I had great fun with a young wizard blowing things up a lot. Takes time to learn this stuff. :)
(In SPIRAL PATH.)
@KatKimbriel And then there's the much grimmer outcomes for undertrained/incompetent sorcerers in @graydon 's "A Succession of Bad Days" … (rule one of magic: try not to do anything with the side-effect of setting your brain on fire!)
@cstross @KatKimbriel @graydon One of Mercedes Lackey's series features a guy who got himself and the world in trouble by dabbling in an obscure school of magic. Somewhat later, he decides he really needed to learn a second spell to help deal with the consequences of learning the first one. He also decided all the stuff he didn't understand about this school probably won't matter. I was so unhappy that he got distracted before he could carry out his visionary scheme.