Casander Darkbloom and the Threads of Power by P.A. Staff

Title: Casander Darkbloom and the Threads of Power

Author: P.A. Staff

Genre: Fantasy

Publisher: Walker Books

Published: 1^st November 2023

Format: Paperback

Pages: 384

Price: $19.99

Synopsis: The first in an extraordinary middle-grade fantasy series that takes the traditional “chosen one” narrative and flips it on its head. Think Nevermoor and The School for Good and Evil, but with a thrilling twist!

A boy with no memory. A world searching for a hero.

Casander Darkbloom has no memory, lives outside a curiosity shop, and experiences random surges of uncontrollable energy in his limbs. When he inexplicably brings a stuffed raven to life, he unravels a strange and thrilling magical world. A world waiting for Cas to save it.

Cas is the Foretold, the one prophesied to defeat the malevolent Master of All. Under the protection of Wayward School, Cas must learn to master his magical abilities. But, as he soon discovers, all may not be quite as it seems – and Cas will need to take control of his own destiny if he is to find the strength to fight the powers of evil.

Spectacular and imaginative, this thrilling fantasy novel celebrates difference and how what makes us unique is also our greatest strength.

• With exceptional disability and neurodiversity representation, this thrilling fantasy novel celebrates difference and how what makes us unique is also our greatest strength.
• P.A. Staff is a vet by day, children’s author by night – her love of animal’s is woven into the novel with a character who can change into different animals, as well as a host of magical creatures for readers to discover.
• Spectacular and imaginative, the story is set in the Balance Lands, a world that mirrors our own, but with elemental magic, and centres on the curious Wayward School.

~*~

Welcome to the Balance Lands – like our world, but with a few differences. When we met Cas, he’s living in our world, by an old curiosity shop called Crane’s Curiosities. Cas is different – he can’t remember what has happened from one day to the next, and he has a funny leg, as he calls it, that spams and all his limbs spasm with random surges of energy he can’t control. But one day, a strange group of men are chasing Cas, and he meets a girl called Warrior who whisks him away to the Balance Lands and the Wayward School for Most Prestigious Others. Because Warrior believes Cas is the Foretold – the one who will save Wayward and the Balance Lands from a dark enemy. An evil that seeks someone and something and wants to take over the Balance Lands.

For the first time, Cas feels like he belongs – from the kindly librarian, Mrs Crane, to his new friends Warrior, Paws, Fenix, Dewey Cricket, and a few others who accept him for who he is and are willing to help him learn about his new world and identity, and stand up with him against the Du Villaine twins, determined to drive Cas and his new friends – known as the Abnormies – out of everything. Lucille and her brother, Sam Du Villaine are the main antagonists – a bit like the school bully who likes to get in the main character’s way but aren’t the big bad. They’re just an obstacle to our Abnormie heroes, and I have to say, Cas’s sass and ability to call them out, and determination to show the Du Villaine twins that they’re not above anybody was one of my favourite things about his character – he did not let them bully people relentlessly.

Casander Darkbloom isn’t your typical Chosen One narrative. In fact, P.A. Staff has taken the trope and flipped it on its head. In this story, the Chosen One, or the Foretold, is disabled and neurodiverse. Cas and his friends are a wonderfully diverse group – gender, race, disability, and family – Paws has two mums. All of this is seamlessly incorporated, nothing stands out or is marked as ‘different’ in a negative way. Everyone in this story has their own differences and ways of being unique, and whilst there are those who look down on the Abnormies, it is the celebration of what makes everyone in this story unique that made it work well for me, as well as the acceptance of disability by the main characters- that was a very important aspect for me, so readers of all ages from ten upwards who read this book can see themselves represented. This is important because growing up, I loved the books I read, but often, there weren’t many disabled characters – and these days, I’m seeing a lot more diversity, particularly in children’s books which is fantastic. I still love all those other books I read growing up, but reading these diverse books that show disability is thrilling as well. It is something that has made me fall in love with Cas, and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Casander Darkbloom plays with the magical school trope as well and references a few things that we know in our world, and that have bled into the Balance Lands, and we see them through Casander’s eyes – the way someone encountering something for the first time would describe things that everyone else knows. I think this was a clever way to show how Casander understood the world and the way the Balance Lands mirror our world. That’s what made this magical school different. It’s a mirror world, not a hidden world within our world. It worked well for me and came together effectively. I always like to see how different series and books deal with magical schools, and always enjoy it when things are just a little bit different. I can’t wait for the next book and see what Cas and his friends get up to next.