TF Warden‘s first Bones in the Dark novel focuses on a naive mage academy graduate as she stumbles into an escalating series of perilous situations. It starts off a bit rough but picks up nicely as the protagonist starts acting, instead of reacting, and coming to terms with how practice differs from theory.
Continuing on to the webnovel version I found there was a second complete book along with the beginnings of a third. That second changes the setting but keeps everything else about the series consistent, further spurring the protagonist’s growth both mentally and magically. So all in all a great start, and I’ll likely continue to follow the story for the foreseeable future.
The first of A.A. Harris‘ Defiant Necromancer novels also starts off a bit rough and never shakes the sense that something is about to go terribly wrong (which makes it rather difficult to read). It clearly seems to be working toward becoming an overpowered protagonist harem series, but at this point it’s more an underdog revenge story constantly balanced on the edge of failure… and I’m not sure I can continue forcing myself through the growing pains.