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Legacies (Shadow Grail #1)

3.44 of 5 stars 3.44 · rating details · 1,254 ratings · 198 reviews

Who—or what—is stalking the students at Oakhurst Academy?

In the wake of the accident that killed her family, Spirit White is spirited away to Oakhurst Academy, a combination school and orphanage in the middle of Montana. There she learns she is a legacy—not only to the school, which her parents also attended, but to magic.

All the students at Oakhurst have magical powers, a...more

Paperback, 320 pages

Published July 6th 2010 by Tor Teen (first published June 29th 2010)

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Dec 14, 2010 Joy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: series, urban-fantasy

Rosemary Edghill is the co-author. I actually think she's the better author and has collaborated many times with Lackey.

Lot of questions left to answer in the further episodes of this DARK Hogwarts. It seems to a tie-in with the Urban Elves world already created by Lackey starting with Bedlam's Bard but I could be wrong. Very kid friendly reading which is a big fantasy market now.

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Jun 11, 2013 Joan rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, female-characters, fiction, ya-books

This one surprised me. Lackey can do better than this. A suddenly orphaned teenager is suddenly taken under the guardianship of this academy which turns out to be for kids of prior students who also exhibit magical powers. There is no explanation for how she is known to have magical powers when she can't be found to have an affinity for any one talent. Actually, her lack of talent was crucial to the story's climax. Her ego suddenly is much better when she manages to overcome stage fright and be...more

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Dec 29, 2012 kvon rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: librarybook

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Sep 16, 2012 Doris rated it 3 of 5 stars

Although this book had sharp reminders of 2 other orphaned-teens-at-a-magical-academy series, it was well written with a good theme. One of the main issues I have always had with Lackey is that the ending tends to be - predictable. Lamentably, she held true to that in this writing. Edgehill, whom I first encountered in another joint venture with Lackey (Music to My Sorrow) tends to write Regency Romance stories. In a weird way, those two threads joined together, as we see the beginnings of a cou...more Although this book had sharp reminders of 2 other orphaned-teens-at-a-magical-academy series, it was well written with a good theme. One of the main issues I have always had with Lackey is that the ending tends to be - predictable. Lamentably, she held true to that in this writing. Edgehill, whom I first encountered in another joint venture with Lackey (Music to My Sorrow) tends to write Regency Romance stories. In a weird way, those two threads joined together, as we see the beginnings of a couple of potential romances at this school for targets (er, magicians) where our young orphan heroine, Spirit, is sent after the death of her parents and sister in an auto crash.

From there, it took a comfortable route to the finish, with a few seques into interesting. There was a lot of complaining about classes and classwork, and much research akin to the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter #4). We have a group of youngsters, trapped in boarding school (but unlike other stories they can never leave), surrounded by nasty adults (the martial arts and the magic teachers both) who seem to revel in lavishing misery on the students.

The main theme is that the children are not encouraged to make friends, and no one seems to really question it when a fellow student just disappears. The group Spirit joins, all of whom accept her completely (really) even though, unlike everyone else, she has absolutely no magic.

One of the early encouraging signs that this was not an average book was when Neil, an orderly at the hospital, berated Spirit for not having any (spirit that is). She had lost her family and home, yes, but her care had been paid for and she ought to try to gain a little gut; harsh maybe but sometimes it takes a jarring stab of reality to snap you out of a depression that has lasted months. It could have been more smoothly written in, though; it took me a second to realize the thoughts weren't inside her head, someone was speaking to her.

I was a little confused by the headmaster (the Dumbledorian look, the magic-is-mighty theme) who seems to have a clone somewhere who comes out sometimes and replaces the bright mage with an aimless twit (multiple occurrences where he seems to forget who his students are, and appears to have turned out the lights in his brain temporarily). I am hoping that some of that is cleared up in subsequent books.

I was a little disconcerted by the idea that, although all the students at the school were orphans, some rich and some poverty level (one girl even calls another Trailer Trash), all are treated equally when it comes to food and classes. I just can't see that - even the best schools play favorites. Although Burke, a student about the same age as Spirit, does seem to have access to just about anything.

I thought the no-junk-food rules were ridiculous. You NEED sweets sometimes. They keep you stable. Although the "Bread and Circuses" reference was rather apt, and perhaps that was the purpose - lets keep the cattle calm and well fed and throw in some clover now and again to keep them happy.

I didn't get the IM language, and I don't think its an age thing. At least not from my standpoint. I use IM quite a bit, and some of the references these kids used were out of my league - and out of the reference league for them. Yeah they were cute and adept but just WRONG. After all - how many teens in 2010 have read "1984"? (I haven't read it, or if I have don't remember.) It isn't even in most school libraries these days!

Oh - and another thing - why would the "good" Dr Ambrosius transmute 2 teens to mice, then attack them as an owl just to prove there really is magic and it could be used in a way that could hurt you?

