aliettedb: Book recommendation...

Aliette de Bodard (

aliettedb) wrote,
@ 2008-04-14 18:06:00

Book recommendation...
Can anyone on the f-list recommend a good novel that focuses on court intrigues? It doesn't have to be genre; a good historical will do as well.
(bonus points for Asian/Muslim court intrigues)

I'm trying to incorporate a court intrigue into the Rahani novel, but failing miserably--so I wanted an idea of how other writers had gone about it.

Thanks!

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stephanieburgis
2008-04-14 04:41 pm UTC (link)

I love court intrigue novels! Philippa Gregory's historical fiction novels The Other Boleyn Girl and The Boleyn Inheritance are both really good for that. In genre, I really love Vonda MacIntyre's The Sun and the Moon (set in the maneuvering court of Louis XIV) and Lois McMaster Bujold's The Curse of Chalion (although the great court intrigue in that one doesn't start till about a third of the way through.)

(Reply to this)(Thread)

	aliettedb 2008-04-15 05:41 pm UTC (link)
	Ah-ah! My parents have The Other Boleyn Girl somewhere. Now I just have to find it. Thanks! (Reply to this)(Parent)

	stevenagy 2008-04-14 05:21 pm UTC (link)
	Shogun immediately came to my mind. And you could probably look to another Bujold novel as well, A Civil Campaign, because of the political subplot. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	aliettedb 2008-04-15 05:45 pm UTC (link)
	Hum, more Bujold. I like :) Thanks! (Reply to this)(Parent)

	rflong 2008-04-14 06:18 pm UTC (link)
	I'm thinking Feist-Wurtz Daughter of Empire trilogy. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	aliettedb 2008-04-15 05:46 pm UTC (link)
	Ah--I have those somewhere, from my teenage years... Thanks! (Reply to this)(Parent)

	endelarin 2008-04-14 06:52 pm UTC (link)
	I heartily recommend G.R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series. Dune and its sequels are novels of dense court intrigue, with a quasi-Muslim/Byzantine flavor. In romance, you might look at the Angelique books of Sergeanne Golon--juicy historicals all, and one was set in a Muslim court. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	aliettedb 2008-04-15 05:49 pm UTC (link)
	I read Dune as more mysticism than court intrigues, but I do need to read them again... I'll put the Angelique books on the backburner :) Thanks! (Reply to this)(Parent)

	catrambo 2008-04-14 06:59 pm UTC (link)
	Ditto the McIntyre recommendation. Prince of the Golden Cages, which I thought was a fun read, was a Muslim type court intrigue novel, though the intrigue may not be as nuanced as one might wish. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	aliettedb 2008-04-15 05:50 pm UTC (link)
	I'll try to find the McIntyre. Thanks! (Reply to this)(Parent)

	vylar_kaftan 2008-04-14 08:26 pm UTC (link)
	Ditto on "The Sun and the Moon." Perhaps "The Lions of Al-Rassan" by Guy Gavriel Kay. I'm pretty sure there's some court intrigue, and it's set in an alternate (pseudo) Islamic Spain. Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel books might be helpful too. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	xanthalanari 2008-04-14 08:39 pm UTC (link)
	Kay and Carey were who I was going to recommend. :) (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	aliettedb 2008-04-15 05:51 pm UTC (link)
	:) Thanks! (Reply to this)(Parent)

	aliettedb 2008-04-15 05:51 pm UTC (link)
	Ha, I did try the Kushiel books, but the sensuality thing turned me off, I have to confess. Maybe I need to try it again... Thanks! (Reply to this)(Parent)

vylar_kaftan
2008-04-14 08:28 pm UTC (link)

Oh, you said Asian too! Then definitely "Imperial Woman" by Pearl S. Buck. True story of Tzu-Hsi (modernly written as Cixi), 19th century Empress of China. The book is reasonably accurate, although of course written from a Western viewpoint, and what's so interesting is that she was a cruel despot and closed-minded woman, but Buck manages to make her sympathetic. It's an impressive feat. And the whole thing is all about court intrigue and desperate attempts to keep the Westerners out.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

	aliettedb 2008-04-15 05:52 pm UTC (link)
	Ah yes, Cixi. The disastrous Empress of the Qing... I didn't know there had been a book about her. I definitely need to check it out. Thanks! (Reply to this)(Parent)

	Court Intrigues angelaina 2008-04-21 06:36 am UTC (link)
	For spec-fic, you could try Fiona McInstosh's 'Goddess' - set in a fairly Byzantine kind of court with powerful eunuchs, etc scheming madly. You could try the Damascus Chronicle by Al-Qalanasi (I think!) - lots of intrigue in the 12th century. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	Re: Court Intrigues aliettedb 2008-04-21 06:51 pm UTC (link)
	Wow, nice. It's been a while since I had Byzantium. Makes me think I should dig up Kay's "Sarantine mosaic". Thanks! (Reply to this)(Parent)

	oops angelaina 2008-04-21 06:37 am UTC (link)
	that would be mcintosh. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	Re: oops aliettedb 2008-04-21 06:51 pm UTC (link)
	Yep, I figured it was ;) (Reply to this)(Parent)

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