Impossible Creatures

Author: Rundell, Katherine

Unclassified

Published on 14 September 2023 by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (Bloomsbury Childrens Books) in the United Kingdom.

Hardback | 368 pages
145 x 225 x 30 | 438g

There was Tolkien, there is Pullman and now there is Katherine Rundell. Wondrous invention, marvellous writing. - Michael MorpurgoTHE TIMES CHILDRENS BOOK OF THE WEEKTHE INDEPENDENT CHILDRENS BOOK OF THE WEEKTheres a place where all the wildest stories began ... From Katherine Rundell, winner of the Costa Childrens Book Award, the Blue Peter Book Award and the Waterstones Childrens Book Prize comes the first novel in a landmark trilogy for 9+ fans of His Dark MaterialsIt 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 Christophers 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.

A marvellous, imaginative fantasy told with great style and sparkle - a book to race through in a day and keep for a lifetime. - Jacqueline WilsonThe world of this new book is so intriguing and so well put together that I couldnt 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 PullmanKatherine Rundell is a phenomenon. - Neil GaimanA book stuffed full of fantastical, magical delight, and a world of richly imagined wonder - Cressida CowellFantastically exuberant, wildly imaginative, impossibly brilliant. Rundells best, which is something to be marvelled at. - Kiran Millwood HargraveBetween the covers of Impossible Creatures is a world as enchanting, as perilous, as richly imagined as Narnia or Middle Earth. - Frank Cottrell-BoyceRundells 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 IndependentWith a delightful cast of characters, breathless adventure, and an abundance of myth and magic, Impossible Creatures offers the very best of fantasy. - Aisha BushbyA fierce, fantastic, wild-hearted adventure that roars and bristles with imagination. I devoured it like a hungry dragon - Sam SedgmanA rare and remarkable feat of glittering imagination from a truly masterful storyteller. - Catherine DoyleThe action is gripping. Every sentence sparkles. You can feel the flutter of griffin feathers and the menace of strange poisonous shrews. Magnificent. - The TimesMy Book of the Year. - Lauren St. John