Powerless

Powerless is the first novel of the Powerless series by the American author Lauren Roberts, published in 2023. It first appeared as a self-published title, issued through Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing and Barnes & Noble Press, and was later taken up for a wider release by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. It is a young adult romantic fantasy, and it is the book that made Roberts' name as a self-published author before the traditional edition appeared.

The kingdom of Ilya is divided between Elites, who carry the powers the Plague left behind, and the Ordinary, who do not. Being born without an ability became a crime when the king ordered the Ordinary out, which makes Paedyn Gray a criminal by accident and a thief by necessity. She survives by passing as a Psychic, reading people carefully enough that nobody asks the obvious question. The trials are the kingdom's way of displaying what the Elites believe makes them fit to rule, and they are held in front of an audience that expects the Elites to win.

Paedyn saves a prince without knowing who he is. Kai Azer is the younger of Ilya's two princes and a Wielder, able to sense and then use the powers of other Elites, and he pulls her into the Purging Trials, a competition built to show off exactly the abilities she does not have. She has no honest way to survive it, and the prince she cannot afford to want is the person most likely to notice.

The series has grown beyond the original trilogy to include novellas told from other points of view at the same time as the main books. Powerless sets up Paedyn, Kai, the trials and the division between Elites and Ordinary that the rest of the series is fought over.