Fantasy or Science Fiction with Well-Developed Characters

Try these books if you're looking for:

• Science fiction or fantasy
• Well-developed characters
• Read-alikes for Orson Scott Card

The Gilded Chain: A Tale of The King's Blades
By Dave Duncan
SCIFI DUNCAN
Sir Durendal, the leader of the King's Blades, the finest swordsmen in the magical land of Chivial, embarks on a quest for a glorious treasure that lies behind the walls of an ancient, isolated city where danger and death are everywhere. This is part of the King's Blades series, but each book stands alone.

Lord of the Isles
By David Drake
SCIFI DRAKE
Mysteriously transported one thousand years into the future after a cataclysm destroys the empire of the Isles, a woman sorcerer finds herself in a small town, far from the centers of power, where she and a small group of individuals become the focus of a new struggle for dominance.

Under Heaven
By Guy Gavriel Kay
SCIFI KAY
In the mountains of Kitai a young soldier, Shen Tai, has spent two years alone, burying the dead of both sides at a battle site. He does this to honor his late father, the commanding general in the last imperial war. At night he can hear ghosts crying. When a voice falls silent, he knows that a spirit has been granted rest. One morning he is quite surprised to learn that the court of Kitai’s recent enemy has chosen to honor him by granting him 250 coveted western horses. This is a gift fit for the emperor and can bring Tai great power—or get him killed in short order.

The Ring of Five Dragons
By Eric Lustbader
SCIFI LUSTBADE
After suffering for a century under the oppressive V'ornn invaders, the Kundalan people put their hopes on Dar Sala-at, a hero foretold by prophecy, who can wield the sorcerous power of the lost Ring of Five Dragons to save his people.

Eragon
By Christopher Paolini
YA F PAOLINI
In Alagaesia, a fifteen-year-old boy of unknown lineage called Eragon finds a mysterious stone that weaves his life into an intricate tapestry of destiny, magic, and power, peopled with dragons, elves, and monsters.