When Christopher goes to stay with the grandfather he has never met before, he discovers that there is a portal to another world in the back garden. While the creatures in our world are dying due to a human-caused climate crisis, the creatures of the Archipelago are kept alive because the glimourie – the magic that originated from the Earth’s first tree – is no longer shared between the worlds. It now exists solely in the Archipelago. The creatures of this world are magical. Christopher’s grandfather is the guardian of the way through and it is his job to protect that world from ruin. One day that job will pass to Christopher.
Christopher agrees never to go near the portal until the baby griffin he has rescued demands to be let back. Then a girl called Mal stumbles through begging for help. A murderer is chasing her and she needs protection. Christopher and Mal set off on an adventure together that sees them, alongside the friends they meet, discovering the ancient secrets of the glimourie and racing to save the precious, magical world from destruction.
This book swept me off my feet. It is something special that merits comparison with Pullman’s achievement when he began the His Dark Materials series. Both the quality of the prose and the plot itself are extarodinary. Rundell writes with the kind of simplicity that allows her erudition to shine. Her talent for mischief and humour seen earlier in her career shines through too – and always in exactly the right places. Short chapters keep the action pacy and plot information is revealed at regular intervals, allowing the reader to keep up – no mean feat given the story has a large cast of characters and spans a vast geographical range.
Other key characters include Nighthand, the berserker warrior and bad influence, and Irian, the librarian who reveres knowledge and sees it as her duty to speak up for the natural world. The pair are adults and it is wonderful how the story includes adult characters who aren’t in a parental role but who equally allow the child characters to retain agency for the adventure. There are magical animals who play a key part in the adventure too as fully-formed characters and not sidekicks. Gelifen the baby griffin and ratatoska Ratwin are main characters but there are other key characters including Naravirala the sphinx, whose knowledge rivals Irian’s, to Jacques, the tiny dragon with a massive personality.
The intertwining histories of our world and the Archipelago are complex and brilliant. I love that this doesn’t underestimate child readers, bringing in real life historical and mythological characters, and explaining how they played a part in the history of both Earth and Archipelago. The book equally maintains such a plot pace that young readers won’t be overloaded by information – knowing the real life histories or myths of these characters is unnecessary to following the plot.
Books this brilliant don’t come along often and when they do they remind me afresh of what storytelling can do. Rundell has clamoured for readers to help the planet and she has also written an adventure filled with strange islands and magical creatures and sailing the seas of a strange world. This is a book filled with friendship and bonds with other creatures and learning to see intelligence in creatures that aren’t human. I know I will reread this many times – sometimes for the sheer joy of it and at other times to admire the craft. It was no secret that Rundell was talented but I’m excited to see just how at home she is writing fantasy. I’m already looking forward to seeing how the series develops and I’m saving shelf space for the next volumes.
- Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell is available now from Bloomsbury Children’s Books. RRP. £14.99
