The film-makers have secured Harry Potter star Emma Watson for the lead role (an odd fit given the supposed ''plain looks'' of the protagonist).
I can see why people expect The Queen of the Tearling to be successful. It is the fantasy fiction of Game of Thrones (albeit a less R-rated version) meets the dystopian fiction of The Hunger Games. It also reminds me a lot of the fantasy fiction of Dunedinite Juliet Marillier.
Kelsea is the princess of a failing kingdom, the Tearling. She was squirrelled away after the death of her mother, the Queen, and raised in secret until her 19th birthday, at which point she must retake the throne from her ne'er-do-well uncle.
The neighbouring kingdom, Mortmesne, is prosperous and ruthless, ruled by the enigmatic Red Queen. They have everything the Tearling does not - food, wealth, resources - but it is all built on the back of a booming slave trade.
The nation of the Tearling was founded after some cataclysmic event. The Tearling was supposed to be a utopia in the beginning of this new era (equality and justice for all), but it quickly falls due to corruption and greed.
In the first part of this trilogy, Kelsea must find a way to reign over her discontented populace and deal with the increasing threat from Mortmesne, all while dodging assassination attempts, falling for the dashing and mysterious Fetch and learning how to behave like a queen.
It may not have the stunning complexity of Game of Thrones, but The Queen of the Tearling is an intriguing and well-written start to a new fantasy trilogy. I hope the earth-changing events of the past are explained more in the next instalment, but I will definitely be following this series.
My one hope is that the movies don't go overboard: one movie per book will be plenty, thank you!
- by Fiona Glasgow
Win a copy: The ODT has five copies of The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen (RRP $36.99) to give away courtesy of Random House. For your chance to win a copy, email helen.speirs@odt.co.nz with your name and postal address in the body of the email, and ‘‘Tearling Book Competition'' in the subject line, by 5pm on Tuesday, July 29.
Winners of last week's giveaway, The Digested 21st Century by John Crace, courtesy of Allen & Unwin, were: Ev Drinkwater and Russell Lambeth, both of Alexandra, and Helen Jones, Lynsay McNally and Marg Hamilton, all of Dunedin.
