In any event, I just finished a 6-part book series by L.E. Modesitt that I felt expressed many of the same themes we discuss here on NR and elsewhere.   I'll try to summarize the most interesting points without giving anything away.

The series takes place on a planet named Acorus, a place much like Earth except it has two moons.  The series begins a couple of thousand years after a great Cataclysm, the nature of which people know very little about except that it supposedly ended a glorious age of something called the Duarchy of the Scepters.  There's much speculation about the nature of this Duarchy, but many agree that the world was torn asunder due to the improper use of power.  Tyrants of all stripes seek to recreate the Duarchy, but the common people seem to sense that it wasn't really a good thing, despite the few beautiful and enduring artifacts left behind.

On Acorus, there are a select few people who have something called "Talent," with a capital T.  This is the ability to sense and, to some extent, control unseen forces.  The power of Acorus is sensed as being green, while there are creatures and negative forces that are sensed as purple. 

This is one of those series' that begin at a later time, then go back to an earlier time in prequel form to explain what really happened.  In the later books, you learn that the Duarchy was composed of beings from another planet (Alectors) who had terra formed Acorus for the purpose of colonization.  They:

Referred to native peoples as 'steers.'
Saw themselves as being superior to and naturally entitled to rule the steers.
Bled each world dry of life force before moving on to other planets every couple of thousand years or so.
Used people, plants and animals as sources of life force and enforced strict rules to keep the steers from "wasting" it.
Were lead on their home planet by a ruler called the Archon (sound familiar?).
Had the ability to tap into the purple Talent in order to maintain control of the environment.
Saw any steers who could use the green Talent as a threat-- and killed them.

Now, there was another group that remained shrouded in mystery.  They were referred to as the Ancients or Soarers.  They were fewer in number, but actually had much greater power than the Alectors.  They seldom interfered, and when they did, they remained enigmatic.  They used the green Talent, which was natural to Acorus.  The purple, by contrast, was a huge drain on the planet because it wasn't natural-- it was tied to the Alectors' home planet.

Anyway, there were far too many other little parallels to mention, but I thought I'd bring this series up in case there are any Fantasy fans here looking for thought provoking "escape" material.