LoveReading Says
Brimful of ideas, award-winning Katherine Rundell’s epic adventure is set in a world that joyfully and provocatively stretches the imagination as Christopher and Mal, two children with exceptional futures, explore the secret and mysterious world of the Archipelago where mythological creatures, sometimes benign but frequently savage, still live.
Mal’s destiny propels the course of their thrilling and desperate sea voyage on which so much of the future of the world depends while Christopher’s special qualities are also a mark of the vital role he is to play in it too. Both have skills of strength and insight on an heroic scale especially with regard to caring for and understanding the special qualities of all living creatures – including trees. And both are readily recognisable from other fantasy epics such as Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials and Ursula Le Guin’s Earthsea sequence.
With her fabulous new bestiary of wonderous creatures with curious conflations of physical and psychological characteristics Katherine Rundell has created a new mythology which is simultaneously crammed with her own innovative ideas and packed with references to other mythologies and imaginary worlds.
Reviewed by Julia Eccleshare M.B.E.Julia Eccleshare has spent her working life to date within children’s books as a critic, an editor, an author and a commentator.
More reviews by Julia Eccleshare M.B.E. About Impossible Creatures
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER THE FIRST BOOK IN THE LANDMARK NEW FANTASY SERIES THAT CONTINUES WITH THE POISONED KING
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Find This Book In
| Primary Genre |
Fantasy
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| Other Genres: |
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Impossible Creatures Synopsis
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER THE FIRST BOOK IN THE LANDMARK NEW FANTASY SERIES THAT CONTINUES WITH THE POISONED KING
"A glorious fantasy adventure . . . Brimming with intelligence, inventiveness and generosity of heart."-The Wall Street Journal (One of the Best Children's Books of the Year)
Two kids race to save the world's last magical place in this instant classic from "a writer with an utterly distinctive voice and a wild imagination." (Philip Pullman, author of The Golden Compass)
The day that Christopher saved a drowning baby griffin from a hidden lake would change his life forever.
It's the day he learned about the Archipelago-a cluster of unmapped islands where magical creatures of every kind have thrived for thousands of years, until now. And it's the day he met Mal-a girl on the run, in desperate need of his help.
Mal and Christopher embark on a wild adventure, racing from island to island, searching for someone who can explain why the magic is fading and why magical creatures are suddenly dying. They consult sphinxes, battle kraken, and negotiate with dragons. But the closer they get to the dark truth of what's happening, the clearer it becomes: no one else can fix this. If the Archipelago is to be saved, Mal and Christopher will have to do it themselves.
Katherine Rundell's story crackles and roars with energy and delight. It is brought vividly to life with more than 60 illustrations, including a map and a bestiary of magical creatures.
A PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, KIRKUS REVIEWS, AND SHELF AWARENESS BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9780593950616 |
| Publication date: |
10th September 2024 |
| Author: |
Katherine Rundell |
| Publisher: |
Random House an imprint of Diversified Publishing |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| Pagination: |
400 pages |
| Primary Genre |
Fantasy
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| Other Genres: |
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Katherine Rundell Press Reviews
There was Tolkien, there is Pullman and now there is Katherine Rundell. Wondrous invention, marvellous writing. This book is her best yet, and that's saying something. Just riveting, quite extraordinary. - Michael Morpurgo
A marvellous imaginative fantasy told with great style and sparkle - a book to race through in a day and keep for a lifetime. - Jacqueline Wilson
Katherine Rundell is a phenomenon. She not only understands what fantasy is for and why children (and the rest of us) need it, but she crafts original and brilliant books that delight readers of all ages and kinds, while stretching our minds and filling our hearts. - Neil Gaiman
I love Katherine Rundell’s writing because it’s so fresh and vigorous, and always so unexpected. The world of this new book is so intriguing and so well put together that I couldn’t resist it. Readers who already know her books will seize this with delight, and new readers will love it and demand all her others at once. - Philip Pullman
A book stuffed full of fantastical, magical delight, and a world of richly imagined wonder - Cressida Cowell
Rundell's book packs a punch with imagination and creativity in its purest form. She has created a story with potential to be adored by fantasy lovers for years to come. - Independent
Katherine Rundell is a prodigiously gifted storyteller and IMPOSSIBLE CREATURES is wildly good. Spectacularly inventive, it is both a thrilling and page-turning epic and a clarion call to young readers to use the special gifts of childhood- love, courage, imagination and open-heartedness - to fight to save precious creatures of all kinds before they vanish before our eyes. My Book of the Year. - Lauren St. John
Fantastically exuberant, wildly imaginative, impossibly brilliant. Rundell’s best, which is something to be marvelled at. It made me want to yell, or laugh, or bite something. - Kiran Millwood Hargrave
The action is gripping. Every sentence sparkles. You can feel the flutter of griffin feathers and the menace of strange poisonous shrews. Magnificent. - The Times
Rundell’s first foray into fantasy is both a deft, rich homage to the greats of children’s literature and an absorbing, profoundly poignant quest story for those aged 9+ – quite possibly her best yet - The Guardian
Rundell is an extraordinary writer and this first in a fantasy trilogy grips, thrills and moves – sometimes to tears. This richly-imagined story is packed with memorable characters – and an unforgettable griffin. - Daily Mail
A rare and remarkable feat of glittering imagination from a truly masterful storyteller. - Catherine Doyle
A fierce, fantastic, wild-hearted adventure that roars and bristles with imagination. I devoured it like a hungry dragon - Sam Sedgman
With a delightful cast of characters, breathless adventure, and an abundance of myth and magic, Impossible Creatures offer the very best of fantasy - Aisha Bushby
A menagerie of delights. So packed with magic you'll want to take notes. Impossible Creatures is a world you'll want to move into. - Patrick Ness
Between the covers of Impossible Creatures is a world as enchanting, as perilous, as richly imagined as Narnia or Middle Earth. - Frank Cottrell-Boyce
A masterpiece to rival Tolkien and Pullman - The Daily Telegraph
Flickers with a rare and fierce beauty – unputdownable. - Abi Elphinstone
One of our most talented writers for children - Observer
It is surely the next classic. - The I
A captivating story - Sainsbury's Magazine
