Lofty Mountains: Eleven Stories of Cloudy Peaks, Airship Adventure, and Sapphic Experiences

by J.S. Fields, Heather Tracy (editor), William C. Tracy

Look to the skies!

From steampunk dirigibles, weird westerns, and sky pirates, to picturesque and isolated mountains, cloud cities, and high-altitude adventures, will you be brave enough to face the challenges?

If you like diverse stories with lesbian and sapphic-centric heroines enjoying the joy of adventure and the wilds, buy Lofty Mountains today!

With stories by: Seanan McGuire, Rosiee Thor, Rebecca Kim Wells, Maya Gittelman, Carmen Loup, Sara Codair, William C. Tracy, N.L. Bates, L.R. Gould, Robin C.M. Duncan, and J.S. Fields


Genres: Science Fiction / Fantasy / Adventure / Lesbian / LGBT and Non Binary

Market: Adult

Genres: Anthologies, Steampunk

365 pages, Paperback

Published October 10, 2023

Reviews

[Jude Silberfeld-Grimaud · Rating 4 out of 5]

The World Aparts anthologies have become a tradition I look forward to every year (even if I don’t always review them as soon as they’re released). I look forward to what the authors I’ve been following for three years now will offer this time, and to discovering new authors. This year’s edition does include stories by authors who are new to me as well as Rosiee Thor and Seanan McGuire. This time, the setting is mountains, heights, skies—in previous years we got ground in Distant Gardens and water in Farther Reefs, which I also—obviously—recommend.

As I already wrote when I reviewed the previous Worlds Apart books, what I like most is going from one world to another. Such short stories don’t have the luxury of devoting too many pages to worldbuilding and yet most of them manage to sweep the reader right up into their own reality. I don’t need hundreds of pages of details, it’s usually the atmosphere that guides me towards imagining the surroundings. I feel, rather than see, and I love not knowing everything, I love the mystery, the uncertainty, the need to overcome the disorientation. A real change of scenes, and here, I got eleven of them, each with its own universe and atmosphere.

I enjoyed all the stories, my favourites being Into the Churn by N.L. Bates, Mountain Streams by L.R. Gould, and Featherton’s Claw by Sara Codair.

I received a copy from the publisher and I am voluntarily leaving a review.

Read all my reviews on my blog (and please buy from the affiliation links!): Jude in the Stars

[Labbatu · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was so excited when I received this ARC, and this anthology did not disappoint! I discovered some new authors, and enjoyed some amazing and incredibly immersive fantasy and sci-fi worlds. A few stand-outs for me were Rosiee Thor's opener Don't Look Down, a lovely warm hug of a story, and Maya Gittelman's immersive tale, Cloudbreaker. Like most anthologies there was a story or two I skipped over to re-visit later, but every story is so well-written that this anthology more than calls for the five stars I've given this collection. This should definitely be on the top of your TBR pile if you enjoy sapphic fantasy and sci-fi.

I was given this ARC with no expectation of a review - I just like this collection so much that I immediately looked for and checked out the first of the series.

[Soren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my gosh, I think this is the best queer anthology I’ve ever read! Each and every short story hooked me and I loved how different they all were. It was fun to read some authors I already know about, and get to branch out and read some brand new ones. I’m happy to say I’ll be checking out each of their individual works after this, thanks to how well-written everything in this was. While some of the stories were a bit longer than I’m used to for short stories, they were all well-worth the read for me. I received a free ARC of this, and I’m choosing to leave an honest review.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lofty Mountains is an excellent anthology with many interesting stories.


Don't Look Down
Charna is eking out a lonely life while fighting off the shadows that plague her. When a harpy comes crashing onto her farm, her kindness might lead her into the light.

Piracy is Not a Five-Year Plan
An airship captain vs her wily, well-intentioned crew. Steampunk feel.

Flight of the Megabee
Kingdoms of humans care for and rule their bee mounts, gathering honey and fighting over flower grazing rights.

Into the Churn
Heliosaurs three times a human height that sound quite like dinosaurs. They are being flown to salvage a shipwreck that hides in the middle of the churning and dangerous ocean.

The Cerulean Princess
The chase for a thief who stole powerful relics is on. The ship captain who was their former lover must chase her down.

Mountain Streams
Lindsay is struggling with visions she doesn't understand. Her father sends her on a journey to find answers.

The Aerial Gardeners Shop
Fairytales gone wrong. Mara has been questing around the land but ends up at a dead end job on night shift. A flying gnome brings change.

Climb Every Mountain
Sci fi. Yvonne is being threatened into infiltrating a monastery.

Featherton's Claws
School for the magically gifted, talking with cats, and unspeakable horrors.

Cloudbreaker
An ancient deity is lonely in her power and responsibility to the mortals on her islands. Will she find her match?

Frog
Dystopian future with people clustered in cities to hide from their ruined environment. A survey to find signs of renewed nature will turn deadly.

[Douglas Williamson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a collection of eleven adventures that take place in the skies and feature a bit of romance of the FF variety.

I love anthologies for the opportunity to explore new authors. This one is perfect as it features eleven different stories featuring action and adventure all by different authors. So we get plenty of variety in terms of settings and characters. All of the stories were well written and easy to read and including just the right blend of action and romance. Overall, this was a wonderful collection and I look forward to exploring several of these new (to me) authors.

Highly recommended.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout for review purposes

[Madison · Rating 4 out of 5]

For fans of Legends and Lattes and wants more Sapphic Cozy Fantasies!

This collection of short stories was a delight. I've never really delved into anthologies or novellas, but I enjoyed my time reading this!

Even though they were short, I felt connected to the characters in each story. It was also cool to experience so many different writing styles all in one collection. It gave a breath of fresh air starting each one.

This is true cozy fantasies and perfect to snuggle up in a blanket with a cup of tea kind of book.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Carter Bitzer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I absolutely loved the representation in these short stories. From lesbian to nonbinary to polyamory it was awesome. So many of them flowed beautifully in their uniqueness.

However, I found a few of the short stories were a bit hard to get through and didn't give me the same excitement to continue reading as the others did. They lacked the flow that made them so easy to continue reading and enticing.

There were a few minor mistakes, but overall the grammar and punctuation was decent.

From dragons to bees to enchanted gnomes, these short stories kept you running back for more. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Joseph Lau · Rating 4 out of 5]

While these stories are relatively long by ‘short story’ standards, complex themes about human (and non-human) personalities are explored. The plots and characters are definitely worth a read, any gimmicks aside. A number of these authors are either already established, or should be very soon, based on this work. So many basic themes transcend time and relationships.

[Roxanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent collection of stories, some energetic and fizzy, others like a slow waltz. Well-curated. As for my favorite… well, let’s just say sapphic space accountants are adorable.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Impressive read.
The title has it wrong - 11 short stories from 11 different writers that range from piracy to mythology. But the main points were fantasy and science fiction. It was impressive even if most of the stories were heavy on lesbian relationships.