This is the 2nd book in the Age of Dread series. It picks up the action following several young mages. one who is leading a new colony of mages and trying to live quietly, one who goes off to join a new Royal Cadre of mages and one who is out for revenge. Mage talents in this world are spontaneous, randomly occurring to individuals who then need training to contain and use them. Mages are feared and resented by those without mage talents.
Unfortunately there seems to be little limit on mage abilities. There's no specific fields or types of magic, while some mages are better than others at some things, there seems to be no limits on what can be done or learned, provided the mage puts in the effort. That explains why people fear mages, there is no real way to contain them. That makes mages hunted people and the various plots explore that.
I thought this was good, I enjoyed the characters and the action. The unlimited nature of magic in the book bothers me a bit as that causes a lot of potential plot problems that aren't handled, but all in all, this was interesting to read. ( )