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Impossible Creatures #1
Impossible Creatures
The day 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 who desperately needs 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.
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.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published September 14, 2023
4472 people are currently reading
51496 people want to read
About the author
Katherine Rundell
41 books2,009 followersKatherine Rundell was born in 1987 and grew up in Africa and Europe. In 2008 she was elected a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. Her first book, The Girl Savage, was born of her love of Zimbabwe and her own childhood there; her second, Rooftoppers, was inspired by summers working in Paris and by night-time trespassing on the rooftops of All Souls. She is currently working on her doctorate alongside an adult novel.
Source: Katherine Rundell
Source: Katherine Rundell
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December 19, 2024I am late to the party, as this book has already received lots of well-deserved attention, but I will add my praise for a wonderful read!
It is sometimes tempting to think that all the good stories have been told, and that everything we read or watch is simply a rehashing of something else. Then occasionally, if we are fortunate, we find a story that manages to take familiar elements, turn them ever so slightly in the sunlight, and create a story that feels fresh as new, while also feeling as warm, homey and comfortable as a favorite blanket. Impossible Creatures is an excellent example.
Sure, we have seen dragons many times. And nereids. And gryphons. And unicorns. We have seen children on a quest. We have seen an evil force that threatens the world. But all of this feels original and compelling in Rundell's novel, which creates a new part of the world -- the Archipelago -- where magic creatures still thrive alongside humans, sustained by a force called the Glimourie. When that magic becomes threatened, it's up to two children -- Christopher from England, and Mal from the Archipelago -- to solve the mystery and save the world.
This feels like a story that should always have existed, much like the Archipelago itself. It is a reservoir of magic almost forgotten by the mortal world, now thankfully remembered. The pages are full of adventures, wonderful side characters, new lands and so many fantastic creatures. I heartily recommend it to readers of all ages -- especially animal-lovers, lovers of magic, fans of fairy tales, and anyone who needs the comfort of an optimistic, healing story in turbulent times.
As an aside, I experienced literary whiplash when I realized I had already read one of Rundell's books, a scholarly biography of the poet John Donne, which was also excellent. Talk about range! I look forward to future books in the world of Impossible Creatures, but I also appreciate that this book stands on its own as a satisfying and complete story.
It is sometimes tempting to think that all the good stories have been told, and that everything we read or watch is simply a rehashing of something else. Then occasionally, if we are fortunate, we find a story that manages to take familiar elements, turn them ever so slightly in the sunlight, and create a story that feels fresh as new, while also feeling as warm, homey and comfortable as a favorite blanket. Impossible Creatures is an excellent example.
Sure, we have seen dragons many times. And nereids. And gryphons. And unicorns. We have seen children on a quest. We have seen an evil force that threatens the world. But all of this feels original and compelling in Rundell's novel, which creates a new part of the world -- the Archipelago -- where magic creatures still thrive alongside humans, sustained by a force called the Glimourie. When that magic becomes threatened, it's up to two children -- Christopher from England, and Mal from the Archipelago -- to solve the mystery and save the world.
This feels like a story that should always have existed, much like the Archipelago itself. It is a reservoir of magic almost forgotten by the mortal world, now thankfully remembered. The pages are full of adventures, wonderful side characters, new lands and so many fantastic creatures. I heartily recommend it to readers of all ages -- especially animal-lovers, lovers of magic, fans of fairy tales, and anyone who needs the comfort of an optimistic, healing story in turbulent times.
As an aside, I experienced literary whiplash when I realized I had already read one of Rundell's books, a scholarly biography of the poet John Donne, which was also excellent. Talk about range! I look forward to future books in the world of Impossible Creatures, but I also appreciate that this book stands on its own as a satisfying and complete story.
October 29, 2023
It’s very rare, at the ripe age of 32, that a book can transport me back to being tucked up in my childhood bedroom exploring the impossibly imaginative worlds of Tolkien, Rowling, Pullman and Gaiman, but Rundell has achieved it. A devastatingly emotional and magnificently creative story - I immediately want the next one!
December 8, 2023
Impossible Creatures is the best modern children’s fantasy I’ve read since the first of the Nevermoor books. The world of the Archipelagos, a land within our world that’s hidden from view, is simply magical. It’s where all of the creatures of myth and legend exist, fed by the magic of the glimourie that runs through the islands and their waters like veins. When the glimourie begins to fade and creatures start dying, it’s up to an orphan girl with a flying coat and a boy from the outside world to figure out what’s happening and stop the decay before it’s too late. What follows is a gorgeous, sweeping adventure, filled with peril and mystery and so much heart.
The writing here is a wonderful blend of easy and lovely, a perfect combination for a children’s book. It reminded me of Narnia in that way. I think that Impossible Creaturescould stand the test of time in a way few modern children’s books likely will. There is an incredibly magical and compelling story here, but there are also some difficult but important themes. Too often it seems like modern children’s fiction feels this pressure to be “safe,” but children face death and loss and hardship just as grown-ups do. Having stories like this one, that show heroic sacrifices and hard knocks and how to grieve properly, can be a powerful tool for a child experiencing big, difficult emotions for the first time. I appreciated that just because a character was lovable and important didn’t mean they were safe. It broke my heart, but certain losses here made the story so much more powerful to me.
I loved the characters. We have Christopher, the boy from the outside who finds his way to the Archipelagos after rescuing a baby griffin from drowning. He is brave and kind and has a way with animals both mundane and magical. Mal, the girl from the Archipelagos who first found the griffin and raised him, is a scrappy orphan with a flying coat. She has suffered much, but she is fierce and tenacious and much more open-hearted than one would expect. The friendship between the two is something special. The, we have Nighthand, a Berserker turned pirate, who is far kinder than I would have expected, and Irian, a marine scientist and a lovely, mysterious woman. These two adults, along with some fascinating mythical creatures, join Christopher and Mal on their mission to save they glimourie, and thus the Archipelagos.
I was drawn in by the gorgeous cover art and a blurb on the front that struck me as…unlikely. Michael Morpurgo was quoted as saying, “There was Tolkien, there is Pullman, and now there is Katherine Rundell.” These seemed like some pretty unfair comparisons to draw, as those are very large shoes to fill. And yet, as I read, I could absolutely see Morpurgo’s point. There’s a timeless quality to both the story itself and Rundell’s craftsmanship that I believe will give this book that level of staying power. Impossible Creatures is a beautiful story with so much heart. There is darkness here, and sacrifice, and tears, but there is also so much joy. This is a story that I’ll be thinking about for a long time, and I’m already looking forward to sharing it with my niece when she’s old enough for it.
The writing here is a wonderful blend of easy and lovely, a perfect combination for a children’s book. It reminded me of Narnia in that way. I think that Impossible Creaturescould stand the test of time in a way few modern children’s books likely will. There is an incredibly magical and compelling story here, but there are also some difficult but important themes. Too often it seems like modern children’s fiction feels this pressure to be “safe,” but children face death and loss and hardship just as grown-ups do. Having stories like this one, that show heroic sacrifices and hard knocks and how to grieve properly, can be a powerful tool for a child experiencing big, difficult emotions for the first time. I appreciated that just because a character was lovable and important didn’t mean they were safe. It broke my heart, but certain losses here made the story so much more powerful to me.
I loved the characters. We have Christopher, the boy from the outside who finds his way to the Archipelagos after rescuing a baby griffin from drowning. He is brave and kind and has a way with animals both mundane and magical. Mal, the girl from the Archipelagos who first found the griffin and raised him, is a scrappy orphan with a flying coat. She has suffered much, but she is fierce and tenacious and much more open-hearted than one would expect. The friendship between the two is something special. The, we have Nighthand, a Berserker turned pirate, who is far kinder than I would have expected, and Irian, a marine scientist and a lovely, mysterious woman. These two adults, along with some fascinating mythical creatures, join Christopher and Mal on their mission to save they glimourie, and thus the Archipelagos.
