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Castaways #1
Castaways
"Under our tutelage here at the Academy, you will receive a thorough instruction in occult history and practice, and learn to traffic with certain clandestine powers. You will face many ordeals, but you will emerge stranger than you have ever been. I'll change your life forever...if you'll let me."
Trapped in a dead-end town and a dead-end life, Amy Nettle dreams of escaping her abusive father and starting over, somewhere far away. The arrival of a black envelope heralds just that, in a way she never could have imagined. Whisked away to the Saunders Academy, a Gothic manse in the heart of an eternal storm-tossed ocean, Amy is one of dozens of teenagers plucked from dozens of parallel Earths and selected for an education in witchcraft. It seems too good to be true...except.
Except no one will tell them why they were chosen, or what happens after graduation. Or why the dormitories on the fourth floor are completely empty. There are tentacled leviathans and carnivorous mermaids in the water, a saboteur stalking the halls, and danger lurks around every corner. Worst of all, failure means the Arch of a one-way trip back to where you came from, without your memories or your magic.
Falling in with a crew of misfits, Amy realizes they're all in the same with nothing but ruin waiting back home, failure is not an option. Then there's Vail, an enigmatic tomboy who makes her heart flutter. For the first time in her life, Amy has something to lose.
Amy and her new friends will have to untangle the dark secrets at the heart of the Saunders Academy and master its mysteries, because there are only two choices graduate, or die.
Trapped in a dead-end town and a dead-end life, Amy Nettle dreams of escaping her abusive father and starting over, somewhere far away. The arrival of a black envelope heralds just that, in a way she never could have imagined. Whisked away to the Saunders Academy, a Gothic manse in the heart of an eternal storm-tossed ocean, Amy is one of dozens of teenagers plucked from dozens of parallel Earths and selected for an education in witchcraft. It seems too good to be true...except.
Except no one will tell them why they were chosen, or what happens after graduation. Or why the dormitories on the fourth floor are completely empty. There are tentacled leviathans and carnivorous mermaids in the water, a saboteur stalking the halls, and danger lurks around every corner. Worst of all, failure means the Arch of a one-way trip back to where you came from, without your memories or your magic.
Falling in with a crew of misfits, Amy realizes they're all in the same with nothing but ruin waiting back home, failure is not an option. Then there's Vail, an enigmatic tomboy who makes her heart flutter. For the first time in her life, Amy has something to lose.
Amy and her new friends will have to untangle the dark secrets at the heart of the Saunders Academy and master its mysteries, because there are only two choices graduate, or die.
358 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 30, 2025
About the author
Craig Schaefer
48 books1,341 followersCraig Schaefer's books have taken readers to the seamy edge of a criminal underworld drenched in shadow (the Daniel Faust series), to a world torn by war, poison and witchcraft (the Revanche Cycle), and across a modern America mired in occult mysteries and a conspiracy of lies (the Harmony Black series).
Despite this, people say he's strangely normal. Suspiciously normal, in fact. His home on the Web is www.craigschaeferbooks.com.
Despite this, people say he's strangely normal. Suspiciously normal, in fact. His home on the Web is www.craigschaeferbooks.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
July 28, 2025
A magic school located on one of the worlds in Schaefer's scrumptious First Story multiverse. This is most definitely NOT the Hogwarts you are looking for.
➽ Review to come and stuff. Sometime around 2056.
· Book 2: Firebreak ★★★
➽ Review to come and stuff. Sometime around 2056.
· Book 2: Firebreak ★★★
July 29, 2025
This review was originally posted on Books of My Heart
If you are down on your luck because fate, that fickle Bitch, has worked you into a corner and it looks like there is nowhere for you to go and nothing you can do, well you might just be a great candidate for a new kind of magical school. This is not the Hogwarts letter that you have been waiting for. This school for magic might just kill you, or worse, it could take all of your memories and send you back to the pitiful life and world/dimension you came from. Castaways is the first book in a brand new Castaways series by the same name. Set in the same multiverse as some of Schaefer's other works it is his stab at dark academia.
The Saunders Academy has just selected a new class of students, the black envelops have been sent and they have all arrived alive (for now) to a magically protected Island on some water world. How long the students stay that way will be a mystery. There are a few things to be noted right away:
Amy is desperate to stay at the Academy. For one, there is nothing on her world to go back to. Not her deadbeat dad that stole the money she was saving for school, the dead end job she hated or even the few people she called friends. She didn't come from a world where magic was considered real to most of the population, so for her, this is an opportunity to do something with her life. Amy quickly finds a group to call her own, a new set of friends also determined to stay and learn magic. Together they will try to figure out how to help each other survive and navigate the school.
I enjoyed this first year of magical classes and obstacles for the students. It was nice to start off with some kids a little older than in traditional magical schools. We journey along with this class as they figure out some of life's bigger mysteries and try to assess who is friend and foe on the Island. Teachers are hard and push the students, the upperclassmen have issues of their own and mysteriously there are no fourth year students, but no one is saying what happened to them. Amy has quite a few mysteries to figure out, the main being how to tap into the in-between and harness the magic that is there for those who know the way.
