It was a very fine day, until something tried to eat him.
 
A boy called Christopher is visiting his reclusive grandfather when he witnesses anavalanche of mythical creatures come tearing down the hill. This is how Christopherlearns that his grandfather is the guardian of one of the ways between the non-magicalworld and a place called the Archipelago, a cluster of magical islands where all thecreatures we tell of in myth live and breed and thrive alongside humans. They have beenprotected from being discovered for thousands of years; now, terrifyingly, the protectionhas worn thin, and creatures are breaking through.Then a girl, Mal, appears in Christopher’s world. She is in possession of a flying coat, isbeing pursued by a killer and is herself in pursuit of a baby griffin. Mal, Christopher andthe 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 – withunimaginable consequences for both their worlds. Together the two must face theproblem of power, and of knowledge, and of what love demands of us.