I was drawn in by the gorgeous cover art and a blurb on the front that struck me as…unlikely. Michael Morpurgo was quoted as saying, “There was Tolkien, there is Pullman, and now there is Katherine Rundell.” These seemed like some pretty unfair comparisons to draw, as those are very large shoes to fill. And yet, as I read, I could absolutely see Morpurgo’s point. There’s a timeless quality to both the story itself and Rundell’s craftsmanship that I believe will give this book that level of staying power. Impossible Creatures is a beautiful story with so much heart. There is darkness here, and sacrifice, and tears, but there is also so much joy. This is a story that I’ll be thinking about for a long time, and I’m already looking forward to sharing it with my niece when she’s old enough for it.
January 11, 2024
I read the book when I saw the comparison to Pullman and Tolkien, excited to read a great young adult novel. I was very underwhelmed from the first few pages.
I found the prose clumsy, with an overuse of dashes (which are odd to find in fiction prose at all), colons and semicolons.
The story was full of shortcuts to avoid explaining the intricacies of the story. I realise it's a children's book and I'm an adult, but I'm certain my younger self would also have felt patronised by "so this happened, and then that happened", with no explanation.
The adventures felt like a series of random tasks to fulfil (first find the sphinx, then find this gold from this tree, then find the dryads...). The man spending years (?) becoming a tree just felt silly.
For what it's worth, it was certainly good enough that I finished it. But the comparison to Rowling, Pullman, Tolkien... the story and the respect to the young reader's critical thinking are so far off for that.
I found the prose clumsy, with an overuse of dashes (which are odd to find in fiction prose at all), colons and semicolons.
The story was full of shortcuts to avoid explaining the intricacies of the story. I realise it's a children's book and I'm an adult, but I'm certain my younger self would also have felt patronised by "so this happened, and then that happened", with no explanation.
The adventures felt like a series of random tasks to fulfil (first find the sphinx, then find this gold from this tree, then find the dryads...). The man spending years (?) becoming a tree just felt silly.
For what it's worth, it was certainly good enough that I finished it. But the comparison to Rowling, Pullman, Tolkien... the story and the respect to the young reader's critical thinking are so far off for that.
December 29, 2024
Oh man...I've gone back and forth about this book. I couldn't decide whether I should go with a 3.5 or 4 stars. I've ultimately decided to go with 4, but I have some interesting feelings about it. CW: death of an animal, death of characters, violence, vivid descriptions of injury.
Impossible Creatures has been taking the literary world by storm. I've seen it shared on social media, it's received high accolades from bookstores, educators, and librarians. Naturally, I was curious and decided to pick it up.
What Worked: The writing in this was immaculate! Rundell captures the writing style that most readers will find reminiscent of old school fantasy writers. The attention to detail of the world as well as the development of characters and their relationships was well done. Mal and Chris were fun characters, fully developed with personalities that were striking. Though their relationship as friends moved rather quickly, the support between the two characters was believable and realistic. Rundell also created a world with fantastic mythical beings who don't serve as background adornments, but actual intricate side characters that heavily influence how Mal and Chris make it through their journey. There were a vast array of mythical creatures and Rundell provides a guide in the back for those who may not be familiar with the names or their characteristics.
What Didn't Work: Whew, okay so this is where my feelings get complicated. This is a good book and an enjoyable book, but I also read it from the perspective of a 33 year old librarian. I could not in good faith recommend this book to a wide array of people. I think it's for a very specific reader (voracious, above reading level, looking for a book with more complex themes). Had this been published 4-5 years ago, my opinion about it's ability to reach a wide audience would be relatively different. Additionally, the plot was overly simplistic. So, while I enjoyed the world building and the character development, the plot was almost too linear. The characters made it from point a to b to c without many challenges which hindered some of my investment in their journey. This doesn't mean that I expected them to go through a wide array of trauma; however, a little more challenges could have made the plot feel more robust. Some of the choices made sense with that ending (be prepared for your heart to break), but overall it could have used a little more work.
To be fair, mileage will vary on this title. I can see young voracious fantasy readers enjoying it, while others may find it lackluster/uninspiring. As an adult, I'm looking forward to the next book in the series because the ending brought forth all types of complicated feelings. I'll be interested in seeing how more readers feel about this series over time.
Impossible Creatures has been taking the literary world by storm. I've seen it shared on social media, it's received high accolades from bookstores, educators, and librarians. Naturally, I was curious and decided to pick it up.
What Worked: The writing in this was immaculate! Rundell captures the writing style that most readers will find reminiscent of old school fantasy writers. The attention to detail of the world as well as the development of characters and their relationships was well done. Mal and Chris were fun characters, fully developed with personalities that were striking. Though their relationship as friends moved rather quickly, the support between the two characters was believable and realistic. Rundell also created a world with fantastic mythical beings who don't serve as background adornments, but actual intricate side characters that heavily influence how Mal and Chris make it through their journey. There were a vast array of mythical creatures and Rundell provides a guide in the back for those who may not be familiar with the names or their characteristics.
What Didn't Work: Whew, okay so this is where my feelings get complicated. This is a good book and an enjoyable book, but I also read it from the perspective of a 33 year old librarian. I could not in good faith recommend this book to a wide array of people. I think it's for a very specific reader (voracious, above reading level, looking for a book with more complex themes). Had this been published 4-5 years ago, my opinion about it's ability to reach a wide audience would be relatively different. Additionally, the plot was overly simplistic. So, while I enjoyed the world building and the character development, the plot was almost too linear. The characters made it from point a to b to c without many challenges which hindered some of my investment in their journey. This doesn't mean that I expected them to go through a wide array of trauma; however, a little more challenges could have made the plot feel more robust. Some of the choices made sense with that ending (be prepared for your heart to break), but overall it could have used a little more work.
To be fair, mileage will vary on this title. I can see young voracious fantasy readers enjoying it, while others may find it lackluster/uninspiring. As an adult, I'm looking forward to the next book in the series because the ending brought forth all types of complicated feelings. I'll be interested in seeing how more readers feel about this series over time.
January 8, 2024
British bookseller Waterstones has crowned Rundell’s young-adult fantasy its Book of the 2023.
As I mentioned recently in the Book Club newsletter, I thought it was funny that Rundell has the same name as the author of “Super-Infinite,” a brilliant study of John Donne that I read last year.
But it turns out these two Katherine Rundells are actually the same supernaturally talented person. Unwilling to wait till next year, when Random House will release “Impossible Creatures” in the United States, I got a copy from England and fell in love by the end of the first line: “It was a very fine day, until something tried to eat him.”
Rundell’s hero, Christopher, is a boy who discovers that his grandfather is the keeper of a watery portal between the ordinary world and a magical archipelago where classic mythological animals still roam. Just as he’s trying to make sense of that unsettling revelation, a girl named Mal pops through the portal looking for her missing griffin. But that’s the least of her problems: “I have to go back, right now,” she tells Christopher. “But … if I go back alone now, I’ll die.” How could he refuse to help Mal, not to mention her endangered realm of centaurs, manticores, unicorns and more?
With an utterly charming combination of wit and peril, “Impossible Creatures” is a magical book you race to finish and then immediately want to read aloud to someone little.
Full list of staff picks in The Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/...
As I mentioned recently in the Book Club newsletter, I thought it was funny that Rundell has the same name as the author of “Super-Infinite,” a brilliant study of John Donne that I read last year.
But it turns out these two Katherine Rundells are actually the same supernaturally talented person. Unwilling to wait till next year, when Random House will release “Impossible Creatures” in the United States, I got a copy from England and fell in love by the end of the first line: “It was a very fine day, until something tried to eat him.”
Rundell’s hero, Christopher, is a boy who discovers that his grandfather is the keeper of a watery portal between the ordinary world and a magical archipelago where classic mythological animals still roam. Just as he’s trying to make sense of that unsettling revelation, a girl named Mal pops through the portal looking for her missing griffin. But that’s the least of her problems: “I have to go back, right now,” she tells Christopher. “But … if I go back alone now, I’ll die.” How could he refuse to help Mal, not to mention her endangered realm of centaurs, manticores, unicorns and more?
With an utterly charming combination of wit and peril, “Impossible Creatures” is a magical book you race to finish and then immediately want to read aloud to someone little.
Full list of staff picks in The Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/...
