Castaways

Castaways, Book 1

By: Craig Schaefer

Narrated by: Susannah Jones

"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 Resignation: 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 boat: 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 left: graduate, or die.

©2025 Craig Schaefer (P)2025 Podium Audio

Character development could be improved.

I'll start by saying that the summary of this book could be better. I picked it up expecting that there was something inside of the academy that was a threat (nefarious motives) but it's a third party villain causing the issues (outside threat)

That said, the real problem this book has is with the character development. There are characters that should be "the bad guy" but they are barely mentioned and it's hard to see them as anything but a plot device. If the author wants to make these people anything other than paper dolls there needs to be more motivation and not a 5 minute blip in the whole story. (there will be spoilers) What is the purpose of the network? Are they out to kill magicians for any other reason than just to kill them and why do we care? Apparently a whole class of wizards were wiped out by this network but even though they have an operative captured at the school no one mentions why. Supposedly they demolished cities on another student's world but what for?

The operative. Apparently he was fitted with a safety device so he can't do magic and made to teach the students. Oookay I can run with it because, magic but then he's supposed to be some sort of sketchy guy. I'm not sure how that works since he helps save the students at least twice but apparently since he was part of the network. A two minute conversation between the teachers they mentioned that they didn't trust him. Then he made a racist comment (I wouldn't have realized it at all if it hadn't been blatantly pointed out like a flashing neon sign) I won't go in depth and spoil the whole thing but the whole section was pointless. They were trying to figure out a clue but nothing was resolved, nothing was progressed and it was just written in for this scene to happen. As soon as it did we were onto the next chapter. All of a sudden his written image changed so fast I thought I might have whiplash. There were thousands of better ways to make him look shady.

Amy's relationship with Vail is very sweet but also seems like one of those pointless additions. There are so many loose strings flying around that it seems like time would be better spent tying up those than on romantic scenes that felt a bit rushed. That, or work with the girl's feelings a little before just dumping them into a relationship. They both had so many other emotional problems that could have easily had them become closer while resolving them but instead, WHAM and it's romance.

The one thing that is never really answered is : what do you do when you graduate from a school of magic? Are there certain magic jobs out there? There don't seem to be magicians on any of the worlds that the students come from (that they know of) so what is the point? The only real point in the whole story seems to be to find a way to stay at the school. That is the goal. I feel like the world could burn down around them and as long as they didn't have to go back to their home worlds it would be okay. There is no higher purpose, no grand plan, no world destroying enemy, and all mysteries or potential threats that could have gone somewhere end up being washed out in exchange for the evil network. And that's okay, but it only makes for a mediocre 3 star book. I won't be getting the second one.