The Magisterium Series

By Holly Black and Cassandra Clare

The Iron Trial (book 1)

Summary from Goodreads:

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 . . .

The Copper Gauntlet (book 2)

Summary from Goodreads:

Callum Hunt’s summer break isn’t like other kids’. His closest companion is a Chaos-ridden wolf, Havoc. His father suspects him of being secretly evil. And, of course, most kids aren’t heading back to the magical world of the Magisterium in the fall.
It’s not easy for Call . . . and it gets even harder after he checks out his basement and discovers that his dad might be trying to destroy both him and Havoc.
Call escapes to the Magisterium — but things only intensify there. The Alkahest — a copper gauntlet capable of separating certain magicians from their magic — has been stolen. And in their search to discover the culprit, Call and his friends Aaron and Tamara awaken the attention of some very dangerous foes — and get closer to an even more dangerous truth.

The Bronze Key (book 3)

Summary from Goodreads:

Magic can save you.
Magic can kill you.
Students at the Magisterium are supposed to be safe. Under the watchful eyes of the mages, they are taught to use magic to bring order to a chaotic world.
But now the chaos is fighting back. Call, Tamara, and Aaron should be worrying about things like pop quizzes and magic contests. Instead, after the shocking death of one of their classmates, they must track down a sinister killer… and risk their own lives in the process.
As Call, Tamara, and Aaron discover, magic can only be as good as the person who wields it. In evil hands, it has the capacity to do immeasurable harm, unless it is stopped in time.
In this striking third book of Magisterium, bestselling authors Holly Black and Cassandra Clare present us with a school where anything, good or evil, can happen, and the only way to unlock the truth is to risk everything to find it.

Confession:

I have loved just about any book these two YA authors have written and I was thrilled when they decided to collaborate and write for a younger audience.  They have come up with  a great series that has a lot going for it.  I love the type of magic that is part of this world.  It is all based on the basic elements of air, fire, earth and water.  There is also a 5th element which is called chaos.  Chaos magic is very dangerous as the characters in this series find out in the very first book.  Chaos magic can destroy you if you are not careful.

The three main characters, Callum, Tamara and Aaron, are typical teens and can be easily related to. The main narrator is Callum and he has a tragic pass and a very big secret.  All three are brave, bright, and are prone to get into trouble and not listen to the adults around them.  There are several other students in the school which are also part of the main three’s adventures.  One of my favorite is Jasper, who starts out as Callum’s nemesis, but by book 3 is sort of kind of his friend and protector.

I also like the setting of the school, which is housed in a remote cave.  There are many rooms and caverns for the characters to explore and get into trouble in.  There are also lots of strange creatures lying in wait for them in the deeper parts of the school. It is a boarding school, but the students are split up into small mixed groups of 2-3.  They are apprenticed to one mage who is their main teacher in the magical arts. I especially appreciate the humor behind what the students eat at school. It is all based on plants you would find in a cave, mushrooms, lichens etc, but somehow never tasted like it.  Sometimes it tasted like pizza or steak or even ice cream, ahhh magic!

Finally, this a planned five book series, one for every year the kids are in school.  I hope the covers continue to be as awesome as the first three and I’m looking forward to continuation of the story.