So far I didn't see much of a crossover into the other books by Craig Schaefer, but I am interested in exploring this world and the dangers in it a bit more. I have many questions but the main one is. For a school that teaches magic to students, what does it want for them at the end of their studies? When you graduate, then what? I'm sure there is a purpose to it all and hopfully we get a few more hints to that in some of the future books because as someone in the book said “Always remember this, kid: if you get offered anything for free, that means you’re the product.” What product is that school trying to produce?
If you are down on your luck because fate, that fickle Bitch, has worked you into a corner and it looks like there is nowhere for you to go and nothing you can do, well you might just be a great candidate for a new kind of magical school. This is not the Hogwarts letter that you have been waiting for. This school for magic might just kill you, or worse, it could take all of your memories and send you back to the pitiful life and world/dimension you came from. Castaways is the first book in a brand new Castaways series by the same name. Set in the same multiverse as some of Schaefer's other works it is his stab at dark academia.
The Saunders Academy has just selected a new class of students, the black envelops have been sent and they have all arrived alive (for now) to a magically protected Island on some water world. How long the students stay that way will be a mystery. There are a few things to be noted right away:
1 - No one in the class is from the same world
2 - There doesn't seem to be a specific age to go with the classes as the students range from 14 - 19
3 - Everyone is desperate and has no desire to go back to the life they left
4 - Some of the upper classmen seem slightly unhinged and a bit murderous
5 - Out of bounds on the Island pretty much means certain death
Amy is desperate to stay at the Academy. For one, there is nothing on her world to go back to. Not her deadbeat dad that stole the money she was saving for school, the dead end job she hated or even the few people she called friends. She didn't come from a world where magic was considered real to most of the population, so for her, this is an opportunity to do something with her life. Amy quickly finds a group to call her own, a new set of friends also determined to stay and learn magic. Together they will try to figure out how to help each other survive and navigate the school.
I enjoyed this first year of magical classes and obstacles for the students. It was nice to start off with some kids a little older than in traditional magical schools. We journey along with this class as they figure out some of life's bigger mysteries and try to assess who is friend and foe on the Island. Teachers are hard and push the students, the upperclassmen have issues of their own and mysteriously there are no fourth year students, but no one is saying what happened to them. Amy has quite a few mysteries to figure out, the main being how to tap into the in-between and harness the magic that is there for those who know the way.
So far I didn't see much of a crossover into the other books by Craig Schaefer, but I am interested in exploring this world and the dangers in it a bit more. I have many questions but the main one is. For a school that teaches magic to students, what does it want for them at the end of their studies? When you graduate, then what? I'm sure there is a purpose to it all and hopfully we get a few more hints to that in some of the future books because as someone in the book said “Always remember this, kid: if you get offered anything for free, that means you’re the product.” What product is that school trying to produce?
“You’re becoming the weird animal chick,” Vail said.
“I am not.”
“Amy? Every morning a gang of crows shows up in our dorm room and screams at us until we get up and you feed their boss.”
“I wouldn’t say gang — I would use more of a musical chorus analogy—”
“Of course you would. Because you’re the weird animal chick."
February 27, 2025
Dark academia by Craig Schaefer? Yes, please. Especially the kind that leans hard into the dark. Castaways delivers good story, some eldritch horror vibe, and strong coming-of-age arcs.
Amy Nettle is a classic down-on-her-luck protagonist. She’s stuck in a dead-end life with limited way out. And when things go really south, the mysterious black envelope arrives. Suddenly, she’s whisked away to Saunders Academy, a magical school on a storm-tossed island surrounded by carnivorous mermaids, towering leviathans, and an ever-present sense that something is very wrong.
And if you flunk out? You get sent back to your old life without your magic, your memories, or even the promise of escape. And no one here wants to go back.
I’m a huge fan of Schaefer simple and concise writing. And characters. Amy and her new friends are coming of age in the middle of a mystery that keeps getting bigger and more terrifying. There are hints that this school - and whatever forces control it - are tied to the broader Daniel Faust/Harmony Black universe, and that may suggest an even larger conflict on the horizon.
For fans of Schaefer - it’s not as dark as other series, but it does get dark here and there.
Magic school has never felt this dangerous, and I loved every second of it. Now, where’s the sequel?
Amy Nettle is a classic down-on-her-luck protagonist. She’s stuck in a dead-end life with limited way out. And when things go really south, the mysterious black envelope arrives. Suddenly, she’s whisked away to Saunders Academy, a magical school on a storm-tossed island surrounded by carnivorous mermaids, towering leviathans, and an ever-present sense that something is very wrong.
And if you flunk out? You get sent back to your old life without your magic, your memories, or even the promise of escape. And no one here wants to go back.
I’m a huge fan of Schaefer simple and concise writing. And characters. Amy and her new friends are coming of age in the middle of a mystery that keeps getting bigger and more terrifying. There are hints that this school - and whatever forces control it - are tied to the broader Daniel Faust/Harmony Black universe, and that may suggest an even larger conflict on the horizon.
