The Invasion of the Tearling

by Erika Johansen

Overview

In this riveting sequel to the national bestseller The Queen of the Tearling, the evil kingdom of Mortmesne invades the Tearling, with dire consequences for Kelsea and her realm.

With each passing day, Kelsea Glynn is growing into her new responsibilities as Queen of the Tearling. By stopping the shipments of slaves to the neighboring kingdom of Mortmesne, she crossed the Red Queen, a brutal ruler whose power derives from dark magic, who is sending her fearsome army into the Tearling to take what is hers. And nothing can stop the invasion.

But as the Mort army draws ever closer, Kelsea develops a mysterious connection to a time before the Crossing, and she finds herself relying on a strange and possibly dangerous ally: a woman named Lily, fighting for her life in a world where being female can feel like a crime. The fate of the Tearling —and that of Kelsea’s own soul—may rest with Lily and her story, but Kelsea may not have enough time to find out.

In this dazzling sequel, Erika Johansen brings back favorite characters, including the Mace and the Red Queen, and introduces unforgettable new players, adding exciting layers to her multidimensional tale of magic, mystery, and a fierce young heroine.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062290397
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	06/09/2015
Series:	Queen of the Tearling , #2
Pages:	528
Sales rank:	533,269
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Erika Johansen grew up in the San Francisco Bay area. She went to Swarthmore College, earned an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and eventually became an attorney, but she never stopped writing.

Editorial Reviews

03/09/2015
After the events of 2014’s The Queen of the Tearling, Kelsea Glynn is still settling into her role as the ruler of the titular land, which feels more like a fantasy realm than a distant planet populated by the descendants of people who fled Earth in search of a better life. Kelsea must juggle politics, war, and her own growing magical abilities as she faces an unstoppable opponent, the malevolent Red Queen. She is also having visions of the past, in which a young woman named Lily Mayhew gets caught up in William Tear’s exodus from 21st-century America to a new world. As Lily struggles to free herself from an abusive relationship, Kelsea finds the key to dealing with the Red Queen. Johansen’s vision of a dystopian near-future America is chilling and sadly plausible, but Kelsea’s far-future world remains vague and ill-defined, and the magic is always precisely as powerful and versatile as the plot demands. While many questions are answered, many more arise, leading to a cliffhanger ending. Readers enticed by strong female characters who seize control of their own destiny will forgive the story’s flaws. Agent: Dorian Karchmar, William Morris Endeavor. (June)

Publishers Weekly

An intoxicating brew of dystopian fiction, high fantasy, science fiction, and a bit of horror. . . . A thrilling and thought-provoking read that takes this trilogy to even greater heights.

Buzzfeed

All hail Queen Kelsea! In the series’ second action-packed book, the teen saves her throne from a power-hungry neighbor.

Us Weekly

Gritty, gruesome, and enthrallingly magical fantasy.

Booklist

The Mort are coming! Johansen introduces new characters and enticing bits of history, with the second volume of her intriguing tale of fantasy, mystery and royal politics...Readers will be eager for the final volume in the Tearling saga.

LibraryReads

This compelling, intriguing read is hard to put down as the ultimate connection between the two women is revealed. {A} unique take on traditional fantasy.

Statesman Journal (Oregon)

A dazzling and gripping followup. . . . Expertly combining modern and medieval themes, Johansen ratchets up suspense as she weaves a magical story that crosses time . . . one of the most original and well-written series in recent memory.

USA Today.com

Readers — Watson included — can’t seem to put down the novels, in large part because of the Queen of the Tearling herself: spunky, complex, tough-as-nails Kelsea Glynn.

Bustle

Spend long enough with this piece of fiction, and you’ll emerge more keenly aware of our own pontificating pundits, our tides of refugees. Any sense of distance is quite imaginary.

Locus Magazine

the protagonist was a real ass-kicker with unwavering strength and fierceness (but not without realistic self-doubt), and there’s just the right combination of believable politics and fantasy realm magic.

