Impossible Creatures: 'There was Tolkien, there is Pullman and now there is Katherine Rundell' - Michael Morpurgo

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!

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.

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.