Erika Johansen’s Tearling Trilogy Is the Post-Election Fantasy We Need

Deep in the woods there lives a girl, shut away from society, raised by a mysterious woman and her partner—people who are clearly not her parents. She knows her mother was the queen, and now the queen is dead. She must be prepared to rule on her 19th birthday, but she has no knowledge of her own past, let alone the history of the land she’s meant to govern. It’s a problematic beginning for a young queen, but the theories of government, along with her compassion, survival skills, and the loyal Queen’s Guard, give her a small chance at success. For Kelsea Raleigh, it’s survive on her wits alone, or die and leave her kingdom in chaos.
Past Meets Future
The story of the Kingdom of Tear pivots around Kelsea, even though it’s not always told from her point of view. We know only as much about the world as she does. In The Queen of the Tearling, we embark on a journey of discovery that reveals bit by bit more about the world as it stands in Keslea’s time, and more about what happened before the Crossing.
As the story progresses, it becomes clear this is our future, not some fantasy land we can easily dismiss. Johansen sprinkles breadcrumbs of truth about our present day in a way that gives this tale so much more weight than your ordinary epic fantasy. As Kelsea begins to learn some of that truth, especially in book two, we not only learn how her world came to be, but also witness what our world might become if we fail to stand up against tyranny in all its forms.

The second book, Invasion of the Tearling, reveals what happened in America before The Crossing. It seems incongruous to the plot happening in Kelsea’s world at first, but Johansen deftly weaves together the threads of past and future the further in we go. This America is an eerily prescient portrait of what many fear in the aftermath of the 2016 election: a plutocracy where the wealthiest citizens rule all, the vast majority of lives in poverty, and the middle class has disappeared. Women’s reproductive rights have been taken away and their wealthy white husbands control the minutia of their lives.The government uses extensive surveillance, including monitoring inside the home, to enforce martial law and “keep the peace.” It’s shades of Orwell’s 1984, and Johansen’s grasp of political trends and her ability to tap into the core fears of many is astonishing, setting the series apart from all other fantasy I’ve read. Her vision is a powerful one, and it is not to be ignored.
Powerful Women
Kelsea Raleigh begins her story as a timid, bookish girl suddenly thrust into the role of Queen with very little support from the government she’s set to rule. Her only protection is the Queen’s Guard, sworn to protect her with their lives—but even they are not faultless. This is not a new trope in epic fantasy, but Johansen shows us this familiar territory only to shift the ground under us later on. It’s worth noting that Kelsea is not the perfect hero either: she’s deeply flawed, and her rash decisions could very well be her undoing as she battles it out with the rival Red Queen across the border. Who is good and who is evil is not clear cut. Kelsea and the Red Queen are both motivated by the past in ways that go beyond simple actions that propel the narrative along, pasts inextricably linked to what happened before The Crossing.

In addition to these two dueling Queens exists a host of female supporting characters, each as richly imagined as the next, and each with a very important story to tell, stories that echo across multiple timelines. It’s glorious to see each of them live their lives, vividly and with conviction, even through pain, loss, and bad decisions.
The Lesson
The Tearling trilogy blurs the lines of genre, bringing in elements of dystopian fiction ti create an epic fantasy that gives us a complete picture of a nation’s death, rebirth, and deep dive into the darkness it tried so hard to escape. History is purposely lost, and as Spanish philosopher George Santayana once wrote, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” But this trilogy goes beyond the message and brings the reality of that condemnation into horrific light, even as Johansen questions whether it’s worth it to fight against tyranny if we’re always going to end up in the same place. It seems this moment may be upon us now. This trilogy required reading for anyone with revolution on their minds.
The Fate of the Tearling is available now.