September 20, 2024
She’s the George R.R. Martin of middle grade fantasy, says School Library Journal. No. Wait. Scrap that. She’s actually reminiscent of Ursula Le Guin and Philip Pullman, says Publishers Weekly. No. No no, I’m still wrong because the Washington Post is saying she’s her generation’s J.R.R. Tolkien. Meanwhile you’ve The New York Times calling her “well nigh irresistible” and The New Yorker placing her in the echelons of C.S. Lewis. This would be Katherine Rundell, a British author of, amongst other things, children’s books, and who has always had a rather impressive following overseas while never quite breaking through with the Americans. That all changes now. When my parents write to me out of the blue asking me about a children’s book that they keep hearing about everywhere, you know it’s gotta mean something. As it happens, I’d been sitting on an advanced reading copy of Impossible Creatures, the book responsible for getting Rundell this impressive swath of fame, for several months now and was halfway through it when the heavens opened and the angels declared this book to be the title that would reinvigorate our middling middle grade sales. Now I’m writing a review of it, but the after the hype and praise from all those who have written about it before. Look, I’ll just spoil it for you right now, the book is perfectly nice. A decent middle grade fantasy with some keen lines and some solid, if occasionally squidgy, storytelling. I enjoyed reading it. Do I think it’s going to pump new life into fantasy for kids once more? Of course not. But it has some nice writing and a fun plot. Do we really need more than that?
We meet two children, right off the bat. There’s Christopher, who attracts animals, both wild and tame, without ever meaning to. Then there’s Mal, who is capable of flying (sometimes) thanks to a magical coat she received as a baby. Mal lives in a beautiful world called the Archipelago, where magical creature still exist. Christopher is part of a legacy of guardians who protect the link between our worlds. But the magical animals of the Archipelago are dying and no one knows why. Does it have something to do with Mal? Is that why people are trying to kill her? One thing’s for certain. Once Christopher crosses the border into her world, nothing will ever be the same.
“It was a very fine day, until something tried to eat him,” is a darn good first sentence. “It was a very fine day, until somebody tried to kill her,” is also a great follow-up. When it comes to descriptive sentences, Rundell is keen, and the opening of Impossible Creatures is perfect. No notes. She splits the narrative between the two characters, Christopher and Mal, and in doing so provides just enough information. Without saying it in so many words, you realize that Christopher is in our world and Mal is in a fantastical one. And that’s the devil’s bargain that Rundell must adhere to throughout the book. Fortunately, she has so much fun with descriptions, she hardly seems to care. Lionel Holbyne is described as “half criminal, half haircut.” When a character realizes they have to join our heroes and have no luggage they are told, “None of us do… That is, in general, the nature of adventures. Adventurers tend to smell.” A character that sews poorly is told they look, “like you’re trying to donate blood very, very slowly…” There is someone who, “kissed him on the cheek, hard, almost as hard as a bite.” And, one of my favorites, “Beauty is overrated, but it is not a sin.”
As I say, Rundell’s descriptions and turns of phrase are often matchless. However, due to the constraints of her audience’s attention spans (gone are the days when you could write a 500+ page tome for 10-year-olds and expect them to be on board with it) she is limited to a scant 368 pages. That means we get our fill of fairly cheap plot contrivances. The first of these occurs when Christopher decides to help Mal at the beginning of the story. Why? Because if he didn’t we wouldn’t have a story, obviously, but sadly the most Rundell is able to come up with (because he can’t passively be our hero - he must actively make that choice) is that it’s an adventure and he just kinda wants to. Later we get a similar situation with our character Nighthand. He’s dying, refuses to do anything about he, yet he’ll do anything Mal asks at this point. Even so, we need him in the narrative until a key moment. Then he leaves to get some medical assistance. As for the plotting of the book itself, it’s very A to B to C. Characters literally drop out of the sky with the one pertinent piece of information our heroes need to save the day. We meet odd creatures on a variety of different island, gathering items or assistance we need as we go. It's more video game than "Twin Towers", if you get my gist.
To hear the world tell it right now you’d be under the distinct impression that Rundell is the second coming of… well… Rowling. Indeed, a very clever acquaintance of mine thought to ask me, “Is this [the hype] just Rowling backlash?” Could be, though I wouldn’t necessarily say it was “just” that. But there does appear to be an interesting level of desperation in these ecstatic yelps. We’ve not had a superstar appear in the children’s or YA book world rise in a while, and that makes folks edgy. If we don’t have writing superstars then will the children even want to read at all?!? It’s been a long time since we had a Pullman/Riordan/Collins, after all. And with Rowling having gone all the way off the deep end with her toxic terf tweeting, folks are all kinds of conflicted on what bedtime fantasies they should be reading to their kids. Perhaps Rundell is the natural answer. From an origin story standpoint, her childhood is nicely peppered with grief, as outlined in the New Yorker article, Fly with Me: The children’s books of Katherine Rundell. She doesn’t have the I-wrote-the-whole-thing-in-a-coffee-shop backstory, but so few do. And best of all, she isn’t even ON Twitter/X!
Writing an original fantasy for kids often also means having to recycle some very old mythological creatures. That is just fine. Even the oldest or most hackneyed overdone creature (read: unicorn) can be reinvigorated in the hands of the right author. And not a single creature, that I could ascertain, in Impossible Creatures is original to Rundell. I was convinced that the ratatoskas were but nope! Apparently they’ve a penchant for running up and down the world tree Yggdrasil to carry messages. This is probably why they’re terrible gossips in Rundell’s version (one of many sly allusions for those up on their myths). Likewise, Rundell can’t escape comparisons to other fantasy works that are (ostensibly) for kids. Almost immediately I started thinking of Philip Pullman’s The Subtle Knife when I read this book. A boy in our world meets a fantastical girl from another with an otherworldly animal companion. He acquires a knife of unbelievable sharpness. The two of them travel together to save the world. It’s all there. But, again, that’s fine. Pullman, for all his charms, was academic in his fantasy writing. I'd hand him to the 11-year-olds who would come to my desk at the library declaring they’d read everything possible, wanting a bit of a challenge. He was not, however, and in spite of his popularity, really meant for younger kids. Rundell’s book, for all that it kills off beloved characters with a rapacity of an episode of Game of Thrones (hence that George R.R. Martin comparison School Library Journal gave her, I suppose), is still very kid-friendly. The chapters seem designed for bedtime readalouds. The plot is fairly good vs. evil simple. There is also plenty of action, howsoever you prefer it.
The problem, which I feel compelled to confess to you now, is that I already have my own preferred English, Oxford graduated middle grade fantasy writer that I know and love, and I like her more than Rundell. This is not exactly a fair thing to confess. I dare say there is room enough in this world for two female identifying fantasy authors in merry old England, but I suffer from a bit of jealousy, I suppose. It would be glorious if the heaps of honors Rundell is having could be split with Frances Hardinge though Do you really want inventive world building? Characters that will never leave a child’s mind? Incredible villains? A level of creativity most of us would kill to have even a smidgen of? Hardinge is the author you seek. No one can read A Face Like Glass or Cuckoo Song or The Lost Conspiracy and not be changed in some way. Granted, she usually writes a touch older than Impossible Creatures, though this year’s American release of the novella Island of Whispers is certainly more middle grade fare. But with the perfect knowledge that this all sounds like sour grapes (“How DARE the world enjoy the work of anyone besides MY favorite author!), I understand that Impossible Creatures has one significant advantage in today’s marketplace: Its damned simplicity.
The Narnia books are fairly simple. They don’t so much world building as just set up vague structures on which to hang fun adventure plots and the occasional foray into Christian allegory. But it’s not Rundell’s world building that I’ve a problem with. Indeed, she’s clearly put some thought into her fantasy land. As I read through Impossible Creatures I just wanted it to be a little more consistent in why things happened. Too often they feel like they’re following a prescribed plot laid out by an author who mapped all of this out a while ago. That can be annoying. At the same time, you truly do grow to like these creatures, these characters, and this world. Plus, as I mentioned, there are a lot of really neat sentences and turns of phrase dotting the text. So perhaps Rundell will be our next big star. Perhaps we’ll have midnight release parties and conferences in her name and an Archipelago at Walt Disney World. It all depends on the kids, of course. And kids? Would that we could map their likes and dislikes out in advance. Until we can, Impossible Creatures will be a beloved book to some, a merely nice one to others, and an interesting blip in the history of fantasy titles for children.
