The Iron Trial by Holly Black & Cassandra Clare

     BOOK ONE OF "MAGISTERIUM"

  The Iron Trial is the first book of a series of five books called the Magisterium. First of all, I will say that I had absolutely no intention of buying it. I did not even know about it before seeing Egmont's bookish deal, and then I said, "Well, so I'm going to get The Storybook of Legends, why don't get another book as a gift as soon as they give it? It's a book, and I love books, I'm not paying for it so I see no reason not to go to the bookshop and get it." I also feel obliged to mention that for the first time I read a collaborative work among authors in this case two. I just can't understand how two people can write a book and no matter how much I try to understand it doesn't work out. Maybe because I am always a solo and teamwork is definitely not for me, this is the main reason I can't explain how this collaboration works.

  I think the book is wrongly defined as '7+'. Just because the cover is animated and the heroes are twelve-years-old doesn't mean it has to be a little bit childish. This is about the magic of the elements, and those children who have the potential, go to study in the Magisterium so they can learn to control their abilities and not hurt those around them. I love things related to the four elements (there are five because there is one more).

  I'm not adding this picture just because. The left part is the combination of these five elements which is their merging, a sign that also exists at the entrance of the building of the Magisterium. The right part is all individual elements and above the line, the five symbols are used in the book as a transition instead of "***", for example. The extra element, obviously, is chaos.

  The very story of the book is very exciting, and it's just so funny to me. I started reading it in the evenings, I did not have enough time to finish it, and I was really impatient to know the ending of the book. Obviously, I was totally captivated by The Iron Trial.

  The story is as follows - Calum did not even foresee that he would ever enter this place and do his best to fail in this so-called admission exam - The Iron Trial, as the book title. That is exactly the biggest contrast - despite all his attempts to fail, he is still accepted by one of the best Masters, no actually, he is the best.

Sorry, I have the Bulgarian edition but they're
all the same except for the language.

  Another thing that impressed me in the book itself is that there is a picture above each chapter (as shown in the picture). I love the illustrations and I like all the books that have such things. Its size, otherwise, is quite decent - just over 300 pages. I personally think it's worth reading. The three main characters on the cover are Calum, Aaron and Tamara. And the chief antagonist, the Enemy of Death, we'll learn a lot about him in the process, and perhaps he's the most intriguing character in the whole first book. And definitely has something to surprise you.

  I think the whole series is very intriguing and I'm already determined to read them all. I can't wait to continue with the second book, The Copper Gauntlet. For fans of fantasy it's a great opportunity to read something so intriguing and different. I'll be looking forward to the next books of the Magisterium series.

I really want to share my favourite quote of the series with you. Actually, it's the kind of poem about the elements, it just sounds cool.

“Fire wants to burn. 

Water wants to flow. 

Air wants to rise. 

Earth wants to bind.

Chaos wants to devour.” 

***

By the way, I love the UK covers, they're awesome!