The Copper Gauntlet (Magisterium #2)

Magisterium The Copper Gauntlet, Is a book written by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare is a fictional story set in modern day Virginia. The second book in a five part series follows the life of Callum Hunt who has magical abilities along with many people including his father, Alastair Hunt. The Magisterium is a mage school hidden from the rest of the world designed to help teach all children who are found to have magical powers similar to Call. In this book it begins during the summer time after Call’s first year at the Magisterium. After his Chaos-ridden dog that Call had kept from the school has seemingly run away, one night call hears whimpers from his basement. He finds his dog and suspects that his father had been the one to lock Havoc up as his father had an apparent disliking for the animal. His father then finds Call, which he desperately tries to keep there and locks him in what seems to be shackles for a boy the size of himself. When he escapes his house he takes a bus to his schoolmates house who lives just outside of D.C. When he arrives he is welcomed by his friends who have a very expensive estate and wealthy family. He then stays there for the last few days of summer before there next year at the magisterium. Once school starts it is fairly normal and almost the same as it was the previous year. However this time Call has a secret and after Tamara and Aaron see that call is acting very strange they make him tell them whats wrong. After initially denying anything he gives in and states that his father is in danger and that he may have stolen something from the mages that can be used to hurt the Maker who happens to be Aaron, One of Call’s closest friends and classmates. Although they think his Dad is being falsely accused so they decide to run away and try to find Alastair in the interest of helping him. They reach a barn which Call had been to with his father before but Alastair is not there. Late that night as they are starting to go to sleep a metal elemental finds them who says he was sent by the Magisterium to come find them. They then fight the monster and defeat him by sending him into the void with Aarons chaos magic. After their encounter with the elemental who has burnt down the barn they decide to go that night to chase down Alastair who has traveled to Maryland. They take one of Alastair's old vehicles and drive all night to the coordinates they found in letters sent by an enemy mage of the Magisterium to Alastair. On their way they are found by the Masters from the Magisterium and narrowly escape their capture. The book ended with all of them destroying The Enemy of Death’s body and Master Joseph escaping with the alkahest. Returning to the school with thunderous applause as they had unofficially ended the war. The first thing that stands out to me that has changed from the first book is the likeness of Call’s father. In the first book he seems like a very well off and great father figure but straight away in this book he has gone into a seemingly insane state. What caused this was the possibility that Call may become evil as his soul had been switched when he was still an infant with the Enemy of Death as he is referred to in the book. Because of this he wanted to try and stop the possibility of another mage war beginning. As the book progresses the conflicts and the fighting begin to become more and more intense from some arguments and small disagreements to the point where the main characters are running across multiple states fighting masters and magic creatures witnessing some casualties along the way. To see some kids barely 13 years old go through what they are going through becomes very intriguing and make you wonder if something more extreme can happen. The ending of this book has been the best part of the story so far as it is very intense throughout the final chapters closing off a very critical time in the story. Throughout the ending there are many places when you really feel like you are one of the characters who are experiencing the events unfold. You feel the pain that Call’s father felt when he struck the Enemy’s chest with the alkahest and it burnt his hand and arm due to the intensity of the magic. You feel the fear that everyone in the room felt when the chaos magic was released and started consuming the tomb. Then in the final chapter you feel the excitement and the pride the characters felt as they faced their classmates who applauded and cheered for them like they were heroes. I would recommend that anyone reads this book because it follows a very intriguing story line that doesn’t take a long time to develop in the beginning. Although the plot seems very simple there are a lot of creative elements that make it much more interesting than it might seem at its core. The book does a great job of focusing on character and making you feel the emotions Call does as he experiences all of these events but simultaneously makes you feel the tension and the emotions Call, Aaron, and Tamara feel towards each other.