We meet two children, right off the bat. There’s Christopher, who attracts animals, both wild and tame, without ever meaning to. Then there’s Mal, who is capable of flying (sometimes) thanks to a magical coat she received as a baby. Mal lives in a beautiful world called the Archipelago, where magical creature still exist. Christopher is part of a legacy of guardians who protect the link between our worlds. But the magical animals of the Archipelago are dying and no one knows why. Does it have something to do with Mal? Is that why people are trying to kill her? One thing’s for certain. Once Christopher crosses the border into her world, nothing will ever be the same.
“It was a very fine day, until something tried to eat him,” is a darn good first sentence. “It was a very fine day, until somebody tried to kill her,” is also a great follow-up. When it comes to descriptive sentences, Rundell is keen, and the opening of Impossible Creatures is perfect. No notes. She splits the narrative between the two characters, Christopher and Mal, and in doing so provides just enough information. Without saying it in so many words, you realize that Christopher is in our world and Mal is in a fantastical one. And that’s the devil’s bargain that Rundell must adhere to throughout the book. Fortunately, she has so much fun with descriptions, she hardly seems to care. Lionel Holbyne is described as “half criminal, half haircut.” When a character realizes they have to join our heroes and have no luggage they are told, “None of us do… That is, in general, the nature of adventures. Adventurers tend to smell.” A character that sews poorly is told they look, “like you’re trying to donate blood very, very slowly…” There is someone who, “kissed him on the cheek, hard, almost as hard as a bite.” And, one of my favorites, “Beauty is overrated, but it is not a sin.”
As I say, Rundell’s descriptions and turns of phrase are often matchless. However, due to the constraints of her audience’s attention spans (gone are the days when you could write a 500+ page tome for 10-year-olds and expect them to be on board with it) she is limited to a scant 368 pages. That means we get our fill of fairly cheap plot contrivances. The first of these occurs when Christopher decides to help Mal at the beginning of the story. Why? Because if he didn’t we wouldn’t have a story, obviously, but sadly the most Rundell is able to come up with (because he can’t passively be our hero - he must actively make that choice) is that it’s an adventure and he just kinda wants to. Later we get a similar situation with our character Nighthand. He’s dying, refuses to do anything about he, yet he’ll do anything Mal asks at this point. Even so, we need him in the narrative until a key moment. Then he leaves to get some medical assistance. As for the plotting of the book itself, it’s very A to B to C. Characters literally drop out of the sky with the one pertinent piece of information our heroes need to save the day. We meet odd creatures on a variety of different island, gathering items or assistance we need as we go. It's more video game than "Twin Towers", if you get my gist.
To hear the world tell it right now you’d be under the distinct impression that Rundell is the second coming of… well… Rowling. Indeed, a very clever acquaintance of mine thought to ask me, “Is this [the hype] just Rowling backlash?” Could be, though I wouldn’t necessarily say it was “just” that. But there does appear to be an interesting level of desperation in these ecstatic yelps. We’ve not had a superstar appear in the children’s or YA book world rise in a while, and that makes folks edgy. If we don’t have writing superstars then will the children even want to read at all?!? It’s been a long time since we had a Pullman/Riordan/Collins, after all. And with Rowling having gone all the way off the deep end with her toxic terf tweeting, folks are all kinds of conflicted on what bedtime fantasies they should be reading to their kids. Perhaps Rundell is the natural answer. From an origin story standpoint, her childhood is nicely peppered with grief, as outlined in the New Yorker article, Fly with Me: The children’s books of Katherine Rundell. She doesn’t have the I-wrote-the-whole-thing-in-a-coffee-shop backstory, but so few do. And best of all, she isn’t even ON Twitter/X!
Writing an original fantasy for kids often also means having to recycle some very old mythological creatures. That is just fine. Even the oldest or most hackneyed overdone creature (read: unicorn) can be reinvigorated in the hands of the right author. And not a single creature, that I could ascertain, in Impossible Creatures is original to Rundell. I was convinced that the ratatoskas were but nope! Apparently they’ve a penchant for running up and down the world tree Yggdrasil to carry messages. This is probably why they’re terrible gossips in Rundell’s version (one of many sly allusions for those up on their myths). Likewise, Rundell can’t escape comparisons to other fantasy works that are (ostensibly) for kids. Almost immediately I started thinking of Philip Pullman’s The Subtle Knife when I read this book. A boy in our world meets a fantastical girl from another with an otherworldly animal companion. He acquires a knife of unbelievable sharpness. The two of them travel together to save the world. It’s all there. But, again, that’s fine. Pullman, for all his charms, was academic in his fantasy writing. I'd hand him to the 11-year-olds who would come to my desk at the library declaring they’d read everything possible, wanting a bit of a challenge. He was not, however, and in spite of his popularity, really meant for younger kids. Rundell’s book, for all that it kills off beloved characters with a rapacity of an episode of Game of Thrones (hence that George R.R. Martin comparison School Library Journal gave her, I suppose), is still very kid-friendly. The chapters seem designed for bedtime readalouds. The plot is fairly good vs. evil simple. There is also plenty of action, howsoever you prefer it.
The problem, which I feel compelled to confess to you now, is that I already have my own preferred English, Oxford graduated middle grade fantasy writer that I know and love, and I like her more than Rundell. This is not exactly a fair thing to confess. I dare say there is room enough in this world for two female identifying fantasy authors in merry old England, but I suffer from a bit of jealousy, I suppose. It would be glorious if the heaps of honors Rundell is having could be split with Frances Hardinge though Do you really want inventive world building? Characters that will never leave a child’s mind? Incredible villains? A level of creativity most of us would kill to have even a smidgen of? Hardinge is the author you seek. No one can read A Face Like Glass or Cuckoo Song or The Lost Conspiracy and not be changed in some way. Granted, she usually writes a touch older than Impossible Creatures, though this year’s American release of the novella Island of Whispers is certainly more middle grade fare. But with the perfect knowledge that this all sounds like sour grapes (“How DARE the world enjoy the work of anyone besides MY favorite author!), I understand that Impossible Creatures has one significant advantage in today’s marketplace: Its damned simplicity.
The Narnia books are fairly simple. They don’t so much world building as just set up vague structures on which to hang fun adventure plots and the occasional foray into Christian allegory. But it’s not Rundell’s world building that I’ve a problem with. Indeed, she’s clearly put some thought into her fantasy land. As I read through Impossible Creatures I just wanted it to be a little more consistent in why things happened. Too often they feel like they’re following a prescribed plot laid out by an author who mapped all of this out a while ago. That can be annoying. At the same time, you truly do grow to like these creatures, these characters, and this world. Plus, as I mentioned, there are a lot of really neat sentences and turns of phrase dotting the text. So perhaps Rundell will be our next big star. Perhaps we’ll have midnight release parties and conferences in her name and an Archipelago at Walt Disney World. It all depends on the kids, of course. And kids? Would that we could map their likes and dislikes out in advance. Until we can, Impossible Creatures will be a beloved book to some, a merely nice one to others, and an interesting blip in the history of fantasy titles for children.
August 22, 2023
Katherine Rundell is a very talented writer, with a lyrical sensibility and the ability to find new and surprising ways of describing both the worlds she creates and the characters that inhabit them. That’s a rare gift. So I was excited to hear of a new fantasy series from her. However, I can’t say that Impossible Creatures has completely won me over. It feels a bit made to order. Ursula Le Guin’s geography; C S Lewis’s talking animals and mythical beasts; Philip Pullman’s combination of magic and technology, as well as his erudite literary references – it’s all there, combined with an ecological message. It makes for a rich mix, but perhaps a little over-rich for me. There are so many characters and so much description that I found it hard to entirely lose myself in the story. Intense and ornate but not entirely compelling.
November 13, 2023
This was very reminiscent of His Dark Materials: girl and boy from two entangled worlds meet, a compass, a knife and a quest to save the world, eridute references, talking animals, etc. Perhaps because of having this comparison in mind I think it fell quite flat for me, as there is too much stuffed into this book to really go into depth. There is just too much going on to ever get connected with the characters, and it never tackles any topics (e.g. grief, ecocide) with the attention it deserves, but rather only scratches the surface. Quite disappointing, really.
September 16, 2024
This book infuriated me!
