Seventh Son

Orson Scott Card is best known for his immensely popular Ender's Game series, but he hasn't just tried his hand at the sci-fi genre. Card markets Alvin Maker as a stark contrast to the usual 'British fantasy'. It's set not in medieval Europe, but an alternative American frontier, making for a story that stands out from many on this list. The world-building is nothing short of amazing, with rich descriptions, tweaks to history, and hints of religion and democracy. In a way, it's a model of what America could have been; an idealized version that still isn't without its troubles. Importantly, Card hasn't just written the same novel in a different genre. It would be easy to read Ender's Game and move on to this, thinking the protagonist would be the same. He isn't. In some ways, he's a polar opposite. Alvin is socially skilled and physically strong. Some would even argue that he's a better, more conflicted character. Like Ender, Alvin holds the weight of a world on his shoulders, but his circumstances are far direr. He's fighting something which, by all accounts, is undefeatable, and that shapes his character. This Locus Award winner will absorb the whole way through, with light sprinklings of humor to contradict the down times. Read if you like: Alternative history, American frontier.