Book News: The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen Now on Paperback!

THE QUEEN OF THE TEARLING

By

Erika Johansen

Now available in Trade Paperback!

A #1 Indie Next Pick

A LibraryReads Top 10 Title

Film rights acquired by Warner Bros.

Foreign rights sold in twenty countries

“Call it The Hunger Games of Thrones. . . . An addictive and enjoyable adventure. . . . The Tear is just as easy to get sucked into as Westeros or Hogwarts or Panem.”

—USA Today

“Spectacular . . . sure to entertain readers everywhere.”

—Wall Street Journal

“An exciting fantasy tale.”

—Buzzfeed

“Impossible to put down.”

—Glamour

When you first sit down to read Erika Johansen’s debut novel THE QUEEN OF THE TEARLING (Harper Paperbacks; ISBN 13: 9780062290380; $12.99/$15.99 Can.; Trade Paperback; on-sale: 4/14/ 2015), book one in an epic series, you believe this coming of age tale about a nineteen-year-old girl and her quest to take back her family’s kingdom takes place in Medieval Europe.  But what you are really experiencing is the future – the twenty-fourth century to be exact. 

At the point where this book begins, after three hundred years of no technology, including

electricity, society has re-evolved to the point of the late Middle Ages. Four nations have a well-defined relationship: one has set itself up as a colonial power and the other three largely pay it tribute. Into a society that has reverted to its own root problems (enormous economic disparity, widespread drug addiction, failed education and lack of gainful employment), comes the young and idealistic Kelsea Raleigh Glynn, ready to take over the kingdom of The Tearling, and dead set on reviving democracy.  But

first she will face powerful opposition from the Regent, who has no intention of loosening hold of his power; the Red Queen, who rules neighboring Mortmesne with the aid of dark magic; and from within the ranks of Kelsea’s own Royal Guard.

The inspiration for this series came to Johansen in 2007 after attending Iowa Writers’ Workshop and beginning her second year of law school, “One evening I had that rare sort of dream that you remember perfectly upon waking, that stays with you: a single image in my head of a group of people in boats, leaving a broken land and disappearing over the horizon toward an uncertain future.  I firmly believe that humanity’s problems have never changed deep down. They just wear new costumes. So I decided to write about an idealistic monarch trying to do good in that land I saw over the horizon: a lawless land still tormented by most of the problems of our current society. That was the basic idea of the Crossing: by the late 21st century, America would become such a terrible place to be poor that those who wanted a better world, even those with children, would be willing to pile themselves into boats and throw themselves onto the mercy of the ocean rather than remaining.”

THE QUEEN OF THE TEARLING was a major acquisition for Harper, and at this writing rights have been sold into over 20 countries. Warner Brothers acquired the film rights in conjunction with Harry Potter producer, David Heyman, and Emma Watson is attached to star.

THE QUEEN OF THE TEARLING and the next books in Johansen’s series introduce readers to a wholly original heroine. Combining thrilling action and twisting plot turns with full blown magic; it is a magnificent debut, a feat of epic world-building, and one of the most original works of fiction to come around in years.