The latest novel set in the Magic: The Gathering lore is taking fans to school and opening up a new era of magic-users and potential heroes.
Strixhaven: Omens of Chaos (Magic: The Gathering)
Written By: Seanan McGuire
Published By: Random House Worlds
Release Date: April 7, 2026
Purchase [Affiliate]: https://amzn.to/4s7Qg6T
As Magic: The Gathering players anxiously await the launch of the latest expansion (coming April 24th), Strixhaven: Omens of Chaos, by Seanan McGuire, is arriving to help set the stage and coincide with all the new stuff going on. Following the events of the Phyrexian Invasion, the multiverse has dramatically changed. Planeswalkers have largely been stripped of their powers, entire worlds are still reeling/recovering from the war, and massive rifts within the Blind Eternities are allowing every day people to travel the planes like never before.
If none of that sounds familiar to you, or gets your head spinning from all the lore…don’t worry too much. The opening section of the book does a solid job of explaining this bit of backstory that will allow fans who missed out on those bits of lore the chance to still enjoy this.
Anyway, Omens of Chaos takes place following the aftermath of the massive multi-versal war. Following the devastation, the storied University of Strixhaven is looking to expand its student body by extending scholarships to people from other planes for the first time. When Eula Blue gets the unexpected invite, she sees it as an opportunity to achieve her dream of being a mage that she thought was crushed when the war happened.
She, along with her fellow trans-planar students find themselves like fish out of water and struggling to adapt to the new multiverse of knowledge they encounter, while still remaining true to the homes they came from. Isolated from the rest of the student body (including many who want to see them gone through violent means), the group must work together in order to thrive in their first year.
As the threats and dangers increase, however, it becomes clear their recruitment may have been part of someone else’s grand plans. If they want to survive, they’ll need to embrace the things that make them different and test the bonds they’ve forged.
Obviously, Strixhaven has engendered some comparisons to other magical wizard schools, but this is decidedly not Harry Potter. Sure, there are some similar beats with the culture-shock aspect and scheming teachers you’re not sure who to trust, but it has a more mature tone/approach to it. Despite the bulk of the novel’s focus being from Eula’s perspective, the story does a solid job of making all the characters in this group feel important. There’s no “chosen one” business going on here, and I could easily see how future novels might shift perspectives to one of the others instead.
That said, if you’re looking for an alternative to scratch that magical-school-danger/drama itch, Omens of Chaos will absolutely do it. McGuire’s prose is easy to follow and manages to establish a scene without bogging things down overly much in exposition. This is no mean feat, considering the many fantastical/magical elements at play in the story. By far, I was impressed with how ably he was able to describe impossible sounding things (like the Strixhaven library) in a way that still gave me a clear picture of things.
The character interactions are solid to boot and are almost instantly engaging. It doesn’t take long for their dynamic, strange as it is, to begin working on you as a reader. Despite the majority of them being completely different species, their experiences and motivations are easy to relate to.
The biggest problem, however, is the story takes a while to really get going. So much of the book is about introducing these characters, their worlds/quirks, and literally taking tours of the school, that it’s not until well into the back half that a main plot comes into focus. Everything going on is just interesting enough to keep you reading, but there comes a point when you’re ready to see what its all about.
I think part of this pacing issue is that it seems like the book is obviously setting things up for more to come. Omens of Chaos only covers their first year at the school and there are plenty of unresolved aspects to the characters. It very much feels like an intro book to a series, without offering a conclusion satisfying enough on its own.
That’s not to say it’s bad, but it definitely makes the first half or so drag a bit. Beyond that, there are some aspects of the lore that feel tough to follow. As I mentioned, it does a good job of establishing some basic story beats to catch readers up on things, but after that, much of the story assumes you know more about Magic: The Gathering‘s lore on your own.
When it comes to MTG, I am, what you’d call a “filthy casual.” I’m not as knowledgeable about the lore and story that’s come before. I greatly enjoyed the previous Del Rey/Random House MTG books (Ravnica and Forsaken), but those felt more accessible for fantasy fans in general. There were a handful of points while reading Strixhaven that I needed to fire up the fan-wiki to understand some things.
Generally speaking, both of these things are very much me issues. I’m sure long time fans won’t have that problem, but it’s something to be aware of. The writing is great, the characters are fun, and there’s definitely more solid story potential within this little group.
