The Iron Trial (Magisterium Series #1)

by Holly Black, Cassandra Clare

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780545522250
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	09/09/2014
Series:	Italienische Reise 1 , #1
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	122,101
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.20(d)
Lexile:	830L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Holly Black is the #1 NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of The Spiderwick Chronicles (with Tony DiTerlizzi) and the acclaimed novel DOLL BONES. Her other books include The Good Neighbors graphic novels, and the novels TITHE, VALIANT, and IRONSIDE. She currently lives in the realm of Western Massachusetts.

Cassandra Clare is the author of CITY OF BONES, the first book in The Mortal Instruments trilogy and a NEW YORK TIMES bestseller. Her latest series, The Infernal Devices, has spawned three #1 bestsellers. Born overseas, Cassandra spent her early years traveling around the world with her family and several trunks of books.

Editorial Reviews

★ 07/21/2014
Set in a magic-inflected version of the present-day U.S., this first title in the Magisterium series combines the talents of Black (Doll Bones) and Clare (the Mortal Instruments series) in a thrilling coming-of-age story that embraces fantasy tropes while keeping readers guessing. Twelve-year-old Callum Hunt has been raised to distrust magic. Mages killed his mother, and his father has warned him that the Magisterium, a school where young mages are trained, is a deathtrap. Callum’s attempts to fail the entrance exam go awry, and he is chosen to apprentice under Master Rufus, along with fellow students Aaron and Tamara. As Callum, Tamara, Aaron, and their classmates embark on their first of five years of schooling, Callum realizes how little he knows of his own heritage. The strange, subterranean Magisterium is vividly rendered, and a string of ominous revelations will leave readers eager for future installments. Fans of both authors will enjoy getting to know this well-rounded cast in the first steps of their adventure. Ages 8–12. Agent: (for Black) Barry Goldblatt, Barry Goldblatt Literary; (for Clare) Russell Galen, Scovil Galen Ghosh Literary Agency. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

If you have been looking for a “read alike” recommendation for young Harry Potter fans. The similarities are so blatant and numerous, that there is simply no way to deny it. Young Call Hunt is a reluctant recruit to the Magisterium, the school where young mages are trained in the magical arts. Call’s father has encouraged him to throw the entrance exams and, failing to do this, to flunk out of the academy before his first year. This will ensure that Call’s magic is bound and that he will have no memory of it. Call, lamed in the Cold Wars in which his mother was killed, finds that the Magisterium is a surprisingly comfortable match for him and, for the first time, he has friends especially his roommates, orphaned Aaron and fellow mage legacy Tamara. He also has an enemy, Jasper, who was positioned to get Call’s place with the most senior Mage Master, Rufus. While this could be dismissed as just another wizard book, the storytelling is a cut above.Tamara is the requisite strong, intelligent, and self-confident girl who, I hope, will have more of her own story line as the books progress. The American setting is not exactly as fantastical as Hogwarts, but a meal of lichen that tastes like pizza will undoubtedly intrigue readers. There are also a host of reveals that differentiate the book and set up some interesting plotlines. Aaron, not Call, is the “Chosen One,” while Call may, or may not, be harboring the soul of the Enemy of Magic. Animal familiars are a talking Komodo Dragon and a fire-eyed wolf cub. Overall, this new series deserves a chance to rise on its own magical merits. Book one of the “Iron Trail” series. Reviewer: Lois Rubin Gross; Ages 10 to 16.

Children's Literature - Lois Rubin Gross

2014-07-16
Book 1 in the five-book fantasy series introduces the Magisterium, a training school for young mages that is located in underground caverns in Virginia. Admittance is by invitational tryouts. Twelve-year-old Callum Hunt has mage potential, but his father, Alastair—a mage and a graduate of the Magisterium—tells his son to deliberately fail. He has brought Callum up to believe that the Magisterium is evil and he must never attend. But Callum, small, skinny and partially lame from a serious leg injury incurred when he was an infant, is picked anyway, and this kickoff entry details Callum's first year of training under Master Rufus. Harry Potter similarities pop up repeatedly, from the magic-training-school premise to Callum's fellow apprentices and soon-to-be best friends, Tamara and Aaron, and these similarities are distracting at first. But then the twist occurs, and it is a doozy. By the book's end, readers will be chomping at the bit to get into the sequel. Collaborators Black and Clare describe an intoxicating underground setting and give their mostly male characters refreshingly nuanced friendships. The third-person narration, filtered through Callum's delightfully insecure-and-overcompensating-with-snarky-bravado perspective, carries a tone that will likely have readers chortling in recognition. A promising beginning to a complex exploration of good and evil, as well as friendship's loyalty. (Fantasy. 9-13)

Kirkus Reviews