The best books that reveal unexpected conspiracies

When I think of Heaven, I think about angels, bliss, and no more sorrow. I don’t usually think about political machinations, rivalries between angelic factions, and alliances of convenience with demons. However, in this book, I found that the afterlife isn’t what we necessarily think it is, and I loved that both Heaven and Hell have their own agendas.

Doloriel, an agent of Heaven, navigates a delicate balance of keeping his boss angel happy while not losing his own soul. This task becomes more difficult when he meets a demon consort named Casimira. I found it riveting that he and Casimira discover that their bosses have their own plans, plans that might not always match the images we know of Heaven and Hell.

Alternate history has always fascinated me, and the speculation about what the world would’ve been like without the American Revolution is one of the most intriguing concepts out there. Two hundred years ago, the coming together of the two Georges—George III, King of England, and George Washington, Commander of the Continental Army—inspired the creation of a painting showing how the British Empire and the American Colonies worked out their differences.

Now, that painting has gone missing just before the visit of King Charles III, and the thief has plans of his own to reignite the fight. What was most intriguing to me was that the fight wasn’t for the liberty I imagined but rather looked to trade one master for another.

I always hear that disaster brings unity, but what if that “unity” was all a manipulation for power? Hidden Empire reminded me a little of the immediate aftermath of 9/11. I’ve wondered if, given our political divisions, we could ever come together like that again.

Orson Scott Card created a world where someone manipulates our division and desire for unity, and I loved seeing how someone could play us on so many levels. Reading about the use of a common enemy to wipe out national leadership and then playing up our political differences to create chaos, I became engrossed in a story about political intrigue and whether or not a savior was the hero we really wanted or the hero he wanted us to believe he was.

Fighting off alien invasions has become a passé, so I’ve wondered what living on a conquered Earth, one where resistance was gone, would be like. How would we live? Way of the Pilgrim showed me that, along with what humans are willing to do to survive and, in some cases, thrive in such an environment. 

While I like reading about our better natures, it has always been our baser desires that have always enthralled me. Shane Evert is a cross between a selfless hero and a man with his own interests at heart, and his plans for humanity clash with his desire for comfort. In the end, he leads his own conspiracy and finds one among the aliens he never imagined could exist.

I love Star Wars, and I’ve been a Star Wars nerd forever. This book jumps into an Imperial conspiracy to restore the Empire using the ghost of its old leader, Grand Admiral Thrawn, who was long thought dead. 

I read this one thinking that the “conspiracy” was upfront and required no special thought. Still, two of the key players—Borsk Fey’lya and Major Grodin Tierce—are playing their own games within games, creating an interwoven conspiracy I confess I didn’t see coming until I read it. When I re-read the book, I looked hard to find their clues, and I had to carefully study each to find the underlying markers. It was an enjoyable, if jolting, way to delve into Star Wars lore.