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Impossible Creatures

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Impossible Creatures

By: Katherine Rundell
Narrated by: Samuel West
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About this listen

Bloomsbury presents Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell, read by Samuel West.

There was Tolkien, there is Pullman and now there is Katherine Rundell. Wondrous invention, marvellous writing.' – Michael Morpurgo

‘Rundell’s first foray into fantasy is both a deft, rich homage to the greats of children’s literature and an absorbing, profoundly poignant quest story for those aged 9+ – quite possibly her best yet’ – The Guardian

'A book stuffed full of fantastical, magical delight, and a world of richly imagined wonder' – Cressida Cowell

* WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEAR WINNER * BOOKS ARE MY BAG READERS' AWARD WINNER * FOYLES CHILDREN'S BOOK OF THE YEAR * SHORTLISTED FOR AMAZON KIDS AND YA BOOK OF THE YEAR

* THE TIMES CHILDREN'S BOOK OF THE WEEK * THE INDEPENDENT CHILDREN'S BOOK OF THE WEEK * THE DAILY TELEGRAPH CHILDREN'S BOOK OF THE WEEK * SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

There’s a place where all the wildest stories began … From Katherine Rundell, winner of the Costa Children’s Book Award, the Blue Peter Book Award and the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize comes the first novel in a landmark trilogy for 9+ fans of His Dark Materials

Christopher is stunned when he discovers a passage to the Archipelago: a cluster of magical islands where all the creatures of myth still live and breed and thrive in their thousands. There he meets Mal: a girl from the islands, who is in possession of a flying coat and a baby griffin, and who is being pursued by a killer. Together they embark on an urgent quest to discover why the creatures are suddenly perishing, voyaging across the wild splendour of the Archipelago, where sphinxes hold secrets and centaurs do murder, in a bid to save both the islands and the world beyond them from a rising evil – before it's too late.

'A marvellous, imaginative fantasy told with great style and sparkle – a book to race through in a day and keep for a lifetime' – Jacqueline Wilson

'The world of this new book is so intriguing and so well put together that I couldn’t resist it. Readers who already know her books will seize this with delight, and new readers will love it and demand all her others at once' – Philip Pullman

‘A masterpiece to rival Tolkien and Pullman’ – The Daily Telegraph

'Fantastically exuberant, wildly imaginative, impossibly brilliant. Rundell’s best, which is something to be marvelled at' – Kiran Millwood Hargrave

‘An exhilarating, many-hued adventure, heartfelt and sometimes heartbreaking’ – Frances Hardinge

'Between the covers of Impossible Creatures is a world as enchanting, as perilous, as richly imagined as Narnia or Middle Earth' – Frank Cottrell-Boyce

‘Rundell's book packs a punch with imagination and creativity in its purest form. She has created a story with potential to be adored by fantasy lovers for years to come’ – The Independent

'With a delightful cast of characters, breathless adventure, and an abundance of myth and magic, Impossible Creatures offers the very best of fantasy' – Aisha Bushby

'A fierce, fantastic, wild-hearted adventure that roars and bristles with imagination. I devoured it like a hungry dragon' – Sam Sedgman

'A rare and remarkable feat of glittering imagination from a truly masterful storyteller' – Catherine Doyle

'The action is gripping. Every sentence sparkles. You can feel the flutter of griffin feathers and the menace of strange poisonous shrews. Magnificent’ – The Times

‘Surely the next classic’ – The I

'My Book of the Year' – Lauren St. John©2023 Katherine Rundell (P)2023 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Animals Growing Up & Facts of Life Literature & Fiction Science Fiction & Fantasy

What listeners say about Impossible Creatures

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What a beauty!

A ♡ warming adventure full of friendship and many immortal creatures! So good 😊 loved the world as all things contained in it xx Thank you 🤩 xx

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Something special

An instant classic of the fantasy genre! Impossible Creatures is a novel that younger readers will love as something special in their reading lives (as does this 55 yo). Highest recommendation!

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Amazing story

I loved this book and wish there was more. Will definietely relisten. The world and characters are great. Really good narrator too.

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Wonderfully woven story with great heart

One of the most beautiful stories I’ve listened to or read in a very long time. It’s one of those tales that stays with you & I can’t wait for the next. As rich and evocative as The Alchemist. Beautifully written and beautifully read. Thank you

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Loved it

Enjoyed it so much, I’m searching for a book 2 to see who the next immortal will be and how he/she will cross paths with Christopher.

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Great listening

I’m much older than the target audience, but I found this delightful. The story is engaging, and the characters very well developed.

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Such a great original fantasy tale.

I found this slow to get into to start, but soon I was hooked! it doesn't seem long enough, I want more adventures! we need to know what happens now that Christopher is a guardian. I loved the vivid characters evoked in my mind, and the funniest fart references which were skipped over in the story but left me, and my husband who was listening to it as I had it on Audible just playing loudly in our room while we each were doing parallel play, going "WAIT, WHAT???" 🤣

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a fantastic tale a most listen

the story line was not only fantastic but also consistent with each turn and new encounter it grew. highly recommended for all those love fantasy stories.

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