Sff or romance novels with "political" plots

Post date: 2021-06-17 07:46:13

I'm craving genre fiction with a plot centered around machinations, manipulations, diplomacy, maneuvering, campaigning

I'm not sure if political is quite the right word, since I'm not looking for books focused on policy, or even necessarily politicians. What I mean by political is related to socially maneuvering around power structures, conflict that is done via welding influence, carefully cultivating reputation, the use of relationships as assets, etc. Backstabbing, traitors, secret alliances, promises and broken promises...

Looking for books where that kind of maneuvering isn't an occasional side point but the primary meat and focus of the plot, where most plot points are not direct action encounters like a sword fight or a heist but rather careful social maneuvering and behind the scenes ploys.

Extra points if the final resolution/climax is also like this (since I've read a number of books that switch to a big action scene for the ending even if the middle was more politics-y)

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