We Are Not Prey – Taki Drake

Wish-fulfillment fantasy. A woman in a bad-as-it-can-get situation has a breakthrough and becomes a Mage. Mages appear every few millennia, and they can do anything. (Is Earth blocking your perfect view of Venus? Just wish it away. No kaboom needed.) That kind of power makes it almost impossible to tell an interesting story, because challenges can only occur if the Mage neglects to wish them away. This also means, from a story-telling perspective, that all challenges are the same ‘size’, so if the Mage destroys billions of evil aliens one moment and makes sure her people have nice-looking uniforms the next, the plot tension is much the same.