Legend (Lu novel)

Legend

Author	Marie Lu
Language	English
Series	Legend series
Genre	Dystopian, young adult, science fiction
Publisher	G. P. Putnam's Sons, Penguin Books
Publication date	November 29, 2011
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (hardcover and paperback), audiobook, e-book
Pages	305
ISBN	978-0-399-25675-2
OCLC	703209165
LC Class	PZ7.L96768 Leg 2011
Followed by	Prodigy

Legend is a 2011 dystopian young adult novel written by American author Marie Lu. It is the first book in the Legend trilogy, followed by Prodigy and Champion.Lu has said that she was inspired by the movie Les Miserables and sought to recreate the conflict between Valjean and Javert in a teenage version.

Plot

Legend is set in dystopian Los Angeles, in a time where North America has devolved into two warring countries: The Republic and The Colonies. Mixed into this fight is a rebel group, known as the Patriots. Legend centers around Day and June, two 15 year-olds from opposite sides of the economic spectrum. June is a military prodigy (with a perfect score on her Trial, the method of determining a child's physical and mental capabilities), born into an elite family, and groomed for success in the Republic's highest circles. With no parents to rely on (they were killed in a car crash years before), she can always count on aid from Metias, her older brother.That is, until the day Metias is mysteriously murdered while guarding a hospital. The prime suspect is Day, a 15 year-old boy born into the meanest slums of the Republic and the country's most wanted criminal. Day's crime spree started early on, after his father was beaten. But this would have most likely meant nothing had he not failed his Trial. He was sent to the Republic's "work camps," which turned out to really be labs to experiment on the supposedly worthless children who had failed the Trial. The Republic took samples from Day's body and left him for dead, but he managed to escape. From then on, he led a life of extreme poverty, living on the streets with his friend Tess, a 13 year-old orphan who had been found three years prior to when the story occurs. Day hated the Republic, and used his phenomenal athletic and intellectual capabilities to harass them, attacking their military bases and hospitals, and generally causing chaos. It is during one of these attacks that Day supposedly murders Metias. June is sent to find Day, and turn him in to the Republic. After posing as a girl from the slums, Day rescues her from a fight, and he and Tess help heal the knife wound she was given during the fight. After a little while, Day and June realize that they're falling for each other. However, neither of them know who the other person is. They wind up making out in an alley, unaware of the circumstances. But then, as Day is falling asleep, June sees him reach for the pendant that he had once had around his neck. The pendant he lost at the site of Metias's death and the pendant that June has in her pocket. June makes the connection, and suddenly, all her emotions conflict. She follows Day when he wakes, watching him enter his house. Based on the marking on his door, she knows that someone (that someone turns out to be Eden, Day's little brother) has the Plague, a deadly disease that spreads through different sectors of the Republic every so often. June decides she has no choice but to report Day, and she calls back to her superiors, notifying them that she's found Day. The next morning, military medical trucks head for Day's family's house, and he heads off to save them. June goes after him, but not before telling Tess to hide. Day tries desperately to keep the military from taking his family, but June has already tipped them off. They capture Day's family, forcing Day out of hiding. He tries to resist capture, but Thomas, Metias's childhood friend, and the new captain of Metias's old military unit, shoots Day's mother in the head, killing her. Day goes into a rage, trying to kill the soldiers, but Commander Jameson, the leader of all the units, and June's commanding officer, shoots Day in the leg. Day awakes, a captive of the Republic. His brothers John and Eden have been taken captive, his mother is dead, and he was betrayed by June, the girl he thinks he might love. He is in a Republic base, however, and there is little he can do to resist. He is questioned, with a great level of violence, by June, Commander Jameson, and eventually Thomas. His leg is still sore, and he can't even stand, making the beatings worse. Eventually, his execution date (for his crimes against the Republic) is set to be four days away. However, the more he talks to June, the closer they grow, and the more she trusts him. He insists that he did not kill Metias, and she, believing it possible, takes a closer look at the pictures of her brother's corpse. She realizes that there are two knife wounds, one in the shoulder, where Day says he hit Metias with the knife, and one in Metias's chest. June looks closer at the knife, and sees rifle grease on the handle, the same grease that was on Thomas's forehead the night of Metias's death. She realizes that if Day was right about not killing Metias, he could be right about other things. For instance, he had a theory that the Plague was spread by the Republic, not by natural causes. This theory is also shared by her brother, Metias, who created a secret blog for her before he died, telling her what he suspected. The more June mulls it over, the more she comes to accept it. She eventually strikes a deal with the Patriots for their help, freeing Day on the morning of his execution. However, his brother John dies in his place

