If I’d written a wishlist of all the tropes and themes that I most enjoy reading, and handed my specifications over to an author, I couldn’t have liked the result better than I like this. The series contains nights at the opera, women in breeches, swashbuckling, politics both national and ecclesiastical, relationships between women, and a sensitive portrayal of religious experience.
The richness of the world of Alpennia, the city of Rotenek, and the characters that inhabit this fictional European place are skillfully built line by line, and by the end you can almost feel the Rotenek river breeze against your face.
(Not a review, as such, although there are links to reviews. But some gorgeous art Shira commissioned for a promotion.)
The Alpennia books by Heather Rose Jones are everything I wanted when I was a teenager and I’m so happy they exist now–19th century costume drama fantasy taking place in a tiny imaginary country near France, Switzerland, and Italy, starring a bunch of lesbians who do magic or swordfight and also featuring bi women and a trans guy. The books are full of political intrigue, pretty clothing, all types of relationships between women from romantic to friendship to rival princesses.
