Bloomsbury Regulatory News (BMY)

Bloomsbury launches new book by Katherine Rundell, described as "the heir to C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien"

14 September, LONDON: Bloomsbury, the leading independent publisher, today launches one of the year's most eagerly anticipated children's novels, Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell.

Impossible Creatures is the first in a career-defining, landmark fantasy trilogy from the winner of the Costa, Baillie Gifford, British Book Award, Blue Peter and Waterstones Children's Book Prizes.

As well as publishing hardback and ebook formats, the novel will also be launched as an audiobook, narrated by the renowned actor Samuel West, best known for his roles in All Creatures Great and Small and Mr Selfridge.

On the back of a major publicity campaign the novel is set to be a bestseller.

The Times (Saturday 9 September) selects the novel as its Children's Book of the Week and leads with the headline "Katherine Rundell the heir to C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien?" It continues, "the action is gripping and every sentence sparkles in this excellent first volume of a new fantasy trilogy".

The Sunday Times (Sunday 10 September) in the headline of its book review writes "Katherine Rundell, a brilliant children's writer to rival J.K. Rowling".

Bloomsbury has seen the highest ever level of pre-orders for a Katherine Rundell hardback, already exceeding her previous biggest first week sale of The Golden Mole.

Impossible Creatures has also been selected by Bookshop.org as its Children's Book of the Month for September.

Since the pandemic the sci-fi and fantasy genre has been soaring and according to data from Nielsen Bookscan, female authors now dominate the bestseller lists.

Nigel Newton, Chief Executive of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, commented: "As stated in recent trading updates and results announcements, the phenomenal demand for fantasy fiction has helped drive record sales. Bloomsbury has a rich tradition in this genre and we have high expectations for Katherine Rundell to continue this trend. We are naturally overjoyed to see such widespread excitement around her latest novel."

-ENDS-

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Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Bloomsbury is a leading independent publisher of fiction, non-fiction, children's, specialist, academic and professional titles, listed on the London Stock Exchange. It is one of the few publishers with a portfolio that includes both general and academic publishing. Bloomsbury's ambitious growth story has seen the Group become a significant global publisher with offices in the UK, US, Australia and India.

Katherine Rundell is a bestselling author whose novels for children include Rooftoppers, The Wolf Wilder, The Explorer and The Good Thieves for which she has won the Costa Children's Book Award, the Blue Peter Book Award and the Waterstones Children's Book Prize, amongst many others. She was a 2021 World Book Day author and has also published two picture books for children and three non-fiction books for adults, including Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne, winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize and The Golden Mole and Other Living Treasure, shortlisted for the Waterstones Book of the Year. Her books have sold over 2 million copies internationally.

Rundell spent her childhood in Africa and Europe before taking her degree at the University of Oxford. She is a Quondam Fellow of All Souls College and a Fellow of St Catherine's College, Oxford, where she works on Renaissance literature. Very occasionally she goes climbing across the rooftops, late at night.