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Of Caverns and Casters: The Lost Roads Quartet, Book One
Two subterranean scientists face a world of betrayal and magic.
A loyal prince runs away from the country he loves.
When their paths twist together, they must twine their talents to survive.
* * *
Leavi Riveirre, a sixteen-year-old scientist in the underground city Karsix, knows that wizards, princes, kingdoms, and epic battles are only found in storybooks. Her reality is the relentless plague unleashing death and darkness in the city. Determined to survive, she leaves everything she’s ever known and discovers a world she never knew existed.
Sean Rahkifellar dedicates his life to alkemi, studying how the cogs of the universe click together. His plans are destroyed, though, when the plague breaks out, tearing him away from his life's work and throwing him headlong into the unknown.
Aster Jacques, half a continent away, is the next commander of all magicians in his kingdom, but spells his future subordinates long since mastered hover just outside his reach. Desperate to be the caster his country needs, he’s willing to do whatever it takes—even abandon the kingdom.
As the three struggle to comprehend each other’s worlds, they must work together if they want to overcome the deadly twists thrust their way.
A loyal prince runs away from the country he loves.
When their paths twist together, they must twine their talents to survive.
* * *
Leavi Riveirre, a sixteen-year-old scientist in the underground city Karsix, knows that wizards, princes, kingdoms, and epic battles are only found in storybooks. Her reality is the relentless plague unleashing death and darkness in the city. Determined to survive, she leaves everything she’s ever known and discovers a world she never knew existed.
Sean Rahkifellar dedicates his life to alkemi, studying how the cogs of the universe click together. His plans are destroyed, though, when the plague breaks out, tearing him away from his life's work and throwing him headlong into the unknown.
Aster Jacques, half a continent away, is the next commander of all magicians in his kingdom, but spells his future subordinates long since mastered hover just outside his reach. Desperate to be the caster his country needs, he’s willing to do whatever it takes—even abandon the kingdom.
As the three struggle to comprehend each other’s worlds, they must work together if they want to overcome the deadly twists thrust their way.
- GenresFantasy
398 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 17, 2018
3 people are currently reading
80 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 14, 2020
Laine and Aria Nichols’s debut novel, Of Caverns and Casters, is a fantastical novel that belongs on the shelves of every Tolkein admirer. Of Caverns and Casters follows the story of three young protagonists who come from three different worlds. Leavi, Sean, and Aster must work together to survive in a place, unlike anything they’ve ever encountered, but trust is a luxury that the adventurers cannot afford.
Laine and Aria Nichols’s debut novel will immerse readers in a world of topside towns and underground cities - a world of science and magic, and the fate of a country, plagued cities, and three brave adventurers. This novel is the story of three people who come from different worlds, yet the authors have managed to delicately intertwine their paths in a way that will keep readers engaged from the very first sentence. Of Caverns and Casters is an enticing story of trust, unexpected friendships, and the inherent need we feel to belong to a community.
Laine and Aria Nichols’s debut novel will immerse readers in a world of topside towns and underground cities - a world of science and magic, and the fate of a country, plagued cities, and three brave adventurers. This novel is the story of three people who come from different worlds, yet the authors have managed to delicately intertwine their paths in a way that will keep readers engaged from the very first sentence. Of Caverns and Casters is an enticing story of trust, unexpected friendships, and the inherent need we feel to belong to a community.
June 29, 2025
Reading this book felt like being whisked off on a journey with no chance to stop for breath. I was captivated pretty much all the way through and never really wanted to put it down because there was always some drama or action to seize my attention. Plus, I'm a personal fan of books that start by hooking me into two very different stories that eventually collide, and this is an excellent example of that.
I think what I liked most was the realism. Though we're introduced to these amazing fantasy worlds, the characters' struggles are all intensely real and relatable and even quite simple at times, so I grew very attached to them simply because they feel like real people despite the fantastical backdrop of their story. Except Aster. Aster is too good and pure for this world and he needs to be wrapped in a soft blanket and kept safe from all harm.
That realism is especially true for how the collision of differing worlds (and differing mindsets) is dealt with. I really loved it.
