"Fire wants to burn, water wants to flow, air wants to rise, earth wants to bind, chaos wants to devour."
I remember spotting Holly Black and Cassandra Clare's
The Iron Trial in bookstores
ages ago and
shying away from it because it looked like it leaned more
sci-fi than fantasy, and I prefer the latter. Fast forward to
December 2022, during a Kindle book sale, and I decided to
revisit that decision. Being a fan of
both Cassandra Clare and Holly Black, I took a
leap of faith, and entered the world of the
Magisterium -
and I'm so glad I did.
The Iron Trial is a
strong intro, laying the framework for a fantastical series that,
while taking place at a magical school, bears,
in my personal opinion,
very little resemblance to J.K. Rowling's
bestselling Harry Potter series. In fact, if I'm being completely honest, the
strong focus on the
elements aligns
Magisterium more with
Avatar: The Last Airbender than Hogwarts.
But perhaps that's just me...
Twelve-year-old
Callum 'Call' Hunt's reputation precedes him. The singular survivor of a
magical war turned massacre that killed his mother {Sarah}, and left him bearing a physical mark of the attack
{a severely scarred leg and limp}; Callum has not had an easy existence. Bullied by his peers, unable to partake in sports...adolescence has been a challenge thus far - and it's about to get
much more difficult with the
Iron Trial.
While most youth would do
anything to pass the Iron Trial, gaining them admission into a magic school known as the Magisterium, Call wants nothing more than to
fail. Conditioned by his father,
Alastair Hunt, since birth to believe that the
Magisterium is full of
dangerous magic that is the embodiment of evil, Call knows that his father
refuses to allow him to enter the school; thus, failing, and
failing miserably, is his
only option. After all, his father is all he has, and he doesn't want to disappoint him by being successful for
once in his life. But sometimes failing is
easier said than done. Sometimes
repressing your abilities or interests is the
precise thing that will get you
admitted to the one place you had zero interest in
ever setting foot in. Which is how Callum finds himself enrolled in the Magisterium.
Selected to train under
Master Rufus {the Magisterium's most
prestigious Master} alongside
Aaron Stewart and Tamara Rajavi - the former being a
foster child with no recollection of magic in his bloodline; the latter being a
Magisterium legacy - Callum feels
out of place and confused. Aaron and Tamara both scored in the
top ranks during the Trial; while Callum ranked
last place, so clearly he is not
on par with his teammates. That said, Aaron and Tamara are quick to point out that Master Rufus
must have his reasons; and while Call does experience a bit of bullying from an arrogant classmate {
ahem, Jasper deWinter} whom feels Call
stole his spot under Master Rufus, he is overall accepted -
physical disability and all. In time, he gets along
so well at the Magisterium, that he begins to question his father's
distaste for the institute, and warnings of the evil that lies within. And once he starts questioning that, he can't help but to question other things his father has warned him away from -
and how much truth there actually is to all of it.
What's interesting about
The Iron Trial is that it's not brilliant, but it's also not boring. The pacing is
fantastic, despite the fact that Call and his training partners spend a
large chunk of the first half of the book partaking in, perhaps, the most mundane form of magic in the
history of magic {
sorting sand}. That said, I continued on because I actually really enjoyed Call, Aaron, and Tamara - as well as many of their classmates. Call, in particular, captured my heart, because I liked his
perseverance in spite of his disability. On that note, I appreciate
Black and Clare's use of an MC with a disability, as it brings a sense of
inclusiveness into the fantasy world that is oftentimes lacking. Of course, what is a fantasy without a
fantastical beast? In this case,
Havoc - a creature who presents himself at one of the most pivotal parts of the story, and will squirm his way around your heart with a single wag of his tail. Be forewarned...there is quite a
bombshell dropped at the end that will leave you clamoring for book two,
The Copper Gauntlet. I, for one,
cannot wait to get my hands on it.
Star Rating: ****
xx
