The Magician’s Guild by Trudi Canavan is a fantasy novel built around a very common premise, but presented with uncommon skill. Consider a world wherein the practice of magic is dominated by a guild that restricts training for magery to those citizens of the upper classes, allowing effortless oppression of the lower classes. Inevitably, someone from a less distinguished social class discovers a talent for magic, and finds her life irreversibly changed. The basic plotline has been done in hundreds of variations, but rarely with the skillful painting of characters and interrelated plots that can be found here.
This comes highly recommended for fans of fantasy with magic that follows rules, plots that you can respect in the morning, and characters that drive events rather than chasing plot tokens.
It should be noted that these are not particularly adult books, by which I mean they are entirely suitable for younger readers without being “written down” to them. Neither gore nor inappropriate sexual content are present.