Trying too hard! I'll read the next, because its a good theme with a group of students who are determined to win, but too much of "us against the world" can be a bad thing.(less)

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Aug 10, 2012 Amanda rated it 1 of 5 stars

I made it to page 101. It's the first point when something remotely interesting happened, which should have managed to get my attention. Instead, it makes me wonder all the more how Mercedes Lackey and Rosemary Edghill, both of whom have written books I absolutely adore, could have made a *Mage Academy* so BORING! The setting is basically a brochure, the characters are cardboard cutouts taped to sticks, and the magic comes off like cheap special effects - what little there is of it.

Since there's...more

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Jun 28, 2012 Aunt Edie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed, paranormal

This book reminds me of the first Percy Jackson, maybe just a couple of years older. And that isn't an insult. I thoroughly enjoyed The Lightning Thief. And I really enjoyed Legacies. You can glance through the other reviews and read lots of faults others found with the book. All of them true. But none of that stopped me from turning the pages with delight. Maybe I was just in a really good mood when I read it. Because when I stop and think about it, there isn't anything particularly new or inte...more

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Nov 01, 2011 Cecelia rated it 2 of 5 stars

Boarding schools. Myths and legend. Orphans. Wish fulfillment. Questionable authority figure behavior. Add in a little mystery, a dollop of angst and the faintest hint of teenage romance, and you’ve got Legacies, the first in a series by Mercedes Lackey and Rosemary Edghill. The Shadow Grail books feature magical teen orphans who are sent to a Montana boarding school called Oakhurst – and the school is hiding secrets and peril. Wondering if Legacies ticks ALL of the cliché boxes? It does, withou...more Boarding schools. Myths and legend. Orphans. Wish fulfillment. Questionable authority figure behavior. Add in a little mystery, a dollop of angst and the faintest hint of teenage romance, and you’ve got Legacies, the first in a series by Mercedes Lackey and Rosemary Edghill. The Shadow Grail books feature magical teen orphans who are sent to a Montana boarding school called Oakhurst – and the school is hiding secrets and peril. Wondering if Legacies ticks ALL of the cliché boxes? It does, without irony.

Spirit White survives a horrific accident that kills the rest of her family, and after extensive therapy is bundled off to a school in the middle of nowhere – one that provides for her every need and also tells her that she has latent magical abilities. While Spirit makes friends and gets to know her surroundings, everyone she knows is under threat. Will she survive?

First of all, to the rhetorical ‘question’ I ask (and the official summary asks) above – OF COURSE she survives. There’s a book two! Secondly, ohmydeargoodness, there were so many things that rubbed my skin the wrong way with this book. Stand back and let me get started with the evisceration. I mean… analysis.

There were two instances that stood out to me as clearly abusive adult behavior for no apparent reason (no plot or character development occur as a result): first in the hospital, when Spirit is berated by an orderly who is named but has no other back story. He’s clearly a placeholder, which could be okay, but he yells at our main character. Who is healing and mourning. In, you know, a hospital. The situation is just so weird and out of place that the warning bells went off immediately. And the second, with the headmaster… we have a clear instance of TSTL (Too Stupid To Live) syndrome, my dears. If you can’t see that that’s unhealthy, you have no survival skillz, and you might deserve my contempt. Moving on!

Wish fulfillment – this is one element of Legacies that brought me out of the story over and over again. I understand, the place is luxurious and they’re given everything. However, the time spent describing consumer items would be better spent on the actual setting (and would alleviate a lot of confusion in the story world).

Another thing that constantly grabbed attention away from the action was the mishandling of cultural references and teen communication. Technology use didn’t fit the age group, the IM speak was horrific, and there was an Anna Nicole Simpson reference. That’s almost too old for me, and I’m 27 (not the target market). Mess.

Put all of the mismatched elements together, and a story won’t hold well (for me), no matter how good the plot. And you know what? The plot in Legacies was the only thing that kept me reading. Total bright spot, even if you can tell from a mile away that this is a set-up book. If you’re into the whole orphan-with-magic-in-a-boarding-school thing, may I point you in the direction of Jennifer Estep’s Touch of Frost? Same clichés, but with more humor and sass. Or if you do try this series – remember that I warned you!

Recommended for: die-hard fans of magic in school settings, Mercedes Lackey enthusiasts wondering what she’s serving up to the younger set, and those with an incurable sense of optimism. Good luck!(less)

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Oct 30, 2011 Julia rated it 1 of 5 stars

This pulled too much from Harry Potter - orphaned and sent to live at a magical school...and from there it was just boring. Spirit is mopy, understandably since her family died, but that's all really. And the plot is thin, so so thin. Anyone who has ever heard of the Wild Hunt will be annoyed at how long it takes to come up with the answer and it was too convenient that the hunt happens to be composed of ghost riders, fae SUVs, and a demon hunter, just so that each of the three pairs has some pa...more

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Sep 09, 2011 Ravwrin rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A teen befriends four others when the world she knew is flipped upside down after her family dies in a car accident. While recuperating in the hospital she also finds out that her home has been burned to the ground as well. She is sent to Oakhurst Academy where she is told she is a Legacy and that means she's a magician. Her magic hasn't fully manifested like the others but they are able to stop something that has plagued the students of Oakhurst for years.

