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The Copper Gauntlet  By  cover art

The Copper Gauntlet

By: Holly Black,Cassandra Clare
Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
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Publisher's summary

Callum Hunt's summer break isn't like other kids'. His closest companion is a Chaos-ridden wolf, Havoc. His father suspects him of being secretly evil. And, of course, most kids aren't heading back to the magical world of the Magisterium in the fall.

It's not easy for Call...and it gets even harder after he checks out his basement and discovers that his dad might be trying to destroy both him and Havoc.

Call escapes to the Magisterium - but things only intensify there. The Alkahest - a copper gauntlet capable of separating certain magicians from their magic - has been stolen. And in their search to discover the culprit, Call and his friends, Aaron and Tamara, awaken the attention of some very dangerous foes - and get closer to an even more dangerous truth.

As the mysteries of the Magisterium deepen and widen, best-selling authors Holly Black and Cassandra Clare take listeners on an extraordinary journey through one boy's conflict - and a whole world's fate.

©2015 Holly Black (P)2015 Listening Library

What listeners say about The Copper Gauntlet

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Harry Potter with a twist is back

Harry Potter with a twist continues in The Copper Gauntlet, the second book in The Magisterium series from Holly Black and Cassandra Clare.

As I mentioned in my review of book one, The Iron Trial, it is impossible to read The Magisterium and not think of Harry Potter. In this case, imagine that Harry has learned about his Horcrux situation right at the beginning of his academic studies and that Neville has been acclaimed as the Chosen One, able to defeat Voldemort. This gives Call a far more nuanced outlook than Harry, especially at an equivalent age (Chamber of Secrets era.) which makes him, to me, a more interesting character. Don’t get me wrong; I love Harry. However, in the early books at least, he sees things very much as black or white, good or evil. Not so Call.

The connections are too numerous to be accidental. This time around they are more subtle, but still present. We have an antagonist whose main objective is to conquer Death itself. His nickname is “The Enemy of Death.” Voldemort, anyone? Fair enough, it is a fairly common trope, but combine it with magic school and you have Harry Potter. Another theme common to both is the idea that we are defined by our choices. Although Clare and Black are using many of the same tropes as Rowling, the way they handle them is very different and this makes The Copper Gauntlet a great read.

With regard to being defined by our choices, it is interesting to note that this is something Call decides for himself through the maintenance of what he calls his “Evil Overlord list"; he mentally tallies each choice he makes and action he takes to decide if it makes him more or less evil. Sometimes, this is played for laughs when he thinks things like “well, an evil overlord wouldn’t fetch sandwiches for his friends,” but it still expresses that same theme. This is something he chooses to do for himself; Harry has to have this explained to him by Dumbledore.

Another trope in common is that of the leaders of the society being in denial about the reality of the situation. The Ministry of Magic denies the reality of the threat posed by Voldemort as the Assembly declares that Madden is dead and gone and that the war is over. Given that there are three more books to come, that seems rather naive, especially as it appears a traitor is working against them.

One theme which hasn’t yet come up explicitly in the Magisterium is that of Love. As any Harry Potter fan knows, it’s the core of the whole series; Lily’s sacrifice of love for Harry and Voldemort’s inability to love are what make them them. This appears to be turned on its head in the Magisterium. Call’s mother’s final act is, apparently, to leave instructions to kill her son, and Constantine Madden was motivated to wage war on Death because of the loss of his beloved younger brother. I believe this is too important not to be a part of the Magisterium, too, and I look forward to seeing where Black and Clare take this.

Despite the comparisons with Rowling, I did enjoy this book; possibly more so because of the Harry Potter parallels. True, we lose a lot of the wonder of Rowling’s worldbuilding and humour, but it is balanced by rich, nuanced characters.

I gave The Copper Gauntlet four stars out of five.

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5 people found this helpful

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Loving these books!

If you could sum up The Copper Gauntlet in three words, what would they be?

Trust, Friendship & Awesome

What other book might you compare The Copper Gauntlet to and why?

This book is somewhat like Harry Potter. Always trying to do the right thing and save people.

What does Paul Boehmer bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Audio books in general bring the books to life for me but Paul Boehmer did an exceptional job with The Copper Gauntlet. I can't wait for the next book.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No major reaction. I just enjoyed it very much.

Any additional comments?

This is such a fantastic series. I'm eagerly awaiting the next book.

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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So much more action!!!

First book of the Magisterium was setting up the characters. This one is action packed and amazingly funny. Friends grow together and become so much more!

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Great second book

This story picks up right where the first book of the series left. I love the characters. This story is great. Can't wait to start the next one.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

enemy of my enemy

Well told and performed. The storyline did not lose focus nor filled with vain repetition. We can choose our own outcomes by not allowing others opinion more weight.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Best ending and beginning

Love the ending lovable wolf growing characters great locations great adventures can’t wait for the next book

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

The series

Awesome is an amazing story, awesome narration’s. Was completely engrossed in the story. I highly recommend this read

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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loved it

even my grandson liked and he doesnt like reading . we loved listening to it.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A darker version of Harry Potter

This tribute to the HARRY POTTER series, is a bit darker but just as enjoyable

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

So hard to follow

I wish mr movie phone voice would just read the book instead of using such awkward accentuation. It makes it really hard to get into the story when you break sentences and thoughts up nonsensically trying to be theatrical. Just. Read.

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