For fans of Schaefer - it’s not as dark as other series, but it does get dark here and there.
Magic school has never felt this dangerous, and I loved every second of it. Now, where’s the sequel?
April 10, 2025
I'm a fan of Craig Schaefer's work so had to try his new venture. It's a magic academy book full of teens trying to learn magic, with cliques who seem fairly murderous. That being said is really not my cup of tea
February 25, 2025
A magic academy hidden away from the world and band of rag-tag kids trying to save the day? It sounds familiar, but like everything Schaefer does it's more complicated than that. Set in the First Word multiverse of Schaefer's Daniel Faust and Harmony Black, Castways feels both familiar and unique (and the book should be an enjoyable read even if you aren't familiar with all the backstory).
(I originally read this in its serialized form, but am looking forward to a reread of the final version.)
(I originally read this in its serialized form, but am looking forward to a reread of the final version.)
October 13, 2025
I'm not sure this book is doing anything terribly new, but it is doing what it does in a very competent way.
March 14, 2025
ANOTHER amazing book by this author, when I read the description I just knew there would be references to the Daniel Faust and harmony black books, this is MY multiverse of madness 💜
May 11, 2026
Magic school on the cheap
I often begin a new book by reading the Acknowledgements and Afterword. Craig Schaefer's Castaways has an Afterword that begins thus,
The good news, though, is that I didn't feel lost in the world of Castaways. Perhaps this is because the "magic school" genre has become so familiar. In fact, I enjoyed Castaways a lot and will continue with the series. Who knows, I might even go back to Harmony Black and Castaways is as good as this first book.
The story begins when our point-of-view character, Amy Nettle, is whisked away from a crime scene that would have ended badly for her to an island. There she meets a bunch of other students from alternate universes. What these students all have in common, as suggested by the title, is that they were kids in desperate circumstances on their home worlds, in desperate need of an escape.
The magic school, Saunders Academy, is run on a shoestring. There are about half a dozen named staff, including only three professors. Maintenance, cleaning, etc, are done by students themselves. It is a dangerous place.
It is thus a familiar story of misfits trying to survive in an environment that is trying to kill them.
It works. It works because the students -- Amy and her friends -- are distinctly drawn and fun. Recommended.
Blog review.
I often begin a new book by reading the Acknowledgements and Afterword. Craig Schaefer's Castaways has an Afterword that begins thus,
I was getting dinner with friends when the subject of magic school stories came up, which lead to the question of whether a school of magic could exist in the same multiverse as the Daniel Faust and Harmony Black series.Thus, it appears that Schaefer has two other fantasy series, neither of which I have read. By starting with Castaways I am joining the party near the end. This can be perilous in Fantasy, since one never knows how much essential world-building one has skipped over.
The good news, though, is that I didn't feel lost in the world of Castaways. Perhaps this is because the "magic school" genre has become so familiar. In fact, I enjoyed Castaways a lot and will continue with the series. Who knows, I might even go back to Harmony Black and Castaways is as good as this first book.
The story begins when our point-of-view character, Amy Nettle, is whisked away from a crime scene that would have ended badly for her to an island. There she meets a bunch of other students from alternate universes. What these students all have in common, as suggested by the title, is that they were kids in desperate circumstances on their home worlds, in desperate need of an escape.
The magic school, Saunders Academy, is run on a shoestring. There are about half a dozen named staff, including only three professors. Maintenance, cleaning, etc, are done by students themselves. It is a dangerous place.
It is thus a familiar story of misfits trying to survive in an environment that is trying to kill them.
It works. It works because the students -- Amy and her friends -- are distinctly drawn and fun. Recommended.
Blog review.
March 3, 2025
Magic School as it was meant to be.
A fantastic story that was in turn funny, tense, heartbreaking, and triumphant. Amy Nettle is the perfect POV character for this story and you will quickly fall in love with her and her friends. While the book is connected to the rest of Schaefer's work, none of it is needed to enjoy this story. (That said, if you enjoy this, there is stuff in the Harmony Black and Daniel Faust books that will enhance your enjoyment here.) Give this a go!
A fantastic story that was in turn funny, tense, heartbreaking, and triumphant. Amy Nettle is the perfect POV character for this story and you will quickly fall in love with her and her friends. While the book is connected to the rest of Schaefer's work, none of it is needed to enjoy this story. (That said, if you enjoy this, there is stuff in the Harmony Black and Daniel Faust books that will enhance your enjoyment here.) Give this a go!
September 10, 2025
This review was originally posted on < href=https://queensbookasylum.com/2025/09/... Book Asylum.
Craig Schaefer is one of those authors whose work I can always pick up with confidence, without worrying about whether I’ll like it or not. I might not love all of her work equally, but I can be sure that I won’t walk away disappointed in the end. Castaways isn’t an exception either. The downside is that Schaefer is giving me a way too high bar for urban fantasy – which, all said and done, is not the worst problem to have.
