Riki is 17 and bored by his mum’s research into their family history for her uni studies. He’s grown up hearing about his great, great… (He can’t keep track of the greats); grandfather and who he was named after – Te Ariki Mikaera Puweto.

His mum has been playing audio cassettes recorded in the 1970’s of Te Ariki’s tales of his time in Cairo, then Gallipoli, and afterwards. He wanted his story to be told and available for his future whanau. Riki’s mum thinks the tapes are pure gold, but Riki is more worried about why his girlfriend Gemma has been avoiding him.

Distracted by a message from Gemma on his cellphone, Riki is in an accident. He doesn’t wake up in a hospital however, but 100 years in the past in a strange town of sand, soldiers and confusion. At first and believing it a dream, he tries to reconcile it with his real life – until he realises he’s not waking up.

Legacy is a brilliant blend of history (1915-1916), and the present, with the 1975 audio tape transcripts pinning them together. Essentially a story about the Maori Battalion at Gallipoli, the use of a time-travel jump by a teen of this time makes it both current and historical at the same time.

Riki is struggling to understand how this could happen and thinking he’s dreaming, he is reaching for threads of his real life to pull his new world together. Mention of console games he’s played, something said or done in the family, and his troubles with his girlfriend make him believe his subconscious has built this new reality for him. But his ‘dream’ doesn’t stop, and he is soon in the nightmare of Gallipoli. Confusion reigns as he realises who he is, and wonders what the consequences will be if he doesn’t survive.

Author – Whiti Hereaka

Age – 16+

(War, Gallipoli, Battle, Racism, Prejudice, Fear, Courage, Camaraderie, Friendship, Family, Time-Travel, Army, Death, Belonging)