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alternatehistory.com
Okay, what I mean by this is an alternate history novel that popularizes the genre like Lord of the Rings did for High Fantasy. I know there was probably more to the latter than that, however it did contribute at least.
With that in mind, is this possible for AH? Or is this a genre doomed to be niche, because it's too difficult to get into for most readers? It does seem that its popularity seems to be inversely proportional with how well off your country is, judging by how popular they are in Russia, so perhaps this causes a rather epic screw for the world!
Keep in mind, my criteria are that it has to be well written and be good from an AH perspective in regards to the actual book. Now, GO! Show me that it can be done culture AH writers!