The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen gets a cover and a new synopsis.
The Queen of the Tearling won’t hit book store shelves until July 8, but there is already some major buzz around this book because its film rights were optioned by David Heyman of Harry Potter fame, and Emma Watson is set to star.
In addition to a new cover, a lengthy synopsis was released by the publisher recently (and Hypable has since confirmed its legitimacy):
On her nineteenth birthday, Princess Kelsea Raleigh Glynn, raised in exile, sets out on a perilous journey back to the castle of her birth to ascend her rightful throne. Plain and serious, a girl who loves books and learning, Kelsea bears little resemblance to her mother, the vain and frivolous Queen Elyssa. But though she may be inexperienced and sheltered, Kelsea is not defenseless: Around her neck hangs the Tearling sapphire, a jewel of immense magical power; and accompanying her is the Queen’s Guard, a cadre of brave knights led by the enigmatic and dedicated Lazarus. Kelsea will need them all to survive a cabal of enemies who will use every weapon—from crimson-caped assassins to the darkest blood magic—to prevent her from wearing the crown.
Despite her royal blood, Kelsea feels like nothing so much as an insecure girl, a child called upon to lead a people and a kingdom about which she knows almost nothing. But what she discovers in the capital will change everything, confronting her with horrors she never imagined. An act of singular daring will throw Kelsea’s kingdom into tumult, unleashing the vengeance of the tyrannical ruler of neighboring Mortmesne: the Red Queen, a sorceress possessed of the darkest magic. Now Kelsea will begin to discover whom among the servants, aristocracy, and her own guard she can trust.
But the quest to save her kingdom and meet her destiny has only just begun—a wondrous journey of self-discovery and a trial by fire that will make her a legend…if she can survive.
Check out the recently released cover below:
In comments shared by Harper Collins, author Erika Johansen discusses how Queen of the Tearling came to be. “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,” she says. “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.”
The author continues, “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.”