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Katherine Rundell, author portrait
Photo:The British Library·CC BY 3.0·
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Katherine Rundell

English
Born 1987
Katherine Rundell is an English author and academic. She is the author of Impossible Creatures, named Waterstones Book of the Year for 2023. She is also the author of Rooftoppers, which in 2015 won both the overall Waterstones Children's Book Prize and the Blue Peter Book Award for Best Story, and was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal. She is a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford and has appeared as an expert guest on BBC Radio 4 programmes including Start the Week, Poetry Please, Seriously.... and Private Passions.
On LuvemBooks, we've reviewed Impossible Creatures.
1
Books Reviewed

In Katherine Rundell's own words

Katherine Rundell sits down with Waterstones to discuss the world, creatures, and themes of Impossible Creatures.

Uploaded by Waterstones, 2023 · Watch on YouTube ·

Sequel timeline and Narnia comparison

Rundell says the second book is expected in two years and will feature time shifts, new islands, and a girl berserker. She is designing the series with self-contained adventures in the vein of Narnia rather than strict consecutive chronology.

Fantasy as a shared generational song

Rather than feeling terrified by comparisons to Tolkien and Pullman, Rundell views the fantasy tradition as an ongoing song passed down through generations since Beowulf.

Also in this interview

On Impossible Creatures

In order

Katherine Rundell books in order

1 books; 1 reviewed on LuvemBooks. Dates and covers from Amazon.

  1. Impossible Creatures cover
    2024
    Impossible Creatures
    Our review →
Cover of Impossible Creatures
Impossible Creatures

4.5/5

reader rating · 3,273 ratings

Impossible Creatures is a #1 New York Times bestselling middle-grade fantasy novel by Katherine Rundell, illustrated by Ashley Mackenzie, in which two children — Christopher Forrester and Mal Arvorian — race across a hidden magical Archipelago to stop the fading of the world's magic and save its impossible creatures from extinction. Critics named it one of the Best Children's Books of the Year, calling it "a glorious fantasy adventure… brimming with intelligence, inventiveness and generosity of heart," and Kirkus Reviews, which awarded it a starred notice and placed it on its Best Books of 2024 list, called it "an epic fantasy with timeless themes and unforgettable characters." The first book in a planned trilogy, it arrives in a Yearling Deluxe paperback edition with stenciled edges.

Reviewed May 11, 2026

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