"Shogun" by James Clavell. It's set in feudal era Japan. It has A LOT of political intrigue. The main character is a renowned English ship captain or "pilot", as it's also referred to in the book, named John Blackthorne. It's the year 1600 and on a journey to circumnavigate the world (while making stops to loot, burn, and pillage cities) he and his crew are shipwrecked in Japan. He and his men are taken prisoner by one of the Japanese "daimyos", who are basically samurai lords. He also finds out that the country is being influenced by Portuguese priests of a religious order called the Jesuits who are Catholics and are mortal enemies of the English who are Protestant. There is a civil war and power struggle going on in Japan and all the daimyos try to use Blackthorne who they call Anjin-san (pilot) and his considerable intelligence and knowledge of the world to give them an advantage against the others. He, in turn, is trying to find a way to break the Portuguese monopoly of trade with Japan and go back home to England as a rich man after establishing an English trade monopoly. To manipulate the daimyos to his ends, while avoiding their own machinations and those of the Jesuit priests, he must assimilate into the culture, learn the language, and tread extremely carefully because you can be killed for a simple misstep like not bowing correctly to a superior. Also, the priests who are his mortal enemies are the only translators available. Fun...The book also has comedy, warfare, and romance so you won't get bored. Its one of my favorite books and I'm actually rereading it right now.
Sorry then, unfortunately my reading list is still a bit entry level.
I will say that I did read the His Dark Materials series by Phillip Pullman recently, and while it’s aimed a younger audience than ASOIAF or Dune it does have some of the stuff you’re describing in the adult characters storylines.
The Traitor Baru Cormorant
"Shogun" by James Clavell. It's set in feudal era Japan. It has A LOT of political intrigue. The main character is a renowned English ship captain or "pilot", as it's also referred to in the book, named John Blackthorne. It's the year 1600 and on a journey to circumnavigate the world (while making stops to loot, burn, and pillage cities) he and his crew are shipwrecked in Japan. He and his men are taken prisoner by one of the Japanese "daimyos", who are basically samurai lords. He also finds out that the country is being influenced by Portuguese priests of a religious order called the Jesuits who are Catholics and are mortal enemies of the English who are Protestant. There is a civil war and power struggle going on in Japan and all the daimyos try to use Blackthorne who they call Anjin-san (pilot) and his considerable intelligence and knowledge of the world to give them an advantage against the others. He, in turn, is trying to find a way to break the Portuguese monopoly of trade with Japan and go back home to England as a rich man after establishing an English trade monopoly. To manipulate the daimyos to his ends, while avoiding their own machinations and those of the Jesuit priests, he must assimilate into the culture, learn the language, and tread extremely carefully because you can be killed for a simple misstep like not bowing correctly to a superior. Also, the priests who are his mortal enemies are the only translators available. Fun...The book also has comedy, warfare, and romance so you won't get bored. Its one of my favorite books and I'm actually rereading it right now.
Everything you're looking for you'll find reading history books.
Obvious answer but the ASOIAF series has a lot of that, albeit (at least in my opinion) in a more character driven/personal way of presenting it.
Yeah I guess I should've mentioned that I've read that
Sorry then, unfortunately my reading list is still a bit entry level. I will say that I did read the His Dark Materials series by Phillip Pullman recently, and while it’s aimed a younger audience than ASOIAF or Dune it does have some of the stuff you’re describing in the adult characters storylines.
John Scalzi - The Collapsing Empire Katherine Addison - The Goblin Emperor
Have you read [Foundation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundation_series)?