Synopsis: Twelve year old Callum Hunt has always been told by his father to stay away from magic because it’s dangerous. His mother was killed, and Callum’s leg was permanently damaged because of a war between mages. So now that it’s time for him to face the Iron Trial to see if he’s worthy to be accepted into the Magesterium, Callum does his best to fail. Unfortunately that backfires and he finds himself in a strange school where over the course of five years he and the other students will be trained in the magical use of the four elements; earth, fire, air, water. But there’s much more going on than Call ever could have imagined. “The Enemy” with whom a fragile truce has existed since Call was an infant is on the move and recruiting. Worse, Call is about to find out why his father was so determined to keep him away from magic.
So, this was me getting my copy of The Iron Trial at the library:
As soon as I got home I immediately dived in. I mean a middle school book by Holly Black & Cassandra Clare! What could possibly go wrong? So I began reading about the beginning adventures of Harry, Ron, and Hermione at Hogwarts… Ahem. I mean Callum, Aaron, and Tamara at The Magesterium. The three are selected by the wisest wizard, er, Mage of them all, Dumbledore! Oops, I meant to say Master Rufus. Okay. I’m going to stop being snarky now. Obviously I feel this was just too much like Harry Potter. But honestly. Almost every character is a copy. Draco clone? Check. Snape clone? Check. Voldemort clone? Check. This is me halfway through the book:
As much as I’m a devoted Harry Potter fan I have no issue with books that are similar. J.K. Rowling did not corner the market on magical schools, wizards, evil villains, etc… One of my favorite children’s series after Harry is Jenny Nimmo’s Children of the Red King which over six or seven books follows young Charlie at a magic school. While there are similarities, there are also plenty of differences that make these books unique. The problem I had in this first book of what’s supposed to be a five book series is that the similarities were so numerous that it became distracting. Especially the villain, “The Enemy” which is really short for “The Enemy of Death” because he’s obsessed with defeating, wait for it, death! Seriously? These two authors couldn’t come up with something a little different? To be fair, although Tamara could be Hermione’s twin sister in spirit if not in looks, neither Call nor Aaron are complete carbon copies of Harry and Ron. And that is an example of why I gave this 3 stars and not 2. There are a few differences and twists with the characters and the plot that have instilled a small flutter of hope that perhaps starting with the next book, they will further be fleshed out. I also wonder if as I was reading it, was I looking at it too much as an adult. That maybe an eleven year old wouldn’t mind. Also, if the reader was someone who hasn’t read Harry, I think they may definitely like it. Arrgghh! This is so frustrating! So, will I try the second book? Probably. The question is will it be because of that small flutter of hope I mentioned, or because I’m a masochist? Your guess is as good as mine.
This is me having finished The Iron Trial:
Oh dear. That cover looks somewhat misleading too.
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Yep. Pretty cover, but three kids and a masked villain in the background? Should have known. And I’m going to go out on a limb here but why can’t anyone mix things up a bit with this type of book and have a girl be “the chosen one”?
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Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson is the series you need to read. Its all kinds of wonderful. Takes the chosen one angle and really plays with it. Female protag, brilliant cast of characters.
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I would say the book cover is a bit misleading… thanks for the review, though! 🙂 🙂 🙂 MH
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I’ve read some of Brandon Sanderson’s other books, but for some reason not the Mistborn series. Thanks for the suggestion 🙂
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I love your facial expressions. I want to be. Disney princess! (Me, stamping my booted foot)
wouldn’t it be ironic if this author never read Harry Potter? And in case you are wondering if there’s a human left on planet Earth that hasn’t read jk rowling’s masterpiece- there is but one. (Me raising my timid hand)
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Thanks Sue! Since I identify so strongly with Belle I figured I’d stick with her. Now if I only looked like her 😦 I’m officially nominating you to become the Disney princess of your choice. Which one will you be? There’s a lot of people saying that Cassandra Clare began by writing Harry Potter fan fiction before she successfully launched her The Mortal Instruments series which I actually like. And don’t worry about not reading Harry. I don’t think you’re the only one left!
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I liked this book and then I absolutely loved it when I got to the end. I saw similarities to Harry Potter, but they didn’t bother me. Then again I don’t have the problem of reading like an ‘adult’. I’m childish what can I say. I’m interested to see where this series is going. I’m sorry that you didn’t like it more. I liked that you added images to your post, it looks very nice. 🙂
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I’m glad you liked it Molly. Usually I have no problem embracing my inner child, so I don’t know what happened. I did like the twist between Call and Aaron near the end, so I think that’s probably why I’ll try the next book. That, and I feel guilty for giving a book a “Meh” review when so many others loved it.
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Gah! I’ve heard so many bad things about this book being a copy of Harry Potter -and a Draco, Snape and Voldemort clone? *backs away*
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Well, I know a lot of people have loved it, so I don’t want you not to try it just on my opinion. I mean, Molly loved it and she has great taste in books. I’m just so mixed up about this book. Arrgghh!!!
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Well since you happened to mention eleven year olds I thought I would just say that my oldest boy Oliver who happens to be just that age and has read all of the HP books loves this book am the sequel. I haven’t read it as it did sound a bit too much like a HP rip off but he devoured both books in short order.
Keep up the good work Kim 😊
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Hi Nairn! How are you and your lovely family? I’m so glad Oliver likes this. I actually found myself warming up to the story and the characters in the second book. There’s another one I just read/reviewed that I think he might like. It’s called Simon Thorne and the Wolf’s Den. It’s not perfect, but I think it has a lot of potential.🙋🏻📖📚
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