Bookriot

★ 03/15/2015
In this novel that picks up where Johansen's debut, Queen of the Tearling, left off, things are not looking good for Kelsea or her realm, as the armies of the Queen of Mortmense amass on her borders. But then this seemingly standard epic fantasy has an interesting twist. Kelsea, through the power of the sapphires she inherited with the crown, begins to connect to the life of a woman living in a modern, brutal, near-future New England. She sees Lily Mayhew suffer the abuse of her husband and watches as Lily learns of a resistance group that wants to find a better future, one that just might be in Kelsea's own Tearling. VERDICT A bold storytelling choice makes this so much more fascinating than just a saga of warring kingdoms. Both Kelsea's struggles in the Tear to protect her people and Lily's narrative are completely gripping, and the anticipation of a revelation of how these two women are linked will keep readers turning the pages. It's satisfying while leaving readers desperate for the next volume. [See Prepub Alert, 11/25/14.]

Library Journal

12/01/2015
This sequel to The Queen of the Tearling (2014) continues Kelsea's story and provides the history that created Tear. At the border, Mort soldiers are restlessly awaiting orders to move forward into Tear territory. The ragtag Tear army is outnumbered and definitely under-armed. The Red Queen and her army want nothing more than to reach Tear, demolish the city, kill the new Tear Queen Kelsea, and plunder all. Kelsea desires to bring freedom to Tear. Her first act as queen was to stop the slave shipments into Mort. While this brought her the loyalty and admiration of her people, it increased the danger from the more powerful Mort, and now Tear is facing the consequences of that action with the coming invasion. The protagonist has much to learn, and in order to defeat the Red Queen, she must understand her own power, which comes from a past that began many centuries before. While the sapphires she wears on a chain around her throat link Kelsea with Lily—an important player in the Crossing, which created the Tear civilization—they are also the keys linking her to a growing awareness of who she is and where her destiny lies. As the Mort army moves forward, Kelsea prepares to parlay what she has learned to save Tear's future. But deals she made with shadow men, actions taken by others, and the Red Queen herself may change the outcome of Kelsea's hopes. VERDICT Teens need to have read the first volume in order to understand and appreciate this sequel; both books should be at hand for fantasy fans.—Connie Williams, Petaluma High School, CA

School Library Journal

2015-04-01
There's a tear in the Tearling, and Tears are falling. Seriously. As Johansen (The Queen of the Tearling, 2014) opens the latest installment in her sword-and-sorcery series, Tear troops stationed on the borders of the kingdom find themselves battling an invasion by the Mort—you know, the bad guys across the line in the Mortmesne. It's a good thing Col. Hall is on the job, a fellow fate has put in just the right place at the right time: "Fortune had taken Hall away from Idyllwild," Johansen intones, "not good fortune, but the backhanded sort that gave with one hand while it stabbed with the other." Many stabbings, catapult launches, and other gruesome maneuvers later, the Mort are repelled. (It helps that, in a Tolkienian move, the hawks, real hawks, are on the side of the doves, metaphorical ones.) But the Mort'll be back, and an ugly picture will get even uglier. Meanwhile, the queen, our ever resourceful Kelsea, is getting prettier. At least after a fashion: "She wasn't beautiful, Kelsea thought, not by any stretch. But she was no longer plain either. She looked like a woman someone might actually remember." Whether Meryl Streep or Merlin, Kelsea rises to the occasion, despite all the obstacles that the Morts—and Johansen, for that matter—throw in her path. But is she the True Queen? Ah, that's for events to decide, nicely unfolded in this long—but not too long—yarn. Johansen is a skillful maker of fantasy worlds, weaving medieval and modern themes together with the comprehensiveness of a George R.R. Martin, though without his penchant for overly long episodes of violence that would make Sam Peckinpah blush. She does both battle scenes and quiet conversations equally well, though, with all the requisite plotting, regal self-doubt, and good-vs.-evil grappling required of the genre. A satisfying, well-crafted sequel that will leave readers looking forward to what might happen next to "that fantastic vision inside Tear's jewel" and those who treasure it.

