The Invasion of the Tearling by Erika Johansen

Following on from The Queen of the Tearling, The Invasion of the Tearling by Erika Johansen continues with the endeavours of Queen Kelsea as she deals with the consequences of the actions she took during book one. The kingdom of Mort is invading, and things are not looking good for the kingdom of Tearling. To make matters worse Kelsea is at a loss as to what she can do to stem this tide that threatens to swallow her land whole. The Mort are remorseless, spurred on by their queen who covets the magical sapphires that Kelsea possesses. In addition, Kelsea is plagued by visions from Earth's past, where she relives the experiences of a woman named Lily, whose dystopian world is just as nightmarish as Kelsea's current predicament.

The Invasion of the Tearling, in my mind, suffers a little from what I term as 'middle book syndrome' – there are a bunch of threads that begin here that clearly receive further development later. In terms of character development, there isn't so much focus on Kelsea's journey as there is on Lily's development – which is fine, but I did feel that the pace lagged a bit during the first half of the novel. But things do pick up, so persevere.

It was always apparent from the first book that this was some sort of portal fantasy, however the mechanics of this discovery of a new world was unclear – so without giving spoilers, you'll discover a bit more of the history here. I'm not quite sure how I feel about this now that I'm done, because it does feel as if the world has been robbed of some of is mystery. But perhaps that is merely personal taste on my part. Also, the sapphires as a McGuffin is almost too powerful, in my opinion. Or perhaps the cost of using the stones hasn't been made explicit yet.

Themes prevalent in these books remain that of power – of women in power and women suffering at the hands of those who wield power over their bodies. Kelsea must come to terms with the power gifted to her by the sapphires, and with the knowledge she gains comes a price that must be paid. Many questions are still unanswered by the end of book two, but we are given closure where it matters. This is a solid read for fantasy fans looking for a novel filled with intrigue, mystery and a side order of cruel villains.