Castaways by Craig Schaefer

Timy reviews Castaways, the first book in the Castaways urban fantasy series by Craig Schaefer.

Possible fit for The Sound of Madness Reading Challenge 2025 prompts:

Joker prompt that goes with anything: Freed from Desire

“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.

“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.