Most kids would do anything to pass the Iron Trial.
Not Callum Hunt. He wants to fail.
All his life, Call has been warned by his father to stay away from magic. If he succeeds at the Iron Trial and is admitted into the Magisterium, he is sure it can only mean bad things for him.
So he tries his best to do his worst - and fails at failing.
Now the Magisterium awaits him. It's a place that's both sensational and sinister, with dark ties to his past and a twisty path to his future.
The Iron Trial is just the beginning, for the biggest test is still to come . . .
From the remarkable imaginations of bestselling authors Holly Black and Cassandra Clare comes a heart-stopping, mind-blowing, pulse-pounding plunge into the magical unknown.
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
37 of 39 people found the following review helpful.
Fun middle grade fantasy, can't help but compare this to the Harry Potter series...
By Karissa Eckert
I got an eGalley of this book to review from NetGalley. This is the first book in the five book Magisterium series. The second book will be titled The Copper Gauntlet and is scheduled to release some time in 2015. I actually liked this book quite a bit, it is an action packed middle grade fantasy full of wonderful magic. It does however have many many parallels to the Harry Potter series.Callum has always known his parents were mages. Callum’s dad however, hates and fears magic and is desperate to have Callum not be involved with any magic what-so-ever. When Callum hits twelve he is required to be tested for his magic ability and see if he is ready to enter the Magisterium. Callum and his dad hatch a scheme to ensure that Callum will fail all the magical testing and be free of the magical world forever. However despite his best efforts, Callum ends up admitted to the Magisterium and learning magic. He also finds out that learning magic is a lot more interesting and not nearly as deadly as his dad would have him believe.I actually liked this book a lot. I loved the elemental magic and enjoyed the characters. I love the little elemental lizards and the Chaos ridden dog that Callum and his friends befriend. There is a lot in this book about being different and making friends. There are also a lot of fantastical scenes and creatures throughout which I absolutely loved. The way these scenes and creatures are described is wonderful and the scenes are easy to pictures and really come alive.Callum is terrified of magic and originally a bit of an outcast. However, he is forced to work with two other students that are training with him and eventually they all end up working as a team. There is a lot of character growth here for all of the characters; I really enjoyed them all. There is a good mix of boy and girl characters too.However, you can't help but draw a million parallels between this book and The Harry Potter series. I mean it's really, really similar in multiple aspects. You have the boy is should have died when he was a baby but didn’t (Callum). You have his two quirky friends (a girl and a boy) that end up being his sidekicks of sorts. You have the wise old mage who trains them (exactly like Dumbledore). Oh, and then there is the Magisterium (it’s like an underground Hogwart’s). Oh, and what about the Great Enemy who totally reminds me of Voldemort? The only thing really different is that the characters work with Elemental Magic.The above being said, when I could quiet down my brain as is made constant comparisons to Harry Potter, I did enjoy it a lot. I think my son, who is just starting to read middle grade level books, will really really love it. Is this book as good as Harry Potter??...uh no not really. However it still is well written, fast-paced, entertaining and engaging. I really enjoyed reading it a lot and look forward to future books in the series.Overall an excellent middle grade fantasy. Recommended to those who enjoy middle grade fantasy and can look past all the Harry Potter parallels. I enjoyed the magic, the fast-pace, and the characters. Honestly I haven't enjoyed a Holly Black book this much since the Spiderwick Chronicles.
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful.
Fantastic Start to an Interesting Series!