I've been looking for a good book for...more

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Jul 29, 2011 Dlora rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, young-adult

Legacies is another one of those series books, which means the volumes often leave unanswered questions and dangling plots. This one, however, ended pretty satisfactorily. Spirit White is accepted into a rich orphanage-- when her parents and sister die in a car accident that Spirit manages to survive-- because one or both of her parents (one of those unanswered questions) had attended the orphanage growing up, and the orphanage is really more a school of magic. Shades of Harry Potter! The book a...more

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Jul 29, 2011 Beverly added it · review of another edition

This series tries too hard to be Harry Potter and then, when it realizes it can't quite live up to the hype, veers away sharply and without much explanation. It tries too hard to mix in 'modern' life with magic and doesn't succeed. Instead, the characters come off bland and relatively uninteresting, interesting plot points are tossed aside when they could have been explored at greater length, and the whole book can be written off as a teeny-bopper Harry Potter. None of the characters had any dep...more

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Jul 23, 2011 Loralee rated it 1 of 5 stars

Page 186 was good. That was when the teenagers discovered a hidden basement whose secret rooms hid objects belonging to the many teenagers who'd disappeared from their private school, as well as files marked "Tithed." Chilling.

And page 282 was pretty good too, an action scene during the fight when the teenagers set a trap for their enemies and attacked.

In a book over 300 pages long, that's a pretty poor score.

I always wonder, when I slog through a book like this, why it is that fabulous writers...more Page 186 was good. That was when the teenagers discovered a hidden basement whose secret rooms hid objects belonging to the many teenagers who'd disappeared from their private school, as well as files marked "Tithed." Chilling.

And page 282 was pretty good too, an action scene during the fight when the teenagers set a trap for their enemies and attacked.

In a book over 300 pages long, that's a pretty poor score.

I always wonder, when I slog through a book like this, why it is that fabulous writers start churning out drivel. Do they forget the tricks they used to know? Do they stop caring? Do they grow lazy, when sales stay steady in spite of declining quality?

You'd think that a book about an orphaned magician sent to a secret magic school full of scheming teachers, interior betrayal, outside attackers, and difficult homework would be full of danger, suspense, and some good old teenage angst. In fact, that plot describes a whole series of books I seem to remember enjoying quite a lot...

But this book is flat. You've never encountered such an unsentimental bunch of orphans in all of fiction. Dead parents? So? Characters get introduced, then whisked off by the bad guys only a page or two later, before we have time to get attached to them. (And since the first abduction doesn't take place until about page 100, you spend the first section of the book unattached to any particular plot, either.) Although the main characters encounter difficult teachers, long homework assignments, and the disappearance of classmates, their reactions and emotions happen mostly off the page, so it's hard to sympathize with their troubles. Teachers show up long enough to spy on the IM messages, yell at students in martial arts, or assign 10 page papers before they vanish again, and the headmaster, who turns a new student into a mouse and attacks her in a first scene that could have led to lots of tension-filled encounters, doesn't show up again until the end of the book when he congratulates the victors of a battle he had no idea the school was fighting. Let's just say he's no Dumbledore.

Apparently the publishers found enough teens who liked to this book to get some good book jacket quotes. I wish those teenagers could instead have been shown Lackey's earlier work. Her Diana Tregarde series, supernatural mysteries written nearly two decades before the current market glut, hummed with feeling and tension on every page. If Diana wasn't fighting monsters or trying to sift clues to crack down on the evildoers, she was struggling to meet an upcoming deadline for an overdue romance novel, as her editor sent up garlic-reeking lunches when he heard she had a vampire in her apartment. In those books, Lackey wrung story out of both supernatural problems and personal problems, and kept the stories alive on every page. If you want some great urban fantasy, read those. Then, like me, you'll be wondering whatever happened to Mercedes Lackey.(less)

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Jun 06, 2011 Matthew rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, urban-fantasy

As usual with Mercedes Lackey, it was a fairly quick read. I'm giving it 4 stars because I felt that some important elements were not adequately explained. On balance, it was fairly enjoyable but very light. I'll keep reading into the next book, but I'm not anticipating it with the anticipation of a thousand kids on Christmas Eve, the way I can't wait for A Memory of Light or How Firm a Foundation. To put it another way, the sequel gets on my "to-read" shelf, but not on my "omg-want" shelf.

