a coming-of-age...and a love story that explores power and privilege between individuals.
Heather Rose Jones is a superior author. Her world building is brilliant and her characters are imperfect, real and so different from each other. It is a treat to read her work because you will never see formula characters or predictable plot points.
This is a must-read for anyone looking for a fantasy novel. It is well worth it for lesbian fantasy seekers or who those who love a good, complex read without knowing what will come next.
Jones has done a wonderful job in creating the world of Alpennia.
Not every fantasy is a wild ride with sword fights, sorcerers and dragons. Daughter of Mystery is a different and very rewarding read indeed. It starts out so real that I first thought I had started a historical novel set in the 18th century in the Alpine region of Europe. And when Heather Rose Jones begins - nearly imperceptibly - to bend reality it took me a minute or two to realize that she now had led the reader into the realm of fantasy. Well done! Brava!
Ms. Jones’ well built world is populated with a wonderful cast of believable characters.
Heather Rose Jones writes masterfully. Her style is at the same time beautiful and easy to read, delightful and commanding of attention.
If you like women with swords, court intrigue, mysticism, interesting female characters, dashes of romance, scholarship, and family secrets, give Daughter of Mystery a try. Especially recommended for fans of Sherwood Smith.
[I]t’s a love story set against a background which ticks basically all my geeky boxes: The driving mystical force is theological, and it is both by logic and akin to magic. The idea that God and theology is out there to be explored and understood, and that we have the capacity to do so, and that this does not block out what is miraculous about it: I love the premise.