This interview with Max Gladstone was linked to on Yvains blog last month and on its strength I picked up the first two books in his craft sequence - Three Parts Dead and Two Serpents Rise Its "magicians are like lawyers/economists" premise and urban fantasy parts are very well done, and there are a decent few jokes that probably only those with some legal training will spot. The plot of the first book is a bit simple (the bad evil guy who we are told on first meeting is bad, turns out to be evil - and also reads like a less impressive Quirrel from HPMOR) however the second in the series has so far avoided the "clear bad guy" in favour of a more nuanced, Princess Mononoke style arrangement (which I hope continues until the end).