One l...more

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Mar 09, 2011 Shells Walter rated it 4 of 5 stars

Legacies the first book in the new Shadow Grail Series, by Mercedes Lackey and Rosemary Edghill tells of a teenage girl named Sprint who parents die in a horrible car crash. She wakes up in a hospital where she is told that her parents have arranged for her to go to a prestigious school called Oakhurst. However, once she gets there she finds out Oakhurst is no regular school but one that is for what are considered 'legacy children' which also means magical. As she makes friends and figures out w...more

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Mar 03, 2011 Jenny rated it 3 of 5 stars

Review originally posted at: http://supernaturalsnark.blogspot.com...

MY THOUGHTS
Legacies is a story not entirely original in nature, focusing on a boarding school for students with magical abilities, but despite its familiar premise, Ms. Lackey and Ms. Edghill infuse their world with a lingering darkness we've not encountered before. Instead of being a nurturing environment designed to foster trust and understanding of the use of magic, Oakhurst Academy has a rather sinister edge where students...more Review originally posted at: http://supernaturalsnark.blogspot.com...

MY THOUGHTS
Legacies is a story not entirely original in nature, focusing on a boarding school for students with magical abilities, but despite its familiar premise, Ms. Lackey and Ms. Edghill infuse their world with a lingering darkness we've not encountered before. Instead of being a nurturing environment designed to foster trust and understanding of the use of magic, Oakhurst Academy has a rather sinister edge where students are discouraged from forming tight friendships and are forced into rigorous training programs with instructors who don't spout words of encouragement, but rather speak harsher truths presumably designed to hasten improvement. As a result of this unnerving situation, we feel Spirit and the other student's sense of profound isolation much more vividly, the remote locale of the school echoed in the cold teaching methods and lack of student-instructor positive interaction, and we are left with an intentional sense of unease as the physical and emotional coolness mists from the pages and sinks deep into our bones, chilling us to the core as magic and mystery unfold.

Though the suspense surrounding the disappearing students is well-executed with clues deftly woven throughout, this is the type of story that's engaging while we're reading–keeping us questioning how each revelation fits with the one before–but when we finish we come to realize we don't have nearly as much information as we thought we did. We scan the final page with the hope a book dealing with magic might have the answers we seek secretly hidden and is just waiting to reveal them to us until we've wished for them hard enough. While we do discover the who/what is behind the disappearances and a fraction of the why, so many of the fundamental issues remain shrouded in darkness, denying us the warmth understanding provides and leaving us shivering on the outside wondering when of if we'll be brought into the fold.

Because this is the first book in a series, some unanswered questions are to be expected and ultimately necessary so the series can continue, but in addition to several facets of the disappearance mystery remaining completely unknown, we also learn very little about the purpose for the school itself. We are told initially it's to help train students in their magical abilities so they can defend themselves against those who would use magic to harm them, but we are given no details about either the aforementioned villains or the impending war we're told is coming. Why is this war happening now? Have the two factions always been at war? Furthermore, the title of this series is the "Shadow Grail" novels, yet in this first installment no mention is made of a Shadow Grail outside of its appearance on the school's coat of arms, leaving us with still another question as to why this object is important enough as to name the series, but not important enough to introduce in this first book.

Overall, Legacies is an interesting read, one where a dark plot is beautifully revealed and where a romance is not the primary focus, but rather is refreshingly replaced by the bonds of friendship between five gifted individuals. Because the story is engrossing while we're in the middle of it, the long line of unanswered questions only becoming bothersome upon conclusion, it is a series worth continuing in the hope so much information is withheld purposefully. We walk away from this tale longing to shed our jackets, hats, and gloves, leaving them behind in the cold environment of the unknown as we are finally welcomed inside Oakhurst Academy to become privy to her secrets and the secrets of the people she houses.

Rating: 3/5 (less)

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Dec 21, 2010 J.Elle rated it 2 of 5 stars

I just finished this on my lunch break today at work. It did not cause me raptures of joy and amazement, but it was interesting enough that I will keep an eye out for the next one. Spirit’s parents and sister are killed in a car accident. She is the lone survivor. In the recovery center, she is told that in the event of their death, her parent’s arranged for her to live and attend school at Oakhurst Academy (which is a combination school and orphanage). There she discovers that every student pos...more

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Aug 15, 2010 Stace rated it 2 of 5 stars

