Rainer Maria Rilke

"Live a while in these books, learn from them what seems to you worth learning, but above all love them. This love will be repaid you a thousand and a thousand times, and however your life may turn,-it will, I am certain of it, run through the fabric of your growth as one of the most important threads among all the threads of your experiences, disappointments, and joys."--Rainer Maia Rilke


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Monday, December 29, 2014

Warmed Up Leftovers--The Magisterium #1: The Iron Trial

The Magisterium #1:  The Iron Trial by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare

Adolescent Fantasy

A young boy with a mysterious past and a scar suddenly finds himself thrust into a magical school with two sidekicks, a boy and a girl, who soon become his best friends and help him to understand his past and withstand a prophetical future.  Sound familiar?  If you're thinking another Harry Potter, you're right. 

There's nothing really new here...Callum Hunt is a young boy who is forced to attend a magical school to develop his latent powers.  He pairs up with a boy and girl who grow into his best friends.  They have adventures and find out Callum has a dangerous secret that could destroy them all.  Harry Potter, much?  I wish the co-authors had changed something...anything.  Maybe had the protagonist be a girl instead of a boy?  That's what really holds the story back for me. The entire time I kept thinking this was just a retelling, and one that wasn't as good as the original.  Even the setup of the book is Potter-like right down to the font and the beginning of each chapter with a cool drawing above the beginning.  That, in the end, lessened my pleasure.

And, yet, I found myself really liking the story, the characters, and the writing.  The characters are intriguing, the writing is solid.  Still.....I can't more than half-heartedly recommend it. From two amazing authors, it was a bit of a disappointment.  I wanted more and, because of the similarities, my brain couldn't help but do the comparisons automatically.

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