Book 8: Legacy

This article is about the eighth book, Legacy. You may be looking for Keefe's Legacy or The Vacker Legacy.

Book 8: Legacy
Sophie inflicting while holding Keefe and Fitz‘s hands
Author	Shannon Messenger
Illustrator	Jason Chan
Publication Date	November 5, 2019
Publisher	Simon and Schuster
Previous Book	Book 7: Flashback
Next Book	Book 8.5: Unlocked

Keeper of the Lost Cities: Legacy is the eighth book in the Keeper of the Lost Cities series. It was announced by Shannon Messenger on May 22nd, 2018. The previous book is Flashback.

There is also a Barnes and Noble exclusive edition of Legacy, featuring illustrated end pages and a bonus chapter in Tam's perspective, which will answer one of the longest-standing questions from the series. It can be purchased from any book store.

On the cover are Sophie, Fitz and Keefe in London, in front of the Big Ben. It can be assumed that Sophie is using her inflicting ability.

Synopsis

'Illusions shatter—and Sophie and her friends face impossible choices—in this astonishing eighth book in the New York Times and the USA TODAY bestselling Keeper of the Lost Cities series.

Sophie Foster wants answers. But after a lifetime of lies, sometimes the truth is the most dangerous discovery. Even the smallest secret comes with terrifying new responsibilities  

And Sophie’s not the only one with blank spots in her past, or mysteries surrounding her family. She and her friends are part of something much bigger than they imagined—and their roles have already been chosen for them.

Every clue drags them deeper into the conspiracy. Every memory forces them to question everything—especially one another. And the harder they fight, the more the lines blur between friend and enemy.

A short story from the perspective of Tam Song is included in the first edition of this book.

Rejected Titles

This is a list of some of the top rejected titles and why they were rejected. They were released on Shannon Messenger's Instagram on January 28-30.

• Jan. 28: Inception

Reason: There is a very famous movie of the same name, so Shannon Messenger and her editor thought that would be too confusing to have it called the same name. This rejected title suggests that we may be given information about Sophie's genetics.

• Jan. 29: Deadlock

Reason: She was worried readers would see the word "dead" and automatically assume someone dies in the book. Shannon Messenger won’t say whether or not someone dies, but she didn’t want anyone to assume that they did.

• Jan. 30: Rematch

Reason: Shannon Messenger didn't think it felt right, and thought it wasn't exciting enough to do justice to the plot. Additionally, she noted that her readers would have a strong reaction to having the word "match" in it, even if she did like the clever play on words it created.

The endpapers of the special edition of Legacy

Quotes/Teasers

• "The world isn't safe for sparkly flying horses."
• "See why I didn't want to bring this up?" Keefe asked. "It's like, just when you think it can't possibly get any worse - it does!"
• Dex scratched his chin. "Nah. Annoying you is way more fun."
• Ro giggled. "The adorable obliviousness strikes again!"
• "The Black Swan didn't make a gadget. They made a person. So they're going to have to deal with the fact that you have a mind of your own." 
• "You're failing me with your human knowledge, Foster." 
• "Sooooooooo, what you're saying is, you think I'm the king of bad decisions," Keefe said. 
• Sophie leaned a little closer, telling herself to be brave as she reached up and smoothed the crinkle between Fitz's eyebrows with the tip of her finger. “Pretty sure I’ll always need you,” Sophie transmitted. 
• "Fine," Stina said, tilting up her chin. "But if I turn out to be right, expect a lot of 'I told you so's." 
• "But I am the moonlark. I was literally designed to be part of everything that's happening." 
• "Uh, it's not like we've never done the News of Doom thing before." 
• Her eyes narrowed at Sophie. "I'd be happy to spell it all out for you if you want. We could make a pros and cons list together!" 
• "If something happens to you or your friends, you're going to have to live with it!" 
• “Having a family crest meant a lot to a girl who'd been adopted.” ― Shannon Messenger, Legacy 