I really wish Goodreads would give us the option of 1/2 stars because I would have liked to rate this a 2.5. I found enough of it better than just "ok", but I can't really say I liked the book. What I did like was the "idea" of what the book was about. Unfortunately most of it seemed to follow a very basic formula. You have the geek (Lachlan), the goth/rebel (Muirin), the brain (Adelaide,)the jock (Burke) and the lost girl who can't find her magic (Spirit)all thrown together to fight the unknown...more I really wish Goodreads would give us the option of 1/2 stars because I would have liked to rate this a 2.5. I found enough of it better than just "ok", but I can't really say I liked the book. What I did like was the "idea" of what the book was about. Unfortunately most of it seemed to follow a very basic formula. You have the geek (Lachlan), the goth/rebel (Muirin), the brain (Adelaide,)the jock (Burke) and the lost girl who can't find her magic (Spirit)all thrown together to fight the unknown scary thing making kids disappear. Even though I'm pretty sure the authors covered all the horrible ways the parents and siblings died for the main characters, it all started to blur together to the point I didn't care and could never really connect to any of the characters. We were given brief history and glimpses of those who "disappeared" but not enough to actually have any investment when they were written out of the story. I realize in a series it's not necessary to answer all the questions brought up...but except for answering the question of what the Big Bad actually was, we didn't get ANY answers. 98% of the book was the build up and then it was all over in a few pages. Why after terrorizing Spirit during magic testing did Doctor Ambrosius then just leave her alone for months? Why does Dr. A seem to be having "senior moments" where he doesn't seem to know who they are? Didn't the kids think it odd that in a school/orphanage for kids with magic that it was only orphans whose parents had died in some horrible way that were there? No living parents wanted their kids to learn to control magic? I think it's obvious the school is killing the parents in order to get the kids....but that's just me. I'm not sure if I'll be picking up book 2 or not yet, I can't decide if my curiosity to find out if the authors can flesh it out better in the next one will cancel out my general indifference to this one. Just makes me glad I picked this one up at the library and didn't waste money on it.(less)

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Aug 03, 2010 Rachel rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Legacies is the first book in the Shadow Grail series.

Who—or what—is stalking the students at Oakhurst Academy?

In the wake of the accident that killed her family, Spirit White is spirited away to Oakhurst Academy, a combination school and orphanage in the middle of Montana. There she learns she is a legacy—not only to the school, which her parents also attended, but to magic.

All the students at Oakhurst have magical powers, and although Spirit’s hasn’t manifested itself yet, the administrators i...more

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Apr 20, 2013 Brenda Lower rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is from my blog at: http://brensbookstoread.blogspot.com/

Spirit White remembers little of the car accident that killed her parents and little sister. All she can see is something darker than night, and then the accident. Waking up in the hospital afterwards, she has little motivation to live, and after a fire at her home, no belongings to keep. Spirit is surprised to learn that a school called Oakhurst Academy is taking care of hospital bills, plus providing a place for her to live after sh...more This is from my blog at: http://brensbookstoread.blogspot.com/

Spirit White remembers little of the car accident that killed her parents and little sister. All she can see is something darker than night, and then the accident. Waking up in the hospital afterwards, she has little motivation to live, and after a fire at her home, no belongings to keep. Spirit is surprised to learn that a school called Oakhurst Academy is taking care of hospital bills, plus providing a place for her to live after she recovers. Finally she leaves the hospital and travels to Oakhurst in the middle of nowhere Montana.

Early on, Spirit learns that this school is more than just a boarding school for orphans like herself- it is a school of wizards and magicians. Each person there has gifts and talents that set them apart from the rest of the world, magical talents. When it's time for Spirit to find out which element her powers come from, no one element feels right to her. Confused and feeling very alone, Spirit wishes that she had died with her family.

Slowly, Spirit starts to feel more at home as she begins to make friends: Loch, who arrived with her, Addie and Muirin who helped show her around, and big Burke, a battle mage that can learn any fighting style. As they grow closer, they start to notice a strange pattern of other kids going missing. When one of Muirin's close friends disappears, they decide to look closer at what is happening. Who is taking the kids? Why do they never hear from graduates? And will Spirit ever find her power?

So, while on the surface it seems to be another "wizard school" novel, the story comes out fairly different than other novels I've read with that theme. The dynamics within the school setting feel very different that the Harry Potter books, something the author does on purpose since Oakhurst is very different than Hogwarts! Some similarities exist, but this book has it's own character and feel.

I do like that way that the book deals with Spirit's grief at losing her family. At first, it is overwhelming, and consumes her. Then someone tells her to stop feeling sorry for herself, and she starts to get on with her life. She continues to think about them, and miss them, so it's not this abrupt "oh I'm over that" feeling. Spirit's family continue to be a part of her- she is always hearing her mother's voice saying something that applies to her situation, or thinking of what her sister would do. They stay a part of her, and she remembers them and misses them, but fortunately it doesn't overwhelm the story. Instead it's a reminder that she wishes life were different.

