Trudi Canavan

When you send someone a postcard on postcrossing.com, you take a look at their profile to see what kinds of cards they like and their hobbies, etc.  In the last batch I sent, I found a kindred spirit, an anime lover and a Harry Potter fan.  She lives in Germany and her profile mentioned Trudi Canavan so I looked up the author and immediately put the first of her Magician's Guild trilogy on the library hold list, which is becoming increasingly long.  Well, I fell in love.  The story revolves a young girl who lives in the slums of Kyralia.  She inadvertantly magically throws a stone at the magicians as they try to purge the city of these dwellers each year.  As Sonea thrawts the Magician's Guild time after time, she, herself, is thrown into danger as her powers become more and more uncontrolable.  The story is simple but the characters very rich.  I could not put the book down and I am now immersed in the second. You have to love postcrossing.