So, Castaways is set in the same universe as the Daniel Faust and Harmony Black novels, and if you are familiar with either, then you’ll find little Easter eggs, starting with the academy’s name (Saunders Academy for those in the know). But you don’t need to have any previous knowledge to enjoy Castaways. Unfortunately, we don’t get to learn a lot about the academy itself – I think this is probably my only big complaint about the book, that we don’t really get a lot of answers, but since there are going to be 4 more books (I think I remember correctly), I’m pretty sure answers will come sooner rather than later. What we do get is gothic vibes (I LOVED all the references to purple fire, I mean, come on), danger at every corner, a wide variety of characters, and magic classes with badass teachers.
Castaways’ story plays out on an abandoned island where pretty much everyone and everything wants to kill people, and then we didn’t even talk about the Academy, where studying is pretty much a survival game – if you fail, you get sent back to your version of Earth, given that you didn’t die first. And there are the higher year students who might also kill you, but at least some of them for fun. Amy and her friends not only have to deal with a new life, a new opportunity – each of them came from worlds where they weren’t thriving – but also lessons, magic, and dangers beyond their imagination. They form their own found family, so to speak, and stick together no matter what. And if that wasn’t enough, they also do a little side investigation to reveal a plot against the Academy. Talk about a busy first school year.
Probably one of the reasons Schaefer is among my favorite authors is that she has very character-driven books, which I prefer. Castaways is written in Amy’s POV, and while I liked her and the way her and Vail’s connection grew with each other as well as the rest of their classmates, I never really connected with her. I’m not quite sure why, apart from the fact that I always find it harder to connect with female characters, and I can’t really complain about Amy much. She is smart, capable, empathetic, and isn’t afraid to break rules if it means helping others out. Or getting answers, of which she has a lot. I would have liked to have at least another POV thrown in the mix, but again, this is a very minor complaint on my part. I, however, did love Dalton, who quickly became my favorite character quite early on. I want to have more Dalton, please, because he didn’t get nearly enough spotlight IMO. He makes a good team with Amy and has my kind of sarcastic humor. And I loved how caring he was towards the others, especially the younger ones. Oh, and the banter, of course.
Another thing that maybe made it a bit harder for me to connect with the characters/book is their age – they are all teens, or preteens. And while Schaefer is good at capturing their characters, making them feel like real people who have good, bad and everything in between sides, and not making the book feel like a typical YA (which I don’t think it is, anyway, but then the fuck do I know – what I’m trying to say is, adults will find Castaways just as entertaining as older kids), I just struggle with younger characters as I’m getting older *insert get off my lawn gif*.
Castaways has everything that makes a Craig Schaefer book a highly entertaining read that you can’t put down – quirky, queer, and creepy characters, found family themes, magic, a good dose of adrenaline, and a plot that I’m sure will keep on giving. It’s another good entry point into Schaefer’s delightfully twisted imagination. And the best is yet to come, I’m sure.
“Sorry, babe! If I want to make out with a chick who’ll probably eat me alive, I’ll just go flirt with Gecka. Besides, as of tonight, I’ve got a renewed commitment to my education. This is no time for love.”
The mermaid lifted her hands high in the air and flashed both middle fingers. Then, with a petulant flip of her diseased tail, she and her sisters vanished under the waves.
“Where did they even learn to do that?” Colin asked.
“My friend,” Dalton said, “we live in an age of wonders.”
Craig Schaefer is one of those authors whose work I can always pick up with confidence, without worrying about whether I’ll like it or not. I might not love all of her work equally, but I can be sure that I won’t walk away disappointed in the end. Castaways isn’t an exception either. The downside is that Schaefer is giving me a way too high bar for urban fantasy – which, all said and done, is not the worst problem to have.
So, Castaways is set in the same universe as the Daniel Faust and Harmony Black novels, and if you are familiar with either, then you’ll find little Easter eggs, starting with the academy’s name (Saunders Academy for those in the know). But you don’t need to have any previous knowledge to enjoy Castaways. Unfortunately, we don’t get to learn a lot about the academy itself – I think this is probably my only big complaint about the book, that we don’t really get a lot of answers, but since there are going to be 4 more books (I think I remember correctly), I’m pretty sure answers will come sooner rather than later. What we do get is gothic vibes (I LOVED all the references to purple fire, I mean, come on), danger at every corner, a wide variety of characters, and magic classes with badass teachers.
Castaways’ story plays out on an abandoned island where pretty much everyone and everything wants to kill people, and then we didn’t even talk about the Academy, where studying is pretty much a survival game – if you fail, you get sent back to your version of Earth, given that you didn’t die first. And there are the higher year students who might also kill you, but at least some of them for fun. Amy and her friends not only have to deal with a new life, a new opportunity – each of them came from worlds where they weren’t thriving – but also lessons, magic, and dangers beyond their imagination. They form their own found family, so to speak, and stick together no matter what. And if that wasn’t enough, they also do a little side investigation to reveal a plot against the Academy. Talk about a busy first school year.
