I'm looking for a historical novel with a heavy dose of political maneuvering, preferably with little to no romance. Most of them seem to be Josei, and I'm not up for that. Harem drama is inevitable if the emperor is involved, but I'm hoping it won't be as mind-numbingly melodramatic as those dramas. Thank you!
The Grandmaster Strategist - probably what you are looking for. The Human Emperor - a bit more cultivationy
These kinds of books are actually pretty common - in Chinese. They are rarely translated though because it's a lot more work than regular books and the reader base in English just isn't there. Historical novels are my favorite genre right now and I'd have a bunch of great suggestions for you but they're all in Chinese and it's not even the kind of Chinese that's practical to MTL. As an alternative, you might want to check out Chinese television. This kind of story is not particularly common in them but they do exist and some of them come with English subtitles.
Do you mind recommending them anyway? I'd honestly learn Chinese if I weren't stuck learning a different language right now. I might do so in the future. Thanks for the heads up about cn tv!
Sure thing: 回到明朝当王爷 by 月关 This book came out a long time ago and it was very popular; to the extent that it feels like everything in the historical novel genre seem to borrow from it. Despite the title, the protagonist starts from a humble xiucai (秀才) and rises fairly gradually to the higher ranks. And the sheer amount of historical detail that it goes into is absolutely incredible. Most historical (real and fake) novels out there feel like they take place in a nebulous and unspecific past, sort of like the generic Imperial Chinese novel much like how a lot of fantasy novels take place in a generic Medieval Europe. This book however makes the reader feel what it's like to live during the Ming dynasty, and specifically during the middle of the Ming dynasty with its inherent government policies, historical personalities, and events. This is definitely what I'd use as the first stop. The other books by the same writer (步步生莲, 锦衣夜行, 醉枕江山, 大争之世, etc.) are also very good. One of the reasons I don't think particularly highly of books like "Grandmaster Strategist" is because these books do a far better job at telling the same kind of story. 康熙大帝 by 二月河 I still haven't got around to reading this one, but it's a real classic in historical fiction. It's enormously influential, and it's a prime reason why Qing dynasty TV shows got so popular from the 90's to the early 2000's. The followups 雍正皇帝 and 乾隆皇帝 are also supposed to be very good. Also note that these books (or more accurately their TV adaptations) are the primary reason why transmigration stories got popularized. A Step into the Past I'm a bit hesitant to recommend this book because it's just not as good as other titles. Still, it's noteworthy in being the first of the transmigration stories.
Nirvana In Fire Both the drama and the novel are good. Honestly, I would have died a thousand times without even knowing why if I was in that world...
Well watch These asian series 1. Legend of Chu-han About liu bang rise to power ( patriach of chinese people) and yea poor han xin and xiang yu.. Very good watch if you like a peasant turning into most powerfull man on earth. Chu- han contention after the fall of Qin empire. 2. The Qin Empire ( three season) Its about Rise of Qin state to become hegemon of ancient world and swallow all six kingdoms unifying china creating everlasting legacy of the great wall and terrocotta army) 3. The three Kingdoms (2010) Its about the fall of han dynasty. Mixed from the novel romance of three kingdom and real history. It has cao cao as main character and really love the actor that played cao cao. Have watch red cliff movie? Empire long divided must unite, long united must divide and thus it has ever been. 4. Nirvana In Fire Well its complete fantasy about mc who's family is slaughtered and he is back for vengeance bitches. Very awesome series. Smart Mc 5. Empress of china Story about rise to power of wu zetian first female emperor of china who created wu dynasty. Its during Tang dynasty period and mc is peasant at the begginning as well. Kinda mixed with real history and fiction. 6. Advisor's Alliance Story of Sima yi rise to power as adviser of cao cao and later his descendants establishing jin dynasty successor to Han dynasty uniting china. Sima yi and zhuge liang kinda have interesting rivalry going in between very interesting. 7. SInging all along Its about rise to power of peasant from liu family establishing eastern han dynasty during the upsurpation of throne by wang mang establishing his own Xin dynasty. Liu xiu is peasant who has no desire to become emperor but as fate will have it he will revive the han dynasty from the grave and keep it alive for next 200 years until cao cao comes along lol. Its kinda cheesy with romance but emperor guangwu was said to have only 2 wife throughout his life and one wife was just forced at him did not even love her. Astonishing if you think about it no other emperor in history of china is like him. This series is about peasant emperor whom i really admire. Lol watch these you will also understand chinese culture and history as well. And most fun part of it is that peasants turning into emperors. I just wish chinese made series about zhu yuanzhang( Ming first emperor) who turned from beggar to emperor of massive empire.
1. 大明最后一个狠人 2. 回到明朝当暴君 So protagonist transmigrates to emeror/emperor's son in both cases but both cases are near the end of the Ming dynasty, so protagonists has to be ruthless in cutting corruption and saving the dynasty (and their own lives). Political manuvering from corrupt officials and corrupt merchants. Why transmigrate to some peasant that has to learn bootlicking 101, bribery for beginners, and art of backstabbing pt.1, for some pissant emperor and nasty officials when you can just transmigrate straight to the emperor ‐-‐--------------------- Also this: 混在三国当军阀 MC climbs his way up during three kingdoms era as a yellow turban bandit by robbing and pillaging. Political manuevering from enemies, but MC doesnt really partake in that until near end.