Enchantress

The Empire exists in a state of balance. The Emperor and the Houses each have their own magical Lore, and the Order is the only source of the Essence which powers that Lore. But this is an unstable equilibrium, and when the Lexicons which are the source of each Lore begin to be stolen, and Houses to fall under a unifying banner, the peace of the Empire is set to be replaced with tyranny. Luckily Ella and her brother Miro, being orphans and thus prodigally talented beyond advanced students of their chosen fields of study (the Lore of enchantment and stabbing people a lot respectively) are there to take a stand.

Enchantress has a pretty good set up, and a number of impressive features. I like the fact that the Federal Republic of One Hat States is shown to be an artificial construct created by the hoarding of what was meant to be shared, and that the omnipresence of magic has stifled technological growth, from medicine to archery science and the use of horses.

Unfortunately, it is let down by its characters, especially stock mysterious orphans who rise through the ranks and turn out to be the children of someone significant after all. The fact that pretty much everyone but them seems to be well aware of their heritage from the get-go is especially egregious. And as to their love lives...

Ella assiduously avoids romantic entanglements until she falls completely under the spell of a man with especially dreamy eyes, who betrays her but ultimately is redeemed by love for her, after like a dozen people have died messily because of their actions. Still, he's a gentleman, and so she ends the book not only a heroine in spite of her many screw ups, but also a virgin, because how could she not. Miro on the other hand has shagged his way across a continent, but blows off the woman he truly loves (and who loves him) rather than interfere with her arranged marriage, because that way he can have angst to go with his peculiar absence of venereal diseases.

Enchantress has interesting ideas and an epic story, but the characters feel in dire need of a collective slap.