Impossible Creatures: 'There was Tolkien, there is Pullman and now there is Katherine Rundell' – Michael Morpurgo
As seen:
By Katherine Rundell
avg rating
43 reviews
‘There was Tolkien, there is Pullman and now there is Katherine Rundell. Wondrous invention, marvellous writing.’ – Michael Morpurgo
‘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
‘A book stuffed full of fantastical, magical delight, and a world of richly imagined wonder’ – Cressida Cowell
- WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEAR WINNER * BOOKS ARE MY BAG READERS’ AWARD WINNER * FOYLES CHILDREN’S BOOK OF THE YEAR * SHORTLISTED FOR AMAZON KIDS AND YA BOOK OF THE YEAR
- THE TIMES CHILDREN’S BOOK OF THE WEEK * THE INDEPENDENT CHILDREN’S BOOK OF THE WEEK * THE DAILY TELEGRAPH CHILDREN’S BOOK OF THE WEEK * SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER IN SEPTEMBER 2023
There’s a place where all the wildest stories began … From Katherine Rundell, winner of the Costa Children’s Book Award, the Blue Peter Book Award and the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize comes the first novel in a landmark trilogy for 9+ fans of His Dark Materials
Christopher is stunned when he discovers a passage to the Archipelago: a cluster of magical islands where all the creatures of myth still live and breed and thrive in their thousands. There he meets Mal: a girl from the islands, who is in possession of a flying coat and a baby griffin, and who is being pursued by a killer. Together they embark on an urgent quest to discover why the creatures are suddenly perishing, voyaging across the wild splendour of the Archipelago, where sphinxes hold secrets and centaurs do murder, in a bid to save both the islands and the world beyond them from a rising evil – before it’s too late.
‘Full of adventures, wonderful side characters, new lands and so many fantastic creatures. I heartily recommend it to readers of all ages’ – Rick Riordan
‘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
‘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 masterpiece to rival Tolkien and Pullman’ – The Daily Telegraph
‘Fantastically exuberant, wildly imaginative, impossibly brilliant. Rundell’s best, which is something to be marvelled at’ – Kiran Millwood Hargrave
‘An exhilarating, many-hued adventure, heartfelt and sometimes heartbreaking’ – Frances Hardinge
‘Between the covers of Impossible Creatures is a world as enchanting, as perilous, as richly imagined as Narnia or Middle Earth’ – Frank Cottrell-Boyce
‘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’ – The Independent
‘With a delightful cast of characters, breathless adventure, and an abundance of myth and magic, Impossible Creatures offers the very best of fantasy’ – Aisha Bushby
‘A fierce, fantastic, wild-hearted adventure that roars and bristles with imagination. I devoured it like a hungry dragon’ – Sam Sedgman
‘A rare and remarkable feat of glittering imagination from a truly masterful storyteller’ – Catherine Doyle
’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
‘Surely the next classic’ – The I
‘My Book of the Year’ – Lauren St. John
TweetReviews
A fast moving magical adventure. The friendships and loyalty were well drawn and added depth to the story. Many unusual and wonderful creatures included!
A truly wondrous story full of imagination, beauty, despair, and wonder. Impossible Creatures transports you into a magical and fantastical world where adventure and danger abound. Christopher finds the weight of responsibility as he joins forces with Mal and the two attempt to save the world and its creatures from darkness. The first in a brilliant trilogy, this book will be a modern classic and will rival the great fantasy series. I could not think of a better read for this magical time of year with my children. They adored this and cannot wait for the sequel.
This was not one of my favourite Katherine Rundell stories but I enjoyed it none the less! Lots of creative writing opportunities to go alongside it!
It was a magical and amazing book!
Brilliant. Exciting book
Really good! Exciting
Totally took me to a magical place full of fantastic creatures and people.
I enjoyed learning about all the mythical creatures brought to life in this adventure story.
This was a mythical fiction book. My favourite character was Mal; she was very adventurous and kind. All animals liked Mal as she was the Immortal. I would definitely recommend this book to those who enjoy fantasy reading!
Superb world building and engaging character development. Will trigger the imagination. Great Year 5 read.
Very adventurous and good for tweenagers
It was a fun book to read. I loved all the different creatures
Heard from friends that this was good. They weren't wrong, apart from the fact that 'good' doesn't come close! How am I going to be able to wait until Autumn '25 for the next installment?!
I love Katherine Rundell’s writing. Her sentences are beautiful and poetic and sharply insightful. The plot requires confident or close reading and I wouldn’t recommend this for readers who are not yet confident with inference but if read with an adult this is a deep and exciting story for older primary children.
Finally finished this book! Every ordinary boy (or girl) dreams of befriending a flying girl/boy and taking off on an extraordinary adventure!
I’m going to re-read Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them again after this.
Brilliant settings, characters and plot.
Great for people who want a balance of fantasy and adventure.
Enjoyed the fantasy element
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I especially liked reading about all the different creatures , it truly took me to another world.
I would recommend it to fantasy creature fans and those who are in to mystery
I liked it because it was very interesting and mythical.
I absolutely loved the theme and my favourite character was Mal
because she was an immortal girl who helped the creatures not to
get extincted.
And yes I do recommend other people to read it.
A magical book with amazing creatures. I loved the storytelling in this book and how you got to see the illustrations before you started reading the story!
I love the authors other books and was intrigued. The world was fully imagined in impressive detail and the characters had depth and complexity and engendered empathy and sympathy in the reader. There was perhaps a little too much going on (the characters visit a LOT of different islands) and maybe the book could have benefitted from being a little shorter.
This is a really fantastic book. I enjoyed all the weir and wonderful creatures. I recommend reading this book if you like magical worlds and characters. I also really liked Mal’s character and her personality. I just think she has a very fun way to do things.
Impossible Creatures is a moving adventure book by Katherine Rundell, that tells a story about Christopher - a normal boy who loves
and cares about animals and nature. When he is sent to his grandfather for the holidays, he uncovers an unbelievable truth about a secret world where all the mythical and impossible creatures live. Then a strange girl called Mal appears and asks Christopher for help as she is wanted by a murderer who wants to kill her. The two of them settle on an epic adventure involving dragons, ships and some dangerous creatures with teeth and bones.
Good read but might be a little bit boring for fans of Harry Potter and His Dark Material.
I liked this book because it had lots of cool creatures and some of them were exotic and others could easily hurt or kill the characters. My favourite character was Gelifen because he was a griffin. I liked how the author and illustrators didn't just include friendly creatures, some of them were deadly. I would tell my friends that this was a good book.
I like this book because it was interesting and very engaging
For people who like magical creatures. It was very good.
I can definitely see why this is an ultimate bestseller and why it got the 2023 children's book award. Just the best!
There is almost no better book than this. More than 100 times better than I actually expected.
Almost no better book
This was another excellent read by Katherine Rundell. My favourite character was Mal. I would recommend this book to all readers.
