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 … 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.
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The Invasion of Tearling is the middle book of a 3 book series and is being promoted on BookBub today for $1.99. You do have to read the first one for this one to make sense…. and the 3rd will be published in November 2016.
If you enjoyed The Hunger Games or Divergent series of YA dystopia, you will like these books, and there is a lot of online commentary supporting this, although I do not consider them YA fiction: the writing is more complex, the plot is more graphic, and the topics are highly political within the fantasy framework. The main character is relatable and complex enough that Emma Watson has the rights tied up for development into a movie series. This is a thoroughly developed story with ethics and moral dilemmas and difficult choices for the characters to weigh out, making the characters fully articulated and enjoyable to follow.
It is difficult to review the middle book without spoiling the first one, but I wanted to recommend it since it is currently on promotion. Start with the Queen of Tearling and get this one as well..and enjoy your visit to another world!
Side note: these books are over 500 pages, which is becoming rare in Fantasy literature that seems to be cranking out stories of 300 pages each to stretch one decent story into a series. These are well developed full stories and worth your time and effort to read!
I enjoyed the sequel as much as I did the original. Watching Kelsea change and grow was both terrifying and intriguing. The slips between her time and the past were written in such a way that what could have been a jarring transition was really very smoothly done. I have grown to love this world and it’s inhabitants (the lovable ones, at least). Something that I really appreciate is that, while many of the antagonists are completely irredeemable and slimy, the primary baddie (The Red Queen) has moments where she is not only human, but relatable. For me, that ratchets up the conflict. I look forward to reading the final book in this trilogy.
This is the second installment in this futuristic fantasy series that introduced new characters both in the present and in the pre-crossing time period so it throws you off for a minute. I was confused about how the main character in the pre-crossing connected with Kelsea until the middle of the book but when the clues added up it made me read faster to find out more. I loved learning more background about The Red Queen too. One area I was annoyed with was Kelsea’s increasing obsession with her looks and her concern with how she is physically perceived by others. But eventually I found out why that was. So just a warning that readers may be annoyed for the first half of the book but it all ties together well in the second half so get through it!
I just loved this series
It took a while to figure out what kind of world it takes place in, but it finally clues you in pretty seamlessly.
I read the series of three. Top five best fantasy series I have ever read.
A saga about a queen’s journey to find out who she is and what she’s made of.
I LOVED the main character in this story and it really stuck with me that few books have. I’d recommend it to almost anyone!