Although this story is Mei’s first fiction piece, her 30+ years of professional writing (and web design!) shine through in this lovely story.  I discovered it at the beginning, but as other have noted, the first few chapters take awhile to engage you.  I re-discovered it around ch. 17 of book 2 and became a rabid convert. 

The History is well-written (vocabulary, grammar, punctuation, formatting, etc. are all superior to your average internet entry), with the quality consistent in almost every chapter, plus sensitive and realistic handling of adult topics, absolutely wonderful characters with lots of depth and quirks (almost no one is clearly "good" or "bad"), an easy-to-follow plot that still retains oodles of mystery, and a rich background world.  Also, her update schedule is very reliable so far!

If you must have some detail before diving right in, it is technically a fantasy that draws heavily on 1800s fashion with only occasional overt magic (focused primarily around religion and the character of the Teacher).  The protagonist is a sixteen year-old prince and heir of the central kingdom and the story starts with his arrival in the capital as a good-hearted but somewhat spoiled and certainly naive young man to begin his formal training as Heir.

I’d recommend this story to anyone except those who are too immature for/offended by explicitly described sexuality or if they simply can’t stand people-focused fiction (versus something like "hard" scifi).

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