Rachel Reviews: Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell

I love Katherine Rundell's books. I may have said this before at the start of a review of something she'd written and it is likely that I will say it again.

This is a book which would probably be considered as more suitable for younger readers but Rundell doesn't hold with that view and neither do I. Books are books and fiction is made up, whether it contains fantasy or horror or romance. There is a preconception that books with children as heroes are simply for children but I think as long as it is well-written a tale with a child protagonist is an admirable choice. I love tales of magic and adventure and Katherine Rundell has created in Impossible Creatures, a place where the creations of myth and legend are living still under magical protection in our very own world. However, they are coming under threat and it is up to Christopher and Mal to help solve the mystery of why this is happening.

Of course, there is danger in looking for truth behind things and the pair are being pursued hotly by someone intent on doing them harm. Likewise, in trying to gain information to lead them to the solution, not all people who they encounter can be trusted and so, two children, the aforementioned Christopher and Mal, ill-equipped to deal with the task to which they find themselves exposed, have to dig deep to tap resources of courage and strength previously unknown.

This is a book full of action and full of myth. Rundell takes creatures of folklore and legend like unicorns, manticores and griffins and transposes them into a book which works as a story in itself but also as an allegory of warning to us - that wonderful animals, equally as captivating, are in danger of being razed from our world in the same way, if we are not more careful. Her book, The Golden Mole is very much a follow-on to this and recommended more highly by this reviewer.

There is a danger in books where searching or a quest is involved, for repetition to be its enemy, as characters go from place to place, encounter to encounter without enough variation to make it unique; however, I think Rundell gets this balance right and so, what you have is a well-paced tale filled with scrapes, setbacks and obstacles leading to a satisfying conclusion.

Rachel Rating: 4/5 stars

This review was first published on Reedsy Discovery:

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