22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Magical Boarding School yes, Harry Potter clone no, July 16, 2010
Liked it - didn't love it.
I wasn't sure if I'd like this as it is geared towards younger readers, but having read the authors' collaborations before, I thought I'd give it a shot.
I'm glad I did, as I found it an enjoyable read. This is actually more similar to Kelly Armstrong's Darkest Powers series than to Harry Potter, though in all three the youngsters must band together to solve problems the adults around them can't or won't handle. However, in this series the children are all orphans, are kept isolated at the school, and have no sources of information about magic - or anything else! - except what the school provides. So,can the school itself be trusted?
I was very caught up in reading the book and would like to read the next one when it comes out - but I did not immediately re-read it and I haven't found myself dwelling on the characters or the world created.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Nothing new, August 22, 2010
I have read other books by Mercedes Lackey, and found them enjoyable, so I was pretty excited when a YA book came out. Legacies did have a good plot going, as Spirit's family is killed in a car accident and she is whisked to Oakhurst, a school for no oridinary orphans. Once there she finds out the school is for magicians, kids who are able to create illusions to fire out of thin air. But not only does Spirit have no magical ability yet, she also knows something is going on at Oakhurst as kids start to disappear.
The plot, again, was pretty good, but half way through the book, I kept getting bored as the same things happened over and over again. She went to class, she speaks to her friends in secrecy as Oakhurst also likes to pit the kids against each other, she was tutored in martial arts, and the next day it started all over again. The characters weren't all that developed either, and seemed stereotypical. But what nagged me the most was the very end. I seriously believed the trouble brewed from the inside, and while it still might, the bad guys...I just didn't get it. There was no mention that the bad guys (I don't want to give it away) actually exist, and to have the group suddenly figure out what was making the kids disppear didn't mash well at all. Plus the Dr. after listening to their explanations of what happened, didn't even react so much as to slap them on the back and say well done. He wasn't concerned at all, and didn't offer them any explanation of why the adults didn't or couldn't figure out for themselves what was going on in their own territory. I normally like Lackey's books, but I won't be reading the next in this series.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not bad but not great either, October 15, 2010
I don't know that I'd call the plot of LEGACIES "clichéd," though the setting is certainly familiar enough. Of course one thinks of Harry Potter when talking about boarding schools for magically-gifted students, but there are a number of other series with similar themes currently being published. And if one substitutes "paranormal creatures" for "magically-gifted students," the number of comparable series jumps dramatically (Vampire Academy, House of Night, the Fallen series, etc., etc.).
So, does this stand out from the crowd? Um, not particularly. I did enjoy the novel as I was reading it; liked the core group of friends, certainly. And it was refreshingly free of romance (which usually figures heavily in this genre); the fellows in this group are very appealing, but none of the girls were irresistibly drawn to them, or felt the need to be their devoted slaves. Now isn't that a change...
Still, the characters were perhaps a bit underdeveloped, as was the school setting itself. Seemed to me that these kids could get away with a LOT, considering how strictly-run the school was supposed to be.
The main problem, however, is one that affects many fantasy-oriented series books. The author has to provide adequate closure to the individual story, while still leaving enough aspects of the plot/situation open to make the reader curious as to what will happen next. Now, the mystery detailed in this novel is adequately wrapped up, but there really were too many plot holes and unresolved questions at the end (which will presumably be addressed in the next novel) for this to be a really satisfying read.
So, a bit of a mixed review from me. I'm interested enough in the story that I will likely read the second entry, but overall there is nothing about the book to make it stand out from so many other similarly-themed novels. But hey, if you enjoy this type of story, by all means give it a go and see what you think for yourself.
(Oddly enough, while this is book one of the "Shadow Grail" series, this novel gives no indication whatsoever as to what the shadow grail is---I don't think the term was mentioned once in the text.)
The dust jacket isn't bad; again, nothing special but at least it's a little more dynamic than many of the other jackets now on the market.
PS---Okay, there was one GLARING error that annoyed me! The text mentioned "The full moon was almost directly overhead, and the stars were brilliant in the clear night sky. They were so far from any city that the Milky Way was even visible." Now, this scene takes place near the winter solstice. The wintertime Milky Way is fairly dim (compared to the very bright Milky Way visible in the summer sky), and becomes almost impossible to see with even a low level of light pollution. Quite apart from the fact that when there is a brilliant full moon, you really don't see a lot of stars in the sky, you would not see even a TRACE of the Milky Way in a brightly moonlit sky! This is a very basic error and should have been caught in editing.
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