In the final novel from the Magisterium series by Cassandra Clare and Holly Black, Callum Hunt is faced with the task of destroying Alex Strike and the chaos that followed in the wake of the events of the penultimate novel The Silver Mask. Callum Hunt is now entering his Gold Year, the final year of his magical training at the Magisterium. With Aaron now closer to Callum than ever before, Callum and his friends take on the challenge on scavenging for elementals that will finally be able to bring Alex down from his heights as a Makar and wielder of chaos magic. With the stakes being higher than ever, Callum has to band together with friends old and new to save the magical world as he knows it from indefinite destruction.
This was an extremely bittersweet novel for me for a few reasons: I was sad to see the series come to an end, but also felt the novel hitting the same positive notes that the previous two had set. This novel, rightly so, lacked a lot of the playful and innocent fun that the first two novels seemed to have, and I felt as though without this added humour and heart, the series finale lost its footing quite a bit. However, this did not stop me from hanging on to each chapter as it came, but I feel as though the novel went in a direction that was not owing to the pace and structure set by the former four books.
As well as this, I lost all respect for Alex Strike in this novel. I had a very tenuous relationship with this good-turned-bad facade delivered by Alex, and this novel only painted him in a worse light. In this book, Alex almost seemed like an idiot, and a lot more dislikeable than any novel’s villain should be. Throughout the novels, we have been lead to believe that no-one should be overlooked for the role of villain–we have gone from Alastair to Rufus, from Anastasia to Call himself, but Alex has, by far, been my least favourite of all. Without a solid villain, any battle between good and evil will completely fall flat. I’m sorry to say this, but Magisterium certainly lacked depth in response to its weak villainous delivery. The ending was also rather rushed, and–at only 239 pages–there was no reason to hurry with the delivery. I understand that there may have been some time constraints or other problems affecting the course of the novel, but in order to have a proper send-off for a series’s final book, ending it well is CRUCIAL. The Golden Tower fell flat in this regard, too.
Even though this part of the series may have fallen a little flat in its resolutions, I have no problem with saying that I truly enjoyed reading it. I loved Callum, I was intrigued by the magical interworking systems, and I thought that the dialogue was a perfect blend of humorous and enthralling. The Golden Tower certainly does not round out the series perfectly, but the stellar performances from The Silver Mask and The Bronze Key leaves a positive place in middle-grade magical fiction.
A Curse of Ash and Embers follows Elodie, who is sent away from her stepfather, mother and siblings to work at Black Oak Cottage. But as Elodie journeys there, she will discover that she is working for a mistress named Aleida, who is left to care for the house after the passing of Gyssha Blackbone, …
Eliza Henry Jones’ P is for Pearl is a sweet piece of summer escapism. Set in a quiet beach town in Tasmania, complete with romance and hints of mystery, it’s an easy way to pass the time over the summer holidays, sitting out in the sun with a drink in hand. The reader is dropped [...]
Melina Marchetta’s coming-of-age novel is a refreshingly mature young adult adventure that captures the feeling on the crux of growing up and watching all that was familiar with the world shift into something new. On the Jellicoe Road transports the reader to a world caught between the dreams of childhood and the horrors of reality, …
Meet Me at the Intersection is a rich short story anthology written by a diverse range of Australian authors and lovingly edited by Rebecca Lim and Ambelin Kwaymullina. The anthology aims to showcase the experiences of marginalised groups through “own voice” stories, whose authors fit into those groups. The first thing about the anthology that …
Released to the public on September 3rd of 2018, Violet Grace’s novel The Girl Who Fell tells the tale of Francesca ‘Chess’ Raven, an adolescent girl living with a woman named Gladys after the death of her parents. Chess Raven is a hacker, and becomes swept away in a grand and interesting adventure after the …
The Graveyard Book, published in 2008, is a work of Neil Gaiman’s that instantly appeals to readers of the macabre and strange. The novel follows Nobody ‘Bod’ Owens through his experiences of living with a cohort of ghouls and ghosts within a cemetery. The Graveyard Book chronicles his life throughout the graveyard and the places …
Book Review – The Golden Tower by Cassandra Clare and Holly Black
This was an extremely bittersweet novel for me for a few reasons: I was sad to see the series come to an end, but also felt the novel hitting the same positive notes that the previous two had set. This novel, rightly so, lacked a lot of the playful and innocent fun that the first two novels seemed to have, and I felt as though without this added humour and heart, the series finale lost its footing quite a bit. However, this did not stop me from hanging on to each chapter as it came, but I feel as though the novel went in a direction that was not owing to the pace and structure set by the former four books.
