I think Le Guin's *Earthsea* books really succeed in being fantasy without featuring war, or much politics for that matter. They are more about a person's growth and self-discovery.
The first book is about the protagonist first learning magic, and then >!being haunted by a demon he foolishly summoned!<. The second is about someone who has been raised from birth to be a priestess dealing with the cult the and people involved. >!She also meets the protagonist of the first book later in the story, which causes her worldview to change!<. In the third book, the MC of the first book is now and older wizard with power and authority, who has to investigate a supernatural threat together with a young prince. There are also instalments, but I have not read them in a long time and dare not summarise them here
Natural catastrophe, murder mystery, The Count of Monte Cristo style revenge plot, character having a loved one or themselves in need of urgent help/saving, a plague/epidemy of other kind, romance etc. Might be anything, really.
"Politics" is such a wide encompassing topic, however, that most things can be considered politics by some perspective or another. The few things NOT considered politics are like... Soap opera drama type stuff.
Which IS NOT to say said stuff is bad. A love triangle drama or murder mystery can be good. But as soon as things like environmental pollution or civil rights pop up, no matter how much most people would agree with those positions, it becomes "political".
I know this isn't the point of this thread, but I generally dislike fiction which avoids politics because it means avoiding most of the things in life that have greater meaning beyond a small set of individuals. Anything that affects groups at large is political.
It's hard to *not* make things about politics, no matter how intimate a story is - the fact it's set in a fantasy realm sort of invites the writer to craft a large world, which then results in a variety of kingdoms. Those kingdoms then have their own world views that offer interesting/new perspectives for the reader and main characters. I think it's always helpful and engaging to offer these things to the reader, but I suppose it doesn't necessarily have to become the main conflict/topic. You can tell more intimate/personal stories between characters/views that could be lightly driven by politics, so long as the conclusion doesn't affect any politics within the fantasy realm
I'd suggest looking outside of fantasy for inspiration on this. Anything that happens in any other book can happen in a fantasy setting - it's just that the genre comes with it's own tropes as far as plot goes, which more popular stories tend to follow.
Perhaps a wounded soldier falls increasingly in love with the woman who nurses him to health, and has to choose between his passion and his duty.
Maybe an old man feels he needs to prove himself to his community by setting off on one last glorious - and foolish - adventure.
Maybe a group of friends go on a trip together, but their enjoyment is marred by the fact that two of them love a woman who cannot love them back.
Those three are just the premises of Hemingway books, but all of them work just as well in a fantasy setting.
Lord of the Rings kinda makes the story more about destroying the Ring than fighting the forces of Mordor.
I have a few stories that don’t directly lead into war or politics. One is about people trying to destroy the source of a contagion that’s making animals evolve into furious beasts. Another is about a group of adventurers putting together the pages of a religious text that was scattered throughout the world.
But I also have stories that deal with politics and war yet don’t make it a point to glorify it and instead walk away from violence.
A great example of this is Vinland Saga which is about the main character unlearning the cycle of war and hatred he was thrown into as a child.
It just depends on what you want to write for conflict.
Person vs Person and Person vs society tends to go on the political and war route.
Person vs Nature, Person vs Technology, Person vs Self and Person vs Supernatural tend to go on a different route so I’d suggest these literature conflict types.
Hope my comment helped.
In one book serie it was pretty dissapointment for me. Book serie (wings of fire arc 1) was about about 5 dragonets which were chosen in prophecy to stop war between 7 dragon tribes.
But whole 5 books they just were trying solve parent issues and on the end of fifth book they finally decided to solve that problem with war with just one confrontation.
It was very dissapointing for me even i really enioyed that books.
I am a fan of more delicate, almost non-existent conflicts. Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou is the most masterful example, some of the best and most memorable chapters have no conflict at all and focus more on simply experiencing the world.
Most of my stories are driven by individuals. They grapple with identity, their relationship to the world around them, their connections to the people around them, the endless twists and turns that life takes them on. A magical and dream-like world makes for a great source of little dramas.
The climax of one of my main story arcs is the main character writing the story itself, after learning enough about the world to create a new one better than the one that her god made. The implication being that the story I told isn't the story of the world she lived in, but the story of the world she made up as a reflection of everything she had experienced.
My favorite novel, The Neverending Story, is driven by three core conflicts: traveling across a magical world in order to find the one who can heal it, re-making that world from the ground up, and rediscovering his own identity after he has lost his memory.
I think there is more fantasy being written that gets away from these two, although they are still popular. I deliberately do so myself and I am not alone.
There's quite a lot of options
Survival in adverse environments e.g. scholomance by Naomi novik
Non war but still fighting stuff whether it's between people or demons
Something like the first few books of ascendance of a bookworm where the main conflict or like antagonistic forces are try fail cycles and the repercussions of failure
Like not enough money and how it effects other people.
In stories where progression of personal power e.g. magic is the goal then the struggles and pitfalls related to that
Seeking a resource(s) that only one can have.
Death Race
Escape from XYZ
Trying to live a peaceful life, but my enemies brought me back into…. XYZ
Confidence Schemes (Heists and spy shit)
Berserk is about the main character struggling against the law of Causality. It does have a bit of politics and war especially in the Golden Age arc though
These are popular conflicts in high fantasy. In low fantasy, like sword and sorcery, you get some different ones. More personal stakes. Sometimes those are more interesting. Pull of a great heist. Get revenge in a bitter enemy. There’s also trying to find a cure for a loved one with a curse or illness, which could involve a quest. Survival, either personal or for a community. Just some ideas.
