Skip to main content
K
KOTUI / National Library of New Zealand
All Lists
Genre Guides
Fantastical Court Intrigue
Unpublished
Share
Empires and kingdoms rise and fall. Immerse yourself in political and courtly intrigue within fantasy worlds.
Updated September 19, 2022
Unbound Librarians
A list cannot be published until it has at least four items.
List was unpublished.
List was published.
Drag items up and down to your preferred order then select the "Save Order" button.
Game of thrones
Martin, George R. R.
Paper Book
HBO's hit series A GAME OF THRONES is based on George R R Martin's internationally bestselling series A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE, the greatest fantasy epic of the modern age. A GAME OF THRONES is the first volume in the series. 'So vivid that you'll be hooked within a few...
Comment
Save
Cancel
Check Availability
Assassin's apprentice
Hobb, Robin
Paper Book
'Fantasy as it ought to be written' George R.R. Martin The kingdom of the Six Duchies is on the brink of civil war when news breaks that the crown prince has fathered a bastard son and is shamed into abdication. The child's name is Fitz, and he is despised. ...
Comment
Save
Cancel
Check Availability
Mistborn : the final empire
Sanderson, Brandon
Paper Book
From #1New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson, the Mistborn series is a heist story of political intrigue and magical, martial-arts action. For a thousand years the ash fell and no flowers bloomed. For a thousand years the Skaa slaved in misery and lived in...
Comment
Save
Cancel
Check Availability
Graceling
Cashore, Kristin
Paper Book
Discover the Graceling Realm in this unforgettable, award-winning novel from bestselling author Kristin Cashore. A New York Times bestseller ALA Best Book for Young Adults Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children's Literature Winner...
Comment
Save
Cancel
Check Availability
Throne of Glass - Book 1 - Throne of Glass
Maas, Sarah J.
Paper Book
The book that started the phenomenon. Sarah J. Maas's global #1 bestselling THRONE OF GLASS series has taken the world by storm.Meet Celaena Sardothien.Beautiful. Deadly. Destined for greatness.In the dark, filthy salt mines of Endovier, an eighteen-year-old girl is serving a life sentence....
Comment
Save
Cancel
Check Availability
Red queen
Aveyard, Victoria
Paper Book
The Hunger Games meets the X-Men in this internationally bestselling YA fantasy series soon to be a major TV show from the producers of Divergent directed by and starring Elizabeth Banks . . . __________________ Set in a far...
Comment
Save
Cancel
Check Availability
Elantris
Sanderson, Brandon
Paper Book
Elantris was built on magic and it thrived. But then the magic began to fade and Elantris began to rot. And now its shattered citizens face domination by a powerful Imperium motivated by dogged religious views. Can a young Princess unite the people of Elantris, rediscover the lost magic and lead...
Comment
Save
Cancel
Check Availability
The cruel prince
Black, Holly
Paper Book
Queen of fantasy Holly Black weaves her magic with the tale of Jude, a mortal girl who is caught up in a dangerous web of royal faerie intrigue.
Comment
Save
Cancel
Check Availability
An ember in the ashes a novel
Tahir, Sabaa
Paper Book
BOOK ONE IN THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING SERIES * One of Time Magazine's 100 Best Fantasy and 100 Best YA Books of All Time * People's Choice Award winner * Bustle's Best Young Adult Book "This novel is a harrowing, haunting reminder of what it means to be human...
Comment
Save
Cancel
Check Availability
The hundred thousand kingdoms
Jemisin, N. K.
Paper Book
After her mother's mysterious death, a young woman is summoned to the floating city of Sky in order to claim a royal inheritance she never knew existed in the first book in this award-winning fantasy trilogy from the NYT bestselling author of The Fifth Season. Yeine...
Comment
Save
Cancel
Check Availability
Daughter of the empire
Feist, Raymond E.
Paper Book
From the imagination of two of fantasy's greatest names comes a magnificent epic of heroic and dynastic struggle. At age 17, Mara's ceremonial pledge of servantship to the goddess Lashima is interrupted by the news that her father and brother have been killed in battle on Trigia, the...
Comment
Save
Cancel
Check Availability
The priory of the orange tree
Shannon, Samantha
Paper Book
The New York Times bestselling "epic feminist fantasy perfect for fans of Game of Thrones" (Bustle). NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY: AMAZON (Top 100 Editors Picks and Science Fiction and Fantasy) * CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY * BOOKPAGE...
Comment
Save
Cancel
Check Availability
Grave mercy
LaFevers, Robin.
