One of my favorite things about watching the Game of Thrones TV show was that every character felt like they could become a major player. It made the main characters feel so much more vulnerable. So many books have main characters protected by plot armor, and if they aren't, their deaths are instead a climatic sacrifice that saves the day. GoT was so interesting because when a character, even an important one, made a mistake, they suffered consequences that felt earned. Similarly, a character introduced a third of the way into a season could end up becoming either a major POV character, or could meaningfully shape the status quo. The Red Wedding is the obvious example of this. I think this is so compelling because it makes the story feel so much more precarious; you are constantly trying to figure out who the "big bad' really is, and you constantly feel like there are stakes for the heroes.
I feel like I've not read anything that is really like this. The Expanse series is often recommended, and while I have only read Leviathan Wakes, I don't think it really achieved this. I'm currently reading Lies of Locke Lamora, which has some elements of this, but also extremely frustrating moments where characters get out of seemingly impossible situations due to chance. Probably the closest parallel I can think of is Shogun, and maybe Dune. Or perhaps TV shows like The Wire.
I am open to any genre, though my favorite is generally historical fiction. Let me know!
by ianruns