When chaos breaks loose, school seems a little . . . unnecessary. Especially when it's literal chaos, which wants to devour everything in its path. The fourth book in the Magisterium series branches off from the magic school and into new unknowns: enemy strongholds, prisons, and battlefields, to name a few. Because the plot is a series of twists and turns, the characters do unexpected things, and the ending is almost beyond belief, there can only be one word that can truly describe The Silver Mask: breathtaking. Holly Black and Cassandra Clare first met over ten years ago at Holly's first-ever book signing. They have since become good friends, bonding over (among other things) their shared love of fantasy. With Magisterium, they decided to team up to write their own story about heroes and villains, good and evil, and being chosen for greatness, whether you like it or not. Holly is the bestselling author and co-creator of The Spiderwick Chronicles series and won a Newbery Honor for her novel Doll Bones. She recently finished The Folk of the Air series, and you can find my reviews of those here. Cassie is the author of bestselling YA series, including The Mortal Instruments, The Infernal Devices, The Dark Artifices, and The Last Hours. They both live in Western Massachusetts, about ten minutes away from each other. This is their first collaboration, and marks the start of a five-book series. If you're interested in more of my reviews of Holly Black's work, you can find them all here. If you're interested in more of my reviews of Cassandra Clare's work, you can find them all here.
A generation ago, Constantine Madden came close to achieving what no magician had ever achieved: the ability to bring back the dead. He didn't succeed . . . but he did find a way to keep himself alive, inside a young child named Callum Hunt. Now Call is one of the most feared and reviled students in the history of the Magisterium, thought to be responsible for a devastating death and an ever-present threat of war. As a result, Call has been imprisoned and interrogated. Everyone wants to know what Constantine was up to -- and how he lives on. But Call has no idea. It is only when he's broken out of prison that the full potential of Constantine's plan is suddenly in his hands . . . and he must decide what to do with his power.
Holly Black and Cassandra Clare are the Queens of the Unexpected -- anyone who's read their works before know this for a fact. And still, I was taken aback (in a good way!) at all the surprising plot twists and turns that catapulted the ending of this series in motion. It all started with the ending of The Bronze Key, where Aaron died -- I didn't actually want to believe he was dead! Which, I imagine, was a reaction loads of readers had. Furthermore, the entire plot line of The Silver Mask was a series of revelations, decisions, unexpected demises and insane fights which led to an even sadder, more heartbreaking ending. These plot twists start early, too, within the first 20 pages. This plot line keeps readers engaged with the story really well -- I seriously couldn't put this book down. By the end of it, I was reeling from what happened, grappling with how all those events led to this one, inevitable ending.
Call has been such a fun character to track, because we don't know exactly who he is. In this novel, he takes full responsibility for his destiny, and decides once and for all that he will be the good guy -- but, if you think you're doing good, does that actually mean you're good? Call has a lot of hard choices to make in this novel, and my favorite part of that is how he doesn't shy away from the choices, but he still answers like a kid would. He's not all-knowing or wise, or has even had a lot of experience in the magic world. That much is evident as he explores his options, and as he makes the choices he does. It makes him a relatable character, and allows readers to empathize with him -- after all, who can blame him when Master Joseph presents him with evidence that he can get the one thing he truly wants? There's a lot of complexity to Call's character, especially being what he is, who he is, and his choices in the face of grief. Those are the things that make him a truly engaging narrator, and the hero we want to see win.
When someone loses an integral piece of themselves, dynamics change. Especially if that piece was in fact a friend who had a space in many peoples' hearts. What had been a trio of best friends is now a duo (plus a strange yet not unwelcome addition). Grief morphs things, and Black and Clare did a nice job exploring that, however briefly. I enjoyed how the beginning, there was a lot of grief in the face of purpose. Sure, Call could have schemed to get out of prison, but he was so overwhelmed by his best friend's death and the potential hatred of his only living friend, that purpose seemed pointless. But as he enters the enemy's stronghold after being betrayed, Call finally understands purpose in the face of grief, especially considering that this purpose might eliminate that grief. Then Call learns that grief will always be with you. The dynamics of Call's character and understanding changed with grief. The group dynamics also changed, seeing as how now Tamara and Call look to be romantically involved after so much time apart, and in the face of world destruction. I liked how there was exploration of that, and how Call approached the romance hesitantly and also in a confused manner -- like any young, trying-to-do-gooder would! It kept Call relatable, and extremely easy to empathize with. There was also a lot of doubt to accompany the grief, which kept the crazy plot grounded in the humanity of the characters.
Like I briefly and jokingly mentioned before, school was useless next to the imminent destruction of the world. While we've actually seen that to be true, I enjoyed how that idea took us out of the Magisterium and into different places of the mage world. While I love the tunnels and all the adventures that can be had there, there was something more exciting about The Silver Mask because the authors didn't tie themselves to the magic school. It allowed for all these crazy plot twists, and showed (rather than told) us the importance of Call's identity and powers. This book is part of the "magic school" genre I mentioned in my review of The Iron Trial, but that didn't constrain the setting to only the magic school. For all of us, school is a starting point, but not the end game. The authors, recognizing this very true fact of the human condition, took us to all the possible places that would be the end game: from an enemy's stronghold to a battlefield, we truly did get to see more corners of the mage world. But, maybe not all of them, and I hope we get to see more places in the finale of the series.
After all those captivating plot twists and decisions, readers will be dying to know how the series ends. Luckily, we can expect to get all the answers in the fifth book of the Magisterium series, The Golden Tower, which was published in 2018. Will Call finally prevail over evil, and will the mage world accept who he is, once and for all? Find out in The Golden Tower -- and find my review of it here!
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