The Fantasy Review‘s list of 8 Epic Fantasy Series with Intricate Magic Systems.
The Final Empire (Mistborn, #1) by Brandon Sanderson
From the blurb:
For a thousand years, ash fell and no flowers bloomed. For a thousand years, the Skaa slaved in misery and lived in fear. For a thousand years, the Lord Ruler reigned with absolute power and ultimate terror, divinely invincible. Then, when all hope was lost, the scarred, heartbroken half-Skaa Kelsier found in himself the powers of a Mistborn.…
The Warded Man (The Demon Cycle, #1) by Peter V. Brett
From the blurb:
For hundreds of years the demons have terrorized the night, slowly culling the human herd that shelters behind magical wards—symbols of power whose origins are lost in myth and whose protection is terrifyingly fragile. It was not always this way. Once, men and women battled the corelings on equal terms, but those days are gone.…
A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1) by V.E. Schwab
From the blurb:
Kell is one of the last Antari―magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons; Red, Grey, White, and, once upon a time, Black.
Kell was raised in Arnes―Red London―and officially serves the Maresh Empire as an ambassador, traveling between the frequent bloody regime changes in White London and the court of George III in the dullest of Londons, the one without any magic left to see.…
Shadow and Bone (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy, #1) by Leigh Bardugo
From the blurb:
Soldier. Summoner. Saint. Orphaned and expendable, Alina Starkov is a soldier who knows she may not survive her first trek across the Shadow Fold―a swath of unnatural darkness crawling with monsters. But when her regiment is attacked, Alina unleashes dormant magic not even she knew she possessed.…
The Black Prism (Lightbringer, #1) by Brent Weeks
From the blurb:
Guile is the Prism. He is high priest and emperor, a man whose power, wit, and charm are all that preserves a tenuous peace. Yet Prisms never last, and Guile knows exactly how long he has left to live.
When Guile discovers he has a son, born in a far kingdom after the war that put him in power, he must decide how much he’s willing to pay to protect a secret that could tear his world apart….
A Deadly Education (The Scholomance, #1) by Naomi Novik
From the blurb:
I decided that Orion Lake needed to die after the second time he saved my life.
Everyone loves Orion Lake. Everyone else, that is. Far as I’m concerned, he can keep his flashy combat magic to himself. I’m not joining his pack of adoring fans.…
The Last Sun (The Tarot Sequence, #1) by K.D. Edwards
From the blurb:
Rune Saint John, last child of the fallen Sun Court, is hired to search for Lady Justice’s missing son, Addam, on New Atlantis, the island city where the Atlanteans moved after ordinary humans destroyed their original home.
With his companion and bodyguard, Brand, Rune questions Addam’s relatives and business contacts through the highest ranks of the nobles of New Atlantis. He must navigate old friends and enemies, and a growing attraction to a handsome nobleman.…
Priestess of the White (Age of the Five, #1) by Trudi Canavan
From the blurb:
When Auraya was chosen to become a priestess, she could never have believed that a mere ten years later she would be one of the White, the gods’ most powerful servants.
Sadly, Auraya has little time to adapt to the exceptional powers gifted her by the gods. Mysterious black-clad sorcerers from the south plague the land, and rumours reach the White of an army being raised. Auraya and her new colleagues work tirelessly to seal alliances and unite the northern continent under their banner, but time is running out….
Consider L.E. Modesitt for this list. Recluce is the most accessible of his universes, but he is always thoughtful and careful in his world building.
How could not include name of the wind?!