy by N.K. Jemisin takes political intrigue to a whole new level in the floating city of Sky, at the heart of the hundred thousand kingdoms. After her mother dies under mysterious circumstances, outcast teen Yeine Darr receives a summons to Sky where her grandfather the king has named her one of his heirs. Yeine soon finds herself caught within a power struggle between her cousins who have also been chosen as heirs, as well as the intrigues of the enslaved gods residing in Sky.