Kirkus Reviews

Meet the next Katniss Everdeen. If you missed last year’s The Queen of the Tearling, run, don’t walk, to get it.” — Entertainment Weekly

“Get caught up with Kelsea, a heroine so badass, Emma Watson’s already signed up to play her.” — Cosmopolitan

“Katniss Everdeen, you have competition. . . . A thrilling sequel.” — Entertainment Weekly, The 10 Must-Reads of Summer

“A bold storytelling choice makes this so much more fascinating than just a saga of warring kingdoms. . . . Completely gripping . . . It’s satisfying while leaving readers desperate for the next volume.” — Library Journal (starred review)

“Gritty, gruesome, and enthrallingly magical fantasy.” — Booklist

“The Invasion of the Tearling glides over the sophomore slump, carrying the series upward with it. . . . The new Tearling characters are fascinating, and Johansen introduces them so smoothly, we care for them almost the instant we learn their names.” — Entertainment Weekly, A

“All hail Queen Kelsea! In the series’ second action-packed book, the teen saves her throne from a power-hungry neighbor.” — Us Weekly

“An intoxicating brew of dystopian fiction, high fantasy, science fiction, and a bit of horror. . . . A thrilling and thought-provoking read that takes this trilogy to even greater heights.” — Buzzfeed

“Genre-bending . . . So good . . . Gripping.” — Buzzfeed

“Johansen is a skillful maker of fantasy worlds, weaving medieval and modern themes together with the comprehensiveness of a George R.R. Martin. . . . A satisfying, well-crafted sequel that will leave readers looking forward to what might happen next. — Kirkus Reviews

“A dazzling and gripping followup. . . . Expertly combining modern and medieval themes, Johansen ratchets up suspense as she weaves a magical story that crosses time . . . one of the most original and well-written series in recent memory.” — USA Today.com

“Readers — Watson included — can’t seem to put down the novels, in large part because of the Queen of the Tearling herself: spunky, complex, tough-as-nails Kelsea Glynn.” — Bustle

“The Mort are coming! Johansen introduces new characters and enticing bits of history, with the second volume of her intriguing tale of fantasy, mystery and royal politics...Readers will be eager for the final volume in the Tearling saga.” — LibraryReads

“This compelling, intriguing read is hard to put down as the ultimate connection between the two women is revealed. {A} unique take on traditional fantasy.” — Statesman Journal (Oregon)

“THE INVASION OF THE TEARLING sets itself apart from every other middle volume in a fantasy trilogy because of its brutal portrayal of politics and all its consequences.” — Bookish

“Spend long enough with this piece of fiction, and you’ll emerge more keenly aware of our own pontificating pundits, our tides of refugees. Any sense of distance is quite imaginary.” — Locus Magazine

“Will keep everyone on tenterhooks until the next book is released...a thought-provoking and finely tuned flight of fancy.” — The Examiner.com

“the protagonist was a real ass-kicker with unwavering strength and fierceness (but not without realistic self-doubt), and there’s just the right combination of believable politics and fantasy realm magic.” — Bookriot

“[A] thrilling sequel.” — Bookish

From the Publisher

Get caught up with Kelsea, a heroine so badass, Emma Watson’s already signed up to play her.

Cosmopolitan

Meet the next Katniss Everdeen. If you missed last year’s The Queen of the Tearling, run, don’t walk, to get it.

Entertainment Weekly

Will keep everyone on tenterhooks until the next book is released...a thought-provoking and finely tuned flight of fancy.

The Examiner.com

THE INVASION OF THE TEARLING sets itself apart from every other middle volume in a fantasy trilogy because of its brutal portrayal of politics and all its consequences.

Bookish

Gritty, gruesome, and enthrallingly magical fantasy.

Booklist

Get caught up with Kelsea, a heroine so badass, Emma Watson’s already signed up to play her.

Cosmopolitan

This sequel to THE QUEEN OF THE TEARLING is a complex weaving of the stories of Kelsea, the current Queen of Tear, and Lily, who was alive in the 21st century when a portion of America crossed over to a pre-technological society at the time of the founding of the Tear. Davina Porter assists the listener in keeping the storylines straight as they gradually converge. Her portrayal of Kelsea is nuanced and inviting. Porter draws on the feisty and passionate nature of the 19-year-old queen, particularly in her sparring with the condescending leaders of the church who, while unduly concerned with prudish morality, contribute little to the well-being of the people. Porter’s engagement with the characters and plot is contagious. J.E.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2016 ALA Media Award © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine

JULY 2015 - AudioFile