Impossible Creatures

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)
While ‘Impossible Creatures’ seemed, right from the get-go, about as unoriginal as possible, by the end it has proven one of the few gems in modern children’s literature.
Characters:
Unfortunately, Christopher – the main character in Impossible Creatures – is really nothing compelling. His fatal flaw, which appears to be either greed or lack of empathy, judging by his confusion and annoyance at Mal’s fear and reluctance at accepting being the Immortal – is sparse and disconnected from his actual character and doesn’t negatively impact the events or his relationship with any of the other main characters.
On the other hand, Mal is a genuinely interesting character with complex yet still understandable emotions – her (death?) at the end was not particularly fresh for this type of character, but it still bore emotional weight. She has an amazing character arc, in which she goes from denial of her Immortal nature to acceptance.
Unfortunately, Irian is rather boring as a character.
Nighthand is a perfect example of how to create a character who is fun and enjoyable but also compelling and complex. While his character arc hasn’t quite started yet, the seeds have been planted and I can’t wait for the next book to begin his journey.
Ratwin is entertaining and loveable but there isn’t much to say on her.
Plot:
Unfortunately, the plot in ‘Impossible Creatures’ is nothing interesting. However, I did really enjoy the reveal that Mal is the Immortal – it was refreshing to see the secondary protagonist be the important one.
The ending was a blur for me and was rather poorly done. The man in the centre of the maze was completely unforeshadowed and the story treats his identity like a huge twist even though it was literally the first time you’d heard of him.
Conclusion:
Overall, ‘Impossible Creatures’ is a good book with some strong characters but a weak plot (and villain).
– Micah, All Saints Catholic School

Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell is an amazing novel all about a concealed world full of awesome and surreal creatures. It is about two young people, one of whom comes from the real world, while the other is from the mystical world. The girl from the magic world is called Mal and although she does not know it she is the long sought after immortal: an all knowing soul. But she is in danger from a murderer who is after her and in the course of her running away she meets the other main protagonist named Christopher who is from the real world. The two main characters then go on an epic
quest to save the magical world. On the way they meet an assortment of friends who help and protect them but then as the story goes on the company is whittled down to the original two who have to face and triumph over evil by themselves.
The two main characters (Christopher and Mal) were very
interesting to read about as although they came from different worlds they were great friends. Mal owns a pet griffin called Gelifen, which in my opinion is a great name. Unfortunately, Gelifen dies near the end of the book but that only strengthens Mal in her quest and is great for her character development. The two protagonists had an assortment of friends as I have said, most of whom they met on a ship called ‘The Neverfear’. The crew were a small ratoska (a small green squirrel like creature) called Ratwin who was very mischievous and funny, a huge towering warrior called Nighthand and an old sailor called Warren who unfortunately was killed by a sea monster. There was also a scholar called Irian who
they picked up on the way. Irian is a clear minded marine biologist who falls in love with Nighthand. However all of these friends are separated from our original pair of Mal and Christopher by the end of the book leaving them to face evil on their own. Overall it was great seeing these characters develop as the quest goes on. I found it very interesting to read about Mal. In the plot she is the fabled immortal – someone who remembers everything- although she doesn’t know it. Once she finds out and she is terrified for she would see all the suffering and death that has existed. At this point in the story ,when she finds out, she is almost ready to give up but with hard determination she battles on with Christopher.
One of my favourite things about the book is the little fact file at the start which has all the creatures that live in the mystical world. I thought it was fun to hear about a weird creature in the book and look it up in the front of the book.
I really enjoyed reading this amazing novel and my mum often found me reading late into the night. (sorry mum) All in all a great and entertaining read five out of five stars from me. 🙂
– Manor CE Academy

Impossible Creatures explores friendship and a mythical, magical world – an Archipelago filled with various enchanted creatures – dragons, sphinxes, mermaids, etc – but not soon as Christopher soon discovers the lack and fading of magic is going to destroy the islands. When Christopher and his new friend – Malum – are saving this miraculous world, the danger arrives – a murderer is coming and attempting to get rid of them for an unknown reason.
I genuinely like how this book combined a lot of my favourite genres, mythology, mystery, magical, and murder all together. The story is also attractive to continue reading with many mysteries tied and followed another, making this fiction unputdownable. There are also many details of engrossing character designs that attract me, for example how the name ‘Mal’ contained so many thoughts and designs which simply appeared in the entire book with three letters, and how Nighthand’s ship holds not just the ideology, but also carries his identity.
Overall, this book is notable among the books I have read so far in 2025. It appeals to me from the plot to the characters and the genre with extraordinary details.
– Isaac N., Year 8, St Peter’s 8-13

I loved reading Impossible Creatures because I love going into different worlds, and it’s fascinating how the author makes two completely different worlds and lives to intertwine into one. I liked how the main characters were the same age as me, and it made it easier for me to understand the feelings and emotions of the characters. The book made perfect sense, even though some of the magical animals were crazily creative and fun. There were a lot of suprises in the plot, and I loved the sad but brilliant and unexpected plot twist at the end, and it lead to a slightly unusual but still really nice happy ending.
– Mandy, Year 8, St Peter’s 8-13