Also, Leavi and Sean are particularly interesting characters to follow because their decision making is so logic-driven (mostly...) and there's something oddly unique about reading that? I might just not be used to characters thinking through their actions so much. As a chronic overthinker myself, it's quite refreshing, honestly.
I think what I liked most was the realism. Though we're introduced to these amazing fantasy worlds, the characters' struggles are all intensely real and relatable and even quite simple at times, so I grew very attached to them simply because they feel like real people despite the fantastical backdrop of their story. Except Aster. Aster is too good and pure for this world and he needs to be wrapped in a soft blanket and kept safe from all harm.
That realism is especially true for how the collision of differing worlds (and differing mindsets) is dealt with. I really loved it.
Also, Leavi and Sean are particularly interesting characters to follow because their decision making is so logic-driven (mostly...) and there's something oddly unique about reading that? I might just not be used to characters thinking through their actions so much. As a chronic overthinker myself, it's quite refreshing, honestly.
November 26, 2022
Of Caverns and Casters is just the kind of delightful read I love to keep on my shelf for a little entertainment and escapism. The authors spin an engaging tale that takes us through a colorful world with vibrant characters and intriguing interactions between them. One detail in particular I appreciated was the work taken to truly make the protagonists feel like foreigners in strange lands--weak grasp on the language, for instance.
Overall, all the threads of the plot wove together beautifully, all characters played an interesting part, and the cliffhanger ending has me excited to see what's next!
Overall, all the threads of the plot wove together beautifully, all characters played an interesting part, and the cliffhanger ending has me excited to see what's next!
August 16, 2023
A very enjoyable book beginning to end! I’ve had the pleasure of engaging mostly with Laine I believe through Dreamland’s discord and Wattpad where I first learned about OCAC. I’m very excited to continue the adventures in the next book! Everything was well written and fairly easy to visualize when dealing with lots of different places. There was a definite surprise shift in Idyne one the last two pages but I hope that’ll be more cleared up in the next installment! Fantastic read, highly recommend!
August 26, 2018
A good start to a book series. Dystopian cities and a band refugees. Class disparity and a word will magic.
February 17, 2021
It took me a very long time to finish this book, through no fault of the authors, so for those who have been waiting for this review, I apologize. I used Kindle's read aloud feature, and had a hard time following the computer speech. As my followers know, I listen almost exclusively to audiobooks, and find the kindle app very hard to read in anyway. I tried not to let this affect my judgement.
Of Caverns and Casters is the first installment to the Lost Roads Quartet, a journey/rescue story concerning social upheaval in two worlds and the trio, dare I say triangle, of teens poised to save both.
This book is about three main characters. Two of them, Leavi and Sean, begin the story together in a subterranean scientific dystopia. They flee a mysterious disease plaguing their homeland and go topside to start a new life. The other character, Aster, is prince of a magocratic (second time I've used this interesting word in one day!) society, and is under immense pressure to perform and live up to his bloodline's wizarding potential. He too leaves home, fleeing what he sees as his family's impossible expectations. (With good reason — using magic nearly kills him each time he tries)
oC&C begins with an escape from societal expectations and continues with journeys of hardship and trials imposed by unfamiliar environments.
In the scientists' instance, the surface world brings with it new cultural expectations and sexism that were unknown in their insular underground world. Sean is possibly autistic, or at least stunted emotionally in some way. He has a thing for numbers and logic that is antithetical to his travel-mate's emotional ways of looking at the world. When they come across foreign cultures each adapts differently, and many times each must decide whether to abandon the other or continue, accepting the discomfort of sexism, deprivation, etc. Much of the book covers their journey and their interpersonal interactions.
Aster's story is a little shorter. His family's enemies capture him for questioning, and his primary challenge is to stay strong and withstand physical and magical torture until help arrives. He certainly doesn't expect it to arrive in the form of a couple of foreign scientists with no notion of the magical world.
Authors can often create a non-book with the 'split party' origin, and that doesn't happen here. There are reasons the characters come from different backgrounds, and when they meet, those reasons are telling and apparent. Aster, Sean, and Leavi quickly become a unit, though Sean's jealousy of Aster has Leavi rethinking everything she knows about her relationship with the big lug.
