The Poisoned King

#2 Impossible Creatures

Katherine Rundell

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$18.99

Paperback

Forthcoming
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English

Bloomsbury
16 September 2025

Children's & Educational; Adventure stories (Children's&YA); Fantasy & magical realism (Children's&YA); Mysteries & the supernatural (Children's&YA)

Series: Impossible Creatures

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'Katherine Rundell returns with a perfect fantasy' Telegraph

The unmissable new story in the No.1 Sunday Times bestselling Impossible Creatures series, for fans of Philip Pullman, Percy Jackson and Skandar.

'There was Tolkien, there is Pullman and now there is Katherine Rundell' – Michael Morpurgo

When Christopher Forrester is unexpectedly woken by a miniature dragon chewing on his face, his heart leaps for joy. For months he’s dreamed of returning to the Archipelago – the secret islands where all the creatures of myth still live. But he did not know it would involve a rescue mission on the back of a sphinx, or a plan to enter a dragon’s lair. Nor did he imagine it would involve a girl with a flock of birds at her side, a new-hatched chick in her pocket and a ravenous hunger for justice...

Awards and praise for Impossible Creatures

WINNER Waterstones Book of the Year WINNER British Book Awards Children's Book

of the Year WINNER Foyles Children's Book of the Year

WINNER Books Are My Bag

Readers Award

'A book stuffed full of fantastical, magical delight' – Cressida Cowell

'Readers will seize this with delight' – Philip Pullman

'A masterpiece to rival Tolkien' – Daily Telegraph

'Every sentence sparkles ... Magnificent' – The Times

Impossible Creatures Sunday Times bestseller, December 2023

By: Katherine Rundell
Imprint: Bloomsbury
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 196mm, Width: 128mm, Spine: 26mm
Weight: 272g
ISBN: 9781408897454
ISBN 10: 1408897458
Series: Impossible Creatures
Pages: 336
Publication Date: 16 September 2025
Recommended Age: From 8 to 12 years
Audience: Children/juvenile , English as a second language
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Katherine Rundell is a multi-million-bestselling author whose novels for children have won the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, the Blue Peter Book Award and the Costa Children’s Book Award, among many others. Impossible Creatures was Waterstones Book of the Year 2023, and in 2024 Katherine was named the British Book Awards Author of the Year and Impossible Creatures won the Children’s Fiction Book of the Year. She is a Quondam Fellow of All Souls College and a Fellow of St Catherine’s College, Oxford, where she works on Renaissance literature. Her books for adults include Super-Infinite, winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize. Very occasionally she goes climbing across the rooftops of Oxford, late at night.

Reviews for The Poisoned King (#2 Impossible Creatures)

Katherine Rundell returns with a perfect fantasy * Telegraph * Rundell is back with a sequel to her runaway middle-grade fantasy hit “Impossible Creatures,” which offers magical thrills for young readers and adults alike. * New York Times * An exquisitely written, expertly plotted, emotionally affecting and totally immersive triumph! * LoveReading4Kids * A mythical and magical world, the Archipelago is full of colour and opportunity for children to lose themselves in their imaginations. Katherine Rundell delights with this sequel: Exceptional * Children's Books Ireland *