Legacies (Shadow Grail Series #1) »

MERCEDES LACKEY is the author of the Valdemar novels. She has collaborated with Andre Norton on the Elvenbane series and with James Mallory on The Obsidian Trilogy (The Outstretched Shadow and To Light a Candle). She lives with her husband in Oklahoma.

ROSEMARY EDGHILL is a prolific writer in several genres, under her own name and various pseudonyms. She lives in upstate New York with several cats and Cavalier King Charles Spaniels.

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…

Publishers Weekly

In the first book in the Shadow Grail series, an orphan, suddenly beset by mysterious circumstances, is sent to a posh boarding school accessible only by train, and discovers that she is a magician. Sound familiar? Lackey and Edghill know it, and pepper their tale with self-conscious references to Harry Potter. Spirit White is sent to Oakhurst Academy in Montana, where she learns she is a "Legacy"--the child of an alumnus, gifted with magical powers. Spirit's gift is not immediately apparent, but her friends, who have similarly portentous monikers such as Lachlan Spears and Burke Hallows, perform amazing stunts from the get-go. Their Dumbledore is a rather nasty character named Doctor Ambrosius, who assures them that they must prepare for war with nameless forces, but offers nothing so useful as an explanation or even an invisibility cloak. The inclusion of contemporary references--the school's Wi-Fi setup, Spirit lamenting the loss of her parents at Thanksgiving (even though they served tofurky)--seem intended to put a novel spin on trod territory, but there is little that is freshly imagined. Ages 13 up. (July)