Knowing she has been seen and fearing for her life, she goes into hiding, at the same time trying to learn how to use her burgeoning powers - unaware that they will destroy her unless she is taught to control them. Stunned that the unthinkable has happened, other magicians reflexively respond with fire. One year, Sonea throws a rock at the magicians with all the weight of her anger behind it, and it breaks through the magicians' shield to knock a magician unconscious. It's nicely written engaging, but not too complicated, and the language and plot flow smoothly.In the country of Kyralia, magicians are supposed to be taken from all walks of life to be trained in the Guild, but for a long time, the practice has been that only those from the Houses are tested for the gift, and so it is assumed that only the rich can become magicians.Every winter, the Guild magicians hold purges in the capital city of Imardin, to indiscriminately clear the slum areas, and this causes resentment amongst the slum dwellers. I whizzed through this one, because I've been hanging onto my library books for so long, I can't renew them anymore, and I have to say that (at just over 500 pages), this was quite easy to read.

Another new author for me I've seen Trudi Canavan's books around before, so now I've finally dipped a toe in and read one.

The Magicians' Guild by Trudi Canavan