Nameless Magery

I got this as part of my recent quest to find all the "Del Rey Discovery" books that I haven't read, since whoever was doing the picking for that line was really doing an excellent job finding talented new sci-fi authors - I've liked all the ones I've read. Unfortunately, I don't think Del Rey is doing it anymore, and I haven't been able to just find a list...

"Nameless Magery" did not disappoint! This was a thoroughly fun, enjoyable book, with an unusual mix of sci-fi and fantasy, and a good sense of humor.
Lisane was raised to be queen of her people, a powerful user of magic, worshipped as a near-deity. However, violent aliens have destroyed her society and taken her people prisoner. As the book opens, only she has managed to escape the show more invaders, and now she is wandering a wasteland on an alien world, ragged and starving...
But, as luck would have it, she is discovered by a handsome wizard, Simon, and brought to his home, a school for mages, where she meets the intriguing Master Kaihan, and a fellow student who immediately becomes her nemesis, Detter.
Elements of school story, quest tale, romance and space opera combine here in a surprisingly successful way, brought together by Lisane's spunky, lusty, self-deprecating character (and Turner's funny chapter titles, which are priceless!).

Although this is a stand-alone novel, apparently, Turner also published a companion volume, "Of Swords and Spells." show less

Part school story, part romance, part coming-of-age story, this quirky gem of a book is hard to describe. This early sentence gives you a better taste for the book than anything else I could say: "I reflected that there was nothing like complete calamity to take one's mind off the daily grind of starving to death in an inadequately rat infested wilderness."