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The Iron Trial (Magisterium #1) Kindle Edition

by Holly Black (Author), Cassandra Clare (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 5,141 ratings
Teachers' pick
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From NEW YORK TIMES bestselling authors Holly Black and Cassandra Clare comes a riveting new series that defies what you think you know about the world of magic.

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.
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  1. Reading age
    9 - 12 years, from customers
  2. Book 1 of 5
    Magisterium
  3. Print length
    309 pages
  4. Language
    English
  5. Grade level
    3 - 7
  6. Lexile measure
    830L
  7. Publisher
    Scholastic Press
  8. Publication date
    September 9, 2014
  9. Page Flip
    Enabled
  10. Word Wise
    Enabled
  11. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  12. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  13. ISBN-13
    978-0545522250
  14. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Gr 5–8—All his life Callum Hunt has been warned by his father that practicing magic is a guaranteed death sentence, the only certain way to make sure he doesn't reach his 18th birthday. When Call is summoned to attend the entrance exams for The Magisterium, a more-sinister version of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry, he promises his father he will deliberately fail the test to avoid the dangerous lure of magic school. Unfortunately, magic is in Call's blood, and though his permanent limp and sarcastic attitude do not appear to serve him well during testing, he is selected with two other "Iron Years" to be a pupil of the greatest mage of all, Master Rufus. Black and Clare have created a unique world in The Magisterium, adroitly sidestepping reader fatigue with the many post-Harry Potter "magical academy" fiction series. The underground school's labyrinthine tunnels, mysterious caverns, and strange rivers are an alternately wondrous and creepy setting for this hero's quest. The diverse main trio's multidimensional portrayals leave aside easy characterizations in favor of complex motivations which add depth to each character. Best of all, a late-stage reveal of the novel's true hero and villain neatly turn fantasy tropes on their heads.—Elisabeth Gattullo Marrocolla, Darien Library, CT

Review

Praise for Magisterium Book One: The Iron Trial:* “A thrilling coming-of-age story that embraces fantasy tropes while keeping readers guessing.” – Publishers Weekly, starred review“A promising beginning to a complex exploration of good and evil, as well as friendship's loyalty.” – Kirkus Reviews“The Iron Trial is a fun, heroic narrative. . . . A delicious must-read.” – The Globe & Mail“This is an incredible book. . . . Once you've started reading, it's hard to put the book down.” – The Guardian

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00I5T2KJ2
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Scholastic Press; Illustrated edition (September 9, 2014)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 9, 2014
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 21565 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 309 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 5,141 ratings

About the authors

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  1. Holly Black

    Holly Black

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    Holly Black is the #1 New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of speculative and fantasy novels, short stories, and comics. She has been a finalist for an Eisner and a Lodestar Award, and the recipient of the Mythopoeic Award, a Nebula, and a Newbery Honor. She has sold over 26 million books worldwide, her work has been translated into over 30 languages and adapted for film. She currently lives in New England with her husband and son in a house with a secret library.

    See more on the author's page
  2. Cassandra Clare

    Cassandra Clare

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    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    Cassandra Clare is the author of the #1 New York Times, USA TODAY, Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly bestselling Mortal Instruments series and the Infernal Devices trilogy, and coauthor of the Bane Chronicles with Sarah Rees Brennan and Maureen Johnson. She also wrote The Shadowhunter’s Codex with her husband, Joshua Lewis. Her books have more than 36 million copies in print worldwide and have been translated into more than thirty-five languages. Cassandra lives in western Massachusetts. Visit her at CassandraClare.com. Learn more about the world of the Shadowhunters at Shadowhunters.com.

