The Petralist Series

Impossible choices. Explosive magic. Brilliant humor. Connor is cursed.... And in Obrion, that means he must obtain patronage from a high lord prior to his 16th birthday, or face execution. Connor turns 16 tomorrow. Should be a simple thing until his small town is invaded. Armies clash, superhuman Petralists step out of legend, and layers of deadly intrigue shatter Connor's simple life. If he stays, he dies. If he leaves, people he loves will die. Some birthdays are like that. And there's this girl.

Connor's supposed to be dead. He's not very good at it. He did save his village...by destroying it. And the armies vying to control his powerful curse think he's dead. But he needs patronage from a high lord or his curse will transform him into a raging monster. So Connor creeps back into the land of the living, joining his Aunt Ailsa at the Carraig, the school of the Petralists, hoping somehow to find patronage on his terms. He should have known better. At the Carraig it's all about the game, and the stakes have never been higher. 

As student armies clash in intense group battles and Connor struggles to leverage a pitifully underpowered army against overwhelming competition, the intrigue at the Carraig intensifies to deadly new levels. There are secrets at the Carraig buried for centuries that could shake the nation to its roots. Once Connor pokes that hornets' nest, the Tallan's own fury will be unleashed. To survive, Connor must outsmart conniving noble houses, dodge international assassins, survive unbelievably bad poetry, and risk exploring new powers that were concealed for very good reasons.