By Dalena
The Iron Trial is the start to a five part series that centers on twelve year old, social outcast Callum Hunt. Growing up Call is constantly told by his father the dangers of magic, and how it was responsible for his mother's death. Thus, embedding in Call's head that he must never use magic.The Magisterium is a school for magic where the students learn how to control the different types of elemental magic. When the time comes for Call to be tested to enter the Magisterium, he is determined to fail all the tests, so that he never has to deal with magic. However, he fails miserably at failing, and winds up being accepted as an apprentice. As Call is suddenly thrust into the world of magic he will make friends, foes, and face many challenges along the way.I did not really have high expectations for this book at first, but as the story progressed I found myself completely engrossed. The writing style flowed smoothly and kept my attention. There were also some major plot twists that had my jaw dropping and my mind blown. I also thought that the characters were so likable. Callum's sarcastic comments had me smiling throughout the book, and the side characters had some interesting personalities as well.A lot of people have been comparing this to Harry Potter. I would have to disagree for the most part. The magic system is completely different, the plot line is completely different, and the characters are completely different! The things that reminded me of Harry Potter were that it was about a magic school and the character Tamara. Tamara reminded me of Hermione at first, but as I read on I realized that they were quite different from each other. I feel as if anything magic or magic school related will always be compared with Harry Potter even if their differences outweigh their similarities. In this case I think people are really nit-picking, and I honestly do think that they have more differences than similarities.Overall I give this a solid 4.5 stars. It was fast-paced and interesting enough that I just didn't want to set it down! The characters were absolutely endearing, and the plot twists had me absolutely mind-boggled! I highly recommend this for anyone who wants a fast, fun read that will leave you wanting more.~Dalena~http://dalenathebooknerd.blogspot.com/
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful.
Great Start To A New Middle Grade Fantasy Series
By Chelsea Maya
This was one of the many ARCs I picked up while I was at BEA this summer. I was extremely excited to snag The Iron Trial as I’m a fan of both Holly Black and Cassandra Clare. I couldn’t wait to see what the result of their two creative minds coming together would look like.What I LikedThe characters are very well developed. You get a good feel for all of them–including a good number of the more minor characters. The amount of time crafting and building up the backstory of the main characters was great in the sense that going forward in the series you really know where they’re coming from. The main character, Callum, was particularly fun to learn about since he actually doesn’t know much about himself or the world he’s fallen into due to his father keeping him in the dark. As details of the magic world is revealed to Callum, the reader gets the chance to react as respond as he does.The magic system. Anything that has to deal with the elements is a win for me. The mantra, of sorts, is, “Fire wants to burn. Water wants to flow. Air wants to rise. Earth wants to bind. Chaos wants to devour.” I really liked this as it gives power to the elements that the mages are ultimately manipulating.The twists. While I predicted some of them, I can honestly say I was surprised by a few near the end. I’m very interested in seeing how it turns out. The way some things are revealed left me questioning the motives of certain characters, or why they never acted on things when they most definitely should have.What I Didn't LikeThe pacing. This is definitely what I call a “set up” novel. The world is defined and the characters get a lot of backstory. While I loved learning about the characters, I really wish there had been more action. Every so often dangerous things were hinted at, but nothing “exciting” (action-wise) really happens until the last 50 pages. Granted, there are some nice twists in there at the end, which is great for the future of the series.Inconsistencies. Sort of. This was a world building thing that I may have missed while reading. For most of the book I was under the impression that when the kids leave for the Magisterium they’re there for their schooling year-round. There was an emotion in the selection process that felt final to me, and the way the characters spoke, it sounded like they’d be separated from their families the entirety of their magic education. That is not the case. They go home for the summers. The way the world is built it feels weird that going home for the summer would be the case (or even allowed).More magic action, please. There was promise of some really cool stuff–challenges where the students had to either work together (or compete) in different tests to show what they have learned so far. There was only one of these scenes. While I understand it would have probably been repetitive to visit a lot of these, I think another one would have been nice… and perhaps less time spent with organizing sand granules by color (there are lots of pages dedicated to this, which serves a purpose… to a point).In The End...…I really liked The Iron Trial. I think for the first book, it did a really great job setting up for the rest of the series, and I’ll definitely pick up book two. If Goodreads is correct, there are at least four more books, which makes sense since that matches the number of years that the kids go through at the Magisterium.If kids (probably 8+) are looking for something with magic and adventure, I would definitely steer them in this direction. The Iron Trial is a very promising start to the Magisterium series.
