city-states are under the political control of members of the di Chimici family, whose strongholds lie in Giglia and in Remora, which is also home to a di Chimici Pope. The few cities which remain outside di Chimici control are either still negotiating political treaties with the di Chimici (Montemurato), or remain independent (Bellezza, Classe, Romula, Padavia, and Cittanuova). City-States Stravaganza Publications City of Masks Lucien Mulholland, a teenager recovering from chemotherapy, is given a red and purple marbled notebook by his father so that Lucien can write in it since Lucien's throat hurts. When he falls asleep holding the book, he wakes up in the enchanting Bellezza, a Renaissance Venice-like city in the country of Talia (which resembles Renaissance Italy), ruled by a beautiful and imperious Duchessa. Here he meets the adventurous Arianna Gasparini and the mysterious Rodolfo Rossi. Rodolfo is a Stravagante, a traveller of a secret order who can move between Lucien's world and Rodolfo's by use of a talisman (an object from the other's world). However, Bellezza for all its beauty also has many dangers, especially for those who become close to the Duchessa. City of Stars Georgia O'Grady is a girl who is frequently bullied by her stepbrother, Russell. Her only escape is to go horse riding. When she falls asleep holding a miniature winged horse figurine, she wakes up in a stable in Talia in the city of Remora (Renaissance Siena), a city divided in twelve sections for each of the signs of the western zodiac. Here, she meets the Montalbani family, which includes the Horsemaster Paolo and his son Cesare. Paolo, like Rodolfo, is a Stravagante and reveals to Georgia (who is mistaken initially for a boy and retains this as a disguise throughout the book, her name is Giorgio) that she has come at a very important time: a horse race known as the Stellata is about to take place. The Twelfth of the Ram, which holds ties to the city of Bellezza and is the twelfth of the Montalbanis, has not won the race in twenty-five years. The Twelfth place their hopes in the birth of a special horse in the Twelfth of the Ram, one that may actually bring about the luck the twelfth needs to break their losing streak. The di Chimici family (antagonists in the first book) intend them to lose again to prove to the new Duchessa