Impossible Creatures

Impossible Creatures draws many of its otherworldly aspects from a long tradition of British children’s fantasy, sharing traits with such modern and contemporary classics as C. S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, and Phillip Pullman’s The Golden Compass. These works feature courageous child protagonists who explore alternate worlds full of magic and danger, learning important lessons about good and evil as they embark upon dangerous quests, meet magical creatures, and master systems of magic that exist on the edges of the nonmagical world.

In many of these works, the antagonists are figures who seek absolute power and therefore constitute an existential threat to the entire world. Rundell’s novel also conforms to this pattern, for Francesco Sforza’s all-consuming need to dominate the Archipelago threatens this magical world and the ordinary world that Christopher calls home. As with most children’s literature, the young protagonists—whom the adults often overlook and underestimate—must take the lead and counter these challenges directly, using their own wits and bravery to prevail. Thus, tiny Mal and humble Christopher must take on the burden of saving the Archipelago: a feat that they can only accomplish at great cost to themselves.