Probably one of the reasons Schaefer is among my favorite authors is that she has very character-driven books, which I prefer. Castaways is written in Amy’s POV, and while I liked her and the way her and Vail’s connection grew with each other as well as the rest of their classmates, I never really connected with her. I’m not quite sure why, apart from the fact that I always find it harder to connect with female characters, and I can’t really complain about Amy much. She is smart, capable, empathetic, and isn’t afraid to break rules if it means helping others out. Or getting answers, of which she has a lot. I would have liked to have at least another POV thrown in the mix, but again, this is a very minor complaint on my part. I, however, did love Dalton, who quickly became my favorite character quite early on. I want to have more Dalton, please, because he didn’t get nearly enough spotlight IMO. He makes a good team with Amy and has my kind of sarcastic humor. And I loved how caring he was towards the others, especially the younger ones. Oh, and the banter, of course.
Another thing that maybe made it a bit harder for me to connect with the characters/book is their age – they are all teens, or preteens. And while Schaefer is good at capturing their characters, making them feel like real people who have good, bad and everything in between sides, and not making the book feel like a typical YA (which I don’t think it is, anyway, but then the fuck do I know – what I’m trying to say is, adults will find Castaways just as entertaining as older kids), I just struggle with younger characters as I’m getting older *insert get off my lawn gif*.
Castaways has everything that makes a Craig Schaefer book a highly entertaining read that you can’t put down – quirky, queer, and creepy characters, found family themes, magic, a good dose of adrenaline, and a plot that I’m sure will keep on giving. It’s another good entry point into Schaefer’s delightfully twisted imagination. And the best is yet to come, I’m sure.
February 28, 2025
Read this book
Seriously, it is incredible. It is everything I ever wanted in a magical academy series and it is only book one... The world building is amazing. The characters are interesting and it is building off a fantastic multiverse.
Seriously, it is incredible. It is everything I ever wanted in a magical academy series and it is only book one... The world building is amazing. The characters are interesting and it is building off a fantastic multiverse.
December 22, 2025
4.25 ⭐️
December 20, 2025
This is very easy to read…and I found it terribly boring. Almost everything feels very flat: the characters are all pleasant, but there’s no spark to them, and both the friendships and the budding romance seem paper-thin. I didn’t feel any of the connections that I was meant to believe were so important, and honestly the vast majority of the secondary characters could vanish without my noticing, they have so little impact or presence. And why was everyone sharing their deepest darkest secrets and insecurities so quickly? Why does Amy confess her dread of being considered a leader to the school custodian she’s never had a real conversation with before? All the first-years are meant to have come from lives they’re desperate not to go back to, so I don’t understand why they’re all so trusting. Shouldn’t the things they’ve been through make them less trusting, not more?
Take the romance (budding, they hadn’t kissed yet by the time I DNFed). When they arrive at the Academy, Vail is going through very bad drug withdrawal. Amy stays up with her their first night and does the best she can to take care of Vail through it. This is a lot to do for a complete stranger with no warning, but I took it as a way of showing us that, you know, Amy is a really compassionate person, a really GOOD person, so that was fine. What I found confusing was how…they were best friends immediately, after that? When Amy considers a kind of back-up escape plan if the Academy doesn’t work out, she reflexively plans to take Vail with her – and they’ve only known each other a day or two at that point. I didn’t get what Amy LIKED about Vail – being compassionate is one thing, but it’s also exhausting, and it is okay to get exhausted taking care of people, it’s hard, you just shouldn’t take it out on the person you’re taking care of, ideally. But Amy doesn’t get exhausted, it never seems to be hard for her to be there for Vail 24/7, up to and including tutoring her, and I couldn’t tell what she was getting out of the friendship. But they’re besties, edging towards romance. ??? It’s not that Vail is a terrible person or anything like that, but their relationship seems incredibly one-sided – and Amy is 17 or 18, I think, in a very stressful environment. How is she managing to be this saintly all the time?
The teachers, on the other hand, were all brilliant characters, and I loved how odd a group they make. Every last one of them was fascinating, and I’d have happily read a book about them instead: the Victorian ghost who lives in an old-school movie projector as the school’s librarian; the snarky, devastatingly practical combat-magic teacher who won’t teach his students to attack others before they learn to defend others; the fantasy!Pacific Islander responsible for teaching them to navigate interworld travel; the earnest, likeable newbie with a possibly bloodsoaked past. They were all distinct, and they were all just…objectively interesting, honestly. And maybe it’s hard to make teenagers objectively interesting in that way, maybe it requires life experience teenagers for the most part just don’t have…but the teachers made the students look a lot worse by contrast, in terms of them being very meh and one-dimensional.
There’s plenty of funny moments, some genuinely hilarious, but everything that wasn’t meant to be comedic was… shallow? Synthetic? Toothless? Felt rote, I think that’s the word I want, like we were just going through the motions. Which is extra bizarre because none of the other Schaefer books I’ve tried had that problem at all: they’ve always been incredibly vivid, so I don’t understand what went wrong here. Castaways leans hard on unanswered questions to keep the reader turning pages – why is there no fourth-year class, why does the headmistress expect half of Amy’s year-group to die, what’s the big reveal about the school bully going to be – but for that to work I need to be invested in getting the answers, and everything felt so emotionally muted that I really wasn’t. (Also, many of the mysteries are of the very annoying Why Aren’t You Wondering About This Amy??? variety. Why are you not investigating all the unsubtle hints that you being able to see magic is extremely unusual, Amy? Why are you just shrugging when teachers keep telling you you are Bright in some magic way they won’t explain, and that being Bright is very dangerous for you? Etc. This always drives me nuts, and it drove me nuts here too.) It’s like…there are just too many mysteries. That is a thing which it is possible to have. Above a certain threshold, you have so many unanswered questions that they cancel each other out and all cease to matter. The tension goes out of all of them. It’s like they all become white noise. There’s so much I don’t know that I can’t be invested. I know nothing, why am I even here, why should I bother? And that was EXACTLY the case here.
