Title: Impossible Creatures
Author: Katherine Rundell
Narrator: Samuel West
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Publication date: September 10, 2024
Print length: 352 pages
Audio length: 8 hours 55 minutes
Genre: Middle grade fantasy
Source: Library (audiobook); purchased (hardcover)
Rating:
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.
Impossible Creatures generated a ton of buzz when it was released last year… and now that I’ve read it, I can happily confirm that all the praise is justified: This middle grade fantasy adventure is outstanding.
Christopher and Mal are two young heroes from two different worlds. Christopher lives in the world we know, a perfectly ordinary boy (other than his strange ability to attract animals wherever he goes). His life changes dramatically when he goes to spend a school holiday with his grandfather in Scotland. There, he discovers an opening to a secret, magical world, of which his grandfather is the guardian — a role Christopher is meant to inherit someday when he’s older.
Mal is a spunky, adventurous girl with a coat that gives her the gift of flight, outsized bravery, and an insatiable curiosity. When a stranger attacks her for seemingly no reason, she’s set on a path that leads her to Christopher. Christopher is immediately captivated by the magical world she represents, and pledges to help keep her safe, escape the bad buys, and figure out why Mal’s world (the Archipelago) seems to be losing the magic that infuses it.
As Christopher and Mal’s quest begins, they’re joined by her pet griffin, the last of its kind, as well as by a hardened sailor who’s more than what he seems and a scholar who also realizes the threat to their world. Together, they set out to save the magic and to understand Mal’s role and why dark forces seem to be aligned against her.
I’ll pause the story summary here to say that this book is glorious! The characters are wonderful — especially Christopher and Mal, who are everything we’d want in young heroes, but also the cast of humans and other creatures whom they encounter. Some are allies, some are obstacles, some are enemies, but all are created with careful detail and splendid heapings of imagination.
The quest itself follows what may feel like familiar beats, as the core group journeys from destination to destination within the Archipelago, solving riddles, finding missing objects, and carrying out difficult tasks along the route to confronting the ultimate big bad — yet the terrific writing makes it all feel fresh and fun. The quest is deliciously exciting and action-packed, but the action is never at the expense of character development. Mal and Christopher both get plenty of soul-searching and introspection along the way, as well as the opportunity to establish the deepest of friendships and to discover truths about themselves and their worlds.
I listened to the audiobook, narrated by actor Samuel West (currently starring in All Creatures Great and Small as Siegfried Farnon). His voice is wonderfully suited to this tale; he fully embodies a large cast of characters, and is especially delightful as Mal, Christopher, and their protector Nighthand. I occasionally had trouble making out pieces of dialogue for certain non-human characters due to the accent and pitch of the voices used, but that was only for a fraction of the audiobook experience, and didn’t detract from the overall enjoyment at all.
A reading note: While I loved the audiobook experience, I strongly encourage anyone going that route to also follow along with a print edition. The book is filled with beautiful black and white illustrations by artist Ashley Mackenzie that add so much to the story — see below for a few examples!
Impossible Creatures is a terrific, hopeful, emotional book, and I loved every moment. A sequel, The Poisoned King, will be published later in 2025. There’s no cover yet, but I’ll be keeping an eye out for it, and I absolutely plan to read the book as soon as it’s available.
I had the pleasure of reading an earlier book by Katherine Rundell — Rooftoppers — last year, and loved it as well. This is an author to watch! I look forward to exploring more of her books, and meanwhile, will be counting the days until The Poisoned King is released.
A selection of illustrations from Impossible Creatures:
Bookshelf Fantasies 
I would definitely read the print version for those gorgeous drawings! I’m glad you loved this so much. I don’t pay attention to MG books so this might be the first time I’ve heard of it😁
I don’t even remember why this one caught my eye when it first came out — I don’t read much MG fiction these days, but I’m so glad I gave this one a try.