Fantasy books, stories, ＆c

i read The Black Magician series by Trudi Canavan back when they came out, and they may be a bit weird of a recommendation in that the magic there very much is "slam fireball into face" but there's a heavy focus on the process itself. Canavan writes mage battles like WWI gruesome trench warfare, with battle lines of wizards lobbing fireballs at each other for hours until their shields break, and supply lines running up to the front with mana supplies. it's an interesting take on the genre.

also, the Discworld books very much have magic as its own entity with its own will as a central theme.