Katherine Rundell Announces New Fantasy Novel Neverfear

Disney thinks it has found the next Harry Potter. Last year, the company announced it acquired the movie rights to Katherine Rundell’s Impossible Creatures series, noting that Rundell is the first author since J.K. Rowling to top the children’s bestseller lists in both the U.S. and U.K. Rundell initially pitched Impossible Creatures as a trilogy, but signed a seven-figure publishing contract last year to deliver five books. After reading the third book in the series, the reviewer understands the hype.

Released in 2023, Impossible Creatures introduced the hidden world of the Glimouria Archipelago, where mythological creatures still roam free. Like Narnia or Neverland, it is a wondrous and dangerous realm for a young British kid to explore. Rundell based the stories in part on her childhood in Harare, Zimbabwe, where her father was a diplomat. She fuses her love of real animals with mythology and Shakespeare.

The first book is based primarily on The Odyssey, the second on Hamlet. The Neverfear is Die Hard with a Vengeance melded with the Labours of Hercules. Christopher Forester, a boy with a powerful connection with animals, takes care of all manner of mythical creatures on the island of Glimt with the help of the former pirate Nighthand and the scholar Irian Guinne. When Irian is abducted, Christopher and the former princess Anya are tasked with gathering rare components from magical creatures scattered around the archipelago to meet the demands of her captors.

The Neverfear offers an impressive mix of whimsy and danger. A mission to pluck the whiskers from a giant’s pet Cerberus takes a detour into the kitchen, where the kids swim around in an enormous bowl of custard and are almost accidentally eaten by a giant child who wants his own snack. An anything-goes race offers a chance to show off a wide variety of different magical creatures, but also reveals the abuse some of the competitors are willing to unleash on their mounts to win. Respect for animals and the natural world is a major through line of the series, and it comes across as earnest rather than preachy.

Sneaking in philosophy and poetry

Rundell layers in clever literary and philosophical references that will likely fly over the heads of young readers. Sometimes they are silly, like Nighthand’s clumsy attempts at poetry riffing off Shakespearean sonnets. More profound is her reimagining of the Ship of Theseus. The Neverfear is Nighthand’s boat, which has been destroyed several times, rebuilt from scraps, and given the same name. Each version is better than the last because Nighthand knows more about how to make a ship. That story comforts Christopher in a moment of despair. It is a metaphor for how everyone breaks, but failure can drive them to put themselves back together stronger and wiser.

Beyond defending magical creatures, the heroes are also tasked with protecting the Immortal Child, a recently reincarnated infant who possesses all the knowledge of humanity. It is a clever riff on a fantasy trope, a chosen one who is not the hero themselves. He is a MacGuffin whose worth is self-evident regardless of what the villain’s plans for him might be.

That villain is the book’s biggest weakness and feels far too similar to Voldemort. Astor Morax can communicate with a snake that writhes under his skin through some dark version of Christopher’s own animal affinity, and he controls his minions with writhing ouroboros bracelets that are very reminiscent of Death Eater tattoos. The book is mostly focused on Astor’s dangerous lieutenants, so hopefully later stories will give him more personality.

Otherwise, The Neverfear delivers just about everything you could want from a kid-friendly fantasy adventure. There are so many novel creatures the reviewer wished there was even more of Ashley Mackenzie’s delicate art spread throughout the book’s pages, though a bestiary at the back of the book is a perfect closer. The heroes grow and support each other, but also make real sacrifices and confront hard truths. Rundell has the type of descriptive writing style that can fully transport a reader to another world where trees have leaves that return to their branches to roost at night, and fearless warriors apply their courage to devising bizarre new ice cream flavors. The author is currently working on the screenplay for the Impossible Creatures movie, but in the meantime it is well worth reading her books to see why Disney found them so magical.

The Neverfear will be available at all major booksellers on Sept. 1.

Source: Polygon