Overall, fairly good book. This is the second time I've read it, so good enough to come back to it! A couple sequels have been written, so I'm excited to read those as well. While not completely impressed with it, I will read the sequels. Likable characters, interesting plot line (even if a little predictable by the end), and lots of potential for more to happen. Good book, have fun!(less)

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Jul 22, 2011 Scarlet Heavens rated it 5 of 5 stars

Well, there are a lot of things I would like to say about this book. Some are positive, some are negative, but I gave it 5 stars, because, even though I expected it, I didn't see the word 'kiss' in it, which pleased me a lot.

Positive:
1. I loved the Harry Potter references. May be some people would find it stupid, but I loved the ''Thank you, Professor Dumbledore" thing.
2. I liked all of the characters. They felt real, with personalities, likes and dislikes, and even throughout the novel, you co...more

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Jul 13, 2011 MaryBookSwarm rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: tor, arc, young-adult

The first in a new YA series by Mercedes Lackey and Rosemary Edghill, LEGACIES tells the story of Spirit White. After an accident that kills her entire family, Spirit finds out she's a legacy of the prestigious but very mysterious academy, Oakhurst, set in the middle of nowhere. Spirit is baffled, since her parents never mentioned the place, but as she has no where else to go, she gets in the super-plush limo that escorts her from the hospital to a private jet to her very chi-chi new school and...more The first in a new YA series by Mercedes Lackey and Rosemary Edghill, LEGACIES tells the story of Spirit White. After an accident that kills her entire family, Spirit finds out she's a legacy of the prestigious but very mysterious academy, Oakhurst, set in the middle of nowhere. Spirit is baffled, since her parents never mentioned the place, but as she has no where else to go, she gets in the super-plush limo that escorts her from the hospital to a private jet to her very chi-chi new school and home. Once there, she meets with the head of the school who emphasizes, in quite a dramatic way, that legacy actually means "You've got magic" and this school teaches kids how to use it.

Though the thought of "Oh, lord, not another book set in a mysterious school for magical beings" did cross my mind when I found out about Oakhurst, I had little trouble getting into the story. While it's got a lot of familiar elements to it, LEGACIES sets itself apart by the lingering unease and sense of impending trouble. Students are not encouraged to form lasting bonds or strong friendships. Teachers and administrators lurk. Students disappear, never to be heard from again. Like Spirit, I didn't really know who to trust.

And, yes, Spirit does have friends. Once they realize that there's strange happenings at the school, threatening them and their classmates, and decide to do something about it, they also realize that they have to do it all on the down-low so they don't get caught and/or conveniently disappear. Everyone in Spirit's crew of friends has powers of some sort. Everyone, that is, except for Spirit. However, she deals with this disability admirably, using her brains to figure out some of what's wrong at Oakhurst. She's a character with great potential, potential that isn't fully developed in this novel.

Of course, this is the first in a series so, while the main plot arc for this particular novel is concluded (thank goodness, no cliffhanger!), there are plenty of questions and hints at a deeper, wider series arc. I'll definitely pick up the next novel which comes out in July of this year, so I won't have to wait too long to find out what happens next.(less)

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Jul 20, 2010 The BookWhisperer rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In the past I have had some trouble reading anything that was written by Mercedes Lackey; I felt that I struggle finding a connection with this authors writings. Although, I was excited and anxious to get my hands on this book and take it for a spin. Having finished I can now say that this was not the absolute best book that I have ever read. With an enjoyable storyline I did find myself able to make progression in the book, and this being a determining factor into a books rating was beneficial...more

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May 22, 2012 Andrea Hussey rated it 1 of 5 stars

To start off it wasn’t very well written. Ex. She tried to move her arms, but she couldn’t, then tried to open her eyes, but she couldn’t do that, either. Her head really hurt. More every second. And now it hurt to breathe, too.
It really sounded as if a child was explaining things.

Then there was the shortening down of phrases that shouldn’t have been done:
Why they had to live back of beyond of everything was just one more instance of the ‘rents being holdover hippies.
It didn’t matter if you had...more

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Sep 20, 2010 Danie P. rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: y-a

This is a great book for parents who are reluctant to let their kids read Twilight just yet. Its a fantasy/horror (but not super scary)that focuses on the main character Spirit, who has just recently lost her whole family to a terrible car accident.
She finds out that her parents made arrangements for her to go to a private academy should anything happen to them. When she gets to the academy she finds out that she's a witch but none of her powers have manifested yet. As she makes friends and set...more

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Sep 26, 2011 Sareh rated it 5 of 5 stars

The only thing that bothers me about this book was that in the beginning is the similarities to Harry Potter. But beyond the few similarities, there isn't much the same anyways. This story was really good, while it does have it's slow parts, it's still good.

The characters were all very good although at times I had trouble picking out who was different from who if it hadn't been for the name tags. I thought that for having just lost everything Spirit wasn't all that upset about it throughout the...more

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Aug 13, 2011 Jenn Dattilo Watts rated it 4 of 5 stars

Oakhurst academy is a very interesting place although I could see some elements that reminded me of Harry Potter. But really, Oakhurst is a much better fit for the world we live in, whereas Hogwarts wouldn't fit at all and I think that was an intention of the authors.

