The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson was a good “close to alt-history” novel. In a world similar to the world in 1500, an imperial power uses a variety of techniques to divide, conquer, rule, exploit, extract, and “develop” the periphery. Magic is hinted at but no more so than writings from Spain or Portugal in 1500 would have hinted at supernatural forces, and they did. I confess I started getting bored and skimmed the last third. but I appreciated his craft.