If The Iron Trial reeled my 13-year-old in, The Copper Gauntlet sealed the deal. This sequel ramps up the action, magic, and plot twists in ways that are perfect for a middle schooler craving a world of adventure with a dash of danger. It’s fast-paced, a little darker, and just the right amount of snarky humor to keep a young teen engaged. The story digs deeper into the characters, making them more relatable for kids figuring out friendships, trust, and their own sense of identity. My son couldn’t stop flipping the pages, and when he finished, he was already begging for book three. It’s rare for him to be this invested in a series, so that’s a major win in my book (pun intended). For any 13-year-old who loves magic, unlikely heroes, or just a good story with twists that keep you guessing, this is a fantastic next step. Just be prepared—they’ll want to finish the whole series faster than you can say “Magisterium.”

Harry Potter with a twist continues in The Copper Gauntlet, the second book in The Magisterium series from Holly Black and Cassandra Clare. As I mentioned in my review of book one, The Iron Trial, it is impossible to read The Magisterium and not think of Harry Potter. In this case, imagine that Harry has learned about his Horcrux situation right at the beginning of his academic studies and that Neville has been acclaimed as the Chosen One, able to defeat Voldemort. This gives Call a far more nuanced outlook than Harry, especially at an equivalent age (Chamber of Secrets era.) which makes him, to me, a more interesting character. Don’t get me wrong; I love Harry. However, in the early books at least, he sees things very much as black or white, good or evil. Not so Call. The connections are too numerous to be accidental. This time around they are more subtle, but still present. We have an antagonist whose main objective is to conquer Death itself. His nickname is “The Enemy of Death.” Voldemort, anyone? Fair enough, it is a fairly common trope, but combine it with magic school and you have Harry Potter. Another theme common to both is the idea that we are defined by our choices. Although Clare and Black are using many of the same tropes as Rowling, the way they handle them is very different and this makes The Copper Gauntlet a great read. With regard to being defined by our choices, it is interesting to note that this is something Call decides for himself through the maintenance of what he calls his “Evil Overlord list"; he mentally tallies each choice he makes and action he takes to decide if it makes him more or less evil. Sometimes, this is played for laughs when he thinks things like “well, an evil overlord wouldn’t fetch sandwiches for his friends,” but it still expresses that same theme. This is something he chooses to do for himself; Harry has to have this explained to him by Dumbledore. Another trope in common is that of the leaders of the society being in denial about the reality of the situation. The Ministry of Magic denies the reality of the threat posed by Voldemort as the Assembly declares that Madden is dead and gone and that the war is over. Given that there are three more books to come, that seems rather naive, especially as it appears a traitor is working against them. One theme which hasn’t yet come up explicitly in the Magisterium is that of Love. As any Harry Potter fan knows, it’s the core of the whole series; Lily’s sacrifice of love for Harry and Voldemort’s inability to love are what make them them. This appears to be turned on its head in the Magisterium. Call’s mother’s final act is, apparently, to leave instructions to kill her son, and Constantine Madden was motivated to wage war on Death because of the loss of his beloved younger brother. I believe this is too important not to be a part of the Magisterium, too, and I look forward to seeing where Black and Clare take this. Despite the comparisons with Rowling, I did enjoy this book; possibly more so because of the Harry Potter parallels. True, we lose a lot of the wonder of Rowling’s worldbuilding and humour, but it is balanced by rich, nuanced characters. I gave The Copper Gauntlet four stars out of five.

My younger brother got the first book in this series (The Iron Trial) at a Scholastic book fair and loved it. I bought this one and the third in the series (The Bronze Key) for him, and he loved them just as much as the first. The writing is great, which is to be expected from the two wonderful authors, the plot is easy to follow, but interesting at the same time. It's a new take on magic in the modern world. It sort of reminds me of Harry Potter, but at the same time it is totally different. I highly recommend this to anyone who wants a good book for people in their early teens (or a bit older, to be honest I enjoyed the book too!) that is easy and entertaining to read.

I just wonder what else there is to cover in the next books, this one was amazing and had an amazing plot. I love how everything was set out, there were times I was worried that a character should’ve have done this or that because it would’ve been better with another action, but instead it turns out great. Thank you!

