Yes, I agree that's where she was going with it, but it didn't quite work for me because the internal logic seemed a bit forced and left me wondering about mechanisms.

In any case, magic didn't map to power very well. The wizards mostly seemed to be hired assistants supporting the really powerful men, whose power seemed to be primarily cultural rather than based on a single ability.

I'll probably read the sequel at some point though, if only for the setting which was gorgeous.