The brilliant Katherine Rundell
This is the new odyssey where we join the intrepid crew aboard the vessel, Neverfear, that pit the fearless Christopher, Anya and their mythical friends as they prime the sails for a perilous quest to save the ones whom they hold dear….
But, hold-up!…not so fast… its unwise to ignore the summons of a unicorn. Some context first. Every year, the citizens of Glimouria Archipelago celebrate the longest day of the year with a feast. Eating Misummer cake and drinking Dryad-wine is their way of saluting the glory of the light, but melodrama intervenes, as it always does, with the news of bandits and masked men burning villages on their spree through the islands. Anya and Christopher are ambushed. Now Christopher must face fearsome giants in a daring race to outwit deadly enemies.
It is a terrific connection to Greek myths especially Hercules, with the villains playing a favourite role in the hands of author, Katherine Rundell, with multiple chapters told from their point of view, strewing lots of clues as to their plotting behind the scenes. In the villain-verse, Astor Morax is my favourite because he is so malicious but captivating, as is Carla Venesques’s character. Love the way the author invokes the Immortals with Teren’s role.
Rundell’s view of the world and its relationships is a majestic feat as she crafts deepening ties between Christopher and Anya as they sail into perilous situations, allowing them to mature and discover and experience new dimensions.
The author has been lauded as the new Tolkien, she is a masterful storyteller. This story is akin to Narnia in the way it scoops you up, hook, line and sinker. It’s endearing that young readers, especially middle-graders are introduced to Christopher, Anya, Ratwin and Jacques to savour the meanings of the merits they are willing to stand for, sacrifice and protect.
The book’s charm is interspersed with magic and real dangers. It opens in the Palace of Glimt, where our friends are busy running a refuge for incredible creatures. They face a new danger on the eve of Midsummer, in the guise of a tiger that lives in a mirror dimension that uses mirror portals to come through and attack. Irian insists on sailing to the City of Scholars to alert the Flying Senate of what is occurring, setting our intrepid motley crew reeling sideways into their daring quest where the stakes are as high as they get. Its a timeless, compelling, heroic take that is sage and edifying, as perfect as it gets from the author who is a fellow of All Souls College, Oxford .
Being a novice to the Impossible Creatures genre, this third book of the NYTimes best-selling series required the reviewer to quick dive into Rooftoppers a story about a girl in search of her past who discovers a secret rooftop world in Paris, a world of urchins who inhabit the hidden spaces above the city…all the while evading the French authorities. Shades of Dumas and Dickens by this highly imaginative author. I can see where young readers become devotees of this superbly crafted series of books.
A little background context about this heart-pounding, fast-paced, mythology-laced fantasy adventure, in a richly imagined fantastical world. As i alluded to previously, the villains perspective chapters add nuanced layers of intrigue, deepening and enriching the plot behind the scenes.
There is a place in our world, hidden from us by magic, in which every single creature of myth is still alive. Its a cluster of islands called the Gilmouria Archipelago, and you can get there yourself, if you know the way. The author begins to weaves her amazing saga revealing our protagonists, Christopher Forrester, a boy from London who has found his way there, joined by his closest friend, a girl named Anya Argen, who was once the Princess of Dousha. Added to the stable is Ratwin, a green- horned squirrel-like creature, and Jacques, a dragon small enough to stand in the palm of your hand. They have to recover treasures, rescue a kidnapped loved one, navigating giants in a deadly race. Three tasks, in the form of precious objects have to be furnished for the ransom…first pluck a whisker from each of the three heads of Cerebus, the ferocious breed of dog brought back by Hercules from the Underworld. For this seemingly impossible task they enlist aid of Meri, an assistant librarian, who is a Batrachomyomachian mouse, tiny, intelligent and valiant to find the Cerebus.
This fantastical world covers a heroic and romantic excursions perfect for the budding imagination of young readership that introduce, history, literature and magic into their creative souls. I am enthralled by being a guest travelling through the universe of Impossible Creatures.