Paper Book
Why be the sheep, when you can be the wolf? Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed...
Comment
Save
Cancel
Check Availability
The city of brass
Chakraborty, S. A.
Paper Book
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Library Journal | Vulture | The Verge | SYFYWire *Finalist for the World Fantasy Award: Best Novel *Nominated for the Locus Award: Best First Novel *Finalist for the British Fantasy Award: Best Newcomer<...
Comment
Save
Cancel
Check Availability
Prince of Thorns
Lawrence, Mark.
Paper Book
A stunning fantasy debut from a major new talent! When he was nine, he watched his mother and brother killed before him. By the time he was thirteen, he was the leader of a band of bloodthirsty thugs. By fifteen, he intends to be king... It's time for Prince Honorous...
Comment
Save
Cancel
Check Availability
The Queen of the Tearling : a novel
Johansen, Erika
Paper Book
A #1 Indie Next Pick and LibraryReads Selection Magic, adventure, mystery, and romance combine in this epic debut in which a young princess must reclaim her dead mother's throne, learn to be a ruler--and defeat the Red Queen, a powerful and malevolent sorceress determined to destroy her.<...
Comment
Save
Cancel
Check Availability
The Ascendance trilogy. 1, The false prince
Nielsen, Jennifer A.
Paper Book
New York Times bestseller The False Prince thrills with wild twists and turns, danger and deceit, and the revelation of hidden identities that will have readers rushing breathlessly to the end.In a discontented kingdom, civil war is brewing. To unify the divided people, Conner, a...
Comment
Save
Cancel
Check Availability
The Goblin emperor
Addison, Katherine
Paper Book
A lush tale of deadly court intrigue and a modern classic of fantasy by Locus award winner and Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Award finalist Katherine Addison Unbound Worlds 100 Best Fantasy Novels of All Time A Best Fantasy Novel of the Decade Pick for...
Comment
Save
Cancel
Check Availability
The Queen of Attolia
Turner, Megan Whalen.
Paper Book
Discover and rediscover the world of the Queen's Thief, from the acclaimed novel The Thief to the thrilling, twenty-years-in-the-making conclusion, The Return of the Thief. The epic novels set in the world of the Queen's Thief can be read in any order. New York Times...
Comment
Save
Cancel
Check Availability
King of scars
Bardugo, Leigh
Paper Book
See the Grishaverse come to life on screen with the Netflix series, Shadow and Bone - Season 2 streaming now! Discover what comes next for the daring rogue Nikolai in the start of this captivating new duology. The much-anticipated first book in a brand-new duology by...
Comment
Save
Cancel
Check Availability
A memory called empire
Martine, Arkady
Paper Book
Winner of the Hugo Award for Best Novel 'I absolutely loved it' - Ann Leckie, author of Ancillary Justice In a war of lies, she seeks the truth. An epic, queer space opera, A Memory Called Empire is the astonishing debut novel from...
Comment
Save
Cancel
Check Availability
Sorcerer to the crown
Cho, Zen.
Paper Book
Comment
Save
Cancel
Check Availability
Grace of Kings, The
Liu, Ken
Paper Book
Emperor Mapidéré was the first to unite the island kingdoms of Dara under a single banner. But now the emperor is on his deathbed, his people are exhausted by his vast, conscriptive engineering projects and his counsellors conspire only for their own gain. Even the gods themselves are...
Comment
Save
Cancel
Check Availability
Jade city
Lee, Fonda
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE WORLD FANTASY AWARD 'An epic drama reminiscent of the best classic Hong Kong gangster films but set in a fantasy metropolis so gritty and well-imagined that you'll forget you're reading a book' KEN LIU ...
Comment
Save
Cancel
Check Availability
The Raven tower
Leckie, Ann
Paper Book
Listen. A god is speaking.My voice echoes through the stone of your master's castle. This castle where he finds his uncle on his father's throne. You want to help him. You cannot.You are the only one who can hear me.You will change the world.A triumph of the imagination, THE RAVEN TOWER is...
Comment
Save
Cancel
Check Availability
Captive prince
Pacat, C. S.
Paper Book
Damen is a warrior hero to his people, and the rightful heir to the throne of Akielos. But when his half-brother seizes power, Damien is captured, stripped of his identity and sent to serve the prince of an enemy nation as a pleasure slave. For Damen, there is just one rule: never, ever reveal his...
Comment
Save
Cancel
Check Availability
She who became the sun
Parker-Chan, Shelley
Paper Book
HUGO AWARD FINALIST FOR FOR BEST NOVEL 2022THE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERAn absorbing historical fantasy, She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan reimagines the rise to power of the Ming Dynasty's founding emperor.She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan is a historical fantasy...
