Rats
Craig Schaefer
On a mission
Rats is the third book in Craig Schaefer‘s Castaways series. It is currently (15-Sep-2026) the last one, although Schaefer plans two more.
Rats differs from the first two books in that it is not really a magic school book. Very little of the action of Rats takes place at Saunders Academy, the magic school in and around which the first two novels take place. Book 2, Firebreak, ended with two of the Castaways getting abducted.. The Castaways are the group of misfit students (yeah, yeah, I know -- what a cliché!) on whom the series is focused. Dalton and Olivia were snatched by a giant criminal rat-man named Shaddock. Shaddock flew away with the captives on his spaceship, which is manned by his sister, a rat-woman named Riva, and her best friend Marcie.
Well, of course you know what has to happen next -- rescue mission. This is not the first time the series has ventured away from the Saunders Academy, but the main previous excursion was to our Earth, which is where one of the Castaways comes from. This time we head out into Schaefer‘s First Story multiverse. I have not read any other First Story books, but I didn’t have any trouble following. This multiverse is broadly like most other fantasy multiverses you may have run into. Near the end we start to hear about some wider themes, like who the main good guys and bad guys of the universe are.
You’ve got the picture, I think. It’s a fantasy space adventure with a bunch of plucky magical kids. Not really breaking new ground. But the kids are fun, and the stakes feel genuinely high. I enjoyed it. If you enjoyed the first two books (and I did), you’ll enjoy this one, too. And I will continue with the series when the next books are published.