The Iron Trial (Magisterium #1)
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 . . .
AWARDS
The Iron Trial was nominated for a Goodreads Choice Award in 2014, and received a Starred Review from Publisher’s Weekly. It won an RT Reviewers Choice Award, a Nutmeg book award, was a finalist for the Georgia’s Children’s Book Award, and received nominations for awards from The Junior Library Guild, RT Book Reviews, The Isinglass Teen Read Award, and the Kentucky Bluegrass Award for grades 6-8.
Praise
The strange, subterranean Magisterium is vividly rendered, and a string of ominous revelations will leave readers eager for future installments. Fans of both authors will enjoy getting to know this well-rounded cast in the first steps of their adventure.
—Publisher's Weekly, starred review
By the book’s end, readers will be chomping at the bit to get into the sequel. Collaborators Black and Clare describe an intoxicating underground setting and give their mostly male characters refreshingly nuanced male friendships.
—Kirkus Reviews
…Cassandra Clare and Holly Black nimbly dodge readers’ familiarity with the tropes of the genre, creating a cast of characters that’s both recognizable and excitingly new.
—School Library Journal