REVIEW: In the grip of the Iron Trial

The Iron Trial by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare
Pages: 295 pages
Star rating: 4 stars

'Never trust a magician...

Most kids Callum's age dream of having the natural talent for magic needed to get into the Magisterium- that's where they will learn to hone their skills and control their power in order to pass the first year's Iron Trial.

Not Callum Hunt. Call has been told his entire life that he should never trust a magician. And so he tries his best to do his worst- but fails at failing.

Now he must enter the magisterium. Its a place that's both sensational and sinister. And Call realises it has dark ties to his past and a twisty path to his future.

The Iron Trial is just beginning.

Call's biggest test is still to come...'

This book was amazing... okay not 5 star amazing but definitely a 4 star... I mean like wow!

Now I read the entirety of this book in one sitting... that's surrounded by children and moaning adults... but still this book kept me hooked! If I had to sum up this book it would definitely be... 'A new darker Harry Potter where the best of it doesn't happen to the main character.'

Lets introduce Callum Hunt... because of Callum's freakishly cold and surreal past he was left disabled and struggles to use his legs... he thinks this a draw back especially when he goes to take his entry test for the Magisterium... playing on this he doesn't realise that this becomes one of this greatest strengths!

Now in this world magic is somewhat known... well elements of it is...the dark war that has been raging is still a secret and the great battles are hidden in mountains. As you can imagine; the magic world isn't all its meant to be... there is a dark side to magic and when the hunt for a student that could turn the tides in a war comes to light... you automatically believe Callum will be the one. He is showing all the signs... power... control and a curious inquisition that doesn't believe in following the rules. So when it comes to announcing the student the book takes a delightful and quite funny turn of events and in my humble opinion you need to read it!

Okay lets face it... its not just because its a magical school that this book is similar to Harry Potter! There had to be a famous trio that happened to cause trouble together and become the greatest of friends... and so it is true for the Iron Trial. Now Harry's representative here is Callum Hunt, described in a too-similar way to Harry Potter in the Prisoner of Askaban. Now Hermione is replaced with the Tamara... the know-it-all girl with experiences of her own. And Ron replaced with Aaron... although Aaron is in no way just there for comic relief they all have their moments. Its a shame that they were so closely resembled to the Harry Potter trio as I would have enjoyed the start of this series even more if it wasn't so closely linked.

Now what really drew me to the book was the Authors... I have read from both Holly Black's and Cassandra Clare epic array of writings and I must admit you can tell the difference in their writing styles. One is more fast paced and one more detail heavy... but I think they compliment each other well in this book and hopefully it will be less obvious the more they write together!

Okay lets give the artist some recognition here... Alexander Chauret  designed the front cover and the beautiful chapter headings throughout the book and they were stunning... although some elements of the front still allude me (I.E. the giant cloaked man doesn't really get a mention in the book).

Now if you like the sound of this book then there are others that I would greatly recommend!

The Harry Potter Series *Obviously*; although the beginning is less dark than the Iron Trial I would definitely recommend this entire series to anyone!

The Percy Jackson Series by Rick Riordan; although this is set in entirely different setting *Greek Mythology and not magic* it still reads in a similar way and has the same feeling of growing into a new world!



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