I read all genres, and I’ve read my fair share of children’s books. When I read a New York Times article that this book is breaking Harry Potter records, I was intrigued. I couldn’t wait for it to come out in the US, so I ordered it from the UK and paid for international shipping. In the meantime, I saw an article in the Washington Post that Rundell was “this generation’s Tolkien”.
Needless to say, my expectations were high and I was pumped to start reading this book.
But I’m sad to say that it didn’t live up to the hype, not at all, not in the slightest. And Kathrine Rundell is not this generation’s Tolkien; saying that is an insult to a genius that’s not longer with us. Katherine Rundell is just a mediocre bad writer.
It took me so long to finish this book (11 days!) because I couldn’t care less about any of that. The characters are unlikable and I didn’t care an ounce about what would happen to them. The worldbuilding is flawed and uninspired; J.K. Rowling literally invented more original and interesting Fantastic Beasts for the Harry Potter series, whose focus isn’t even in the magical creatures (also, the UK logo of Impossible Creatures looks oddly similar to the logo for the Fantastic Beasts movie franchise, but I won’t get into all of that in all of this). And the pacing and the plot were simply horrible.
What anyone saw in this book to praise it so highly, is beyond me. It felt like torture, getting through this book, which is supposed to be adventurous and full of wonder. It is not.
Learn from my mistakes and save your money, because the price tag attached to this book is too steep for the journey it will take you on. Which is bland, predictable, and insufferable.
The only thing that I concluded from finishing this book is that Katherine Rundell is a very well-connected woman with a lot of big names in the publishing world, which is how she was able to unleash this crap into the wild with the hype that’s attached to it.
My brain still hurts from this “adventure”. Do yourself a favor, and if you want to read some decent children’s literature that’s actually filled with wonder, awe and adventure, check out Diana Wynne Jones. Now, that’s a children’s author that deserves all the undeserved praise that Katherine Rundell is receiving. (And she was actually Tolkien’s pupil.)
I read all genres, and I’ve read my fair share of children’s books. When I read a New York Times article that this book is breaking Harry Potter records, I was intrigued. I couldn’t wait for it to come out in the US, so I ordered it from the UK and paid for international shipping. In the meantime, I saw an article in the Washington Post that Rundell was “this generation’s Tolkien”.
Needless to say, my expectations were high and I was pumped to start reading this book.
But I’m sad to say that it didn’t live up to the hype, not at all, not in the slightest. And Kathrine Rundell is not this generation’s Tolkien; saying that is an insult to a genius that’s not longer with us. Katherine Rundell is just a mediocre bad writer.
It took me so long to finish this book (11 days!) because I couldn’t care less about any of that. The characters are unlikable and I didn’t care an ounce about what would happen to them. The worldbuilding is flawed and uninspired; J.K. Rowling literally invented more original and interesting Fantastic Beasts for the Harry Potter series, whose focus isn’t even in the magical creatures (also, the UK logo of Impossible Creatures looks oddly similar to the logo for the Fantastic Beasts movie franchise, but I won’t get into all of that in all of this). And the pacing and the plot were simply horrible.
What anyone saw in this book to praise it so highly, is beyond me. It felt like torture, getting through this book, which is supposed to be adventurous and full of wonder. It is not.
Learn from my mistakes and save your money, because the price tag attached to this book is too steep for the journey it will take you on. Which is bland, predictable, and insufferable.
The only thing that I concluded from finishing this book is that Katherine Rundell is a very well-connected woman with a lot of big names in the publishing world, which is how she was able to unleash this crap into the wild with the hype that’s attached to it.
My brain still hurts from this “adventure”. Do yourself a favor, and if you want to read some decent children’s literature that’s actually filled with wonder, awe and adventure, check out Diana Wynne Jones. Now, that’s a children’s author that deserves all the undeserved praise that Katherine Rundell is receiving. (And she was actually Tolkien’s pupil.)
August 28, 2024
Narnia but bad
February 11, 2024
"He would never find it again, that kind of friendship. But once is enough. You need it only once – so that you may know what your human heart is capable of."
Christopher is a boy who has always had a natural affinity with animals - they flock to him for reasons he can't explain. But on a stay with his grandfather in a remote part of Scotland, things get even stranger - a group of peculiar creatures he never knew existed start racing down a hill towards him. These mythical animals come from a place called the Archipelago, and it turns out his grandfather is the guardian between our world and theirs. A baby griffin is one of those creatures and as Christopher gives it comfort, its frantic owner arrives. She's a girl called Mal with secrets and special abilities of her own. And she's being pursued by a relentless killer. Mal asks Christopher for help and being the brave, responsible lad he is, he naturally agrees. This decision will take him on an incredible journey, full of danger and excitement.
The reviews for Impossible Creatures have been effusive to say the least - The Telegraph hailed it a modern classic, while Rundell is being described as the heir to C.S. Lewis and Philip Pullman. And maybe that's why I was left feeling a little disappointed. I enjoyed the novel but it didn't blow me away in the manner I was led to expect. It is imaginative - I liked how the book begins with a detailed glossary of all the mythical creatures that exist in the Archipelago. And in Christopher and Mal, she has created two characters that are easy to root for - the friendship that develops between them is a beautiful thing. But I must say that I found it a bit too derivative of children's fantasy, and Pullman's work in particular. More than once I thought of the His Dark Materials series while reading this one, and that trilogy felt like it had a lot more depth and nuance to it. Perhaps Impossible Creatures is a victim of its own ecstatic hype: an entertaining, colourful story but not quite the groundbreaking achievement I was led to believe.
October 30, 2025
⁀➴༯ 𝟒.𝟓/𝟓 ★ ★ ★ ★ ⭑
𓂃₊ ⊹- ❝тнє ѕку вєℓσηgє∂ тσ тнє gιяℓ ωнσ нα∂ ∂ιѕαρρєαяє∂ ιηтσ ιтѕ ƒιяє, тσ ѕανє тнє ωσяℓ∂ ѕнє нα∂ ¢нσѕєη тσ ℓσνє. αη∂—тнє тнσυgнт яσѕє αη∂ яσαяє∂ ιη нιѕ ¢нєѕт ωιтн α ¢єятαιηту αη∂ α נσу тнαт мα∂є нιм ѕнαкє— нє ωσυℓ∂ ¢σмє вα¢к тσ ѕтαη∂ υη∂єя тнιѕ ѕку, αη∂ тнєу ωσυℓ∂ мєєт αgαιη. нє ωσυℓ∂ мαкє ѕυяє σƒ ιт.❞ 𓍼 ོ☁︎ 𓂃 ོ☼𓂃
˚ ⋆⁺₊✦⁺₊ ˚ .˚ . ☁. . ˚ ⁺⋆₊ .˚ . . ✦⋆⁺₊
˚ . ☁ ˚ .˚ ✩₊˚. ☾ ⋆ ⁺₊✧ ˚ ⁺₊ . ˚ .
⁺₊✦₊ ☁ ˚ . ⁺₊✧˚ . ˚ ⁺₊˚ .
❥- Now I thought this was going to be a sweet fun and adventurous story filled with laughter and jokes and wild dreams….WHY WAS THIS EMOTIONAL DAMAGE I NEED AN AMBULANCE NOWWWW!!! .·°՞(˃ ᗝ ˂)՞°·. Yes this book was everything I listed but also devastatingly heartbreaking and I was simply NOT prepared for that okay?!?!
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑁𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑎 𓃬𓀎 ㄨ 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔊𝔲𝔞𝔯𝔡𝔦𝔞𝔫𝔰 𝔬𝔣 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔊𝔞𝔩𝔞𝔵𝔶 𓆩☾𓆪𓌖
⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☀︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☀︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☀︎｡ ⋆ ⋆｡ ﾟ☀︎｡ ⋆
❥- The moment I started this book I instantly thought that this would be a modern Chronicles of Narnia. That was until, the crew came along and suddenly these goofballs were like the Guardians of The Galaxy. And you know? I adore a great group of friends, especially the random and unexpected type of groups. Imagine this:
ꪜ A glorified squirrel with good sense of directions ₍ᐢ•ﻌ•ᐢ₎
ꪜ Two children, one can fly ོ, and the other attracts animals 𓀬
ꪜ A geographic female genius ᯓ ✈︎ ⟟
ꪜ And two large handsome, slightly terrifying, and also slightly illegal sea traders ⚓︎ ☠︎
can’t get better than that right?
⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☀︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☀︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☀︎｡ ⋆ ⋆｡ ﾟ☀︎｡ ⋆
❥- The Waybetween is like the closet and the Archipelago is Narnia. Everything that you’d doubt exists, exists within this place. Every animal, every type of magic. Even the people are wondrous and ride on the backs of overgrown flying horses. And like any story there’s evil afoot. The characters are so witty and so different. The uniqueness of each characters style is so drastic it’s visually powerful. Along with the images provided in the book, it’s so easy to picture the interactions between the characters and all the fights they have to save each other from. And most great stories just can’t help but to absolutely wreck you with developmental love and then loss. Oh how I wish we could skip that part of the development though.
❝I ᴜɴᴅᴇʀsᴛᴀɴᴅ ᴡʜʏ ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴀsᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡɪɴɢ Iᴍᴍᴏʀᴛᴀʟ-ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴀɴ, Mᴀʀɪᴋ—I ᴋɴᴏᴡ ᴡʜʏ ʜᴇ sᴀɪᴅ: I ᴄᴀɴɴᴏᴛ. Nᴏ. Nᴏ, ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴏʀʟᴅ, ᴀɴᴅ ɴᴏ, ᴛᴏ ʜᴜᴍᴀɴᴋɪɴᴅ. Hᴜᴍᴀɴᴋɪɴᴅ ɪs ɴᴏᴛ ᴡᴏʀᴛʜ ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴏʀʀᴏʀ ᴡᴇ ɪɴғʟɪᴄᴛ ᴏɴ ᴏᴜʀsᴇʟᴠᴇs. I sᴀʏ: I ᴡɪʟʟ ɴᴏᴛ ᴄᴀʀᴇ. I sᴀʏ: I ᴡɪʟʟ ʟᴏᴏᴋ ᴀᴡᴀʏ. I sᴀʏ: ɴᴏ.❞
⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☀︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☀︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☀︎｡ ⋆ ⋆｡ ﾟ☀︎｡ ⋆
❥- What I like about this book the most is two things. The incorporation of animal companions and the focus of children and their abilities. A lot of people think young, naive, helpless, or even dumb when they think of children. Hence why even the Berserker felt so intensely about protecting the Immortal and why the Murderer was keen on keeping all of the past Immortals from adulthood. However from the start you’ll notice how extremely talented, smart, and headstrong both main characters are. They make their own decisions, they fight for what they think is right, and they’re celebrated for their bravery. And they don’t just do it, but they do it flawlessly. And with each other. And so although my heart is absolutely breaking after this book, I am dying to step into the next journey in the world of the Archipelago!
“ₜₕₑᵣₑ ᵢₛ ₐ ₛₑcᵣₑₜ ₚₗₐcₑ ᵢₙ ₒᵤᵣ wₒᵣₗd ₜₕₐₜ ᵢₛ cₐᵣₑfᵤₗₗy ₕᵢddₑₙ, ₜₒ ₖₑₑₚ ᵢₜ ₛₐfₑ fᵣₒₘ ᵤₛ.
ᵢₜ'ₛ ₐ wᵢₗd ₘₐgₙᵢfᵢcₑₙcₑ ₒf ₐ ₚₗₐcₑ:
ₐ ₗₐₙd wₕₑᵣₑ ₐₗₗ ₜₕₑ cᵣₑₐₜᵤᵣₑₛ ₒf ₘyₜₕ ₛₜᵢₗₗ ₗᵢᵥₑ ₐₙd ₜₕᵣᵢᵥₑ.
ᵢₜ ᵢₛ ₖₙₒwₙ ₐₛ ₜₕₑ ₐᵣcₕᵢₚₑₗₐgₒ.” 𖣂⛰︎ ﹏𓊝﹏
𓂃₊ ⊹- ❝тнє ѕку вєℓσηgє∂ тσ тнє gιяℓ ωнσ нα∂ ∂ιѕαρρєαяє∂ ιηтσ ιтѕ ƒιяє, тσ ѕανє тнє ωσяℓ∂ ѕнє нα∂ ¢нσѕєη тσ ℓσνє. αη∂—тнє тнσυgнт яσѕє αη∂ яσαяє∂ ιη нιѕ ¢нєѕт ωιтн α ¢єятαιηту αη∂ α נσу тнαт мα∂є нιм ѕнαкє— нє ωσυℓ∂ ¢σмє вα¢к тσ ѕтαη∂ υη∂єя тнιѕ ѕку, αη∂ тнєу ωσυℓ∂ мєєт αgαιη. нє ωσυℓ∂ мαкє ѕυяє σƒ ιт.❞ 𓍼 ོ☁︎ 𓂃 ོ☼𓂃
˚ ⋆⁺₊✦⁺₊ ˚ .˚ . ☁. . ˚ ⁺⋆₊ .˚ . . ✦⋆⁺₊
˚ . ☁ ˚ .˚ ✩₊˚. ☾ ⋆ ⁺₊✧ ˚ ⁺₊ . ˚ .
⁺₊✦₊ ☁ ˚ . ⁺₊✧˚ . ˚ ⁺₊˚ .
❥- Now I thought this was going to be a sweet fun and adventurous story filled with laughter and jokes and wild dreams….WHY WAS THIS EMOTIONAL DAMAGE I NEED AN AMBULANCE NOWWWW!!! .·°՞(˃ ᗝ ˂)՞°·. Yes this book was everything I listed but also devastatingly heartbreaking and I was simply NOT prepared for that okay?!?!
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑁𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑎 𓃬𓀎 ㄨ 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔊𝔲𝔞𝔯𝔡𝔦𝔞𝔫𝔰 𝔬𝔣 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔊𝔞𝔩𝔞𝔵𝔶 𓆩☾𓆪𓌖
⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☀︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☀︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☀︎｡ ⋆ ⋆｡ ﾟ☀︎｡ ⋆
❥- The moment I started this book I instantly thought that this would be a modern Chronicles of Narnia. That was until, the crew came along and suddenly these goofballs were like the Guardians of The Galaxy. And you know? I adore a great group of friends, especially the random and unexpected type of groups. Imagine this:
ꪜ A glorified squirrel with good sense of directions ₍ᐢ•ﻌ•ᐢ₎
ꪜ Two children, one can fly ོ, and the other attracts animals 𓀬
ꪜ A geographic female genius ᯓ ✈︎ ⟟
ꪜ And two large handsome, slightly terrifying, and also slightly illegal sea traders ⚓︎ ☠︎
can’t get better than that right?
⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☀︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☀︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☀︎｡ ⋆ ⋆｡ ﾟ☀︎｡ ⋆
❥- The Waybetween is like the closet and the Archipelago is Narnia. Everything that you’d doubt exists, exists within this place. Every animal, every type of magic. Even the people are wondrous and ride on the backs of overgrown flying horses. And like any story there’s evil afoot. The characters are so witty and so different. The uniqueness of each characters style is so drastic it’s visually powerful. Along with the images provided in the book, it’s so easy to picture the interactions between the characters and all the fights they have to save each other from. And most great stories just can’t help but to absolutely wreck you with developmental love and then loss. Oh how I wish we could skip that part of the development though.
❝I ᴜɴᴅᴇʀsᴛᴀɴᴅ ᴡʜʏ ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴀsᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡɪɴɢ Iᴍᴍᴏʀᴛᴀʟ-ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴀɴ, Mᴀʀɪᴋ—I ᴋɴᴏᴡ ᴡʜʏ ʜᴇ sᴀɪᴅ: I ᴄᴀɴɴᴏᴛ. Nᴏ. Nᴏ, ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴏʀʟᴅ, ᴀɴᴅ ɴᴏ, ᴛᴏ ʜᴜᴍᴀɴᴋɪɴᴅ. Hᴜᴍᴀɴᴋɪɴᴅ ɪs ɴᴏᴛ ᴡᴏʀᴛʜ ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴏʀʀᴏʀ ᴡᴇ ɪɴғʟɪᴄᴛ ᴏɴ ᴏᴜʀsᴇʟᴠᴇs. I sᴀʏ: I ᴡɪʟʟ ɴᴏᴛ ᴄᴀʀᴇ. I sᴀʏ: I ᴡɪʟʟ ʟᴏᴏᴋ ᴀᴡᴀʏ. I sᴀʏ: ɴᴏ.❞
⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☀︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☀︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☀︎｡ ⋆ ⋆｡ ﾟ☀︎｡ ⋆
❥- What I like about this book the most is two things. The incorporation of animal companions and the focus of children and their abilities. A lot of people think young, naive, helpless, or even dumb when they think of children. Hence why even the Berserker felt so intensely about protecting the Immortal and why the Murderer was keen on keeping all of the past Immortals from adulthood. However from the start you’ll notice how extremely talented, smart, and headstrong both main characters are. They make their own decisions, they fight for what they think is right, and they’re celebrated for their bravery. And they don’t just do it, but they do it flawlessly. And with each other. And so although my heart is absolutely breaking after this book, I am dying to step into the next journey in the world of the Archipelago!