I had a bit of an issue with the main character about 1/2 way through - she started on this big pity party and "oh I don't want to live like this" blah blah blah. Thankfully she seemed to pull herself out of it in time to save her...more

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Jun 18, 2013 Ashley Lynch rated it 4 of 5 stars

Why this book is not a best-seller is a mystery to me. It has a little bit of everything- a little mystery, magic, mystery, great characters, good setting, a brewing romance, and some plain old teen angst just for good measure. Yet, the plot is not over-whelming. Amazing.
Spirit White is a backdoor heroine. She lacks in confidence, being without magic and all, and doesn't have high hopes that she can save herself, much less her friends. Still, she proves at the end of the story that she can contr...more

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Aug 27, 2012 Nyx rated it 2 of 5 stars

GOD! I don't even know where to begin with this book!

The part where.... oh, I don't know, absolutely nothing freaking happened??! Oh wait! Maybe the part where I wanted to
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I mean, sure, I wasn't expecting much of this book when I randomly picked it up on a book sale, but I didn't expect this much damage! I mean, half the book was the girl bitching about life being unfair and what not, and the other half was spent on her being a bipolar weirdo talking about 'the school's trying to tear up frien...more

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Jul 06, 2010 Mike rated it 3 of 5 stars

Every once and a while the fine folks at Tor will send me a title which doesn’t quite jive with my demographic. This time around I decided to give one of those titles a chance. Legacies is the start of a new YA series by collaborates Rosemary Edghill and Mercedes Lackey, who previously worked together on the Bedlam’s Bard Series over at Baen. The series opens with heroine Spirit recovering in the hospital after a car accident which left her as the only surviving member of her family. It isn’t to...more Every once and a while the fine folks at Tor will send me a title which doesn’t quite jive with my demographic. This time around I decided to give one of those titles a chance. Legacies is the start of a new YA series by collaborates Rosemary Edghill and Mercedes Lackey, who previously worked together on the Bedlam’s Bard Series over at Baen. The series opens with heroine Spirit recovering in the hospital after a car accident which left her as the only surviving member of her family. It isn’t too long before she finds out that her parents, themselves orphans, were once wards of the mysterious Oakhurst Academy and, now that she too is an orphan, Spirit has been charged to their care. Of course, Oakhurst isn’t your everyday orphanage, the students there all have magical powers and, in addition to their everyday schooling, must learn to control their powers in order to survive in the world. As if being an orphan and being confronted with the reality of magic isn’t enough Spirit, and the friends she makes at Oakhurst, but face a unknown threat that has been praying on the students of Oakhurst.

Unfortunately for Spirit, Legacies suffers from a surplus of neat ideas that never really bear too much fruit. While the mystery elements of the novel work well enough the world that the characters inhabit never manages to feel real. The characters themselves consistently manage to feel a bit flat with the rebellious teen (Muirin), the prim and proper young lady (Adeladie), the honorable jock (Burke), and the affable and near unflappable teen (Lachlan) never manage to really do anything to define themselves as individuals. Part of the problem is that the narration stays locked from Spirit’s point of view and we never get inside the thoughts of the supporting cast. Indeed some of the more interesting moments come when we leave Spirit’s perspective behind and are introduced to the novel’s threat. The authors also do their supporting cast a bit of a disservice by introducing a bit-character with a backstory and personality more interesting then the rest of the teens; namely a teen who has been “gifted” with clairvoyance since a very young age and irreparably changed by the process. A character who the main cast use and discard in their righteous quest to solve the threat to the student body.

In a school full of magic users the only person without an obvious magic gift is Spirit. It seems a bit of an odd decision and one that hints at a lot of interesting ideas, particularly in how Spirit’s “lack of magic” is revealed, but one that is never explored in depth. It does, late in the novel, allow for some cogent observations on Spirit’s part on how the training the students are receiving set them in often vicious competition with one another. What Spirits lack of a gift means for the reader is that despite being set in a school of magic users we witness very little actual magic. For me this deprives the novel one of the “magic school” genre’s greatest treasures: the sense of wonder and excitement as we, along with the main character, learn more about magic. Like I said, I found it an odd choice and one I’m uncertain I agree with.

As the cover boldly proclaims this as book one of the Shadow Grail there is a bunch of groundwork laid for exploring a greater threat then the abductions that make up the majority of Legacies‘ plot. The problem here is that all this groundwork, through hints and unanswered questions, all seemed more interesting to me than any other part of the novel. Upon arriving at the school the headmaster mentions nebulous threats and dangers that exist in the real world but the nature of those threats is never revealed or even hinted at beyond the ill-defined danger. Bizarre changes in disposition and personality in the aforementioned headmaster are readily observable but left wholly ignored. There are even hints regarding the accident that killed Spirit’s parents, something mentioned several times throughout the novel but never explored. Curiously there is even something of a tangent on parkour early in the novel but in a novel that rapidly moves to a rural environment its inclusion seems a bit strange.

