What's the Name of That Book??? discussion

This was a young adult fantasy I read around 1995. It was about a girl who was discovered to have magic powers and went to an all male sorcery school in a city, where she befriends a peasant boy. There is intrigue as only men practice magic. That's all I remember!

It's probably not Dragonfly by Ursula K. Le Guin, because it was a 1. a short story (well, maybe more of a novella) and 2. originally published in 1998 (Legends), but I'll throw it out there just in case. It was included in Tales from Earthsea (2001).

Review with plot description: https://thechannelofmattries.blogspot...

Thanks for trying! It is certainly a very similar type of book to Earthsea, as I'm sure I would have read this book after Earthsea and was looking for something similar. For some reason I have magical potions stuck in my mind. And going to live in an old fashioned fortress type city, perhaps surrounded by sand? I think it was also a series of books, rather than a novella. It's so frustrating! Thanks again.

Okay so probably not, but just to be on the safe side because it's so easy to muddle details of one book with details of another, I wanted to doublecheck that it's not the Lioness Rampant books by Tamora Pierce that starts with Alanna: The First Adventure. Granted, it's not a sorcery school, and there are no potions, but the main character is a girl going to an all-boy's school, she does have magic powers, makes friends with the peasant/thief George, and a key plot point is a weird city/fortress/thing in the desert.

The genre sounds very differnt, but the description sounds similar to Equal Rites.

Thank you everyone for taking the time to help me find the book. The book is definitely the Lioness Rampant series. As soon as I heard the name George I knew it was the right book as that rang a bell, and then found a map online from the original book and remembered the country name of Tortall. Thanks again!

Great. Glad you found your book series, Tim. Here's the link for the first book - Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce (re: message #4).