[Book review] Legacies by Mercedes Lackey and Rosemary Edghill

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Harry Potter has so invaded our consciousness that any book featuring a school for magic-users is immediately compared to Rowling’s saga.  And admittedly, some of them are derivative and not as interesting as the boy wizard.  But not all fall into that category.  Oakhurst Academy has joined the distinguished list of magical institutions with Legacies, the first novel in the Shadow Grail series.

After the death of her parents and younger sister, Spirit White’s care is taken on by Oakhurst Academy, a school that both her parents attended.  Spirit is a legacy, in more ways than one.  Apparently, she is possessed of magical powers, as is every other student in the school.  But neither she nor anyone else can figure out exactly what those powers are.

Spirit’s search for her birthright is interrupted by more pressing matters—the disappearance of students under mysterious circumstances.  Evidence suggests that the school knows about it and is covering it up, but to what end?  As Spirit and her friends probe deeper into the mystery, they find secrets and lies that go back not just years, but decades.

I held off on reading this book for a while because, although the premise intrigued me, I was afraid that it was another run-of-the-mill “magic school” story.  I’m glad to be able to say that I was wrong.  There are some very important differences between this novel and most others of the same kind.

A big difference is that the main menace originates from within the academy itself.  Although in other books, evil infiltrates the school, in this book it is part and parcel of the running of the institution.  While it may turn out in future books to be something that has gained access to the school and is using it to its own ends, for now it’s a refreshing change to see the danger coming from within rather than from without.

The other thing that I liked was how Spirit was cast as someone who should have powers, but doesn’t.  I presume that at some point her powers will manifest, but at least in this book she’s the equivalent of a Muggle in a wizards’ convention.  She’s not the most special person in the bunch, she’s not the one that everyone reveres and protects—she’s just another student, albeit one thought to be a little less than the others due to her problems with magic.  It forces Spirit to rely on her wits and her intellect instead of mere chance and timely spells. 

In fact, most of the characters aren’t the supercharged uber-mages that you find in other books, and I really enjoyed that.  I think I have to attribute that to Edghill’s influence, as Lackey has a habit of writing “magical orphan” tales in which the main character is the best and brightest at absolutely everything.  I found these characters to be more natural and realistic than in other novels of the same ilk. 

The school has more aspects of a traditional school, with students studying math and history along with more esoteric stories, and they play regular sports.  The school is grooming the students for life in the real world, and although the pace is probably more than any readers will have experienced in real life, the grounding in a more normal education is something that readers can identify with.  It’s likely that you will have memories (fond or not-so-fond) of your time in high school, and a lot of what occurs here echoes what most of us went through in those days.

All in all, I found this novel to be quite enjoyable, with enough original touches to distinguish it from others in the genre.  Legacies combines the best of the most prevalent elements in teen novels and creates a engrossing tale.  

This book was provided by the publisher.