The Neverfear by Katherine Rundell review: Never mind Harry Potter, here comes Christopher…

Katherine Rundell’s enthusiasts are legion and they’re classy. Queen Camilla has authorised her book as a Christmas present to year 6 children; Michael Morpurgo compares her to Tolkien. That last one doesn’t wash, though she is an academic (stamping ground, the 17th century). The comparison that really comes to mind is with JK Rowling, especially now that she’s got a seven-figure deal for the movie rights to her Impossible Creatures series. The latest, The Neverfear, confirms the resemblance.The hero, Christopher, a lonely motherless boy, is without any obvious friends but joyfully embraces a world of half-weird, half-familiar creatures in the archipelago he enters through a portal in a river. There’s a Hagrid-like figure in the berserker, Nighthand, who has a soft centre in spite of his huge bulk and fighting spirit; there’s a scholarly Nereid called Irian who shares her knowledge with her young charges. As for the feisty young princess-heroine, Anya, Christopher’s friend, and the sinister embodiment of evil, Astor Morax, with his weird snake aspect, they too call the world of JKR to mind. So does the concept of mixed species. This, folks, is the Harry Potter de nos jours.Rundell is a better writer than JKR but her characters are less instantly true and identifiable Part of the charm of Rowling’s imaginative universe is the play with classical motifs. Same with this story. The friends’ mission is to rescue Irian, who has been taken hostage by a female agent of Astor Morax, and they must replay the labours of Hercules to get her back. And yes, like Harry Potter, Christopher encounters the three-headed dog, Cerebus, but fortunately, he happens to have a gift for communing with other creatures. Remind you of anything?Rundell is a better writer than JKR (in style rather than storytelling) but her characters are less instantly true and identifiable; much of the sentiment is asserted rather than felt. Yet this offers children an escape from the online world into an archipelago of fabulous creatures and brave friends. God knows, they need a refuge.The Neverfearby Katherine Rundell is out now (Bloomsbury, £16.99)