Erika Johansen’s Queen of the Tearling is the first book in the Queen of the Tearling series. Several hundred years before the story takes place, immigrants from America, Britain, and other countries crossed into the New World in the infamous event that is cleverly named the Crossing. After many years, several kingdoms formed in the previously uninhabited New World. Countries like Tearling, Cadare, and Mortmesne are ruled by a feudal system and, in time, the Red Queen of Mortmesne conquered nearly all of the New World. Any country that is not officially conquered is paying dues to the Red Queen. Many years later, Kelsea Ragleigh is the next in line for the Tearling throne. She spent the first 19 years of her life in hiding, preparing for the day she would come of age and rule her kingdom.
Kelsea has just come of age and must now be crowned Queen of Tearling. She strives to protect her people and is extremely passionate, but she has a temper and is extremely impulsive. While these some of these traits might normally make a bad queen, it works surprisingly well for her. Her bold manner tends to win over people desperate for change and people who knew her mother. Her mother Queen Elyssa was very different from Kelsea. Despite her intelligence, Kelsea is ignorant of the world around her. As she learns more about the state of the country and readers learn more about the world this story takes place. Queen of the Tearling was a great story to a fantasy series. This is a high fantasy book, so there was a lot of world building. At times, it felt boring to read through long paragraphs of history and introduction. Thankfully the world-building was broken up enough so that the books pacing never slowed down. The pacing was surprisingly fast, especially toward the end. This book has a lot to do with the politics of countries. Normally, this would make for an extremely slow book, but it didn’t. Kelsea’s character, hints of magic and action made the book interesting and kept the pacing from slowing down. The story had many dark themes, but light humor and wit kept the story from feeling too depressing. I give this 434 page book 4.5 stars.
Queen of the Tearling Series
Several hundred years ago immigrants from America, Britain, and other countries crossed into the New World in the infamous event that is cleverly named the Crossing. They brought culture, customs and technology to the land and years later, several kingdoms formed in the previously uninhabited New World. Countries like Tearling, Cadare, and Mortmesne are ruled by a feudal system and, in time, the Red Queen of Mortmesne conquered nearly all of the New World. Any country that is not officially conquered is paying dues to the Red Queen