7 ways Spirit Legacy inspired Cursed Mage
Spirit Legacy remains the gold standard when it comes to paranormal and ghost fantasy, and it heavily inspired Cursed Mage in quite a few ways.
In many ways, Cursed Mage borrows about as much from Spirit Legacy as English does from Latin. And no, seriously, just research how many English words have their roots in Latin, and prepare for those shockwaves to course through your soul’s shell.
Then, go to Duolingo, learn Latin, and claim that you’re fluent. You probably will be once you realize just how far ahead of the curve you already are. Anyway, as I write this, I got Spirit Legacy entrenched on my end table, so I thought I’d end (or begin) the week with seven tidbits that I borrowed from the work and put into my own.
You won’t get much in the way of a libertarian read here, so I thought I’d forewarn you ahead of time. But don’t worry, don’t worry. Some awesome, upcoming content on Spirit Prophecy and Spirit Ascendency will entertain any liberty lover, as opposed to the glorified prequel that is Spirit Legacy.
And no, that’s not a knock on the book, even if I gave it a few in my previous post. Anyway, let’s get after it.
1 – Campus haunts
Oh yes, St. Matt’s and Fenn U see plenty of paranormal activity, and sensitives like Jess Ballard and Kaija Jokiharju will naturally attract them. Well, kind of. In Jess’ case, they literally want to break through and enter their ‘final home’ through her. At least Kaija only had to deal, for the most part, with one spirit.
2 – Magical castles
While Spirit Legacy scratches the surface with Fairhaven Hall, Kaija gets a full blast of Linna Yliopisto, or Castle University, in Acts II and III of Cursed Mage. There’s just something about fantasy fiction and magical castles. But don’t worry, dear reader, because neither one of them is Hogwarts, unfortunately.
3 – Those rich aunts and uncles
Such an overused but effective trope here. Jess’ Aunt Karen and Kaija’s Uncle Vaino are freaking loaded. The sad part is that Jess and Kaija both grew up living rough lives, and all this time they had some well-off relatives. Hey, it pays to have connections, right?
4 – Irrelevant non-blood relatives
As for Uncle Noah (Jess) and Aunt Olivia (Kaija)? Goodness, neither could be more irrelevant. But if I could take my pick, I’d roll with Noah. At least he likes baseball, a sport I follow when I feel like it, especially if the Diamondbacks are winning.
5 – All gothed up
Jess and Kaija both rock that emo/goth look. And to be honest, it looks good on them both. Or, at least Jess’ roommate, Tia Vezga, thinks Jess looks great in it. As for Kaija, I pictured the look before I even wrote the first draft, given her light skin tone but dark hair; it’d just look elegant on her.
6 – Feeling elemental?
Both books contain elemental magic, albeit in different ways. You just see the elemental magic played out toward the end of Spirit Legacy, and it’s used in a ritual. As for Cursed Mage, it appears in some high-stakes battles the main characters find themselves in.
7 – Family secrets
Yup, another good old trope. Not only are those aunts and uncles loaded with money; they’re chockful of secrets. Secrets they’re not willing to tell their curious nieces. But hey, at least Jess is a Durupinen and Kaija’s a Mage. Could you imagine having rich, magical relatives and possessing not a drop of their blood in your veins? It’d be a boring life.
And that’s a wrap
On Thursday, January 23rd, I finished my first draft of Astray Mage, and it’s where the libertarian concepts take off in my own series. As for Spirit Legacy’s sequel, Spirit Prophecy, it’s got the same thing coming.
I think I’ve mentioned this before, but the Durupinen are prone to acting in ways so negative that I haven’t unveiled exactly what they’ve done, or what Jess finds out they’ve done, in Spirit Prophecy.
To many, it’s horrifying, but to a libertarian, we’d find it very, very unsurprising. Anyway, if Spirit Legacy is something that sounds interesting to you, check it out. And, if you’re into something more rough-around-the edges, give Cursed Mage a look.
(This article first appeared on The Libertarian Book Reviewer)
