Call has had a troubling summer with his father and is excited to head back to the Magisterium, the only place he has ever felt like he belongs. At the same time, he’s trying to sort through what he discovered about himself during his first year as a mage-in-training. What will his friends think if they discover the truth?

Authors
Holly Black and Cassandra Clare

Ratings
4.6 stars on Amazon
4.16 stars on Goodreads

 The Magisterium Series
#1 The Iron Trial
#2 The Copper Gauntlet
#3 The Bronze Key
#4 The Silver Mask
#5 The Enemy of Death

Point of View
The book is written in third person from the main character’s point of view.

Setting
This series is set in a seemingly modern world, but it’s one filled with magic, both good and evil.

Main Characters:
– Callum (Call) Hunt – the main character; a student mage who is hiding a secret from even his best friends
– Aaron Stewart – Call’s best friend; the recently discovered Makar of his generation
– Tamara Rajavi – Call’s other best friend; a talented mage
– Master Rufus – the teacher who mentors Call, Aaron, and Tamara
– The Enemy of Death – (formerly Constantine Madden) he engages in chaos magic and was the reason for the last mage war; he wanted to live forever and make the dead walk again

***** Everything below is a SPOILER *****

What happened in The Copper Gauntlet?

Call is home for the summer but is missing the Magisterium and his friends. He’s weighing every move he makes to see whether it’s something an evil overlord would do. Call’s dad is constantly trying to talk him out of going back. Things are tense between them. One day he asks Call to go watch a movie with them. When they return home, Havoc is missing. They search the whole neighborhood but can’t find him. That night, Call hears a whine and follows the noise to the basement. He finds Havoc tied up and muzzled and a cot with shackles inscribed with magical symbols.

Call sees drawings of the Magisterium and of a tower. He notices plans for a ritual to remove evil magic involving a metal gauntlet and the heart of a havoc creature. He thinks his dad must suspect he’s the Enemy of Death. Alastair appears. They discuss past secrets from his younger years and Call’s mom’s death. Alastair says if they don’t cleanse Call there will be many after him. Call’s rage explodes uncontrollably. He knocks furniture and his father around the room. His father is unconscious. Call and Havoc run away.

Call’s won’t answer his phone and ditches it in case his dad can trace him that way. He decides his best option is to go to Tamara’s house. He buys a bus ticket to Arlington.

When Call’s bus ride is over, he hails a cab to take him to Tamara’s house. It’s even fancier than he imagined. Call sneaks in. A garden party is in progress. Tamara spots him just before Call’s about to be thrown out. Aaron is there, too, looking fancy and different. Tamara’s parents have taken him in since he’s the Makar.

The three friends wander around the party as Call takes in the fancy people and food. Tamara takes them over to a side yard right before the glamours start. A man makes a wave filled with sea creatures and sprays the crowd with ocean water. A lady launches metal strings into the air and plays it like it’s a huge guitar. Tamara’s parents ask Aaron to display chaos magic. He conjures two chaos-ridden elemental creatures. His concentration slips for a second when Havoc begins to bark. It seems as if he’s lost control and one might attack Tamara’s mom. But then he calls it back in and the chaos magic vanishes. The crowd explodes into applause. Call is the only one who thinks the display almost went horribly wrong.

They leave the crowd at Aaron’s request. They overhear a conversation about a recent theft at the Collegium. The Alkahest was stolen, and everyone assumes it was the Enemy’s minions who did so. Aaron is pulled aside by admirers as they walk through the crowd. Tamara takes the boys away from everyone. She shows them a secret passageway. They can listen to conversations in any room in the house through vents. Tamara leads them to a sitting room filled with ancient magical books.

Tamara’s mom calls Alastair to tell him Call will be with them the rest of the summer and they’ll see him safely to school in two weeks. Call has a fabulous time with his friends. He enjoys the rich life, with good food and clothes and people picking up after him.

