Iron Magicians: The Search for the Magic Crystals by Cetrix –ADVISABLE

Iron Magicians: The Search for the Magic Crystals by Cetrix, 415 pages. GRAPHIC NOVEL. Quirk, 2019 $10  Language: G (0 swears); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG (Demonic ritual).  

BUYING ADVISORY: MS – ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL:  AVERAGE

Steampunk setting meets a choose your own story meets a dungeons and dragons type game play. Players/Readers choose a character and record its attributes on a game sheet, such as level or magic, technology, and more. Then start reading and making choices by looking for panel numbers, I chose a male character with a lot of magic. I spent time exploring and collection spells in one of the eight locations in Paris to choose from, the cemetery. There is a lot to this entire adventure as objects and spells are needed in certain areas that you might not quite yet have, so you can revisit multiple times.

Could take hours and hours to go through the various locations with a ton of potential for a variety of endings and experiences. I think middle school students would love this adventure, especially fans of Dungeons and Dragons. It reminds me of a great video game. A lot of the game is written down, so if you add this to your school library plan on printing off many copies of the forms from the website listed on the book so that the students don’t write in the book. The only thing I could see as a possible pitfall (parent complaint) is a devil worshiping scene with a pentagram and a demon.  

Reviewer: Stephanie MLS & Author.