Customer Reviews

Shadow Grail #1: Legacies

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Legacies (2010) is the first Fantasy novel in the Shadow Grail series. It is set in the contemporary era at a school outside the small town of Radial, Montana, about four hundred miles from Billings. Oakhurst Academy is an exclusive school for orphans yonger than twenty-one years old.

In this novel, Spirit Victory White is an orphan. Her father, mother and younger sister were killed in an automobile accident. She was badly injured in the same accident. She seems to remember something looking at her.

Lachlan Galen Spears is also an orphan. His mother had died much earlier and his father was killed recently in a hotel fire. Loch was in another room and climbed out the window.

Doctor Ambrosius is the headmaster of Oakhurst Academy. His hair and beard are pure silvery white. He has a faint British accent.

In this story, Spirit is feeling very depressed. Then a lawyer visits her and explains that her parents have specified that she will be sent to Oakhurst Academy until she is twenty-one. While she is still in rehabilitation, the Oakhurst foundation will provide her with funds, clothing and necessities.

When she is finally ready to face the outside world, Spirit is picked up by a Rolls-Royce for the drive to the airport. Loch is also in the limousine and explains some things about the school. After a four hour flight, they take a SUV to the train station in the nearby town of Terry, Montana.

They ride in a private rail car to the school station. Spirit is awed by the grandeur of the main building, a large old mansion built by a railroad tycoon over a century ago. It is surrounded by a huge estate, containing an indoor Olympic size pool, stables, gymnasium, tennis courts, and a firing range.

They are met at the station and escorted to the headmaster's office. There Doctor Ambrosius tells Spirit and Loch that they are Legacies, the children of Oakhurst alumni. Furthermore, he informs them that they are magicians and will be trained in magic here at Oakhurst.

Spirit and Loch strongly doubt this statement, but Ambrosius uses magic to move some things around. Then he transforms them to white mice and becomes a huge owl. After being snatched up and redeposited in their chairs, they begin to believe in magic. Then Spirit discovers that she has a slight cut down her arm, as if she had been sliced by a talon.

Spirit and Loch make friends with other orphaned magicians at Oakhurst. Two girls give Spirit a quick tour of the facility and then take her to the Refectory for dinner. Everything seems normal, but magic is ever present.

The next day, Spirit and Loch are taken downstairs for testing to find out about their magical talents. Loch discovers that he has three talents in two different elements. But Spirit doesn't display any talents at all.

This tale confronts Spirit, Loch and their friends with a mystery. A student disappears from the school. Later another also vanishes. The group is determined to find out what is happening.

If this book reminds you of Harry Potter, don't be surprised to see some references to that series within the story. But Lackey is a much more experienced Fantasy writer. Those who have not previously read her works should see the Dragon Jouster series.

They solve one major problem, but other questions are left unresolved. The next installment -- Conspiracies -- should provide more answers. Read and enjoy!

Highly recommended for Lackey fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of elemental magic, thaumaturgic research, and courageous young adults.

-Arthur W. Jordin

Orphans, magical school, mysterious menace, untrustworthy authority figures - you've read it all before, and this is another workmanlike take on the trope. It's quite readable - I finished the book in two days - but there's too much setup and not enough payoff. Also, the defeated villains remind me too much of similar ones from other books by these authors.

The funny thing is how you can see the prejudices of one of the authors leak into the material, and I especially hate books where that happens. Lackey happens to have a bugaboo about copyrights, and in this book there's a throwaway line about the school forbidding downloads from the internet. The next book in the series, Conspiracies, has a character make a "mixtape" (MP3s, of course) for another, and there the throwaway line there is about him having traded for the songs. I know that Lackey takes such things personally, but I doubt that there's a teenager alive who wouldn't just copy the songs he wanted, and it's totally offputting to have the character suddenly channel the author in a way that's false for the character.

It reminds me of the Cinda Williams books---Wizard Heir, Dragon Heir and so on. It is slow moving too. However, it is Mercedes Lackey and the story is interesting and I still enjoyed it.

