The Magister Trilogy

Friedman has featured on this list already, but like all good world-builders, she has more than one idea floating around. The trilogy’s first book, Feast of Souls, ends up being an apt description of her magic, as it’s from life itself it feeds. Sorcery in this world has almost no limit. With it, women have the potential to change the world, but the cost is often too high. The feat they perform will determine how much of their life will be shaved off; it could be seconds, years, or even decades. With this simple concept, Friedman manages to create an array of emotion and philosophies. Healers who may have to choose between a child’s life or their own. Life or death scenarios that could end in death either way. All the while, a group of men known as Magisters seem able to manipulate the world at no cost,and achieve immortality. Throughout the trilogy, Friedman unravels the mysteries behind her magic system, with twists hitting you at every turn. At the same time, a terrible threat rises, and you wonder what lengths the characters will go to in order to defeat it.