Impossible creatures: The poisoned king by Katherine Rundell

The poisoned king, the second in the highly awarded Impossible creatures (winner of the Waterstones Book of the Year, British Book Awards Children's Book of the Year, Foyles Children's Book of the Year and the Books Are My Bag Readers Award) is another stunning fantasy by Rundell. Christopher Forrester is woken up by Jacques, a tiny dragon from the Archipelago, who demands that he come with him to rescue the dragons who are dying. Christopher has been dreaming of returning to that mythical place and when he meets Anya, a princess on a mission to save her father who has been wrongly accused of murdering the King, the pair embark on a quest for justice that involves flying on the back of a sphinx, meeting dragons and finding an anecdote to poison.

Rundell’s prose is a joy to read. The story flows beautifully with the mythical land and its creatures coming alive for the reader. There are fantastic drawings of the strange beasts that inhabit the land at the back of the book and it was wonderful to be able to turn to them to visualise the gagana, a bird beloved by Anya, the chimera who accosts Chistopher and Annya, the dragons who need their help and the ratatoskas who tell of murder.

Anya is obsessed with revenge for the wrong done to her father and wants to rush to his rescue, while Christopher has been called to help the dragons. They must cooperate and help each other with the differing quests, making allies along the way and facing great danger and threats to their lives.

I had not read the first in the series, but Rundell gives enough information for the reader to be able to read The poisoned king as a stand-alone book, although it would be better to start with Impossible creatures. This series, full of strange creatures, engaging characters, danger and adventure is outstanding.

Themes: Fantasy, Friendship, Mystical creatures, Murder, Dragons, Greed.

Pat Pledger