Where was the wonder at discovering magic is real, and getting to work it? Where’s the fear, the exhaustion, the frustration? Where’s the joy of making incredible friends in a place where you get to escape a life you really wanted to escape? Where’s the passion of getting to dive into all these things you want to learn? Give me feelings!
The school in general, and the aesthetic, didn’t do it for me. Everything is rundown, there are only four subjects, after first year you’re all selected for one of four club-things named after tarot suits, and they sure look like Hogwarts houses. (I cannot believe one of the club things is literally The Evil House. Are you kidding me. Yes I know you’re implying it’s more complicated than that, but by 60% of the way through the book they still appear to be just very vicious bullies.) The magic system can’t seem to decide if it’s soft or hard, with the result that I understood nothing of how it worked and it all felt very wishy-washy, despite having some very unique bits and pieces here and there (like using Magic Tarot to travel between worlds). The school is an island surrounded by a planet-sized ocean of monsters, and it’s weird how easy it is to forget about that. I wanted wonder, I wanted horror, I wanted to have my breath ripped out of me, and it wasn’t happening.
I made it to 60% and didn’t care about one single major character, mystery, or plotline. I vaguely wish all the characters well, but I don’t want to stick around for their stories. Sigh.
Take the romance (budding, they hadn’t kissed yet by the time I DNFed). When they arrive at the Academy, Vail is going through very bad drug withdrawal. Amy stays up with her their first night and does the best she can to take care of Vail through it. This is a lot to do for a complete stranger with no warning, but I took it as a way of showing us that, you know, Amy is a really compassionate person, a really GOOD person, so that was fine. What I found confusing was how…they were best friends immediately, after that? When Amy considers a kind of back-up escape plan if the Academy doesn’t work out, she reflexively plans to take Vail with her – and they’ve only known each other a day or two at that point. I didn’t get what Amy LIKED about Vail – being compassionate is one thing, but it’s also exhausting, and it is okay to get exhausted taking care of people, it’s hard, you just shouldn’t take it out on the person you’re taking care of, ideally. But Amy doesn’t get exhausted, it never seems to be hard for her to be there for Vail 24/7, up to and including tutoring her, and I couldn’t tell what she was getting out of the friendship. But they’re besties, edging towards romance. ??? It’s not that Vail is a terrible person or anything like that, but their relationship seems incredibly one-sided – and Amy is 17 or 18, I think, in a very stressful environment. How is she managing to be this saintly all the time?
The teachers, on the other hand, were all brilliant characters, and I loved how odd a group they make. Every last one of them was fascinating, and I’d have happily read a book about them instead: the Victorian ghost who lives in an old-school movie projector as the school’s librarian; the snarky, devastatingly practical combat-magic teacher who won’t teach his students to attack others before they learn to defend others; the fantasy!Pacific Islander responsible for teaching them to navigate interworld travel; the earnest, likeable newbie with a possibly bloodsoaked past. They were all distinct, and they were all just…objectively interesting, honestly. And maybe it’s hard to make teenagers objectively interesting in that way, maybe it requires life experience teenagers for the most part just don’t have…but the teachers made the students look a lot worse by contrast, in terms of them being very meh and one-dimensional.
There’s plenty of funny moments, some genuinely hilarious, but everything that wasn’t meant to be comedic was… shallow? Synthetic? Toothless? Felt rote, I think that’s the word I want, like we were just going through the motions. Which is extra bizarre because none of the other Schaefer books I’ve tried had that problem at all: they’ve always been incredibly vivid, so I don’t understand what went wrong here. Castaways leans hard on unanswered questions to keep the reader turning pages – why is there no fourth-year class, why does the headmistress expect half of Amy’s year-group to die, what’s the big reveal about the school bully going to be – but for that to work I need to be invested in getting the answers, and everything felt so emotionally muted that I really wasn’t. (Also, many of the mysteries are of the very annoying Why Aren’t You Wondering About This Amy??? variety. Why are you not investigating all the unsubtle hints that you being able to see magic is extremely unusual, Amy? Why are you just shrugging when teachers keep telling you you are Bright in some magic way they won’t explain, and that being Bright is very dangerous for you? Etc. This always drives me nuts, and it drove me nuts here too.) It’s like…there are just too many mysteries. That is a thing which it is possible to have. Above a certain threshold, you have so many unanswered questions that they cancel each other out and all cease to matter. The tension goes out of all of them. It’s like they all become white noise. There’s so much I don’t know that I can’t be invested. I know nothing, why am I even here, why should I bother? And that was EXACTLY the case here.
