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NancyLebovitz comments on Luminosity (Twilight fanfic) discussion thread - Less Wrong
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I find complex political intrigue hard to follow myself. I don't know whether liking it is a measure of sophistication.
You might like T A Pratt's Marla Mason novels. They're a mix of humor and horror, and intelligent. The battles are quite dramatic.
I've liked the most recent two Pratchett novels Unseen Academicals and I Shall Wear Midnight.
What's frustrating is that I recently read some urban fantasy/paranormal romance which had a small unit battle rather than individual combat, but I can't remember what it was. It might have been Skinwalker by Faith Hunter, but even if not, it's a pretty good book.
Unseen Academicals was great, I haven't read I Shall Wear Midnight yet. I've been half hearted about the Tiffany Aching since I lost my respect for the Feegles. The Kender got insecure and forbade the Feegles from protecting or assisting their most important Ally (Tiffany) and the Feegles obeyed. They went from being hilarious tough little faerie guys to a bunch of cowards enthralled by a corrupt power structure. There are a few things more dangerous than an insecure person with power and deference to such people out of respect rather than practical necessity is something I hold in contempt.
Of course, I will no doubt love Midnight when I read it. I'm also hoping Practchett gets around to a third Von Lipvig book. Vetinari was hinting about taxes.
From my point of view, it was a huge improvement to not have the Fleegles talking as much as in the previous books. I was getting really bored with their being stupid at each other. They're still strong, still chaotic and enthusiastic, and really good as a foil to Tiffany's seriousness.
I wasn't tracking the angle that's bothering you, but the witches did seem bizarrely helpless for a good bit of the book against a rising tide of anti-witch prejudice.
One thing both books had in common was that there was serious prejudice against characters who were committed to harmlessness and extraordinarily useful. It's a way of saying that prejudice is bad, but I think there's a falseness to it.
Most people are somewhat useful and relatively harmless [1], but I wonder what would happen if people said, "Everyone's a public hazard-- me, you, any people you've got prejudices against. We need to figure out how to live decently (find as many positive sum transactions as possible) together anyway."
[1] I believe that if the majority of people weren't doing more good than harm, the human race would have been taken down by entropy.
The Fleegles present a difficult problem in plotting. They're extremely strong and numerous, and there's no way to keep them from showing up.
How does the author restrain them enough so that the bad guys have a chance to build drama?
Unfortunately, in a way that breaks the story for me this time. :)
I'm pretty sure that the book with the small unit battle was Black Blade Blues by J. A. Pitts, which is a pretty good book in general.
Thanks. These recommendations should keep me going for a good while!