Reference
Printable cast list
What should a printable cast list include?
Write each character down the first time they matter, with one line on who they are and how they connect to someone you already know. Only write what you have read, so the list can never spoil anything. Print the sheet below and keep it in the book. If you read on iPhone and the title is supported, Magic Bookmark builds this list for you from your page.
Checked 2026-10-27
Why a cast list helps
Big fantasy, romantasy and historical novels can introduce dozens of names in the first hundred pages. If your attention drifts for a chapter, or life takes you away for a week, the names are the first thing to go, and a book where you do not know who anyone is stops being fun quickly.
A cast list is the oldest fix there is. Many long novels print one at the front. The trouble with printed lists is that they often include characters you have not met yet, and their descriptions can give away what happens. A list you write yourself, as you go, has neither problem.
How to fill it in
- Add a character only when they matter: they speak, act, or someone talks about them for more than a line.
- Write the name, then one line: role and link to someone already on the list. "Kael, the captain, Mara's older brother."
- Note the page where they appeared, so you can look back.
- Use the Group column for houses, families, crews or sides.
- When something changes (an alliance, a death, a reveal), update the line in pencil. It is your list; it only knows what you know.
The app version
Magic Bookmark builds a cast list automatically from your place in the book: snap a photo of the page you are on, type the page number, or for an audiobook enter the last phrase you heard. Characters appear only once you have met them, and it shows how they are connected. It works for supported titles, on iPhone, with the first book free and then $1.40 to $4.99 per book depending on the pack. Our card for it is stamped WORTH A LOOK as a listing-based check.
Kindle readers in the US can ask Kindle's Ask this Book who someone is, limited to their place in the ebook. General chatbots do not know your page and can mention characters you have not met yet.
Tips for series
Start a new sheet for each book but carry over the characters who return, marked with the book they came from. Pair it with our series tracker so you know which book comes next and where you stopped.
Printing tips
The sheet prints on one page with eighteen rows. For a very long book, print two and staple them; for a series, start a fresh sheet each book and copy over the returning characters.
A worked example (invented, not from a real book)
Here is how three rows might look for an invented fantasy novel, to show the level of detail that helps. Ilse: the ferry captain, owes money to the Guild; river folk; page 12. Tomas: Ilse's nephew, wants to join the Guild; river folk; page 15. Warden Pell: Guild officer collecting Ilse's debt; Guild; page 31.
Each line answers the one question you will have when you come back: who is this, and why do they matter to someone I already know? That is all a cast list needs to do.
Cast list
Book:
Series and number:
| Name | Who they are and how they connect | Group | First page |
|---|---|---|---|
Questions
- Q. Will a cast list spoil the book?
- A. Not if you write it yourself as you read. It only contains what you already know.
- Q. Is there an app that tracks characters for you?
- A. Magic Bookmark builds a cast list from your current page for supported titles on iPhone. Kindle's Ask this Book can answer who a character is in Kindle ebooks in the US.
- Q. How many characters should I write down?
- A. Only the ones that matter: they speak, act, or get discussed. Background names can stay off the list.