The Borderlands Series by Lorna Freeman (Covenants, King's Own, Shadows Past)

[LaserWraith]

The Borderlands series by Lorna Freeman are some great books.

They are in the first person, following the view of "Lord Rabbit." Rabbit is a close relative to the king, and is the heir.

This series is a bit different than a usually coming-of-age series about a potentially powerful magician (though I like those a lot, so recommend :P). Yes, Rabbit is very magically powerful, and yes, he does have all four aspects (fire, air, water, earth; having more than one is rare), and yes again, he is new and inexperienced in his power.

But usually, the budding mage with get some adventurers (including some old wise person), and go try to solve some problem. But since many people seem to want to get Rabbit, and since he is a close relative of the king, the king and others high up in the ranks are always keeping a close eye on him. It is kind of like they think he is an unruly child about to run off and do something naughty.

Rabbit has his uses and powers, and can be helpful, but it is interesting seeing all the different people who subtly struggle to get a hold on him. His two teachers want more time to train him, the king wants him not to get lost, the lord commander gets upset with him and wants him to not do much magic in public, and the general public think he is a witch and should be killed.

There are many more aspects of these novels which are unique from other fantasy. I would highly recommend people to read them.

And, you can see for yourself that Covenants, the first book, has a full 5-star rating on Amazon (53 reviews). This isn't a too widely known series, so I wanted to alert some people to it.

[AndyLavigne]

I'll throw in my support as well, though I've only read book one back in 2005 (I kept waiting for book two, but eventually forgot and just remembered this month).

I'll add that at least book one is pretty light: it runs about 500 pages, but is packed with action, neat characters, and a lot of sarcastic humor (it's narrated in the first person, from Rabbit's point of view, so that adds an interesting window to the world as what we see is subjective.) Also, that bit about Rabbit being the king's son was sort of a plot twist at the end of book one, so it's a shame to spoil it, but it's hard not to describe the series or read about it without running into it.

[LaserWraith]

I'll throw in my support as well, though I've only read book one back in 2005 (I kept waiting for book two, but eventually forgot and just remembered this month).

I'll add that at least book one is pretty light: it runs about 500 pages, but is packed with action, neat characters, and a lot of sarcastic humor (it's narrated in the first person, from Rabbit's point of view, so that adds an interesting window to the world as what we see is subjective.) Also, that bit about Rabbit being the king's son was sort of a plot twist at the end of book one, so it's a shame to spoil it, but it's hard not to describe the series or read about it without running into it.

Eh...I never heard Rabbit was the king's son. He is a close relative, but not the son of the king. (And it was revealed early on that he was close to the king.)

Yes, I like the sarcastic first-person humor a lot, but it doesn't come anywhere near Harry Dresden's sarcasm.

[beniowa]

I really enjoyed the first book, even if it had a little too much deux ex machina. The second book was also good. I waited years for Shadow's Past and when it finally came it I was just no longer interested. I would still recommend the series.