'There was Tolkien, there is Pullman and now there is Katherine Rundell.Wondrous invention, marvellous writing.'–Michael MorpurgoTHE TIMES CHILDREN'S BOOK OF THE WEEKTHE INDEPENDENT CHILDREN'S BOOK OF THE WEEKTHE DAILY TELEPGRAPH CHILDREN'S BOOK OF THE WEEKThere'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 MaterialsIt was a very fine day, until something tried to eat him.A boy called Christopher is visiting his reclusive grandfather when he witnesses an avalanche of mythical creatures come tearing down the hill. This is how Christopher learns that his grandfather is the guardian of one of the ways between the non-magical world and a place called the Archipelago, a cluster of magical islands where all the creatures we tell of in myth live and breed and thrive alongside humans. They have been protected from being discovered for thousands of years; now, terrifyingly, the protection has worn thin, and creatures are breaking through. Then a girl, Mal, appears in Christopher's world. She is in possession of a flying coat, is being pursued by a killer and is herself in pursuit of a baby griffin. Mal, Christopher and the griffin embark on an urgent quest across the wild splendour of the Archipelago, where sphinxes hold secrets and centaurs do murder, to find the truth - with unimaginable consequences for both their worlds. Together the two must face the problem of power, and of knowledge, and of what love demands of us.'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'Katherine Rundell is a phenomenon. ' - Neil Gaiman'Fantastically exuberant, wildly imaginative, impossibly brilliant. Rundell's best, which is something to be marvelled at.' - Kiran Millwood