The Book Report #133
Episode #132
Impossible Creatures – The Poisoned King
by Katherine Rundell
The Book
In 2025, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc published this book.
My copy is a signed first edition hardback. It has 321 pages. The story ends at page 275. The head, tail and fore-edge of the book are painted.
After the story has ended. An introduction to the “Impossible Creatures” of the book. A section called The Guardian’s Bestiary.
Next are some Acknowledgements and advertisements for other books the author has written. A chapter from another of the author’s books. And, finally, an About the Author section.
What Did I Think?
The Dragons are dying. Jacques has travelled from the Archipelago. The Archipelago is a small group of islands. The islands are where the magical creatures and humans live side by side, to a point.
The magical creatures have sent Jacques on a mission to find Christopher. He is the latest in a line of guardians and protectors of the Archipelago. To get there, he has to sneak past his grandfather, who lives on the boundary of the magical realm.
Which he does with ease. Which doesn’t make his grandfather much of a guardian.
The king is dead. He was poisoned by the next in line to the throne. Or did he?
Princess Anya has had to run away. Not only to save herself, but also to find a way to save her father. The man accused of the murder.
Christopher arrives just in time to rescue the princess before she is murdered. Together, they must search for the answers that will help them defeat the villain and find the cure to save the Dragons.
Christopher finds help and sanctuary from the people he met in the first book. A lot has happened to them since their last encounter. They are on a mission. They are keeping it secret, even from Christopher. But they are there to help the guardian and the princess in their time of need.
The story did feel a bit rushed at times. And we find out nearly straight away who killed the King and how they did it. It was obvious.
We spend the rest of the book with Christopher and Anya. In search of the answers needed to solve all the problems.
The images of all the maps and creatures, as with the first book, are, I would say, made with a love for the story. These little details alone make this book worthwhile.
Would I Recommend?
It is a cliché that the second in the series is never as good as the first. And the cliché continues. However, this story is worthy of your time.
Remember: this is a children’s book. So, as an adult, keep your expectations simple. But it still has the action and adventure that will fill a medium-sized hole.
Please give this a go.
Would you like to purchase your very own copy?
You could try these online stores: Amazon (UK/USA), Waterstones, AbeBooks (UK/USA), Barnes and Noble, eBay (UK/USA).
Alternatively, you could try your local bookshop or your local library.