Plot

• Mr. Forkle brings Sophie to his secret office, Watchward Heath, where he reveals his theory that the Neverseen will be attacking the dwarves next. Sophie agrees to work with him on it and asks about her biological parents. Mr. Forkle refuses to give her any information, so Sophie decides to find out for herself.
• Sophie communicates telepathically with Tam, who reveals that Lady Gisela has ordered him to kill Keefe. Soon after this, Sophie and Sandor go to the Shores of Solace, where Sophie tells Keefe about what Tam told her- however, he seems to let the threat roll off his shoulders. Keefe reveals that he has been taking fathomlethes and searching for his memories, sorting them into four journals. He has drawn an image of the man he delivered Gisela's letter to in London. Keefe also agrees to help Sophie search for her biological parents.
• The Council appoints Sophie, Dex, Biana, Stina, and Wylie as Regents in the Nobility. The five of them form Team Prodigious, and, after several squabbles, later renamed Team Valiant. They all go to the Point of Purity, where the forces of starlight, moonlight, and sunlight are all equal, and recite their oaths. Then they leap back to the Lost Cities and receive their circlets, cloaks, and cloak clasps. They also receive assigned points of contact in the Council: Biana has Councillors Darek and Liora, Dex has Noland and Clarette, Wylie has Ramira and Velia, Stina has Alina and Zarina, and Sophie has Oralie and Bronte.
• Once at home, Sophie finds Keefe in her room. They discuss her new Regency and Keefe appears dejected he was not selected for Team Valiant. Ro reveals she changed Iggy's fur colour to ice blue. Keefe then explains that one of his theories as for who her biological father could be is Councillor Bronte. Sophie gets upset and Keefe calms her down, but eventually, Fitz shows up, overhearing part of their discussion and learning she is unmatchable. Fitz gets angry that Sophie didn't tell him and Keefe attempts to smooth it over. Sophie and Fitz almost kiss, but Ro interrupts. Ro asks Fitz if it would matter to him if Sophie decided to stop looking for her biological parents. Fitz asks why she would do that, and Ro seems disappointed with his answer.
• Mr. Forkle takes Sophie to her human family's home, where he restored Amy and Sophie's memories of the day where Sophie was exposed to limbium. Sophie accidentally used her inflicting on Amy. When Mr. Forkle tried to calm her down, she enhanced him, causing him to inflict on her due to him being the test subject to see if inflicting could be implemented in an elf's genes. This then leads to Livvy using limbium to reset her abilities, and wiping Amy and Sophie's minds of the experience. Mr. Forkle then offers to reset Sophie's abilties to fix her inflicting (and possibly strengthen her enhancing), but Sophie refuses and leaps away.
• Sophie gives Keefe her British human cookies, and talks to him about her decision with Mr. Forkle, of which Keefe agrees with her choice. They are interrupted by Fitz, who reveals that he's going to be searching Lord Cassius' memories. At the same time, Sophie attempts to juggle all of the things she needs to keep track of, such as Team Valiant and Tam. Meanwhile, Luna and Wynn insist on befriending the gorgodon.
• Maruca reveals she is a Psionipath, but Sophie is reluctant to accept her into the Black Swan because of Wylie's request to keep his cousin safe. Marella and Linh try to persuade her—they also reveal that Linh has been working with Fintan and Marella as a counter-balance. Marella has also sworn fealty to the Black Swan. Linh calls out to Tam, with Sophie's help, and he responds. However, he barely gets any time to talk to her, as it can be inferred that Gethen noticed their conversation. He sends one message, though—that Linh is in danger.
• Team Valiant, Grady, and Councillor Bronte head to Loamnore, the dwarven capital city, where they meet with King Enki, the king of the dwarves. Along the way, they have to pass through the King's Path, which is designed to send the people walking through into hallucinations and nightmares. They make it through, but Nubiti notes that the Path affected Sophie more than others. They search the throne room for magsidian, and Wylie attempts to find magsidian in the wall with his light. However, when the light connects with the magsidian, it causes a reaction. The light turns into blazing flams before abrubtly vanishing, angering the King and confusing Team Valiant. He doesn't let the group search in Loamnore anymore, although he agrees to let Nubiti do some searching on her own.
