The Neverfear by Katherine Rundell

The third book in Katherine Rundell’s Impossible Creatures series is, in many ways, the most ambitious yet: a rich, exhilarating adventure with epic stakes.

 When one of the people they love most is kidnapped, Christopher and Anya are set three deadly challenges involving giants, three-headed dogs, and a desperate race through a city where failure could mean death. Rundell’s imagination seems to grow more expansive with every book, and the Glimouria Archipelago is described with such confidence and detail that it feels both vividly real and enchantingly strange.

 Christopher and Anya continue to develop beautifully as characters, with their friendship remaining the emotional heart of the story. Around them, an ever-growing cast of heroes, villains and those who fall intriguingly somewhere in between are wonderfully described and vividly brought to life. The main antagonist is genuinely sinister and scary, making a brilliantly menacing foil for our beloved heroes.

 Although The Neverfear is a middle-grade novel, aimed broadly at readers aged 8 – 12, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to anyone who enjoys beautifully written fantasy that feels fresh, original and full of wonder. It perfectly combines danger, humour and creativity with real emotional depth.

 Highly recommended, The Neverfear is out now in hardback.

Richard