Characters

• June Iparis, a fifteen-year-old prodigy who scored a perfect 1500 on her Trial, the Republic's mandatory test system. Born into an elite Republic family, her parents were mysteriously killed in a car crash, leaving Metias, her older brother, to care for her. When Metias is murdered with Day as the prime suspect, June sets out to take revenge by finding Day, only to fall in love with him. Later, she uncovers a conspiracy behind Metias' death that leads her to betray her country. She is extremely analytical and smart, able to keenly survive on the streets, and a bit of an uptight person. She has long, dark brown hair usually tied back in a high ponytail, as well as dark brown eyes with golden flecks in them.
• Daniel "Day" Altan Wing, a fifteen-year-old rebellious criminal born in the slums of the Republic. Day is the Republic's most-wanted criminal and the prime suspect of Metias's murder. He is of mixed race heritage (from a Mongolian father and a Caucasian mother) with long, light blond hair and luminous baby blue eyes. He has a limp in his left leg and an "imperfection" (a lighter patch of blue) in one eye from when the Republic experimented on him. Day is described as being extremely agile, even more so than June. He, like June, is confident and stubborn. He also scored a perfect 1500 during his Trial, but was lied to by the Republic, being told he scored 674 (45%).
• Thomas Alexander Bryant, Metias's friend who is infatuated with June and has a special hatred of Day because June had kissed him. Like Day, he was born in the slums, but took the government extremely seriously and clawed his way through the hierarchy to become a lieutenant and later captain of the Republic's army. It is later revealed that he was the one who murdered Metias under orders from the Republic and had framed Day for it.
• Metias Iparis, June's older brother. Like her, he has brown hair and eyes with flecks of gold in it. Metias was murdered one night while guarding plague medicine. It is eventually revealed that Metias knew he would be killed by the Republic for uncovering a conspiracy. His murder was committed by none other than his best friend, Thomas. He was ordered to do so. He was twenty-seven when he died, being 12 years older than June.
• Commander Jameson, Metias' hardcore military commander who gains June an early graduation from Drake, so June can join Jameson's squad. Jameson gives June the assignment to find Metias' murderer. However, we later find out that Jameson herself commanded Thomas to murder Metias. She also commands Thomas to shoot Day's mother. Her skill, experience, and ruthlessness as a soldier are regularly mentioned. She is later tried for the murder of Metias and Day's mother and sentenced to be executed.
• Tess, Day's thirteen-year-old partner in crime and caretaker. Tess was abandoned by her parents and taken in by Day when she was only ten. She is described as having tan skin, large brown eyes, and reddish hair. She goes missing after Day is taken into custody by June, but is later discovered to have joined the Patriots.
• Kaede, A Patriot known to be involved in 'Skiz' (illegal fights). June and Kaede fight one of these around the beginning of the story). She is known to play 'dirty,' like using her knife during her fight with June. She helps Day and June escape Batalla Hall after June pays her a large sum of Republic Notes and protects Tess.
• Eden Bataar Wing, Day's ten-year-old brother who is infected with a mutated version of the plague and is used by the Republic as a biological weapon in the war against the Colonies, who they are at war with. Day describes him as acting like a 'little engineer'.
• John Wing, Day's nineteen-year-old brother, who looks very similar to him. At the opening of Legend, he is the only person from Day's old life who knew he was still alive. He is killed by the Republic's firing squad in a sacrifice to save both Day and June in a life-threatening situation.
• Chian, June and Day's Trial administrator. Metias once shadowed him.
• Elector Primo Stavropoulos, the leader and dictator of the Republic. He has rigged the elections to allow him to rule the Republic as a police state for several decades. While his portrait shows him as a fatherly figure, June discovers to her dismay that he looks stern and cold in person.
• Anden Stavropoulos, the son and heir of the current Elector Primo. Like Day, he is a mix of Asian and Caucasian blood.
• Grace Wing, Day's mother. Thomas is ordered by Commander Jameson to shoot Day's mother in the head during the raid on the Wings' home. Day and his siblings inherited their blond hair and blue eyes from her.
• Taylor Arslan Wing, Day's father. He worked as a cleaner after the war front soldiers but was killed on duty sometime when Day was about 8 years old. Before he died he gave Day a pendant, which contains a coin from the United States before it split up into the Republic and the Colonies.
• Michael and Nadia Iparis, June's parents. The Republic tells June that they died in a car accident when she was young, but it was actually the government that killed them for knowing too much about the plague and what really happens.
• Ollie, June's loyal dog who helps comfort her through the tragic period of Metias's death. June is forced to leave him behind when she escapes with Day. Ollie is described as being a white sheepdog that can only track at a close range.

Reception

Susan Carpenter, writing in the Los Angeles Times calls Legend "a taut and exciting romp for all readers with enough inventive details to keep things from becoming cliché", while The New York Times' Ridley Pearson called it "[a] fine example of commercial fiction with razor-sharp plotting, depth of character and emotional arc." As of February 2019 the book has an aggregate rating of 4.2 rated by 364,960 users on Goodreads.

Adaptations

Film adaptation

Legend's film rights have been sold to Lionsgate, with Twilight producers Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen to produce. In January 2013, MTV reported that Jonathan Levine, though initially attached as director, had dropped out of the film. Godfrey stated, "We have a fantastic script, and we had Jonathan Levine who directed Warm Bodies, but because he had just done a YA book, he’s kinda like, 'I’ve got to do something different.' So we’re in the process of putting a director on Legend. Whoever gets that is going to be excited because the world-building for that is a blast." Producers are in the process of attaching a new director to the film. That same month, it was reported that Andrew Barrer and Gabe Ferrari have completed the script.

In July 2018, it was announced that the film and television rights have been acquired by BCDF Pictures with Joseph Muszynski hired to write the script. Lu stated that she is happy with the current script as it stays true to the novel. Claude Dal Farra, Brice Dal Farra, and Brian Keady serve as producers from BCDF Pictures, while Irfaan Fredericks of Kalahari Film & Media will co-produce the project.

The film's release date has yet to be announced.

Graphic novel

A graphic novel adaptation of Legend was published on April 25, 2015 by Penguin Group (USA) LLC. An adaptation of the second novel, Prodigy, was slated to be published on April 26, 2016. A third and final adaptation of Champion was released on April 25, 2017. The adaptations are written by Leigh Dragoon and illustrated by Caravan Studio.