    See more on the author's page
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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
5,141 global ratings
Pleasantly Surprised
5 Stars
Pleasantly Surprised
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I am a HUGE Harry Potter fan, but was looking for something to read. So, I bought this book....and was blown away!!! Although it does have some similarities to HP, that was unavoidable with any book related to magic. However, with its surprising plot twists and relatable characters, this book is just as interesting as the HP series. So, if you are reluctant to read this book, do so!!! You will not regret it😁
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Top reviews from the United States

roberta yates
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent young people's fiction
Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2024
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It's very hard to write for younger people. Cassandra Clare and Holly Black are authors I really admire
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4.0 out of 5 stars A poor man's Harry Potter
Reviewed in the United States on September 13, 2014
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I recently said that I felt The Iron Trial by Cassandra Clare and Holly Black is a poor man’s Harry Potter. I stand by that opinion. It is almost impossible to read The Iron Trial without comparing it to Rowling’s masterpiece.

Let us review; a young infant born towards the end of a magical war is the sole survivor of a massacre which leaves him motherless and with a physical mark of the attack. There may or may not be some shenanigans involving souls. This massacre is the prelude to a decade of truce. Eleven or twelve years later, the young boy starts to attend magic school where he becomes best friends with a boy and girl, and makes an enemy of another rich and arrogant student. He is taught by a kindly if eccentric Master and they have lots of adventures. The one with the power to defeat the enemy has been revealed to the wizarding world. There is a confrontation at the end, and it seems the enemy may not be as dormant as he seemed. Heck, the story even closes with the protagonist in the infirmary having a heart to heart with said eccentric professor and being showered with goodies by his grateful classmates.

Does that sound familiar? It could apply to both Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and The Iron Trial. The parallels are too obvious not be deliberate. What is interesting though are the differences. First of all, the protagonist in the Iron Trial, Callum Hunt, is aware of magic before his entry into the school and, unlike Harry, has to be dragged there kicking and screaming. This means that we lose the sense of wonder and excitement that Harry feels on his discovery of the wizarding world which is a significant part of the charm of Philosopher’s Stone.

Secondly, the two protagonists are very, very different. Harry Potter is decency and courage personified (a true Gryffindor). One of his first acts on entering school is to defend a fellow student from bullying. He is direct and open hearted. He typifies the theme of the series which is about doing what is right as opposed to doing what is easy. Callum, on the other hand, is a little more complex. He is less open and trusting and far less inclined to act. He seems to consider the consequences before acting and frequently has to be prodded into doing so. On the other hand, he is less impetuous than Harry and is more likely to look at the bigger picture. He is also much more capable of focusing on the task at hand without being distracted.

These changes obviously impact on the way the protagonists relate to their friends and mentors. Callum is less of a leader in his trio than Harry is in his. There is a significant power shift in his relationship with Master Rufus compared to Harry’s with Dumbledore. Dumbledore is the archetype of the wise old mentor and Harry is often left frustrated that he has not been given the answers he was seeking. In comparison, Callum is the one in possession of information which he must choose to share with his mentor, or not as the case may be.

What I liked

Complex protagonist. I found Callum as a protagonist interesting. I appreciated that, unlike Harry, he doesn’t just see things as black or white, there are shades of grey involved. The same is true of other characters, too. I enjoyed the way this impacted their relationships. It was interesting to see what Ron Weasley might have become in different circumstances though the Aaron character.

Pacing. I thought Clare and Black kept the story moving along briskly and kept me reading.

Chapter art. Each chapter is headed by an image encapsulating what is going on in the chapter. These were gorgeous.

What I didn’t like

Harry Potter comparison. This book is no Harry Potter. It’s missing Rowling’s warmth, humour and imagination.

Despite suffering in comparison to Harry Potter, I did actually enjoy this book. I was interested in Callum’s story and will probably continue to follow it in future books.

I gave The Iron Trial four stars out of five.
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Penderwall
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent new fantasy series that stands on its own.
Reviewed in the United States on October 15, 2014
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This was one of my favorite books this year. Yes, it has parallels to the Harry Potter series, but calling it a "poor man's Harry Potter" is nonsense. I mean really, that phrase doesn't even describe or explain anything. Nonsense, I say. This book, the characters, and the plot stand on their own. Besides, Rowling isn't writing any more Harry Potter right now, so why shouldn't there be something else to fill the void? Really, if Avatar: The Last Airbender and Harry Potter had a kid together, this is what that book would look like.

