One of my favourite authors has done it again. With Impossible Creatures Katherine Rundell has upped the ante on fantasy stories.
Here the "real" world overlaps and crashes into one of myth, populated by the eponymous Creatures (each beautifully illustrated and given a brief description at the start of the book), and as many heroes and villains as needed to carry the story along at sometimes breakneck speed, leaving the reader (or this one anyway) breathless.
But there are layers, as in the best of stories. There is the adventure, cracking along full of suspense, and plenty of twists and turns. But there is also high emotion: loss and grief, hope and fulfilment, loyalty and betrayal.
In short order we are introduced to Christopher, sent to spend time with his grandfather in an isolated part of Scotland, to Mal (with her magical `flying` coat), her great-aunt Leonor and ...."the murderer." Who could possibly resist reading on?
Very quickly Christoper and Mal`s worlds collide and the two embark on a mission to, as it says on the fly-leaf of this beautifully produced book, "transform the destiny of the world".
We read about the children`s attempts to halt the potential extinction of species and counter the things that are going wrong in the imaginary world and there is no avoiding seeing the whole story as an allegory. However, the story-telling is so masterful there is no sense of being preached at and ultimately it is a story of hope and love.
