I’m looking to find good comps for the novel I’m writing and read more books I love! It’s been a struggle for me to pin down my novel’s genre, but I think it’s Literary Fantasy.
My novel takes place in a fantasy medieval empire that has no magic or fantasy species. My protagonist must navigate the politics of court life as he secures his place as heir to the throne. He evolves into quite the Machiavellian figure to survive the cutthroat politics of court, but also softens up privately around those he comes to trust. Throughout the novel, my MC struggles with maintaining his autonomy and coming to terms with sexuality. It’s definitely on the grim side and focuses on themes of intergenerational trauma, decadence, and dehumanization.
With that context, I’m interested in reading novels with political/court intrigue, preferably in a low or no-magic fantasy setting (I’m willing to extend outside this genre to historical or sci-fi). I’d like the novel to be character-driven and not plot-driven, with the novel focusing on the interpersonal relationships and personal growth of the protagonist as the driver of the events of the story. I do love LGBT fiction, but that’d just be a bonus lol.
While I put Literary Fantasy in the title of the post, I’m not confident I have the genre of my novel right, so if you know of books not in this genre with similar elements, please recommend them!
by Pegasus1011