www.kirkusreviews.com gave a Starred Review and wrote "An epic fantasy with timeless themes and unforgettable characters."
www.commonsensemedia.org gave a 5 out of 5 Stars and a Common Sense Selection, best book 2024, recommended for 10+ years. "Inspired narrative, world-building in luminous series debut."
www.goodreads.com community gave 4.16 out of 5 stars with 10,185 ratings
There's a place where all the wildest stories began ... From Katherine Rundell, winner of the Costa Children's Book Award, the Blue Peter Book Award and the Waterstones Children's Book Prize comes the first novel in a landmark trilogy for 9+ fans of His Dark Materials.
'The world of this new book is so intriguing and so well put together that I couldn't resist it. Readers who already know her books will seize this with delight, and new readers will love it and demand all her others at once' - Philip Pullman
'A marvellous, imaginative fantasy told with great style and sparkle - a book to race through in a day and keep for a lifetime' - Jacqueline Wilson
Christopher is stunned when he discovers a passage to the Archipelago: a cluster of magical islands where all the creatures of myth still live and breed and thrive in their thousands.
There he meets Mal: a girl from the islands, who is in possession of a flying coat and a baby griffin, and who is being pursued by a killer. Together they embark on an urgent quest to discover why the creatures are suddenly perishing, voyaging across the wild splendour of the Archipelago, where sphinxes hold secrets and centaurs do murder, in a bid to save both the islands and the world beyond them from a rising evil - before it's too late.
Fantasy
Age: From 8 years
Paperback
Katherine Rundell
368 pages
H: 198mm W: 129mm