Six Crimson Cranes

Title: Six Crimson Cranes
Author: Elizabeth Lim
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Year: July 2021
Pages: 454

Series: Six Crimson Cranes #1
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Reading Time: 6 - 12 September
Binding: Fairyloot Hardback

Goodreads

Stars:
★★★★★

Blurb:

 Shiori'anma, the only princess of Kiata, has a secret. Forbidden magic runs in her veins. And on the morning of her betrothal ceremony, Shiori loses control. At first, her mistake seems like a stroke of luck, forestalling the wedding she never wanted, but it also catches the attention of Raikama, her stepmother.

 A sorceress in her own right, Raikama banishes the young princess, turning her brothers into cranes, and warning Shiori that she must speak of it to no one: for with every word that escapes her lips, one of her brothers will die.

 Penniless, voiceless, and alone, Shiori searches for her brothers, and uncovers a dark conspiracy to seize the throne. Only Shiori can set the kingdom to rights, but to do so she must place her trust in a paper bird, a mercurial dragon, and the very boy she fought so hard not to marry. And she must embrace the magic she's been taught all her life to contain - no matter what it costs.

Review:

 Fairyloot have blessed me with dragon fantasy novels TWO MONTHS IN A ROW! Utterly magnificent. The dragons are briefly mentioned in the blurb above, hold their own in the beginning of the story and, it seems, will be a large part of the next book. That's it, I said it, the next book. Currently confirmed as a duology on the author's website. I can tell you now I'll be waiting for it!

 I seem to be finding myself in an Asian setting really frequently this year and it can honestly still be so different. Shiori travels a range of places and Lim sets up the world fantastically in this way (helped by a beautiful map in my version). We see the capital, the ocean and the snowy mountains just to name a few. 

 Shiori is a great character to follow. She's a female with a more modern mind, resentful of being married off to a man she doesn't know, and motivated by food. She's hidden her magic for years and thus hasn't really learned it's extent yet. She cares deeply for her family and is generally a pretty likeable character. Stubborn and impulsive, sure but not in any way that I found frustrating. It's a rare day I actually like a main character so this was an absolute win.

 The six brothers are our main other characters for the first portion of the book and Lim gives us a range of characters just within them. The intelligent, the stubborn, the joking, the understanding. There are enough of them to fill in a lot of side character space and no single time is spent on any of them quite enough to build up a dislike of any of the more stubborn brothers. 

 I really enjoyed our range of other characters. Seryu is great fun and with him as an introduction to a whole other world hosted by the dragons under the ocean is going to be fascinating. I'm excited to see more of him and his magic. Raikama was fantastically written and our other main characters only come in around half way through so I don't want to say too much. It was all fantastic though, the good and the bad intentioned characters.

 The other thing I enjoy about the Asian themed settings is that I have a little less of an understanding of their mythology and what kinds of magic are going to be present in their world. Dragons are a difference I'm aware of but it generally leaves me with a lot of wiggle room of understanding in terms of other magic. I enjoyed the magical integration in to the world, it wasn't too fantastical but subtly enough to work in a land where magic is forbidden.

 We change settings a few times in this book which amends the direction of what we expect from the plot. I think it was paced really well, it wasn't something I really thought about in this book in terms of think it was slow or moving quickly so that means it was likely just right for the story behind it.

 So . . . what are you waiting for? The second book to come out? Ah, understood.