I enjoyed this book but did not love it as much as I wanted to. Despite similar trappings, this is not a Harry Potter clone. The story follows the journey of 15 year old Spirit White from orphan to student at the mystical Oakhurst Academy and the dangers she finds there. The first third of the book is quite intriguing with Spirit's arrival at the school and introduction to the intimidating headmaster. Unfortunately, it's pretty much downhil from ths point. As other reviewers pont out, the story becomes rather slow and mundane, with heavy emphasis on Academy life. Spirit's new friends are drawn with broad strokes for the nost part. You really never get a feel for what these guys look like, much less what makes them tick. From this a mystery developes involving the disapearance of students from the school and how Spirit and her friends use their wits and abilities to discover what is happening and how to stop it once and for all, even at the cost of their lives. Although the cinematic finale is exciting, it's still rather vaguely drawn for it's own good. Speaking of the central mystery, it's strange this would be going on for so long with no one lifting a hand to investigate or stop it before the arrival of Spirit White. It's cruel in fact. Bottom line. Is this a good read or not? This reader says yes. Even with it's faults, it's fast and has some suspenseful moments. Several story threads are laid for future volumes. Hopefully, in the promised sequel, the two authors will take heed of the constructive criticism on the board to improve what promises to be a very exciting series.

Mercedes Lackey is spreading her wings. With Legacies, she enters the lucrative (and popular) YA market.

The Shadow Grail series begins with Spirit entering the prestigious Oakhusrt Academy. Yet, in spite of the luxurious surroundings, the environment is tainted with the disappearance of many of the students in mysterious ways. Spirit White, is 'trained' in self protection, and along with her friends, tested and trained to determine their natural magical skills.

While the popular Potter series includes an academy and wizardry lessons, this is not that. It draws on the genre, but more importantly builds on the mystery surrounding the private school. What is not said is more important than what is said or explained. There is magic, and a challenge of sorts, but this is no Hogwarts.

The book is engrossing, and reveals just enough to entice readers back for Volume II, and more adventures of Spirit and her friends. Lackey and Edghill write well together with their strengths combining effectively.

Will this be a 'franchise' series? It is hard to say, but the cast of Spirit and friends are intriguing indeed. Thank you Mercedes and Rosemary!

While this young adult title - first in a Shadowgrail series - is a teen pick, it's reviewed here for its engrossing and complex twists and turns of plot which will appeal into adult audiences, as well. Oakhurst Academy is a blend of school and orphanage in the middle of Montana - and someone is stalking its students. Spirit White learns she's a legacy to magic - and that students with magical powers are vanishing. A riveting, engrossing saga evolves filled with exquisite tension, strong characterization, and the complex twists that will satisfy adult and young adult readers alike.

I have always liked these authors, and I like this book, even though it leaves a little to be desired.

The comments from other reviewers not withstanding, this is not a Harry Potter Ripoff. The authors in this case have written many books about kids in trouble, in magical situations, often in cult-like settings and sometimes in back-woods areas. Yes, there is a school, of sorts, actually more of an orphanage, for the magically gifted, named Oakhurst Academy. Even though the young heroine, Spirit White, is rescued to its environs, it is presented as a dangerous, and eerie place to be. It seems a bit too overly wealthy, as in how could an orphanage have so much money? The welcome, aside from providing Spirit with a wonderful room, board, computer and other essentials, involves her being turned into a mouse, attacked, injured, and told that she will learn to protect herself from mysterious others. We are also presented with Spirit's fears as she is aggressively tested to determine her magic, eventually fainting and passing out for hours and thus never succeeding in determining what magic she possesses.

The plot is somewhat labored in that it seems to spend most of its time and effort setting up way to many possible story lines, or never answered questions, to continue with in future books, rather than concentrating on the book at hand. A lot of the laboring is due to the children being presented as just a bit too naive and helpless, leaving not only unanswered but unasked questions dangling for the reader. For instance, the book starts with Spirit's injury and the death of her parents after the appearance of a big dark something on the road. Surprisingly her health care is picked up by Oakhurst Academy while she is still in the hospital. Then finally on her way across the country to the school she learns that she is a "Legacy", the very title of the book, which means that one or both of her parents attended Oakhurst. Yet, she never asks anybody about what her parents had to do with Oakhurst for the entire duration of the book, even though that seems like the first question any inquisitive child would ask.

From there Spirit meets several friends, who discover that children have been mysteriously disappearing from the school, with all sorts of allusion to this being somehow due to the mysterious school staff or the even more mysterious people from the nearby town. Eventually the friends face and overcome a magical danger, but all the built up mysteries are left hanging, so that we will be sure to want to read the next book. Also, of course, the friends are told to tell no one of their accomplishment, thus leaving the remainder of the children still totally in the dark as to the nature of their danger, and re-instating their enforced ignorance, which seems to be the real hallmark of the story.