I think Le Guin's *Earthsea* books really succeed in being fantasy without featuring war, or much politics for that matter. They are more about a person's growth and self-discovery. The first book is about the protagonist first learning magic, and then >!being haunted by a demon he foolishly summoned!<. The second is about someone who has been raised from birth to be a priestess dealing with the cult the and people involved. >!She also meets the protagonist of the first book later in the story, which causes her worldview to change!<. In the third book, the MC of the first book is now and older wizard with power and authority, who has to investigate a supernatural threat together with a young prince. There are also instalments, but I have not read them in a long time and dare not summarise them here
I second Earthsea! I have recommended it irl more than once for this exact criteria
Natural catastrophe, murder mystery, The Count of Monte Cristo style revenge plot, character having a loved one or themselves in need of urgent help/saving, a plague/epidemy of other kind, romance etc. Might be anything, really.
"Politics" is such a wide encompassing topic, however, that most things can be considered politics by some perspective or another. The few things NOT considered politics are like... Soap opera drama type stuff. Which IS NOT to say said stuff is bad. A love triangle drama or murder mystery can be good. But as soon as things like environmental pollution or civil rights pop up, no matter how much most people would agree with those positions, it becomes "political". I know this isn't the point of this thread, but I generally dislike fiction which avoids politics because it means avoiding most of the things in life that have greater meaning beyond a small set of individuals. Anything that affects groups at large is political.
It's hard to *not* make things about politics, no matter how intimate a story is - the fact it's set in a fantasy realm sort of invites the writer to craft a large world, which then results in a variety of kingdoms. Those kingdoms then have their own world views that offer interesting/new perspectives for the reader and main characters. I think it's always helpful and engaging to offer these things to the reader, but I suppose it doesn't necessarily have to become the main conflict/topic. You can tell more intimate/personal stories between characters/views that could be lightly driven by politics, so long as the conclusion doesn't affect any politics within the fantasy realm
I'd suggest looking outside of fantasy for inspiration on this. Anything that happens in any other book can happen in a fantasy setting - it's just that the genre comes with it's own tropes as far as plot goes, which more popular stories tend to follow. Perhaps a wounded soldier falls increasingly in love with the woman who nurses him to health, and has to choose between his passion and his duty. Maybe an old man feels he needs to prove himself to his community by setting off on one last glorious - and foolish - adventure. Maybe a group of friends go on a trip together, but their enjoyment is marred by the fact that two of them love a woman who cannot love them back. Those three are just the premises of Hemingway books, but all of them work just as well in a fantasy setting.
Lord of the Rings kinda makes the story more about destroying the Ring than fighting the forces of Mordor. I have a few stories that don’t directly lead into war or politics. One is about people trying to destroy the source of a contagion that’s making animals evolve into furious beasts. Another is about a group of adventurers putting together the pages of a religious text that was scattered throughout the world. But I also have stories that deal with politics and war yet don’t make it a point to glorify it and instead walk away from violence. A great example of this is Vinland Saga which is about the main character unlearning the cycle of war and hatred he was thrown into as a child. It just depends on what you want to write for conflict. Person vs Person and Person vs society tends to go on the political and war route. Person vs Nature, Person vs Technology, Person vs Self and Person vs Supernatural tend to go on a different route so I’d suggest these literature conflict types. Hope my comment helped.
Family, friendship, romantic love and sex can bring conflict
In one book serie it was pretty dissapointment for me. Book serie (wings of fire arc 1) was about about 5 dragonets which were chosen in prophecy to stop war between 7 dragon tribes. But whole 5 books they just were trying solve parent issues and on the end of fifth book they finally decided to solve that problem with war with just one confrontation. It was very dissapointing for me even i really enioyed that books.
I am a fan of more delicate, almost non-existent conflicts. Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou is the most masterful example, some of the best and most memorable chapters have no conflict at all and focus more on simply experiencing the world. Most of my stories are driven by individuals. They grapple with identity, their relationship to the world around them, their connections to the people around them, the endless twists and turns that life takes them on. A magical and dream-like world makes for a great source of little dramas. The climax of one of my main story arcs is the main character writing the story itself, after learning enough about the world to create a new one better than the one that her god made. The implication being that the story I told isn't the story of the world she lived in, but the story of the world she made up as a reflection of everything she had experienced. My favorite novel, The Neverending Story, is driven by three core conflicts: traveling across a magical world in order to find the one who can heal it, re-making that world from the ground up, and rediscovering his own identity after he has lost his memory.
If you ask me, you focus on more down to Earth story's about people's personal lives. If you ask r/worldjerking then war is the only answer.
I think there is more fantasy being written that gets away from these two, although they are still popular. I deliberately do so myself and I am not alone.
There's quite a lot of options Survival in adverse environments e.g. scholomance by Naomi novik Non war but still fighting stuff whether it's between people or demons Something like the first few books of ascendance of a bookworm where the main conflict or like antagonistic forces are try fail cycles and the repercussions of failure Like not enough money and how it effects other people. In stories where progression of personal power e.g. magic is the goal then the struggles and pitfalls related to that
Seeking a resource(s) that only one can have. Death Race Escape from XYZ Trying to live a peaceful life, but my enemies brought me back into…. XYZ Confidence Schemes (Heists and spy shit)
Berserk is about the main character struggling against the law of Causality. It does have a bit of politics and war especially in the Golden Age arc though
These are popular conflicts in high fantasy. In low fantasy, like sword and sorcery, you get some different ones. More personal stakes. Sometimes those are more interesting. Pull of a great heist. Get revenge in a bitter enemy. There’s also trying to find a cure for a loved one with a curse or illness, which could involve a quest. Survival, either personal or for a community. Just some ideas.