Wednesday, November 23, 2016

The Queen of the Tearling Trilogy by Erika Johansen

The Queen of the Tearling
Princess Kelsea Raleigh Glynn has spent her entire childhood hidden away, in training for the day when she will claim her birthright. The first book in the trilogy, The Queen of the Tearling, describes Kelsea's harrowing journey to claim the throne with her Queen's Guard, evading assassins sent by her uncle, the Regent. But death threats are not Kelsea's only troubles; once she arrives at her kingdom's seat in New London, Kelsea realizes how far her countrymen have fallen, keeping peace with the dangerous neighboring kingdom of Mortmesne by forcibly gathering dozens of citizens each month to be sent as slaves to the Red Queen. As the new Queen of the Tearling, Kelsea ends this practice immediately, but at the cost of war.

The Invasion of the Tearling
The Invasion of the Tearling ratchets up the suspense further, with the Tear army trying to slow the invasion of the Mort forces, and all the while Queen Kelsea tries to organize protection for her citizens and deal with the powerful but corrupt Holy Father of the Arvath. Meanwhile, Kelsea tries to understand the magical powers she is gaining from wearing the Tear sapphires and why she is having visions of the past from the perspective of a mysterious woman. This sequel ends on a cliffhanger, with the Mort army and the Red Queen at the gates of the capital as well as Kelsea's visions of "the crossing" many years before.

The Fate of the Tearling
The final installment in the trilogy, The Fate of the Tearling, comes out the end of this month and is the most climactic with both the Tear and Mort kingdoms teetering on the brink, with Mort citizens and soldiers rebelling, the treacherous Arvath vying for more power, and creepy little beasts running amok everywhere. The shocking end should take readers by surprise.

Despite the medieval feel to the time period, events of the Tearling take place years in the future after the American government deteriorates into an increasingly conservative and surveillance-driven world where everyone and everything is censored and class divides are greater than ever between the rich and the poor. Epic fantasy fans and apocalyptic science fiction fans alike will enjoy this trilogy, as well as any reader interested in frank discussions of humanity and feminism.

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