“ₜₕₑᵣₑ ᵢₛ ₐ ₛₑcᵣₑₜ ₚₗₐcₑ ᵢₙ ₒᵤᵣ wₒᵣₗd ₜₕₐₜ ᵢₛ cₐᵣₑfᵤₗₗy ₕᵢddₑₙ, ₜₒ ₖₑₑₚ ᵢₜ ₛₐfₑ fᵣₒₘ ᵤₛ.
ᵢₜ'ₛ ₐ wᵢₗd ₘₐgₙᵢfᵢcₑₙcₑ ₒf ₐ ₚₗₐcₑ:
ₐ ₗₐₙd wₕₑᵣₑ ₐₗₗ ₜₕₑ cᵣₑₐₜᵤᵣₑₛ ₒf ₘyₜₕ ₛₜᵢₗₗ ₗᵢᵥₑ ₐₙd ₜₕᵣᵢᵥₑ.
ᵢₜ ᵢₛ ₖₙₒwₙ ₐₛ ₜₕₑ ₐᵣcₕᵢₚₑₗₐgₒ.” 𖣂⛰︎ ﹏𓊝﹏
October 7, 2024
Please stop killing off pets in children’s books.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 27, 2024
Impossible Creatures came with a pretty high recommendations, Waterstone's Book of the Year, Sunday Times instant best seller so I had pretty high hopes. I still really enjoy reading a well told children's story (The How to Train Your Dragon series, Lockwood & Co, The Outlaws Scarlett & Brown) and also what a great concept...mythical beasts are real, boy taken to a magical world, fabulous adventure....and what a huge disappointment. Maybe it's the curse of the modern world that writers seem to feel they have to pack every inch of a book with adventure presumably incase their short attention span audience gets bored and loses interest and stops reading. That being the case Katherine Rundell takes everything at a truly breakneck speed. No time for proper world building, character building or relationship building. There is an enormous about of telling the reader how to feel and not much showing. And without the glossary at the front of the book you'd be somewhat at a loss to what all these creatures are. By the end I just didn't give a damn about any of the characters and wondered why she had thrown away what a great concept with really average execution.
January 11, 2025
An enjoyable way to spend New Year's Day and a fun lark to start 2025's adventure in reading. This middle grade book is itself All Adventure, complete with breathless pace and racing about to many imaginary places on the map in the front of the book and meeting many impossible creatures in the bestiary at the back of the book. Favorite place: the Island of the Immortal. Favorite creature: the griffin, of course. I was looking forward to the manticores and sadly expected more from them when they did appear. As far as the leads go, our rather rude young lady and our rather tight-lipped young man were fun to be around and also reminiscent of the protagonists in His Dark Materials, which is a a good thing to me. The writing was fine, although I would have preferred less of an emphasis on dialogue and more on description, and more of the poetic and perhaps less of the prosaic (e.g. eating snot LOL).
spoiler ahead, but I try to keep it vague...
I was pretty surprised at the two devastating surprise deaths that occur, in the middle and at the end. I also appreciated the bleak response of one character to another:
I think that this is a somewhat overly praised and hyped book; I probably won't continue with the series. But it was a pleasant experience overall and I respect that its two most important scenes broke the light tone and weren't afraid to be deeply emotional in their portraits of loss.
spoiler ahead, but I try to keep it vague...
I was pretty surprised at the two devastating surprise deaths that occur, in the middle and at the end. I also appreciated the bleak response of one character to another:
He should have said: ...It wasn't your fault: it was only his, the murderer's.Some surprise realism there, for a kid's fantasy adventure. A person can be heartless and unkind after a terrible loss. But the lack of kindness doesn't make the response any less true.
That is what he should have said. He knew it, even then.
But he didn't. There was a metal spike in his chest where his heart should be. He heard himself say: "We'll never know now, will we."
I think that this is a somewhat overly praised and hyped book; I probably won't continue with the series. But it was a pleasant experience overall and I respect that its two most important scenes broke the light tone and weren't afraid to be deeply emotional in their portraits of loss.
June 30, 2025
I've had this on my tbr pile to read for ages but then I got the next instalment on ARC so I gave in and bought the audio version.
The audio was excellent. Narrated by Sam West - no melodramatics except perhaps when Mal is getting a bit overwhelmed but I can forgive that.
Christopher, who has been sent to stay with his grandfather, finds himself plunged into a dangerous adventure after finding a drowning gryphon. He teams up with a girl - Mal - who needs his help saving The Archipelago, a land where myth is real.
There are echoes of Pullman and Tolkien but then I'm not sure it's possible not to have similarities in a hero fantasy book. Either way, it's well written, the characters are likeable and just fallible enough. It's a hood start and I look forward to The Poisoned King.
The audio was excellent. Narrated by Sam West - no melodramatics except perhaps when Mal is getting a bit overwhelmed but I can forgive that.
Christopher, who has been sent to stay with his grandfather, finds himself plunged into a dangerous adventure after finding a drowning gryphon. He teams up with a girl - Mal - who needs his help saving The Archipelago, a land where myth is real.
There are echoes of Pullman and Tolkien but then I'm not sure it's possible not to have similarities in a hero fantasy book. Either way, it's well written, the characters are likeable and just fallible enough. It's a hood start and I look forward to The Poisoned King.
October 20, 2023
3.75 stars. A nice generic fantasy, but please, do not compare this to Tolkien, because that's a literary blasphemy.
March 31, 2024
It was a very fine day, until something tried to eat him.
It was a very fine day, until someone tried to kill her.
Christopher, a young human boy, discovers that his grandfather is a guardian of the 'Waybetween' earth and the Archipelago, home to all the creatures of myth and source of the 'Glimourie' - the power that drives all life in both realms.
Mal, a girl possessed of a flying coat and a baby griffin, crashes through Christopher’s portal and pleads for help to save the magical creatures.
The book begins with an encyclopaedia of mythical creatures, reminiscent of Fantastic Beasts and where to Find Them and the Spiderwick Chronicles. I listened to the audiobook, but apparently there are even illustrations of the bestiary!!
Rundell creates an imaginative adventure wjoch draws parallels between the fading glimourie of the Archipelago and our own ecological crisis, allowing young readers the space to see how bravery and determination must overcome selfishness and greed.
”I'm no philosopher, and I prefer, in an ideal world, to go uneaten.”
The first half was definitely my favourite - full of humour and hijinks all children will relate to - boogey jokes, fart jokes, etc. I admit to laughing myself.
After that, it became more solemn and quest-like. The ending did take me by surprise.
Bookstagram
It was a very fine day, until someone tried to kill her.
Christopher, a young human boy, discovers that his grandfather is a guardian of the 'Waybetween' earth and the Archipelago, home to all the creatures of myth and source of the 'Glimourie' - the power that drives all life in both realms.
Mal, a girl possessed of a flying coat and a baby griffin, crashes through Christopher’s portal and pleads for help to save the magical creatures.
The book begins with an encyclopaedia of mythical creatures, reminiscent of Fantastic Beasts and where to Find Them and the Spiderwick Chronicles. I listened to the audiobook, but apparently there are even illustrations of the bestiary!!
Rundell creates an imaginative adventure wjoch draws parallels between the fading glimourie of the Archipelago and our own ecological crisis, allowing young readers the space to see how bravery and determination must overcome selfishness and greed.
”I'm no philosopher, and I prefer, in an ideal world, to go uneaten.”
