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Series · fantasy

Magisterium

by Holly Black

The Magisterium series by Holly Black has 5 known books (5 published). It is best read in publication order, starting with The Iron Trial (2014).

Books
5 known books (5 novels)
Published
5
First published
2014
Status
completed
Shelved under
Fantasy
Start here: The Iron Trial (2014) — then read straight through in publication order.
Book one
Cover of The Iron Trial
The Iron Trial (2014)

Reading order

The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series.

  1. The Iron Trial

    Novel
    The Iron Trial (2014) opens Magisterium: Callum Hunt fails the entrance trial to the underground magic school his father spent years warning him away from -- on purpose -- only to be accepted anyway, in Holly Black and Cassandra Clare's middle-grade collaboration.
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  2. The Copper Gauntlet

    Novel
    Published in 2015, The Copper Gauntlet is the second installment of Magisterium, continuing Call's reluctant magical education and the secrets his father tried to keep from him.
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  3. The Bronze Key

    Novel
    The Bronze Key (2016) is the third book in Magisterium, coming before The Silver Mask and deepening the twist-heavy war Call has inherited without asking for it.
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  4. The Silver Mask

    Novel
    The Silver Mask followed The Bronze Key a year later, continuing Magisterium as its fourth entry toward the five-book story's resolution.
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  5. The Golden Tower

    Novel
    Magisterium continues with The Golden Tower, the fifth and final entry, released in 2018, closing out Call's reluctant education and the war against an ancient sorcerer that Black and Clare built the series around.
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Key facts about the Magisterium series

The Magisterium series has 5 books on our list. Since all 5 are out now, you can read the whole list today.

Start with The Iron Trial, since it opens the publication order in 2014. The Copper Gauntlet is book 2, from 2015. The Bronze Key is book 3, from 2016.

The Silver Mask is book 4, from 2017. The Golden Tower is book 5, from 2018.

Each title links to its own page, while the list keeps them in date order. Each book page shows its dates and editions. Since the catalogue marks the series as complete, we list no next book.

The books came out between 2014 and 2018, while their length runs from 31 to 295 pages. That is a run of 4 years.

Holly Black has 32 books on our list. Additionally, they write The Modern Faerie Tales, The Spiderwick Chronicles and The Curse Workers, plus 3 more series. We shelve the books under fantasy.

About the Magisterium series

Callum Hunt has spent his whole life being warned by his father to avoid the Magisterium, an underground school where mages train students in elemental magic -- so naturally, Call fails the entrance trial on purpose, only to be accepted anyway, and dragged into a magical education his father spent years trying to prevent. As Call trains alongside two other first-year mages, he starts to piece together why his father was so desperate to keep him away, uncovering secrets about a war against an ancient evil sorcerer and his own place in a prophecy nobody bothered to tell him about.

Written by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare together, Magisterium plays deliberately against chosen-one school-story conventions: Call is grumpy, reluctant, and would honestly rather not be magic's last hope, and the series has fun subverting expectations about who the hero, the villain, and the mentor actually turn out to be. It's aimed at a slightly younger readership than either author's other work, a genuine middle-grade entry point into magic-school fantasy from two writers best known for YA.

Five books tell one complete, twist-heavy story about Call's reluctant magical education and the war he's inherited without asking for it.

Frequently asked questions

How many books are in the Magisterium series?

Five: The Iron Trial (2014), The Copper Gauntlet (2015), The Bronze Key (2016), The Silver Mask (2017), and The Golden Tower (2018), a complete series.

What order should I read Magisterium in?

Publication order, starting with The Iron Trial. It's one continuous story building to a final twist across all five books.

Who wrote the Magisterium series?

Holly Black and Cassandra Clare co-wrote all five books together.

Is Magisterium finished?

Yes, it concludes with The Golden Tower.

What age group is Magisterium for?

Roughly ages 8-12, younger than most of either author's other work, positioning it as a middle-grade magic-school series.

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