Where was the wonder at discovering magic is real, and getting to work it? Where’s the fear, the exhaustion, the frustration? Where’s the joy of making incredible friends in a place where you get to escape a life you really wanted to escape? Where’s the passion of getting to dive into all these things you want to learn? Give me feelings!
The school in general, and the aesthetic, didn’t do it for me. Everything is rundown, there are only four subjects, after first year you’re all selected for one of four club-things named after tarot suits, and they sure look like Hogwarts houses. (I cannot believe one of the club things is literally The Evil House. Are you kidding me. Yes I know you’re implying it’s more complicated than that, but by 60% of the way through the book they still appear to be just very vicious bullies.) The magic system can’t seem to decide if it’s soft or hard, with the result that I understood nothing of how it worked and it all felt very wishy-washy, despite having some very unique bits and pieces here and there (like using Magic Tarot to travel between worlds). The school is an island surrounded by a planet-sized ocean of monsters, and it’s weird how easy it is to forget about that. I wanted wonder, I wanted horror, I wanted to have my breath ripped out of me, and it wasn’t happening.
I made it to 60% and didn’t care about one single major character, mystery, or plotline. I vaguely wish all the characters well, but I don’t want to stick around for their stories. Sigh.
March 17, 2025
At this point, I think I've read most of the stuff that Craig Schaefer has put out, and while my favorite series from him are still Daniel Faust/Harmony Black/The Wisdom's Grave trilogy (which is all just one giant series as far as I'm concerned), this comes as a weird surprise - I didn't see the author who wrote those books writing a series that competes for the Harry Potter demographic and making it interesting, well paced, and exceedingly well written (if a little predictable for the ending).
I will say there's enough nods to the rest of the Schaefer-verse that some of the plot points hit a little funny (Elmer is an absolutely disturbing villain in his Daniel Faust book and he's...less? A lot less...so here) and I can't read Professor Chalk without hearing Alan Rickman in my head, but there's also the kind of weird audience swerve that this is *very* much YA, but a lot of the background details are from books that are decidedly adult - I'm not entirely sure how much of that matters, as this book is completely readable without any of the other backstories, but there were definitely some "Wait..." moments for me.
If I seem down on this or middling, I'm not in the least - this is absolutely a Craig Schaefer book: fast, fun, easy to pick up, hard to put down, and I'm already wishing the next one had a release date so I could get to see what happens next. If you're looking for a new Harry Potter that doesn't have all the gross baggage, check this out. Absolutely hits the mark.
I will say there's enough nods to the rest of the Schaefer-verse that some of the plot points hit a little funny (Elmer is an absolutely disturbing villain in his Daniel Faust book and he's...less? A lot less...so here) and I can't read Professor Chalk without hearing Alan Rickman in my head, but there's also the kind of weird audience swerve that this is *very* much YA, but a lot of the background details are from books that are decidedly adult - I'm not entirely sure how much of that matters, as this book is completely readable without any of the other backstories, but there were definitely some "Wait..." moments for me.
If I seem down on this or middling, I'm not in the least - this is absolutely a Craig Schaefer book: fast, fun, easy to pick up, hard to put down, and I'm already wishing the next one had a release date so I could get to see what happens next. If you're looking for a new Harry Potter that doesn't have all the gross baggage, check this out. Absolutely hits the mark.
October 27, 2025
Schaefer's take on the magical school YA fantasy story doesn't really offer anything new or surprising, but ties neatly in with her multiverse storyline and is as always fast paced and highly entertaining. Early on, the chatacters come across as a bit one dimensional and slightly clichéd, but as their relationships evolve, they grow on you and begin to show more potential.
Of course, Schaefer wouldn't be Schaefer if everything wasn't a bit darker and more dangerous than your usual magical school plot. Hence, all the kids seem to come from some form of traumatic background, the island/planet the school is on has a decidedly Lovecraftian vibe and Schaefer's version of Professor Snape is....MUCH more problematic. Also, the obligatory bully does as bullies do, albeit in a much more deranged fashion than some might be used to from similar stories.
All in all, this is still very much Schaefer's attempt at a YA novel and probably her most "harmless" work to date or at least the one with the lowest bodycount. I am intrigued though and have already begun theorizing who the mysterious benefactors behind Saunders Academy might be.
And as always with new books/series that tie into Schaefer's multiverse: You can theoretically read the series on its own, but it's a lot more fun if you have some background information from Daniel Faust/Harmony Black/The Wisdom's Grave.
Of course, Schaefer wouldn't be Schaefer if everything wasn't a bit darker and more dangerous than your usual magical school plot. Hence, all the kids seem to come from some form of traumatic background, the island/planet the school is on has a decidedly Lovecraftian vibe and Schaefer's version of Professor Snape is....MUCH more problematic. Also, the obligatory bully does as bullies do, albeit in a much more deranged fashion than some might be used to from similar stories.
