Reading Volsky makes me think of Jack Vance. Volsky's cultures live and breathe, they have interesting nuances and curlicues. Volsky's books from "Illusion" (1991) to "The Grand Ellipse" (2001) are set in what some might call a steampunk world - technology of a Victorian level with magic still hanging in there just. The countries are (loosely) based on countries in our world - so Vonahrish is France, Rhazaulle is Russia (I think), etc. I don't know if there's a political subtext I'm missing, there may be. Volsky's lead protagonists are often apparently on the sidelines. They're not super-powerful wizards or all conquering swordsmen. Like ordinary people they more usually experience events than make things happen. Her endings might be considered slightly deus ex machina, but work for me.
Illusion published in 1991 is a novel based on the French Revolution. The Exalted of Vonahrish enjoy wealth and status thanks to their ancestors' magical powers. They lord it over the common people. But they have mostly forsaken their magic for an aristocratic lifestyle - and are unable to quell the rabble when it rises. We see the Revolution through the eyes of Eliste, spoilt daughter of the Exalted, whose aristocratic birth turns from advantage to disadvantage. Reduced to pauper on the run, she hopes that the magic of Illusion still has power to redeem the situation. The magic in "Illusion" is well constructed and described. The title of this book is very descriptive as there are multiple illusions therein. The Illusion magic of Eliste's Uncle, the illusion the Exalted aristocrats have of their safety before the revolution, the illusion woven by the demagogues to stir up the mob, the illusions Eliste herself has.
In the very Vancian The Grand Ellipse published in 2000 Luzelle Devaire, a Vonahrish woman trying to escape the mould by her anthropological exploits, finds herself participating in "The Grand Ellipse". This is a race dreamed up by a mad monarch through the world Volsky has been writing about since "Illusion". The lure of the race is that the mad monarch has a wizard with the secret of sentient fire which may save Vonahrish from being conquered by a military minded neighbour. Many finely drawn characters and cultures, a triumphant conclusion to Volsky's books set in her world? More light-hearted than other of her previous books, but the very human heroine still endures and experiences a lot on her quest. If magic symbolises something to Volsky then this book says that magic still endures, still has power. Whether or not this book has such a message, it is a fine read.