Katherine Rundell is a writing goddess. I loved her other books, The Explorer and The Wolf Wilder, and Impossible Creatures is no different.
We meet Mal and Christopher, two children who are both trying to avoid being murdered. Christopher lives in our world, while Mal lives in a world of myth and legend. However, the magic that keeps the myths alive is being destroyed by a mysterious force.
Although set in a fantasy world, this is such a human book, showing pure emotion, and making the readers feel it too. I laughed and cried along with the characters, and I can’t wait for the second book to be out.
– Imogen, Year 7, St Peter’s 8-13

Personally this was one of my favourite books to read as it included several mythical animals, with an amazing, easy-to-follow plot. I enjoyed this book as they were exploring a vast world, instead of being confined to just one small space. I think that is why this book stands out from the rest, with an amazing cover, an easy on the brain plot and the inclusion of a few different main and side characters. I think that an underlying message in the book is to show that no matter who you are, or what group you are with, you can always achieve your goal, so long as you all try hard.
My favourite part of the book was the beginning, where you only saw snippets at a time and swapped location and character every chapter until our main characters crossed paths. I enjoyed the novel as it included a lot of fantasy and the concept of ‘’The Immortal’’ was a very good idea. The complete plotline was rather out of the ordinary as you had many different characters introduced in multiple subtle ways. Like how Leonardo da Vinci and his cousin were the builders of the maze to the glimourie tree, and their descendant was the main enemy sucking all the glimourie out of the world. Glimourie is what fuelled the magic of the archipelago which is where magic resided in the world.
The third-person perspective made it feel as though you were watching the adventure unfold beneath you, unseen to the characters. This changed the story as Katherine had to express emotions through body language and verbal changes, such as curling up on
the shrubs or wailing in distress. The different settings were very vivid as Katherine described where they were or where they were heading with a lot of detail. Personally, I think the golden tree could have been bigger, or described a bit more in depth, and for the scene there to be longer.
Whilst reading, I felt anticipation for what was going to happen later in the story. After I read the story I felt sad as Mal committed suicide and the death of Gelifen really sank in. As I have said before, this was one of my favourite books of all time and I highly recommend this book to all readers interested in fantasy.
– Manor CE Academy

This book was really inspiring, and the author – Katherine Rundell – was very clever and it really was a creative novel and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The dual characters Mal, Christopher and the Griffin go on an amazing adventure through the Archipelago. Mal and Christopher’s amazing friendship really was emotional, and their fierce faith in each was really moving.
The brutality and harshness of the world was really saddening, so I’d say the age is about 11-14 years of age. The main plot is: the world is bedeviling because of the immortal- a constant reincarnated soul from the start of time- was unable to grasp the horribleness of the world, and said no.
I thought the book was amazing and I’d give it a five star.
– Manor CE Academy

From what I understand Katherine Rundell is a very popular author among both the public as well as fellow writers. This is cemented in your mind when looking at the inside cover as you see some of the most critically acclaimed contemporary writers: Jacqueline Wilson, Francis Hardinge, Neil Gaiman, Michael Morpurgo and Phillip Pullman. I myself believe that only one is absolutely true: The Daily Mail – “an extraordinary writer”.
Impossible Creatures is a book about two children – Mal and Christopher – who meet by extraordinary odds and decide to save the world together from an unknown evil which is stealing the life force away from the archipelago.
Rundell writes flowing prose with vocabulary aimed at the audience with accuracy. The way that the English language is utilised to her purpose is ‘extraordinary’.
The setting is also very well thought out as it shows a melting point of cultural and mythological ideas with mythical creatures of all backgrounds carefully divided across an archipelago. Although I do not understand the need for so much segregation of certain types of people and different species of mythical beast.
In terms of the characters I find the juxtaposition of the backgrounds of Mal and Christopher to be necessary but arguably quite cliché at points and I find some characters lack development and some have and excess (the one of which coming to mind would be the guardian of the golden tree who I thought was nevertheless an excellent and amusing character).
But alas this is as far as my compliments go as I found the storyline frustratingly linear going from one place to another and then being told where to go next with few changes and no major setbacks. I find its manner quite predictable and find it lacking in one of the essential elements of a good novel. Human emotion. I am sorry to say I felt nothing for any one of the characters until the end which I believe was only just tragic enough.
Most importantly I believe I require a moral as young people’s fiction with a moral is fiction for anybody. It gives a book a direction and humanises characters in a way little else can and it also helps the writer stay focused and passionate about their work. Without a moral it will never become ‘the next classic’ (-i newspaper).
I am sorry to criticise but I hope that my view at least inspires my fellow young writers if not ‘Impossible Creatures: The Poisoned King’.
– Matthew, Millthorpe School