All in all, this is still very much Schaefer's attempt at a YA novel and probably her most "harmless" work to date or at least the one with the lowest bodycount. I am intrigued though and have already begun theorizing who the mysterious benefactors behind Saunders Academy might be.
And as always with new books/series that tie into Schaefer's multiverse: You can theoretically read the series on its own, but it's a lot more fun if you have some background information from Daniel Faust/Harmony Black/The Wisdom's Grave.
May 3, 2025
Early to tell, but feels like this might be a YA-oriented series given its teenage characters and academy setting. (I don't have anything against that, I read lots of books that my son likes, but just calling it out). References the Faust universe a wee bit without (yet?) mentioning any of those characters other than one minor one in the First Story arc plus a couple of the baddies.
Interesting vibes reminding me of "Something Wicked This Way Comes" in places. Quick read, left me wanting more. But it's done well, and could become an interesting series but a little early to tell since this book was more about the world building and didn't reveal a lot about the broader arc of the series, which I hope the next one does. Given that I have enjoyed every other series by Craig Schaefer, I will be picking up the next one.
Interesting vibes reminding me of "Something Wicked This Way Comes" in places. Quick read, left me wanting more. But it's done well, and could become an interesting series but a little early to tell since this book was more about the world building and didn't reveal a lot about the broader arc of the series, which I hope the next one does. Given that I have enjoyed every other series by Craig Schaefer, I will be picking up the next one.
March 29, 2025
In my grade school in the 1950s, the library was filled with English books donated by an immigrant Brit, including a lot of Tom Brown and all the subsequent school tales. I read every one (still struggle with spellings such as honour, defense, and analyse.) When Harry Potter came along, I read the first few chapters and, despite the magic, felt I'd had enough of that sort of thing. This starts out limping into that genre, disappointing me at first as a fan of Craig Schaefer's other work. It feels like he's writing down to a younger audience early on. But as he gets in stride, it picks up, gets better, and in the end is rewarding enough that I look forward to more.
July 25, 2025
When i read the synopsis i got so excited. Now, i have trust issues.
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Things, Notes, and Observations:
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Things, Notes, and Observations:
April 10, 2025
I've read other books by Craig Schaefer and took a chance on what... at first looked like a young adult book about a magic school. Is it a YA novel? I don't know. I don't usually like those. Do I like books about schools for magic? Not really.
This was really good. I loved the very YA main character and grew fond of her group over the book. The story was excellent and action was solid. I look forward to the rest.
This was really good. I loved the very YA main character and grew fond of her group over the book. The story was excellent and action was solid. I look forward to the rest.
March 25, 2025
Most characters are 2-dimensional and exist only to serve one specific purpose, there's a general lack of depth that makes it hard to relate to any of them. In addition, there are some inconsistencies and sometimes abrupt transitions that made me feel like I missed something somewhere. So despite some interesting elements plot-wise, I won't read the next book.
November 25, 2025
Ummm
That was rough. I don't know why but I just couldn't get into it. I had planned to only read this one but I found out it leads to a lot of other things so now I don't have a choice. Hopefully I can get into the next one. It just felt very The Magicians to me and a little Harry Potter.
That was rough. I don't know why but I just couldn't get into it. I had planned to only read this one but I found out it leads to a lot of other things so now I don't have a choice. Hopefully I can get into the next one. It just felt very The Magicians to me and a little Harry Potter.
February 25, 2025
Different but fun
Fun, but a bit of a different feel to most of their work. If you aren't used to their stuff it could be a little darker than you might first expect, but if you are used to it a bit lighter than normal.
Fun, but a bit of a different feel to most of their work. If you aren't used to their stuff it could be a little darker than you might first expect, but if you are used to it a bit lighter than normal.
March 17, 2025
Dark academia magic school with parallel universes and a lovecraftian horror at the bottom of the sea??? I feel like this was written especially for me.
The last 15% or so did feel a bit disjointed and more YA than the rest of the book.
The last 15% or so did feel a bit disjointed and more YA than the rest of the book.
March 24, 2025
awesome adventure
A totally different take on magical training and recruitment to say the least. Epic growth of heartwarming young heroes and heroines. Incredible adventure with an eclectic faculty.
A totally different take on magical training and recruitment to say the least. Epic growth of heartwarming young heroes and heroines. Incredible adventure with an eclectic faculty.
June 1, 2025
"...You know, we have a saying back home," Professor Mallory said. "I am awake and not crying. It is a good day."
Magic school by way of the First Story? Yes please - RTC and all that but I loved this.
Magic school by way of the First Story? Yes please - RTC and all that but I loved this.
March 7, 2025
4 and a half stars
March 15, 2025
A change in direction for this author, a softer story line but interesting characters and a fun story. This first book has set the scene and laid some interesting trails into the future.
April 9, 2025
Magical
This new series is going to be amazing. I truly enjoyed reading this book and getting to know the characters. I can't wait for the next book.
This new series is going to be amazing. I truly enjoyed reading this book and getting to know the characters. I can't wait for the next book.
May 1, 2025
Loved the book, great to see another aspect of the Faust universe ... or whatever it is called :-)
Read
August 6, 2025RTC
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