I didn't feel I could properly review the second book in the series without reading the first. That's how I know that "The Copper Gauntlet" is a great follow-up to "The Iron Trial." It doesn't disappoint. This is really a book where things go sideways but the story becomes epic! At first, you may read the series and wonder if you're readying Harry Potter fan fiction because the story centers around a tween boy at a magic school. But if you take a deeper look, you'll find a great story about Callum Hunt, a "special" boy at magical boarding school who just happens to have a female best friend, Tamara, and male best friend, Aaron, who are also part of the story. There's just more than a bit of role reversal in who represents the bad guys and who represents the good guys. I would say that the story's a bit darker than Harry Potter. In fact, it's almost hard to accept who Callum Hunt really is supposed to be as you read the story. Almost as hard as the character himself finds it to accept. That's what sucks you in. It's really unexpected and nothing like Harry Potter at all once you get past the boarding school parts. I actually kept expecting there to be a joke about HP but there wasn't. Callum Hunt's wit drives the story a bit and it's all a bit dark with some twisted humor. All in all, I think this series is not just darker but for older teens than Harry Potter was initially meant for. I would offer it to older tweens and early high school students. The first book in the series set things up well character-wise and story-wise and "The Copper Gauntlet" is named after the mission all the 2nd year students must survive but you're really into this second book because you want to know how Callum fares and who he will or WON'T become. And what happens IS surprising and will keep you reading into the third book. In in way, this is like Harry Potter if Harry Potter hadn't been the hero but the villain.

Actual rating: 3.5 stars I didn't quite enjoy this as much as the first in the series, but the ending made the book worth reading. This book suffered SBS...Second Book Syndrome. It didn't really add that much to the story, and dragged for a good majority of it. However, the ending was chock full of action and excitement, and set up the next book very nicely. Ultimately, there were really no "wow" moments for me in this book, and I was a little let down. Nevertheless, I'm still greatly looking forward to the next book! The characters were all still likable, however Call drove me a bit crazy in this one. I felt he kept making some really stupid decisions, and there were a couple of times I wished I could reach into the book and smack some sense into him. But I still love the relationship between Call, Aaron, and Tamara. They have a good tight-knit group, and you can tell that they will stick together through anything (and this book definitely proves it). I am looking forward to seeing where the adventures take them next and how their friendship grows even more. I absolutely love Havoc. He stole my heart in the first book, and will always have a special piece of my heart forever. While this wasn't up to par with the last book, I still think it's worth checking out for fans of the series. You won't be blown away, but it's part of the series, so you should definitely read it. There are some things revealed in this novel that you don't want to miss. This is a quick read, so definitely read it when you get the chance! Happy reading :)

This was a great addition to the Magisterium series. Book 1 was full of excitement and adventure but I felt that it was lacking where it came to character development. This book has the adventure, excitement and it has so much more character development than the last book. There are some really great plot twists that keep you on your toes too! Over this is a fantastic book and I can't wait for the next one to come out!

This is a lovely read. The world is well imagined and set in parallel to our own with lots of lovely side characters. I loved the twist at the end of the first book and this one explores the twist well. Looking forward to more unexpected plot twists in the next one!

Den ersten Band habe ich gelesen und obwohl er mich nicht umgehauen hat, fand ich die Geschichte doch interessant genug um sie weiterzuverfolgen. Der zweite Band braucht, meines Erachtens, ein paar Seiten um richtig in Fahrt zu kommen, aber dann wollte ich bei jeder Lesepause wissen wie es denn weitergeht. Hat mir gut gefallen. Ich finde mit reinem Schulenglisch nur mittelmäßig gut lesbar.

A me e piaciuto molto, e anche vero che ho letto tutti i libri che ha scritto questa scrittrice. Posso consigliarlo a chi piace questo genere. Tutto come nella descrizione. Contenta del prezzo, servizio. Grazie Amazon.

J'ai offert les livres "Magistérium" qui ont déjà paru `mes petits enfants, qui ont été ravis eux aussi. Les livres sont également génials pour les filles que pour les garcons.

Aunque siguen existiendo paralelismos inevitables entre los libros de Magisterium y los de Harry Potter, en este segundo libro la trama se va desviando cada vez más de las novelas de Rowling. Es entretenido, tiene sus momentos de acción y sus momentos tristes, pero yo echo en falta un poco más de humor. Habrá que ver cómo desarrollan el tercero.