Call overhears Alex fighting with Tamara’s parents about dating Kimiya (Tamara’s sister). Call pulls Alex out of the room before he says something he’ll regret. Alex mentions Tamara’s parents act perfect but are just putting on a show for everyone. Aaron’s stepmom picks him up instead of riding the bus with Kimiya to school. She’s hurt.

Call is glad to be back at school. Master Rufus mentions the copper year is perhaps the most grueling because they begin field missions. The three head to the library to research the Alkahest since it’s something that might be used against Aaron. Master Rufus comes to get Call because Alastair is there. Call asks Rufus to send him away.

Call goes for a walk down to the caves. Warren the lizard appears, reminds Call of his warning about the Call and his friends, and says he’s not the only one watching Call.

Master Rufus says many mages would separate out the chaos mage to work alone, but he won’t do so. He wants them to master magic of all elements before Call starts practicing being Aaron’s counterweight.

Celia joins Call for his evening walk with Havoc. Call learns what a wealth of information/gossip she is about their classmates. One night Call is walking Havoc alone, and Alex approaches to ask questions about Kimiya, Tamara’s sister. He also mentions Alastair’s distaste for magical things.

Call has a too-real dream one night in which Master Joseph asks him to come with him. Call refuses but Joseph asserts he eventually will.

Call asks Master Rufus how to hide from someone. Tamara steps in and acts like Call is asking to keep Aaron safe. So Rufus teaches them how to make a stone to hide the Makar.

Aaron and Tamara beg Call to confess what has him so distracted. He says he thinks his dad is the one who tried to steal the Alkahest. Tamara is scared Alastair will try to use it to kill Aaron. Tamara breaks her word to Call and tells Master Rufus’ about it. Call is furious.

Master Rufus gives Call, Aaron, and Tamara a lesson in counterweights for each element. He asks Aaron to disappear Warren, a lizard elemental. Aaron doesn’t want to, so Call tells him to make the cage disappear. Warren scurries away, and Rufus doesn’t notice. Warren finds Call on the walk back to his room and tells him the end is closer than he thinks. At dinner that night, Jasper tells everyone at the table that Call’s dad is missing.

Alex tells Call the Assembly is convinced Alastair has the Alkahest. They’re to kill him when they find him. Call packs a bag and is leaving to find his dad. Aaron and Tamara insist on joining him. Jasper tries to stop them as they sneak out. He goes with them to keep him quiet.

The foursome comes upon a compound in the forest. It’s a group of former Magisterium masters, including Lemuel studying chaos-ridden animals. They soon get word that a group of Magisterium teachers is approaching the encampment. Lemuel and crew will hide them if they can hold Havoc as collateral and if Aaron will spend a few hours with them in the future. They agree.

Alma leads them to a closet in the meeting house while Lemuel distracts their teachers. Alma puts Havoc in a cage with magicked locks. As soon as Alma is gone, Aaron kicks down the door to let them out. They form a key to open the cages of all the chaos-ridden animals. The other animals escape into the woods and the foursome heads the other way. Lemuel sees them escaping and shows them the correct path to take.

When Tamara gets a cell signal, she calls her driver to come pick them up. They go to the property where Alastair rents a barn. The landlady is a witch. Havoc doesn’t like her. She admits Alastair was there a few days ago. She has no idea where he went.

The kids spend the night in a loft in the barn. They find letters from Call’s dad. They discover a meeting between Alastair and Master Joseph is in two days. When the other two are asleep, Tamara asks why Call seems so important in the letters. He tries to brush it off as Alastair being a concerned parent. Tamara knows it’s more than that.

Havoc begins howling. They find an Automotone creature in the junkyard. The landlady has already been mortally wounded. Aaron pushes the demon away into the void. They steal a car from Alastair’s collection. Call drives. Aaron seems out of sorts and exhausted. They sleep in the car that night. They buy a change of clothes at a thrift store and go to an Internet cafe for food and information. Call looks up the coordinates he found, which lead him to an uninhabited island in Maine. They start the journey. While Aaron and Jasper nap, Tamara quizzes Call. She can tell he knows more than he’s saying. Before he can answer, Master Rufus materializes in the car.

