[Aristander]

A good recent choice is Lamentation by Ken Scholes.

Over two thousand years has passed from the end of the Old World and the Age of Laughing Madness.

Rising from that devastation, the Androfrancines build a Great Library in the city of Windwir. Within this library the Androfrancines store what lost knowledge of science and magic they can recover from past ages, only releasing to the world such wonders they deem save for humanity.

A horrifying column of darkness rises on the horizon. Rudolfo, Lord of the Nine Forest Houses can see the smoke from many miles away, and knows that all the Kingdoms of the Named Lands will soon be at war. The city of Windwir and its Great Library has been destroyed by an ancient weapon.

Closer to the catastrophe, a young apprentice is the sole survivor. Neb has seen everyone he has ever known die in an instant.

Lamentation has a great mix of steampunk and fantasy. The plot moves swiftly with plenty of schemes, shifting alliances and the obligatory coming of age story. Scholes has a style similar to Greg Keys and is a fun and easy read.

Full disclosure, I am a librarian by trade and spend some of each day reading reviews of Science Fiction and Fantasy books and purchasing them for my library.