In the end I felt that Legacies was more notable for what it failed to do rather than what it managed to accomplish. There are enough hints at something interesting and wondrous that the derivative plot and occasionally stiff “teen” dialogue feel more disappointing then I suspect they rightly deserve. On the other hand their is a blessed lack of vampires and the romance elements are subdued and never overshadow the plot. For all its failings the hint of the greater threat beyond what is seen here, the possibility of a greater overarching story, have me interested in what will happen next in the series. I won’t be rushing out and grabbing a sequel mind you but Legacies was a breezy read and I’d give the series another shot with the hope that there is more world building and character development then the very little seen here.(less)

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Apr 10, 2013 Niffer rated it 2 of 5 stars

I know there are a lot of books out there about wizards or magicians or whatever who are orphans and are attending a wizarding school, so it's hard to come up with a new take on the idea, but this book really didn't do it for me. The "school" is almost more of a resort and the cafeteria includes formal dinners with linen tablecloths?....yeah, it just didn't work for me.

The characters were also very flat, IMO. I didn't feel like I could identify with any of them or that I really cared that much a...more

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About Mercedes Lackey

Mercedes entered this world on June 24, 1950, in Chicago, had a normal childhood and graduated from Purdue University in 1972. During the late 70's she worked as an artist's model and then went into the computer programming field, ending up with American Airlines in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In addition to her fantasy writing, she has written lyrics for and recorded nearly fifty songs for Firebird Arts &...more Mercedes entered this world on June 24, 1950, in Chicago, had a normal childhood and graduated from Purdue University in 1972. During the late 70's she worked as an artist's model and then went into the computer programming field, ending up with American Airlines in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In addition to her fantasy writing, she has written lyrics for and recorded nearly fifty songs for Firebird Arts & Music, a small recording company specializing in science fiction folk music.

"I'm a storyteller; that's what I see as `my job.' My stories come out of my characters; how those characters would react to the given situation. Maybe that's why I get letters from readers as young as thirteen and as old as sixty-odd. One of the reasons I write song lyrics is because I see songs as a kind of `story pill' -- they reduce a story to the barest essentials or encapsulate a particular crucial moment in time. I frequently will write a lyric when I am attempting to get to the heart of a crucial scene; I find that when I have done so, the scene has become absolutely clear in my mind, and I can write exactly what I wanted to say. Another reason is because of the kind of novels I am writing: that is, fantasy, set in an other-world semi-medieval atmosphere. Music is very important to medieval peoples; bards are the chief newsbringers. When I write the `folk music' of these peoples, I am enriching my whole world, whether I actually use the song in the text or not.

"I began writing out of boredom; I continue out of addiction. I can't `not' write, and as a result I have no social life! I began writing fantasy because I love it, but I try to construct my fantasy worlds with all the care of a `high-tech' science fiction writer. I apply the principle of TANSTAAFL [`There ain't no such thing as free lunch', credited to Robert Heinlein) to magic, for instance; in my worlds, magic is paid for, and the cost to the magician is frequently a high one. I try to keep my world as solid and real as possible; people deal with stubborn pumps, bugs in the porridge, and love-lives that refuse to become untangled, right along with invading armies and evil magicians. And I try to make all of my characters, even the `evil magicians,' something more than flat stereotypes. Even evil magicians get up in the night and look for cookies, sometimes.

"I suppose that in everything I write I try to expound the creed I gave my character Diana Tregarde in Burning Water:

"There's no such thing as `one, true way'; the only answers worth having are the ones you find for yourself; leave the world better than you found it. Love, freedom, and the chance to do some good -- they're the things worth living and dying for, and if you aren't willing to die for the things worth living for, you might as well turn in your membership in the human race."

Also known as Misty Lackey.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/merced...(less)

More about Mercedes Lackey...

Books by Mercedes Lackey

Arrows of the Queen (Heralds of Valdemar, #1)

Magic's Pawn (Valdemar: Last Herald-Mage, #1)

Magic's Price (Valdemar: Last Herald-Mage, #3)

Magic's Promise (Valdemar: Last Herald-Mage, #2)

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Quotes from Legacies

“Doctor Ambrosius smiled slightly. "You and all the others here, are-or rather, one day will be-magicians."
Spirit broke into a disbelieving laugh.
"Right," she said, starting to stand up. Mean, she could deal with; crazy was something else. "Thank you, Professor Dumbledore. I hope the train hasn't left yet, because-” — 1 person liked it

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Legacies (Shadow Grail #1)

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