Hello!
I'm looking for books about navigating complex political landscapes, but with a gentle, slow "improving the world"/learning to govern vibe.
Examples of stuff I've enjoyed previously are:
The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard
and
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison.
These are both fantasy (which I love) but I'm open to historical fiction as well!
by syzygy_13_
2 Comments
Yeah both those books are fantastic for that kind of thoughtful political storytelling – they really nail the whole “figuring out how to do good while dealing with complex systems” thing. You might really dig The Priory of the Orange Tree, it’s got some great political maneuvering but focuses more on building alliances and understanding different perspectives rather than just scheming and backstabbing
For something a bit different, maybe check out some of Martha Wells’ stuff – the Murderbot series isn’t exactly political but it has this great theme of learning to work within flawed systems while staying true to your values. There’s also this series that starts with The Goblin Corps but I’m blanking on the author’s name right now, focuses on rebuilding after conflict rather than the usual “overthrowing the bad guys” plot
Historical fiction wise, you might want to look into books about post-war reconstruction periods – they often have that same careful, thoughtful approach to governance and social change that those fantasy novels do so well
The long walk to freedom (Nelson Mandela) is incredible