Overall the book is well written. The scientists' journey does go on for a little too long, and their homeworld becomes irrelevant very quickly, although I expect this latter will become a non-issue as the story progresses. All in all a decent beginning and debut work for these co-authors, and one worth checking out. This really is the first of four books, but this one did have a beginning, middle and end, with genuine character progression. The sequel will be necessary to complete the story, but with some polish and careful pacing, this story could really turn out well.
I give it 4 stars as a debut self-published work, and 2-1/2 to 3 in comparison to other modern mainstream works.
I can recommend this book to readers seeking new worlds with some magic and science interplay who don't mind a wizard who bleeds from his nose to do magic. Otherwise there isn't a lot of gore or violence, so it would be safe for YA readers. Teens looking for a love triangle might also enjoy this, though that relationship hasn't fully developed yet in this book.
Those who like dystopian fiction may also get something out of this. Most of the book is not about this, but the characters' origin points will undoubtedly become more relevant in the sequels.
Of Caverns and Casters is the first installment to the Lost Roads Quartet, a journey/rescue story concerning social upheaval in two worlds and the trio, dare I say triangle, of teens poised to save both.
This book is about three main characters. Two of them, Leavi and Sean, begin the story together in a subterranean scientific dystopia. They flee a mysterious disease plaguing their homeland and go topside to start a new life. The other character, Aster, is prince of a magocratic (second time I've used this interesting word in one day!) society, and is under immense pressure to perform and live up to his bloodline's wizarding potential. He too leaves home, fleeing what he sees as his family's impossible expectations. (With good reason — using magic nearly kills him each time he tries)
oC&C begins with an escape from societal expectations and continues with journeys of hardship and trials imposed by unfamiliar environments.
In the scientists' instance, the surface world brings with it new cultural expectations and sexism that were unknown in their insular underground world. Sean is possibly autistic, or at least stunted emotionally in some way. He has a thing for numbers and logic that is antithetical to his travel-mate's emotional ways of looking at the world. When they come across foreign cultures each adapts differently, and many times each must decide whether to abandon the other or continue, accepting the discomfort of sexism, deprivation, etc. Much of the book covers their journey and their interpersonal interactions.
Aster's story is a little shorter. His family's enemies capture him for questioning, and his primary challenge is to stay strong and withstand physical and magical torture until help arrives. He certainly doesn't expect it to arrive in the form of a couple of foreign scientists with no notion of the magical world.
Authors can often create a non-book with the 'split party' origin, and that doesn't happen here. There are reasons the characters come from different backgrounds, and when they meet, those reasons are telling and apparent. Aster, Sean, and Leavi quickly become a unit, though Sean's jealousy of Aster has Leavi rethinking everything she knows about her relationship with the big lug.
Overall the book is well written. The scientists' journey does go on for a little too long, and their homeworld becomes irrelevant very quickly, although I expect this latter will become a non-issue as the story progresses. All in all a decent beginning and debut work for these co-authors, and one worth checking out. This really is the first of four books, but this one did have a beginning, middle and end, with genuine character progression. The sequel will be necessary to complete the story, but with some polish and careful pacing, this story could really turn out well.
I give it 4 stars as a debut self-published work, and 2-1/2 to 3 in comparison to other modern mainstream works.
I can recommend this book to readers seeking new worlds with some magic and science interplay who don't mind a wizard who bleeds from his nose to do magic. Otherwise there isn't a lot of gore or violence, so it would be safe for YA readers. Teens looking for a love triangle might also enjoy this, though that relationship hasn't fully developed yet in this book.
Those who like dystopian fiction may also get something out of this. Most of the book is not about this, but the characters' origin points will undoubtedly become more relevant in the sequels.
February 24, 2022
A wonderful read from start to finish! While I enjoyed the entire novel, I found it especially impossible to put down after the halfway point. Very well-developed characters and societies. Great start to a series, and I cannot wait to read the remaining books!
If you enjoy dystopias and/or fantasy, this is the book for you.
If you enjoy dystopias and/or fantasy, this is the book for you.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews