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Shadow Grail #1: Legacies
enlarge	Authors: Mercedes Lackey, Rosemary Edghill Publisher: Tor Teen This item is currently not available. Please choose a related item or try again later. Rating: 9 reviews Format: Kindle Book Media: Kindle Edition Edition: 1 Reading Level: Young Adult Pages: 320 Number Of Items: 1 ASIN: B003SNJL92 Publication Date: June 29, 2010


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Editorial Reviews: Product Description 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 insist she has one. Spirit isn’t sure she cares. Devastated by the loss of her family, she finds comfort with a group of friends: Burke Hallows, Lachlann Spears, Muirin Shae, and Adelaide Lake. But something strange is going on at Oakhurst. Students start disappearing under mysterious circumstances, and the school seems to be trying to cover it up. Spirit and her friends must find out what’s happening—before one of them becomes the next victim…

Customer Reviews: Showing reviews 1-5 of 9 1 2 Next » Nothing new August 23, 2010 Lee 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. Legacy another of authors' ongoing child in danger fantasy novels August 11, 2010 Rex 3 out of 3 found this review helpful 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. Surprisingly good August 9, 2010 Rocky Mountain Girl (Colorado) 1 out of 2 found this review helpful This book was a pleasant surprise. Like so many books I've read lately, it was slow getting started, but draws you in. Definitely a "young adult" book, about teens who lose family and suddenly discover they have been left in the care of a mysterious school. They learn there really is magic and they are there to discover what their magic is, train it, and become able to defend themselves. The headmaster of the school is scary and the transition from scary whack job to nice guy is stilted and not really believeable. All in all, though, the book is good, the plot is interesting and I will most certainly buy the next one. Legacies (Shadow Grail, No. 1) August 2, 2010 Janet Warden (Fayetteville, NC USA) 0 out of 7 found this review helpful Did not like this boo, in fact did not even finish reading it. Was really disappointed. BookWhisperer Review: Legacies July 20, 2010 J. Omullane (Bloomington, IN) 0 out of 2 found this review helpful 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 to this book. Legacies carries a very unique story based on the idea for Magicians and a Magic School. It is definitely not something that we have seen much of in this new rave of supernatural books. While, I can find positives to note about this book there are still several negatives that I grasped while reading. There was not a point that I felt absorbed in the story or unable to put the book down; which leads to distractions and struggles with staying focused on the story. I believe that much of this could be related to this books characters; I could not nothing truly significant about any of the characters in this story. Even concluding the story I am numb in emotion about how I personally feel about any of them, and they seem to be something that would be easy to forget after having finished the story. Although, it is not just the characters looking at the story as a whole my consistent emotion toward this book is numb. This would be way I have rated in the middle. I do not have anything totally terrible to review, but I also can not review that it was wonderful either. There already promises more to come in this series, and I can foresee myself reading the second book, but purely due to curiosity more than interest. The curiosity would be to see if the second book had gotten any better than the first book, and to see if maybe this series will begin slow and go out with a BANG. Showing reviews 1-5 of 9 1 2 Next »

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