By Katherine Rundell (author) Part of the Impossible Creatures series
"An epic adventure set in a world of wonderful, mythological creatures, sometimes benign but frequently savage"
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August 2024 Book of the Month
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.
It was a very fine day, until something tried to eat him.
A boy called Christopher is visiting his reclusive grandfather when he witnesses an avalanche of mythical creatures come tearing down the hill. This is how Christopher learns that his grandfather is the guardian of one of the ways between the non-magical world and a place called the Archipelago, a cluster of magical islands where all the creatures we tell of in myth live and breed and thrive alongside humans. They have been protected from being discovered for thousands of years; now, terrifyingly, the protection has worn thin, and creatures are breaking through.
Then a girl, Mal, appears in Christopher's world. She is in possession of a flying coat, is being pursued by a killer and is herself in pursuit of a baby griffin. Mal, Christopher and the griffin embark on an urgent quest across the wild splendour of the Archipelago, where sphinxes hold secrets and centaurs do murder, to find the truth - with unimaginable consequences for both their worlds. Together the two must face the problem of power, and of knowledge, and of what love demands of us.
Read our review for the second in the series, The Poisoned King
'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 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
'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
'One of our most talented writers for children' - Observer
'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
'Flickers with a rare and fierce beauty - unputdownable.' - Abi Elphinstone
Katherine Rundell is a multi-million-bestselling author whose novels for children have won the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, the Blue Peter Book Award and the Costa Children’s Book Award, among many others. Impossible Creatures was Waterstones Book of the Year 2023, and in 2024 Katherine was named the British Book Awards Author of the Year and Impossible Creatures won the Children’s Fiction Book of the Year. She is a Quondam Fellow of All Souls College and a Fellow of St Catherine’s College, Oxford, where she works on Renaissance literature. Her books for adults include Super-Infinite , winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize. Very occasionally she goes climbing across the rooftops of Oxford, late at night.
Win a set of the 3 books in the Impossible Creatures series plus a pack of trading cards
Closing date: 30/09/2026
We've got some great stuff related to this book in our KidsZone. Head over there and check it out now.
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An absolute must-read for anyone who craves a gripping, magical adventure packed with danger, wonder, and unforgettable characters.
Dragons, sphinxes, and the importance of changing the destiny of the world, prepare to be swept into a world of fantasy and myth with Katherine Rundell’s Impossible Creatures . The story takes us to the Archipelago, a hidden cluster of magical islands where mythical beasts still thrive. Phenomenally written with a mixture of excitement, bravery, and cleverness, it is a real rollercoaster of emotions throughout the whole book. A beautiful example that reality and myth still live side by side. I found it impossible to put it down when I was reading it with my teacher in school. The main characters, Christopher and Mel, feel so incredibly real that you will immediately root for them on their journey.... Read Full Review
Aralynne Monksummers
Glimouring with magic, mystery and thrilling excitement, this book is amazing! Bound to keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last page, it’s great for lovers of fantasy, mystery and adventure!
Christopher Forrester thought life was perfectly normal until he stumbled across the magical archipelago. He thought life was normal until he met a griffin, let alone a unicorn. He thought his life was normal until he found himself on the run from a murderer. It’s not just him that’s finding things unnatural either… For the archipelago, murderers are not usual either, nor is the fact that, across it’s wide expanses, its mythical, rare and extraordinary creatures are dying, their numbers deteriorating… rapidly… and no-ones even noticed… except for Mal Arvorian. Embarking on a breathtaking but dangerous adventure together, the two, with extra friends along the way, go on a hunt for the source of the deaths, to save the archipelago (and its animals) from certain extinction . But can they make it, before its too late… for everyone???... Read Full Review
I love how the author put smart, cool and majestic mythical creatures in the story! It really brings it to life!
This book is action packed, with the characters in varying environments; at sea, then they go to islands and mazes, it’s full of detail and adventure.
I rate this book, 5 out of 5 stars. I highly recommend this book!
The story follows the journey of two characters called Mal and Cristopher, who embark on a perilous journey to save the glimourie, which is at the centre of a maze and the only person who knows its path is the Immortal, so Cristopher and Mal set sail.... Read Full Review
It was a very fine day, until something tried to eat him. A boy called Christopher is visiting his reclusive grandfather when he witnesses an avalanche of mythical creatures come tearing down the hill.
The LoveReading4Kids Editorial Team have read and reviewed Impossible Creatures and determined it is suitable for children aged 9-12 years old
Impossible Creatures features in the following genres: Featured Books for 9+ readers, Featured Books for 11+ readers, Books of the Month, Julia Eccleshare's Picks of the Month, Recommendations, Star Books, Adventure Stories, Stories about Family and Friends, Fantasy / Magical, Mystery / Mythology, PSHE: Sexuality, Gender and Relationships, Personal Social Health Economic (PSHE), Children's and Young Adult Fiction, Children’s, Teenage and Educational, Children’s / Teenage: General interest
Paperback, Hardback. £8.09, down from the £8.99 cover price. In Stock.
Impossible Creatures was written by Katherine Rundell and published by Bloomsbury Children's Books an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing (UK)
Impossible Creatures has 384 pages
Yes it is part of Impossible Creatures series
£8.09, reduced from £8.99. In Stock.
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