The first half was definitely my favourite - full of humour and hijinks all children will relate to - boogey jokes, fart jokes, etc. I admit to laughing myself.
After that, it became more solemn and quest-like. The ending did take me by surprise.
Bookstagram
August 16, 2023
Perfection - adventure, quirk, wit, imagination, tiny dragons, loss, love, secret doorways to magical worlds - this book has it all and more!
October 7, 2023
Honestly not sure what the hype was all about. Really didn’t like the over describing and the ending .
September 24, 2024
YA fantasy (or is it middle grade?) with a mythical feel and tons of atmosphere (Earthsea-ish not magic school, that makes for a nice change). It feels a bit special and I can see why it is so popular, but at the same time, expectations are demanding and unreasonable: it is not special-special like, you know, that other british children's series everybody has heard of (yes, that one, the one so famous it is too obvious to even mention it) or even like some of my favorites that are not that famous Frances Hardinge (Author) or Megan Whalen Turner).
I think actual children might love this book more wholeheartedly than me - lots of cute animals! And they might appreciate more the simplicity of it, there is a relatively simple mode to the plot and storytelling and generic philosophizing that an adult might find a bit shallow. (Also there is a constant mode of building pathos which as an adult bothers me,
Real rating, 3.5 stars rounding up because it might not be the book, but just me being too old for this. I might end up buying this book multiple times as gifts, because it is that little bit special and an ongoing fantasy series. I can see this really appealing to children (very vivid and tons of cute creatures!) and it is wonderful to be reading a series while it is being written and making theories and getting books on release day. This is a good option for that.
I think actual children might love this book more wholeheartedly than me - lots of cute animals! And they might appreciate more the simplicity of it, there is a relatively simple mode to the plot and storytelling and generic philosophizing that an adult might find a bit shallow. (Also there is a constant mode of building pathos which as an adult bothers me,
Real rating, 3.5 stars rounding up because it might not be the book, but just me being too old for this. I might end up buying this book multiple times as gifts, because it is that little bit special and an ongoing fantasy series. I can see this really appealing to children (very vivid and tons of cute creatures!) and it is wonderful to be reading a series while it is being written and making theories and getting books on release day. This is a good option for that.
January 6, 2024
Very popular book that has a few flaws though imo. First, how comes that the raw emotions are left out - her great aunt dies and she - a child- does not weep? Same later when the sort of the ratatoska is unknown. Apparently feelings are not that important in the story. I was unable to attach myself to the characters due to their lack of depth. Except for Mal and Nighthand (and Gelifen ofc) they all felt kinda flat. Then the story itself had huge potential but it felt badly written more like an addition of several episodes going from one island to the next, from one action scene to the next. I think that even as a kid this might have disturbed me that all went so quickly and there are often not enough explanations and descriptions and comparing this book to great children books like Harry Potter or the Nothern Lights does not do them justice. I think the potential was there it was just not rendered well enough.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 2, 2025
“It is so difficult, to be alive. It is so difficult, and it is so beautiful."
4.5✨
What a beautiful story! "Impossible Creatures" is the kind of book I could see myself younger, but still as passionate for fantastic and magical worlds, and ready to race through the chapters just to find out what happens! This is a lovely story and my adult self enjoy it very much as well.
Christopher and Mal embark on an epic adventure, through the many islands of the Archipelago and once they start running and jumping and flying... it is simply impossible to put this book down and rest from it. The universe in this story is described in a way that simply does not let the reader look away. It is a magical story, filled to the brim with magical and enchanting creatures of old lore, with good people and bad people, people who even try to make amends... It is also a story about friendship and love and loss. It is, at its heart, of course, a story about hope and courage.
I think this is such a complete book! Although targeted to a younger audience, it doesn't shy away from hard truths and, despite it being a fantasy book, the very real situations that one will, inevitably, face through life. It also has its fun, sweet and gentle moments, especially once Christopher and Mal find Nighthand and Irian. And, most importantly, this book has immense quality in its writing, something I really appreciated while reading.
Probably naively, I did not expect such an heartbreaking ending to this story, but I also believe it to be a fitting one. It made me curious as to what could happen next in this world (or the other world, elsewhere!), and so I would love to read the second book of this series, someday. If you are a fantasy lover, especially since childhood, I truly recommend this one, it was wonderful!
“I need you to tell people this; I need you, when you get back, to tell them: the brutality is terrible. And yes: the chaos is very great. But tell them: greater than the world’s chaos are its miracles."
P.S. The edition I read includes illustrations and descriptions of every magical creature, as well as an extra story that ties the Archipelago to the Earth in an unexpected, but fun way, aspects that really bring another layer of quality to this book, in my opinion 😊
4.5✨
What a beautiful story! "Impossible Creatures" is the kind of book I could see myself younger, but still as passionate for fantastic and magical worlds, and ready to race through the chapters just to find out what happens! This is a lovely story and my adult self enjoy it very much as well.
Christopher and Mal embark on an epic adventure, through the many islands of the Archipelago and once they start running and jumping and flying... it is simply impossible to put this book down and rest from it. The universe in this story is described in a way that simply does not let the reader look away. It is a magical story, filled to the brim with magical and enchanting creatures of old lore, with good people and bad people, people who even try to make amends... It is also a story about friendship and love and loss. It is, at its heart, of course, a story about hope and courage.
I think this is such a complete book! Although targeted to a younger audience, it doesn't shy away from hard truths and, despite it being a fantasy book, the very real situations that one will, inevitably, face through life. It also has its fun, sweet and gentle moments, especially once Christopher and Mal find Nighthand and Irian. And, most importantly, this book has immense quality in its writing, something I really appreciated while reading.
Probably naively, I did not expect such an heartbreaking ending to this story, but I also believe it to be a fitting one. It made me curious as to what could happen next in this world (or the other world, elsewhere!), and so I would love to read the second book of this series, someday. If you are a fantasy lover, especially since childhood, I truly recommend this one, it was wonderful!
“I need you to tell people this; I need you, when you get back, to tell them: the brutality is terrible. And yes: the chaos is very great. But tell them: greater than the world’s chaos are its miracles."
P.S. The edition I read includes illustrations and descriptions of every magical creature, as well as an extra story that ties the Archipelago to the Earth in an unexpected, but fun way, aspects that really bring another layer of quality to this book, in my opinion 😊
March 13, 2024
Nearly abandoned this book. Instead skimmed it to the end. I love maps - the map is rubbish - just a scattering of random blobs - the author needs to pay a bit of attention to geography. No world-building to speak of and padded out by whimsical and arbitrary descriptions of magical animals and places. If the whimsical descriptions had been stripped out, could have made a terrific, fast paced novella or short story. Nearly lost another half a star because of the hype. This is is not a Tolkien or a Pullman and I felt vey let down after the blurbs on the book cover from Morpurgo, Pullman and Gaiman.
January 8, 2025
The children yearn for fairytales
October 22, 2024
A gorgeous book full of miraculous creatures. I'm also such a sucker for a beautifully designed book! This one had maps and a bestiary, illustrations throughout, sprayed edges, gold leaf! Obviously I was a goner for it when I saw the cover! It wasn't the best read aloud, mostly because it takes us a while to get through a book, due to Life Getting In the Way, so there are a lot of characters and creatures to keep track of, but it was otherwise excellent. Also: dragons.
December 8, 2023
I do rate books within its genre & category, and as a children's book, this one is well-deserving of a 5-star and Waterstone's Book of the Year award. With a beautiful map of the Archipelago and an illustrated Bestiary, Impossible Creatures was a magical tale of love, courage and friendship. It has all the timeless tropes that work so well in such tales that are filled with mythical creatures and wonder, but yet felt refreshing at the same time. Highly recommended.
August 27, 2023
“ I need you to tell people this; I need you, when you get back, to tell them: the brutality is terrible. And yes: the chaos is very great. But tell them: greater than the world’s chaos are its miracles.’ “
What a wonderful magical story- timeless and full of all the feels. Many thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book. What a gift!
What a wonderful magical story- timeless and full of all the feels. Many thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book. What a gift!
January 11, 2024
Not for me, lots of plot devices and jumping from thing to thing like a grocery list. No character development, the lead character was not very likeable or compelling or interesting, and lots of exposition and jumps.
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