kate_nepveu | Bad Empires in Fantasy

You're viewing

kate_nepveu's journal
Create a Dreamwidth Account Learn More

Reload page in style: site light

kate_nepveu

How common are empires in fantasy that are oppressive or unjust (ETA:) and whose oppressions are a plot concern, but are not run by Evil Deities etc. and do not exist to be the opposition for the protagonist's polity? I'm thinking of David Anthony Durham's Acacia trilogy, a book that's not out yet so I'd prefer to avoid discussing it in case it's a spoiler, and . . . ?

I suspect, not very, as fantasy is well-known for its aristocratic preferences, but I thought I should ask.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

mikeda.livejournal.com

The Seanchan empire in the Wheel of Time series would seem to qualify.

From:

kate_nepveu

To me that falls under "opposition for the protagonist's polity," but I haven't read the last couple.

From:

mikeda.livejournal.com

There are hints at least as early as "Lord of Chaos" that the Seanchan are probably going to be more than just opponents, but it does seem (from what I've heard) that it becomes much clearer in "Knife of Dreams" (Book 11).

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Profile

Kate

Outside of a Dog

July 2025

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
		1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30	31

Tags

[time] in review [183]
anime [6]
- cowboy bebop [9]
- fullmetal alchemist (2003) [35]
- fullmetal alchemist brotherhood [31]
- martian successor nadesico [7]
- princess tutu [9]
- pumpkin scissors [2]
- samurai champloo [6]
- trigun [11]
- vision of escaflowne [6]
baseball [1]
being carded [4]
bittercon [7]
books [160]
- 100 first lines [3]
- booklog-in-exile [6]
- dark tower series [9]
- freedom and necessity daily [53]
- harry potter [11]
- jonathan strange & mr norrell [5]
- lord of the rings [55]
- moby dick [2]
- tale of genji [21]
- temeraire-verse [6]
- vorkosigan [3]
bullet journaling [1]
cars [11]
chad's books [11]
cheerful things [7]
clothes [2]
college hoops [6]
comics [5]
computers [2]
con or bust [31]
concussion [1]
cons [3]
- arisia
  - 2011 [1]
  - 2013 [1]
  - 2014 [8]
  - 2015 [4]
  - 2016 [6]
  - 2017 [3]
  - 2018 [4]
  - 2019 [3]
  - 2020 [3]
  - 2023 [3]
  - 2024 [5]
  - 2025 [1]
- boskone
  - 2003 [2]
  - 2004 [2]
  - 2005 [3]
  - 2006 [3]
  - 2007 [7]
  - 2008 [5]
  - 2009 [3]
  - 2010 [1]
  - 2011 [2]
- lunacon
  - 2013 [1]
- pippi to ripley
  - 2015 [2]
- readercon
  - 2003 [1]
  - 2005 [3]
  - 2006 [6]
  - 2007 [9]
  - 2009 [7]
  - 2010 [3]
  - 2011 [1]
  - 2013 [1]
  - 2014 [5]
  - 2015 [4]
  - 2016 [1]
  - 2017 [7]
  - 2018 [3]
  - 2019 [3]
  - 2023 [4]
  - 2024 [15]
  - 2025 [16]
- wiscon [1]
  - 2011 [8]
  - 2013 [2]
  - 2018 [2]
- world fantasy con
  - 2007 [11]
- worldcon
  - 2004 (noreascon) [9]
  - 2007 (nippon 2007) [13]
  - 2009 (anticipation) [21]
  - 2014 (loncon 3) [16]
cranky [17]
daily life [19]
dance [1]
daydreaming [1]
disability [2]
dogs [73]
donghua
- heaven official's blessing [1]
donorschoose [2]
dreams [4]
dreamwidth [13]
family [7]
fandom [1]
fanfic [37]
- yuletide [36]
fantasy of manners [6]
finance [3]
food [46]
football [36]
for sale [3]
futuresibling [6]
games [7]
- 80 days [3]
- fallen london [9]
gender [19]
genre [8]
giveaways [15]
gratitude [8]
harassment [1]
health and beauty [30]
help me internets [15]
history [3]
hobbit birthday presents [1]
house [37]
icons [20]
identity [3]
iditarod [1]
international blog against racism week [15]
law [30]
links [202]
livejournal [16]
livelongnmarry [5]
manga [23]
manga analysis [9]
manga
- fullmetal alchemist [28]
- saiyuki [18]
masks [1]
memes [31]
movies [123]
- harry potter [3]
- lord of the rings [6]
- mcu [60]
- pacific rim [2]
- serenity [7]
- star wars [5]
- the hobbit [4]
- trailers [40]
museums [22]
music [59]
- playlist exchange [4]
nanoblocks [1]
nasty bugs etc. [11]
navel-gazing [4]
organization for transformative works [1]
parenting [12]
pictures [54]
podcasts [4]
- friends at the table [10]
- welcome to night vale [25]
politics [15]
polls [30]
power outages [7]
pregnancy [37]
public domain boobs [4]
race [62]
randomosity [9]
rants [2]
recommendations [46]
religion [2]
science [3]
sexuality [10]
sff [78]
- hugos [22]
- locus notes [2]
silliness [1]
silly [19]
social media [1]
sports [2]
steelykid [59]
- developmental updates [16]
stitching [38]
teaching company courses [3]
tech [64]
the pip [23]
theater [28]
- hamilton [8]
toys [1]
trips [58]
- japan 2007 [26]
- london 2014 [9]
- rome 2016 [6]
tumblr [1]
tv [17]
- adventure time [1]
- avatar [6]
- burn notice [1]
- elementary [4]
- face off [4]
- farscape [5]
- firefly [20]
- heroes [3]
- homicide [5]
- jonathan strange [1]
- jonathan strange & mr norrell [10]
- leverage [5]
- lost [24]
- sherlock (bbc) [2]
- stargate atlantis [1]
- steven universe [73]
- the good place [21]
- the untamed [4]
- the wire [2]
- wheel of time [3]
- white collar [4]
video games [1]
videos [5]
vids [6]
website [14]
writing [12]

Page Summary

mikeda.livejournal.com - (no subject)

Style Credit

Style: Neutral Good for Practicality by timeasmymeasure

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags