Parents' Guide to

The Iron Trial: Magisterium, Book 1

By Carrie R. Wheadon, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 9+

Intriguing twist on magic-school tale lacks polish.

Book Holly Black , Cassandra Clare Fantasy 2014
The Iron Trial: Magisterium, Book 1 Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

Community Reviews

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age 9+

Based on 3 parent reviews

mcfaddy
mcfaddy Parent of 7-year-old
September 10, 2019
age 9+

Great series of books!

I've read the series and I'd be inclined to say there's a bit of violence and things that children below 8 probably wouldn't understand. I think the main character has great depth and is very relatable to kids the same sort of age. My 12 & 10-year-olds have read them all and they LOVED them, but I think my 8-year-old twins might not be quite able to comprehend it well enough yet! If your children like Harry Potter, I think they'll love it.

This title has:

Great role models
abbacus
abbacus Adult
January 17, 2016
age 9+

Great start to a series that can only get better!

I'm not going to go into detail about this book, but overall I thought it was really good! Cassie Clare is my favorite author so of course I'm going to be a fan of anything she writes (or, in this case, co-writes). This book has some violence (and some of it can be intense) but nothing an older grade schooler can't handle. This being a first book in a fantasy series, there is a lot of world building, as well as some character development to be done. It is something that is unavoidable but it can make the story a little bit of a trudge at times. It is the (only!) reason that I'm not giving The Iron Trail 5 stars. Read it! Get your kids to read it! It's really good and looking so promising as an epic series!

This title has:

Great role models
Too much violence
See all 3 parent reviews

What's the Story?

It's test day for magically inclined 12-year-olds at the Magisterium, and Callum's Dad is desperate for him to fail. Despite getting the lowest possible score in every trial, he's still selected by the school's top mage, Master Rufus. So off to school he goes, while his father begs him to run away before he learns too much. He thinks magic is dangerous and the school puts kids in even greater danger. Call's father gave up magic years ago after his wife died in a massacre and infant Call permanently and painfully injured his leg. Call's severe limp has always made him an outsider, but at the school he finally feels as if he belongs. He's more torn about running away as the days go by and even more so when he intercepts a letter from his father to Master Rufus begging him to bind his magic before the end of the year, taking away all Call's magic abilities and ostracizing him from his new friends forever.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (3 ):
Kids say (10 ):

With fantastic fantasy authors Holly Black and Cassandra Clare working together, readers' eyes will light up with excitement as they think, "This is gonna be good!" Yes, of course the ideas are there. Magic school gets a darker makeover with some Eastern philosophy mixed in, and the main character is not who he seems -- or is he? And the labyrinthine cave setting is pretty cool.

So the idea meetings went really well. But the careful execution isn't there. This magical world is hastily explained and confusing, and the plots aren't carefully laid out -- often readers stumble upon what's supposed to be a nail-biting scene without any building of tension beforehand. For writers this good, this doesn't feel like the final draft. Here's hoping Book 2 gets the spit and polish it needs to keep loyal readers engaged.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about magic schools of thought. How is the elemental magic in The Iron Trial different from the magic at Hogwarts? Or the magic in the Septimus Heap series? Which do you prefer?

  • What made you pick up this series? Was it the big-name fantasy authors? Will you keep reading the other books?

  • What do you think will happen to Callum? Would you have made the same big decision he did at the end of the book? If not, do you understand why he chose the way he did?

Book Details

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