The Poisoned King – Katherine Rundell
I have read the first of this series of books: Impossible Creatures, and have written about it on my blog: beyondtheairingcupboard.co.uk, and having read that, I was eager for the sequel. The narrative, the plot, the characterisation are all brilliant but there is so much more.
The author is fascinated by mythical creatures and has created a world for them, much as in the way in which Tolkien created his Middle Earth. This particular world is an archipelago of islands that is only available to humans through a few portals where the barriers are thin. Christopher, who entered from the ‘Otherworld’ in the first story is called again to help, this time because creatures are dying, apparently poisoned and the balance of power in the whole area is shifting.
He finds a Princess called Anya who knows that her uncle is responsible for all the evil that envelopes the palace, including the death of her grandfather and the arrest of her father. He wants the throne and is aiming to destroy anyone standing in his way, including most of his immediate family. If this is beginning to ring any sort of bells, well yes it did with me. The plot of Shakespeare’s Hamlet is pretty clearly mirrored here. Maybe some of you studied it for English Lit. A level, as I did. This sort of device obviously adds another layer of meaning and interest to the narrative. I wonder if this is done purposely to entice adult readers to engage with what is essentially marketed as a children’s book but quite possibly I am overthinking.
Whilst the story runs its course, you are made aware that Katherine Rundell has a serious agenda and she is introducing her young readers to very big questions. Having heard her speak I know she is passionately concerned with how we treat our world and how careless we seem to be with the lives and habitats of creatures large and small. At one point a group of sea sprites gives Anya great armfuls of oysters. She says:
‘Thank you! What can I give you in return?’
‘Nothing.’ The oldest spoke. ‘Water. Land. Sky. Star. We trust only things that cannot be owned.’
Anya did not wish to be rude, but – ‘People can own land,’ she said.
‘No. They only think they can.’
Anya did not say, ‘I will own a whole island when I become Queen.’ But perhaps they saw the thought, for one said, ‘How could you own the world’s earth: soil and green and sod?’
Heavy stuff I think. If I was still teaching, those few lines would happily provide the basis for a good discussion with year 6 children. And there is more, indeed so much to think about. This is a story essentially about good and evil, as the vast majority of stories are. Here, good overcomes evil, as we hope and expect it to, and Anya frees her father from imminent execution and rids the island of the greedy uncle. However, she then rescinds her position as Queen:
‘It is neither an easy nor a simple thing to abolish one system of government and establish another; but that doesn’t mean it isn’t possible.
Birth, Anya said, was a mad, a frivolous, a lunatically unhinged way to decide who should rule a kingdom. It left you vulnerable to uncles.’
Mmmmm! I wonder how many people in this country have felt their position on the monarchy shifting after the various goings on of the last few years! I wonder if Katherine Rundell is an out and out republican. I suspect so.
Anna’s altruistic thoughts go beyond providing a sanctuary, a refuge for animals. ‘Maybe, we could extend this to young humans. We could take in those who are in need of care, or protection, or education?’ Having decided to give her riches away, I can envisage some very savvy year 6 children, including possibly my granddaughter, commenting that you need money, gold or otherwise, to accomplish all these undoubtedly good things. The good and the bad of capitalism, always an excellent subject for discussion, particularly when you search for a good example of the opposite system: communism.
Just on a lighter note, I did enjoy the character of Ratwin, a mythical creature, integral to the story. To me he seemed to be a distant cousin of Gollum in The Hobbit.
‘There is no dawdling-times,’ said Ratwin. ‘We have comes to warn you, we is leaving you here for some hour-straights, or perhaps even a number of dayses.’
I implore you to read this book. It won’t take you very long from beginning to end but it will give you food for thought for quite a while.
Happy Reading