6. Hunter’s Run (2007)
This one is kind of unique among the bunch. While much of the early writing for it was done by George R.R. Martin and his long-time conspirator Gardner Dozois, the lion’s share of the prose was penned by Daniel Abraham, one of the writers of The Expanse novels. It’s a sci-fi story set on a frontier planet named São Paolo, where human settlers are trying to carve out a niche amidst a vast and uncharted wilderness.
Onto this planet lands Ramón Espejo, a fortune seeker of questionable moral fiber. After accidentally killing another settler in a bar fight on his first night planetside, Ramón goes into hiding in the wilds. Not all goes according to plan, however, as Ramón soon stumbles on a hidden alien installation far to the north of his colony and runs afoul of the beings inside.
If I told you anything else, we’d be in serious spoiler territory. Hunter’s Run, perhaps more than any other novel in Martin’s catalog, is better the less you know going into it. It is a twisty, mind-blowing thriller, exciting and darkly contemplative by turns.
It also has a deep examination of the human condition that is right at home among the best of science fiction. How do our flaws rule our actions? Can those flaws ever be overcome? And what does it truly take for a person to change?
No matter what those questions brought to mind, I can almost guarantee it isn’t what happens in Hunter’s Run. The big twist of this book is one of Martin’s best, period.