The Fantasy Review’s list of 10 Epic Fantasy Books for Fans of Political Intrigue.
The Darkness That Comes Before (The Prince of Nothing, #1) by R. Scott Bakker
From the blurb:
A score of centuries has passed since the First Apocalypse and the thoughts of men have turned, inevitably, to more worldly concerns…
A veteran sorcerer and spy seeks news of an ancient enemy. A military genius plots to conquer the known world for his Emperor but dreams of the throne for himself. The spiritual leader of the Thousand Temples seeks a Holy War to cleanse the land of the infidel. An exiled barbarian chieftain seeks vengeance against the man who disgraced him. And into this world steps a man like no other, seeking to bind all – man and woman, emperor and slave – to his own mysterious ends…
Sorcery of Thorns (Sorcery of Thorns, #1) by Margaret Rogerson
From the blurb:
All sorcerers are evil. Elisabeth has known that as long as she has known anything. Raised as a foundling in one of Austermeer’s Great Libraries, Elisabeth has grown up among the tools of sorcery—magical grimoires that whisper on shelves and rattle beneath iron chains…
The Black Tides of Heaven (Tensorate, #1) by Neon Yang
From the blurb:
Mokoya and Akeha, the twin children of the Protector, were sold to the Grand Monastery as infants. While Mokoya developed her strange prophetic gift, Akeha was always the one who could see the strings that moved adults to action. While Mokoya received visions of what would be, Akeha realized what could be. What’s more, they saw the sickness at the heart of their mother’s Protectorate…
Cast in Shadow (Chronicles of Elantra, #1) by Michelle Sagara
From the blurb:
Something is stirring again…
Seven years ago Kaylin fled the crime-riddled streets of Nightshade, knowing that something was after her. Children were being murdered—and they all had the same odd markings that mysteriously appeared on her own skin…
Since then, she’s learned to read, she’s learned to fight and she’s become one of the vaunted Hawks who patrol and police the city of Elantra. Alongside the winged Aerians and immortal Barrani, she’s made a place for herself far from the mean streets of her birth…
Air Awakens (Air Awakens, #1) by Elise Kova
From the blurb:
A library apprentice, a sorcerer prince, and an unbreakable magic bond…The Solaris Empire is one conquest away from uniting the continent, and the rare elemental magic sleeping in seventeen-year-old library apprentice Vhalla Yarl could shift the tides of war.Vhalla has always been taught to fear the Tower of Sorcerers, a mysterious magic society, and has been happy in her quiet world of books…
The Innocent Mage (Kingmaker, Kingbreaker, #1) by Karen Miller
From the blurb:
Being a fisherman like his father isn’t a bad life, but it’s not the one that Asher wants. Despite his humble roots, Asher has grand dreams. And they call him to Dorana, home of princes, beggars . . . and the warrior mages who have protected the kingdom for generations.
Little does Asher know, however, that his arrival in the city is being closely watched by members of the Circle, a secret organisation dedicated to preserving an ancient magic…
Homeland (Legend of Drizzt, #1) by R.A. Salvatore
From the blurb:
As the third son of Mother Malice and weaponmaster Zaknafein, Drizzt Do’Urden must be sacrificed to Lolth, the evil Spider Queen, per the tradition of their matriarchal drow society. But the unexpected death of his older brother spares young Drizzt—though he is still at the mercy of his abusive sisters…
Dragon Bones (Hurog, #1) by Patricia Briggs
From the blurb:
Most everyone thinks Ward of Hurog is a simple-minded fool—and that’s just fine by him. But few people know that his foolishness is (very convincingly) feigned. And that it’s the only thing that’s saved him from death.
When his abusive father dies, Ward becomes the new lord of Hurog…until a nobleman declares that he is too dim-witted to rule. Ward knows he cannot play the fool any longer. To regain his kingdom, he must prove himself worthy—and quickly…
Empress (Godspeaker Trilogy #1) by Karen Miller
From the blurb:
In a family torn apart by poverty and violence, Hekat is no more than an unwanted mouth to feed, worth only a few coins from a passing slave trader.
But Hekat was not born to be a slave. For her, a different path has been chosen.
It is a path that will take her from stinking back alleys to the house of her God, from blood-drenched battlefields to the glittering palaces of Mijak…
Legacy of Ash (Legacy Trilogy, #1) by Matthew Ward
From the blurb:
A shadow has fallen over the Tressian Republic.
Ruling families — once protectors of justice and democracy — now plot against one another with sharp words and sharper knives. Blinded by ambition, they remain heedless of the threat posed by the invading armies of the Hadari Empire.
Yet as Tressia falls, heroes rise…
