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All his life, Callum 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 first book of the Magisterium series is a stunning (in a good way) start to the series.
Callum Hunt was found in the Cold Mountain, half-frozen to death with the corpse of his mother and a lot of other corpses nearby. On the ice wall, written, as a last act by Callum’s mother, were the words ‘KILL THE CHILD.’ When Callum’s father returns, he finds all this, but doesn’t kill the child, who now has a limp. Instead, he takes in Callum on his arms to go back to his town.
Years pass, and Callum grows. However, due to his limp he is often bullied at school. Aside from this, his father drills into Callum’s head that the Magisterium is a horrible place and is one of the worst places he could go to. He teaches Callum how to fail the ‘initiation test’, and when the big day arrives, Callum does the seeming impossible: he fails at failing.
He seemingly did horribly on the tests, but he still got recruited due to Master Rufus’ insistence. His angered father tries to stop it, but, while forcibly restrained, throws a knife to a confused Callum. Another recruit, Aaron, caught it for Callum. Tamara, also another student, explained how the knife was of fine make. It also was the very same knife Callum’s mother used to inscribe the lettering on the ice wall.
As the only three apprentices of Master Rufus, the three are told to separate a pile of sand, with magic, whilst the other apprentices are hurling around fireballs and such. Just when Callum thought things were alright in the Magisterium, things take a dark turn.
After a student is kidnapped, the whole school searches for him. When Callum does find him, a lot of answers are answered, and many more questions are raised.
The book’s diverse range of characters were commendable, but there were some clichés in the book as well (e.g. boy sent away to random magical academy he knew nothing about, makes two new friends almost instantly upon arrival, ‘Dumbledore’ figure…) but also some newer aspects such as a supporting character gaining newer abilities-legendary ones, at that.
There is some resemblance to the Harry Potter series, but the enigmatic ending pretty much screams at you to go buy the next book which is coming out in September-The Copper Gauntlet. This book probably will drag you into the magical world of Callum Hunt and the Magisterium-a dark, winding cave-like area through which rivers run, and elementals, both good and bad live.