Strixhaven: Omens of Chaos is a novel in the MtG sandbox multi-author world, by Seanan McGuire. Released 7th April 2026 by Penguin Random House on their Random House Worlds imprint, it's 432 pages and is available in hardcover, paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout.
This is a licensed project with tie-ins to MtG (the card game) and its lore, and although not absolutely required to enjoy and understand the story, familiarity with the background and lore will definitely be helpful. This is a cross-worlds fantasy set at a magical university, with a group of young would-be magical practitioners trying to get through their classes and survive their day-to-day lives. The author is quite adept at both setting and characterization, and a high point of the story is the background info written in for each of the 5 main characters.
It very much reads like a YA story, and there's a lot of inter-student drama which feels unnecessary and included just for the conflict. The pacing is somewhat uneven and on the slow side. As with (almost) all sandbox settings for multi-author worlds, the point is to tell a story which is a zero-sum game. Ms. McGuire is unquestionably a talented wordsmith and this is a well written and engaging story for the intended audience.
Three and a half stars. It would be a good choice for MtG fans, magical-university-ensemble-cast-YA-fantasy, and YA fantasy fans. It would also be a good choice for a long binge/buddy read.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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