Magisterium: The Iron Trial product reviews

The Iron Trial is the first book in a new 5 part series aimed at teenagers and is co-written by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare, both of whom are successful authors in their own right.

The story centers around 12 year old Callum Hunt who with his weak leg, sarcastic attitude and snarky personality finds himself chosen to attend magic school after doing his best to fail the entrance exam at his fathers instruction. What ensues is a heartwarming story of magic, adventure, friendship and self discovery with some very intriguing plot twists. There is an air of mystery surrounding Callum throughout as he struggles to figure out why his father was so against him attending the Magisterium.

It's a classic tale of good versus evil set in the present day United States where magic is somewhat commonplace and those that have a strong ability must be taught how to control it. Students who attend the Magisterium are only required to finish their Iron year before being able to choose wether they wish to continue with their magical studies. For Callum and his friends, their Iron year is full of magical creatures, excitement and intrigue.

In my opinion the best things about this book were the prologue and the ending. I fervently hoped that the prologue would set the tone for the rest of the book as I found it thoroughly gripping but I was sadly disappointed. The first half of the book is unoriginal and I couldn't stop myself from comparing every little thing to Harry Potter - there are a lot of similarities which distracted me from truly enjoying the story, but I'm happy to say that the book did improve and if you can overlook it's uncanny resemblance to the Harry Potter books, it's definitely worth a read.

After my initial disappointment I found this book very difficult to put down and can't wait for the next instalment later this year.