It’s actually just a transparent image of Rufus calling them from an ether phone at school. He demands they come back immediately. They tell him they’re on a mission to find the Alkahest and refuse to change their plans. Aaron mentions not trusting him after the masters sent Automotones after them. Rufus appears genuinely confused. They hang up on him.

Call tries to sleep at a rest stop but is unable. They end up locked in the car and attacked by two Magisterium teachers. They narrowly escape. Aaron uses his magic to make a cave for them. They all fall asleep quickly. Call is the first one to awake. He hears noises outside the cave and wakes the others. They all go out to fight a troop of Chaos-ridden humans. They bow to Call and call him Master. His friends ask what this means. He tells them the full story. He still wants to find his dad and the Alkahest. He asks the Chaos-ridden to lead them to Master Joseph..

They reach a tomb with a door knocker with Verity Torres’ head on it. They have to answer three questions to go inside. They do so and the door swings open. Call asks all the Chaos ridden except one (to serve as his guard) to stay right there as he steps inside with his friends.

They find Jericho Madden’s preserved body in the tomb. They also see the body of Drew, who died during their first year at the Magisterium. Call follows the sound of voices into the tomb. He finds Constantine’s body. A door opens and Master Joseph and Alastair appear.

Alastair begs Call to leave. Call asks his dad for the Alkahest. He won’t let go of it. Joseph keeps insisting Call is Constantine. Call refuses to accept it. Alastair rushes over to shove the Alkahest into the chest of Constantine’s preserved body. He begins to diminish. Joseph moves to save him. Call feels weird and is going through something as Constantine is dying. Joseph pulls the Alkahest out and sends Stanley to attack Call’s friends. Call summons chaos magic to stop Stanley’s attack. He has no control over this newfound power and releases too much. The tomb begins to crumble. They rush to escape down the path where they saw Joseph flee. Call stays behind to stab Constantine’s body.

Alastair has stayed back to make sure Call escapes. He has used magic to heal the burns on his hands and to hold the ceiling up above them. They escape, and shortly after the tomb vanishes. Call is worried about Havoc, but he’s safe. The Magisterium sends eel-like air elementals to bring them back to school. Alastair and Call make up as they fly home.

How did The Copper Gauntlet end?

The group is questioned by the Assembly. Beforehand, they agree to tell as much of the truth as possible to not contradict each other. But the Assembly is still hard on them. They deny Call’s previous petition to be Aaron’s counterweight. They ask Alastair where the Alkahest is. He reports that Master Joseph has it. They ask about Constantine. Call pulls the man’s severed head out of his backpack. He tells how Alastair used the Alkahest to kill Constantine. Jasper tells them that Call is a Makar, too. The Assembly applauds the group.

Call goes in to bathe the next morning. Tamara secretly follows him in and speaks to him through a wall. The bathroom is vacant, and she quizzes Call about why he didn’t tell them the truth sooner. They promise not to lie to each other or Aaron ever again.

Jasper joins them at dinner because the other students are treating him weird. Call hopes Jasper never reveals his secret, but he’s skeptical about whether he will. The whole cafeteria applauds them because of their feats. Celia kisses Call. They get new jewels for their wristbands.

Alastair is leaving. When Call tells him goodbye, he mentions how Contstantine had the same chaos jewel but he did not have the jewel for bravery like Call received.

Master Rufus warns Call that there is a spy in their midst. As Call heads back to the cafeteria and his friends, Warren the lizard once again tells him the end is nearer than he thinks.

There you go! That’s what happened in The Copper Gauntlet, the second book in The Magisterium series. The third book, The Bronze Key, will be released on August 30th!

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