• Sophie decides to reset her abilities, and she chooses a pill of limbium that affects both her heart and head. Her abilities are reset, fixing her inflicting and also making her enhancing much stronger. She has a period of recovery afterwards, and Keefe visits her in her room shortly after she wakes up.
• The truth is revealed behind the man Lady Gisela was interested in, whose name was Ethan Benedict Wright; Lady Gisela killed him and his daughter for unknown reasons. Keefe, Sophie and Fitz sneak to London, where they are ambushed by Lady Gisela and Tam. Sophie uses her inflicting to incapacitate Lady Gisela, but Tam is forced to escape with Lady Gisela due to the ethertine bonds controlling him.
• After talking to Keefe and giving him the E.L. Fudges he wanted, Sophie searches Lord Cassius' memories, trying to find some of the memories Lady Gisela had washed. She discovers memories of the couple downing vials of liquid, and Sophie thinks that the vials must be elements- specifically, shadowflux and quintessence. Keefe, Sophie, and their bodyguards head to search Candleshade, where they find Alvar. Though he is half-dead due to the solution in the troll hive, he barters for his freedom with his knowledge about Keefe's legacy: the vials were a fertility treatment prior to Keefe's birth, and it involved the elements. The goal was to give Keefe a unique ability, and Alvar warns that Lady Gisela might attempt to trigger the ability in Keefe before leaping away.
• Oralie and Sophie do a countdown exercise using emotions. This boosts Sophie's control each of her abilities, especially her enhancing, which she discovers she now can turn on and off on her own. This leads to a discussion about Sophie's biological parents; Sophie realizes Oralie is her biological mother. Neither of them handle the situation well and Sophie leaves, furious. Afterwards, she is confronted by Fitz, who is angry about Keefe and Sophie letting Alvar go. She confesses that she can't share who her biological parents are (as one is a Councillor), but Fitz disagrees with her, causing an argument. Eventually, the two come to the close of the argument, neither apologizing, and break up.
• Lady Gisela requests Sophie, Keefe, and their friends to meet her in Loamnore at the marketplace. Sophie changes the plan to the King's Hall, with a separate group going to the marketplace, and doesn't bring Keefe. The Neverseen show up. Keefe, Linh and Marella arrive, due to Lady Gisela sending Keefe a note threatening the safety of everyone else. Dwarves attack and it is revealed that King Enki had been in league with the Neverseen. Lady Gisela places Keefe on King Enki's magsidian throne, and puts a crown of ethertine on his head. Tam is forced to strike the magsidian throne Keefe is on with shadowflux, triggering a magsidian reaction, and Glimmer, the Neverseen's Flasher, triggers a reaction with ethertine. This triggers a transformation which leaves Keefe in a coma-like state. Glimmer defects from the Neverseen, and while she, Tam, and the marketplace group help those who were knocked unconscious, Sophie rushes to get Keefe to the Healing Center. Sophie discovers that she can teleport just by building momentum and running really fast; she doesn't need to be free-falling. When Sophie asked Elwin if Keefe was okay, he said nothing was wrong, but notes that he say that Keefe's cells are in flux, something that Elwin had seen in people who were manifesting a new ability. Nubiti becomes the new queen of Loamnore, and promises that Loamnore will again be a peaceful land for all the species. Keefe stays asleep for three days, and on the third day, Fitz and Sophie make up, but decide to remain just friends, at least for now.
• Oralie offers to help Sophie open her cache, as she believes the Forgotten Secret is about stellarlune and has the potential to save Keefe. Although Sophie is still angry at Oralie, she relents a little and agrees that they can work together on opening it. The novel ends on a cliffhanger.

Extra

On October 13th, 2020, the paperback edition of Legacy will be released, which includes the Tam short story as well as an excerpt of Book 8.5: Unlocked.