Bloomsbury Impossible Creatures There was Tolkien, there is Pullman and now there is Katherine Rundell Michael Morpurgo.

Mal and Christopher come from two very different worlds. Mal lives in the Archipelago which is a large group of islands that are the home of humans and a wide variety of fantastic beings. It’s like Hagrid’s menagerie from Harry Potter or Newt Scamander and his fantastic beasts but much, much bigger. Christopher is from the other world, the world the rest of us ordinary people live in. The two of them discover that something is amiss with the ancient Glimourie Tree whose magic has protected and nourished the Archipelago. Not only is the Archipelago in peril, but the entire world is too. What a delightful book! Written for the middle grade audience, it will enchant readers of all ages. With amazing creatures like dragons, ratatoskas and sphinxes inhabiting the pages, nonstop danger, and almost impossible situations to overcome, the heroes are a brave and determined bunch. It’s a wonderful fantastical story about facing your fears. It is a story about power and how it tends to corrupt; about greed and the ultimate power, love.

Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell is one of the most magical and enjoyable books I have ever read and ripped my heart out in the best way. Every page was the most whimsical moment, and the writing was simple yet beautiful. One of the best parts? It was a good and clean story with no agenda or unnecessary garbage, exciting yet family friendly. Also, how beautiful is that cover? 😍 If you like Lewis, Tolkin, or Rowling, this needs to be your next read. 🤍

On the cover of the book they compare this author to Tolkien and Pullman. Uh, no. Not even close. Every once in while the quality of writing broke down, usually in the dialog. Having said that, a story about mythical creatures and saving the world was intriguing enough that I experienced a couple of late nights because I had trouble putting it down. The creatures and the landscape were very well described. In the first few pages of the book there is a glossary of the creatures, a drawing and description of their personalities and behaviors. I found this very helpful and referred to it often while reading. It would have been impossible to keep track of them all without it.

I am so glad I was able to snag a European copy of this book. Absolutely chuffed.

My 9 year old granddaughter loved this book. It was spell binding and age couldn't put it down.

While browsing in a local bookstore, the fantastical cover of this book stopped me dead in my tracks. The description on the back drew me in with anticipation, and the comparisons to “Tolkien” and “C.S. Lewis” excited me. I wanted to love this. Unfortunately, I found myself just powering through it. While the storyline had promise, there was no beckoning magic in the author’s writing that ever brought me along on the journey. No tempo to the story’s narration, or cadence to her writing style. Not a character I felt any empathy with or circumstance I felt intrigued by. No wonder or mystery in a book that’s meant to be a fantasy! The predictable way the story unfolds, the stilted writing, and the flat dialogue were big disappointments. A good book you can’t put down. This was hard to keep picking up.

Great beginning series. Totally hooked.

loved the story and characters.

With a beautiful cover, fabulous map, lovely illustrated guide to the creatures and a brilliant story for ages nine to adult, Impossible Creatures really is the perfect gift for any family! The story is engaging and well written, the characters are relateable and I loved the way we met so very many magical creatures (including dragons) and visited so very many of the islands in the archipelago without it ever feeling too much or repetitive. Both Mal and Christopher were great characters and I totally loved Nighthand, Ratwin and Irian too! I also really appreciated the magical objects - the casapasaran and the glamry blade were a little remniscient of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials. In all it's a great middle grade fantasy adventure with some complex themes and bittersweet moments and is sure to become a modern classic. I actually read this with my 9 year old and she also totally loved it too and we had fun chatting about it! She loved all the magical creatures as well as the idea of the immortal. An easy 4.5 stars from me and 4.75 from my daughter (rounded up to 5 for Amazon) and we definitely recommend it!

A really good story, well written, with wonderful and magical settings. A classic.

2nd book and a wonderful fantastical story. I'm a big kid at heart and thoroughly enjoyed it. I'll pass it on to a school library as its hardcover.

What a beautiful book this is. The story is compelling and magical. Everyone should read it at least once. The book itself has beautiful illustrations, the binding is great, and for once it was sent with appropriate packaging. THANKFULLY, it WASN’T sent in the brown paper envelope packaging that Amazon uses. Proper protective packaging was used by the seller and such the book reached in impeccable condition. Thank you seller.

A fairly fast and not so interesting premise. A bit rushed and probably not particularly exciting.