As a plot summary: A father searches for his infant son and wife and discovers them in a cave, his wife dead. The infant lives, but the mother's final words were to "kill the child." Fast forward, the boy, Callum, is picked on all through school and suffers a physical disability. His father, a great mage, refuses to allow him to know the magical world until the Iron Trials, where every potential young mage must go through testing to determine if they should be allowed to learn at the Magistarium. Call is picked against all odds, and we then watch as he is taken underground to the school, eats lichen and moss that changes taste, makes two new best friends, adopts a forbidden wolf pup, learns to manipulate the basic elements, and eventually learns something incredibly startling about himself that could change the course of history. It's a story of bravery, friendship, and the balance of one's inner self.

I got this book from Amazon and from the minute I picked it up, I couldn't put it down. I even read through a night class I had. I actually couldn't find it in my local library system, and finally just broke down and bought it, and I was not disappointed. The way the book starts is compelling and pulls you right in, and there are plots and twists and turns the entire way. The ending was unexpected and brilliant, and this book is full of humor that I think the HP stories lacked.

I really enjoyed this book. I also really hope the authors don't go from an excellent, funny, engaging fantasy that is age appropriate to something adult, dark, and terrifying which is exactly how the HP stories progressed. Not to say the Magisterium books are childish- they aren't- but right now they're something I would let my 11 year old niece read, and I still won't give her the last two HP books. I think there is a lot of potential in the remaining four books, and I'm really excited to have found this series. I highly recommend it to any middle or high school fantasy readers.
13 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Ula
5.0 out of 5 stars Can't get my 12 year-old to stop reading
Reviewed in Canada on January 31, 2023
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My son is not a big reader but since starting this series he can't put the book away.
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Lari Henrique
5.0 out of 5 stars Unexpected things happen
Reviewed in Brazil on June 29, 2022
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I couldn't stop reading this book. The story of Call, Aaron and Tamara got me completely addicted! It was amazing to discover with Call so many things about the Magisterium. His father lied and didn't tell a lot of things to him, and that made him think he would die the second he got in.

Callum Hunt, slowly learning how to control and use his magic was something I loved to read. The lessons, and Havoc! I love that wolf.

Tamara is just amazing. She's a great mage and an absolutely wonderful friend. She and Aaron supported Call a lot and protected each other. Getting to know a little about her story was good and helped me understand her more.

Aaron is a clear golden boy. I was truly surprised to discover he's a chaos mage. I started the book thinking Call would be the Makar. Aaron is a great friend and I love their friendship so much.

The three friends went through everything together in this first book (with Havoc of course). The other characters are also really interesting. I was shocked to see who Drew really was, and I wasn't expecting his death. About Call being the Enemy of Death, that was a huge plot twist that I didn't see coming! I am more than excited to begin the next book and discover more.

My reading experience was great and I loved it.
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Lisa Julia
4.0 out of 5 stars Een leuk boek om snel te lezen!
Reviewed in the Netherlands on January 22, 2022
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Dit was best een leuk boek om te lezen, een goed begin van een serie. Volgens mij is dit officieel een 'middle grade' boek, dus voor wat jongere kinderen, denk een leeftijd of 10, maar als 18 jarige vond ik dit ook leuk om te lezen. Zeker om aan te raden als de andere boeken van deze auteurs leuk vind!
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anna
5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome
Reviewed in India on October 7, 2020
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Awesome book. Good delivery
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sistert16
5.0 out of 5 stars Hero? Anti-hero? Friend or enemy?!
Reviewed in France on September 25, 2019
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Beautifully written and with quite a few twists everywhere in the 1st book, leaving me wanting to start book 2 straight away!! Great reading! Good fantasy! I would definately recomment at least reading this first book zd get hooked!!@
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