As well as this, I lost all respect for Alex Strike in this novel. I had a very tenuous relationship with this good-turned-bad facade delivered by Alex, and this novel only painted him in a worse light. In this book, Alex almost seemed like an idiot, and a lot more dislikeable than any novel’s villain should be. Throughout the novels, we have been lead to believe that no-one should be overlooked for the role of villain–we have gone from Alastair to Rufus, from Anastasia to Call himself, but Alex has, by far, been my least favourite of all. Without a solid villain, any battle between good and evil will completely fall flat. I’m sorry to say this, but Magisterium certainly lacked depth in response to its weak villainous delivery. The ending was also rather rushed, and–at only 239 pages–there was no reason to hurry with the delivery. I understand that there may have been some time constraints or other problems affecting the course of the novel, but in order to have a proper send-off for a series’s final book, ending it well is CRUCIAL. The Golden Tower fell flat in this regard, too.
Even though this part of the series may have fallen a little flat in its resolutions, I have no problem with saying that I truly enjoyed reading it. I loved Callum, I was intrigued by the magical interworking systems, and I thought that the dialogue was a perfect blend of humorous and enthralling. The Golden Tower certainly does not round out the series perfectly, but the stellar performances from The Silver Mask and The Bronze Key leaves a positive place in middle-grade magical fiction.
RATINGS
Characters: 9/10
Plot: 9/10
Writing: 8/10
Overall: 8/10
Related Posts
Book Review – A Curse of Ash and Embers by Jo Spurrier
A Curse of Ash and Embers follows Elodie, who is sent away from her stepfather, mother and siblings to work at Black Oak Cottage. But as Elodie journeys there, she will discover that she is working for a mistress named Aleida, who is left to care for the house after the passing of Gyssha Blackbone, …
Book Review – P is for Pearl by Eliza Henry Jones
Book Review – On the Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
Melina Marchetta’s coming-of-age novel is a refreshingly mature young adult adventure that captures the feeling on the crux of growing up and watching all that was familiar with the world shift into something new. On the Jellicoe Road transports the reader to a world caught between the dreams of childhood and the horrors of reality, …
Book Review – Meet Me at the Intersection edited by Rebecca Lim and Ambelin Kwaymullina
Meet Me at the Intersection is a rich short story anthology written by a diverse range of Australian authors and lovingly edited by Rebecca Lim and Ambelin Kwaymullina. The anthology aims to showcase the experiences of marginalised groups through “own voice” stories, whose authors fit into those groups. The first thing about the anthology that …
Book Review – The Girl Who Fell by Violet Grace
Released to the public on September 3rd of 2018, Violet Grace’s novel The Girl Who Fell tells the tale of Francesca ‘Chess’ Raven, an adolescent girl living with a woman named Gladys after the death of her parents. Chess Raven is a hacker, and becomes swept away in a grand and interesting adventure after the …
Book Review – The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
The Graveyard Book, published in 2008, is a work of Neil Gaiman’s that instantly appeals to readers of the macabre and strange. The novel follows Nobody ‘Bod’ Owens through his experiences of living with a cohort of ghouls and ghosts within a cemetery. The Graveyard Book chronicles his life throughout the graveyard and the places …