Worlds Inside Books

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Lo que más me gustó de este libro es que el personaje principal, Call, no es el “elegido”. En su lugar lo es su amigo. Esto crea un punto de vista interesante, un poco como si Harry Potter hubiese sido escrito desde el punto de vista de Ron. No llega a ser eso, porque queda claro que hay algo en Call que es diferente y posiblemente peligroso y, debido a que su punto de vista es el del lector, no sabe nada del Magisterium ni de la Historia de la magia, porque su padre lo mantuvo lo más alejado que pudo de la magia. El mundo mágico parece estar en algún tipo de Guerra Fría, donde la paz muy frágil puede cambiar de manera muy fácil, así que por supuesto que cambia.

Sé que hay bastante gente que compara La Prueba de Hierro con Harry Potter, pero mientras leía este libro nunca me parecieron tan similares. Hay elementos comunes, tales como un colegio de magia secreto, unos magos, incluido un “elegido”, y un antagonista malvado, pero esto es como decir que una nueva historia de detectives es como una famosa anterior porque tiene un asesinato que es más de lo que parece, un detective solitario y un caso a resolver. Incluso la magia no se parece nada a la que sale en Harry Potter.

Lo que no me gustó tanto es que hay suficientes pistas para adivinar qué es lo que le pasa a Call mucho antes de que sea revelado. La primera pista, que es grande, está incluso en las primeras páginas. La verdad es que me alegré mucho de tener razón, porque aunque fastidia la gran revelación del final, crea un giro argumental genial para futuras novelas, que definitivamente quiero leer.

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What I liked most about this book is that the main character, Call, is not the "chosen one". His friend is instead. It creates an interesting point of view, a bit as if Harry Potter had been written from Ron's point of view. It's not quite that, because it's clear that there is something different and maybe dangerous about Call and, as his point of view matches the reader's, he doesn't know anything about the Magisterium and the magical History, because his father kept him as far away from magic as he could. The magical world seems to be in some sort of Cold War, where the very fragile "peace" can change very easily, so of course it changes.

I know that many people are comparing The Iron Trial to Harry Potter, but while I was reading this book, I never thought that they were that similar. There are common elements, such as a secret magical school, a bunch of wizards, including a “chosen one”, and an evil antagonist, but this is like saying that a new detective story is like a previous famous one because it has a murderer that’s more than it looks like, a lonely detective and a case to be solved. Even the magic is nothing like the one that appears in Harry Potter.

What I didn’t like so much is that there are enough hints to guess what’s wrong with Call way before it is revealed. The first hint, which is a big one, is even in the first few pages. The truth is that I was very happy to have been right, because while it does spoil the big reveal at the end, it does create an awesome plot twist for future novels, that I definitely want to read.