The legend tells that when the pearl fisher is accompanied by a child the curse of the eye gemstone is broken.
Author: Karin Erlandsson
Swedish original: Segraren
Publisher: Schildts & Söderströms, 2019
Genre: Children’s fiction, fantasy, middle grade
Number of pages: 302 pp.
Reading material: English series synopsis
Rights sold: World English, Dedalus; Poland, Dwukropek; Sweden, Bonnier Carlsen
Miranda and Syrsa have retreated to the tender care of the farmers in the west to gather their strengths and to collect funds for their efforts to fetch the eye gemstone.
The only way to free the people who have fallen under its curse is to destroy it – but how do you destroy a pearl? The execution of the plan is halted when the queen’s soldiers capture Miranda and take her to the pearl-encrusted capital. She is horrified to discover that next to the black clad queen stands Iberis, dressed in white, behaving as if she were at home.
One witness after another testifies that Miranda wanted the eye gemstone for herself. But when Syrsa steps forward the queen has to decide where her loyalties lie.
Finally, Miranda and Syrsa manage to escape the capital when a battle breaks out between the queen and Iberis. They set sail and raise the eye gemstone from the bottom of the sea. But suddenly the sea is filled with the sailing boats of the empty-eyed golden guards who are under its spell. They hear its singing and follow the boat to the shore. Is there now any hope of success for the plan to destroy the Eye Gemstone?
The Victor is the final book in Karin Erlandsson’s captivating four part children’s fantasy series The Song of the Eye Gemstone. The series depicts a kingdom of stories – where the most powerful tale is the legend of the eye gemstone, the largest pearl of them all. But the series is also an account of friendship, guts and how sometimes you have to travel far in order to discover that what matters most is close by.
The book is nominated for the Nordic Council Literature Prize 2020. The first book of the series, The Pearl Fisher (2017), was also a nominee, as well as the winner of the prestigious Runeberg Junior Prize in 2018.
Also available:
Children’s fiction
Song of the Eye Gemstone #1, The Pearl Fisher (2017)
Song of the Eye Gemstone #2, The Bird Master (2018)
Song of the Eye Gemstone #3, The Scaler of the Peaks (2019)
Night Express (2020)
Adult fiction
The Blue Yarn. What I Know About Knitting (2022)
Home (2021)
The Misdeed (2016)
Enclosed (2018)
About the author:
Karin Erlandsson