the owl and the olive tree

I'd second the Elizabeth Moon Serrano Legacy/Familias Regnant rec (with the caveat that I've only read the first three Heris Serrano books, and have not yet got around to the Esmay Suiza stuff). The worldbuilding and plot are nothing at all revolutionary and the tech is pure handwavium, but the characters and their relationships are sufficiently appealing and stuff moves along at such a good clip that I really didn't mind in the slightest. Great non-sentimental female friendships based on respect on competence, and middle-aged and elderly female characters who are active, intelligent protagonists instead of the usual somebody's-mom-or-grandma cardboard cutout in the background. And they're also full of horsey stuff! (Just...try to ignore the covers: Heris is supposed to be middle-aged and dark-skinned, so of course the cover art all shows light-skinned ingenues...)