Comment
Save
Cancel
Check Availability
The empress of salt and fortune
Vo, Nghi
Paper Book
Winner of the 2020 Crawford Award! Winner of the 2021 Hugo Award! A Hugo Award-Winning Series! A 2021 Locus Award Finalist A 2021 Ignyte Award Finalist A Goodreads Choice Award Finalist A Book Riot Best Debut Fantasy of All...
Comment
Save
Cancel
Check Availability
The ruin of kings
Lyons, Jenn
Paper Book
A Kirkus Best of Science Fiction and Fantasy pick for 2019!A Library Journal Best Book of 2019! An NPR Favorite Book of 2019! "Everything epic fantasy should be: rich, cruel, gorgeous, brilliant, enthralling and deeply, deeply satisfying. I...
Comment
Save
Cancel
Check Availability
The bone shard daughter
Stewart, Andrea
Paper Book
The Bone Shard Daughter is an unmissable debut from a major new voice in epic fantasy -- a stunning tale of magic, mystery, and revolution in which the former heir to the emperor will fight to reclaim her power and her place on the throne. ...
Comment
Save
Cancel
Check Availability
Raybearer
Ifueko, Jordan
Paper Book
Fans of Sabaa Tahir and Tomi Adeyemi won't want to miss Raybearer, an instant New York Times bestselling fantasy from breakout YA sensation Jordan Ifueko! Named one of the best books of the year by People magazine, Buzzfeed, New York...
Comment
Save
Cancel
Check Availability
A brightness long ago
Kay, Guy Gavriel
Paper Book
'The greatest living author of epic fantasy' - Brandon Sanderson 'The finest in his field' - Tor.com 'Guy Gavriel Kay's A Brightness Long Ago is a masterpiece; perhaps the finest work of one of the world's greatest living storytellers' - Fantasy Book...
Comment
Save
Cancel
Check Availability
The jasmine throne
Suri, Tasha
Paper Book
***THE WORLD FANTASY AWARD WINNER*** One is a vengeful princess seeking to depose her brother from his throne. The other is a priestess searching for her family. Together, they will change the fate of an empire. Imprisoned by her...
Comment
Save
Cancel
Check Availability
The queens of Innis Lear
Gratton, Tessa
Paper Book
A KINGDOM AT RISK, A CROWN DIVIDED, A FAMILY DRENCHED IN BLOOD. Tessa Gratton's debut epic adult fantasy, The Queens of Innis Lear, brings to life a world that hums with ancient magic, and characters as ruthless as the tides. The erratic decisions of a...
Comment
Save
Cancel
Check Availability
The last sun
Edwards, K. D.
Paper Book
In this debut novel and series starter, the last member of a murdered House searches for a missing nobleman, and uncovers clues about his own tortured past. Rune Saint John, last child of the fallen Sun Court, is hired to search for Lady Judgment's missing son, Addam, on New Atlantis, the island...
Comment
Save
Cancel
Check Availability
An illusion of thieves
Glass, Cate
Paper Book
A ragtag crew with forbidden magic must pull off an elaborate heist and stop a civil war in An Illusion of Thieves, a fantasy adventure from Cate Glass. In Cantagna, being a sorcerer is a death sentence. Romy escapes her hardscrabble upbringing when...
Comment
Save
Cancel
Check Availability
The vanished queen
Campbell, Lisbeth
Paper Book
A stunning blend of vivid fantasy and political drama, The Vanished Queen is the timely story of a young resistance fighter working to overthrow a totalitarian ruler's regime of terror and lies. "[G]ripping...this is the novel the world needs now" (Kate Heartfield, Nebula Award finalist...
Comment
Save
Cancel
Check Availability
The councillor
Beaton, E. J.
Paper Book
This fantasy novel follows a scholar's quest to choose the next ruler of her nation amidst lies, conspiracy, and assassination When the death of Iron Queen Sarelin Brey fractures the realm of Elira, Lysande Prior, the palace scholar and the queen's closest friend, is appointed...
Comment
Save
Cancel
Check Availability
Castles in their bones
Sebastian, Laura
Paper Book
Born to rule. Raised to deceive. The plot: overthrow a kingdom. The goal: world domination. The plan: marriage. Empress Margaraux has had plans for her daughters since the day they were born. Princesses Sophronia, Daphne, and Beatriz will be queens....
Comment
Save
Cancel
Check Availability
Library staff! You can create and contribute to lists. Contact your catalog administrator or
log in here.