The Dragon's Promise (Six Crimson Cranes)

Publication date: August 30, 2022 by Elizabeth Lim

An ARC provided by Random House Children's, Knopf Books for Young Readers and Net Galley for an honest revew.

My Thoughts:

In a duology, it is difficult to talk about the book without spoiler alerts, so just know that there are spoiler alerts! If you want to read the book based on the strength of reading Six Crimson Cranes, by all means STOP READING. One last thing - this is a great book for middle grades, YA and fans of fantasy and Asian mythology. 5 stars.

At the end of Six Crimson Cranes, although Shiori'anma has gotten her brothers back, shattered the bowl from her head, as well as found love and her voice, all is not well in Kiata. After all, this is a much awaited book 2 of 2. If you recall the first book, Shiori has made a deathbed promise to return the dragon's pearl to The Wraith, knowing full well that she will have to answer to the King of Dragons. 

This conflict is merely the first part of the book. In Ailong, the dragon realm,  Shiori needs to figure out how to save herself. She no longer has the help of Takkan and her brothers. Even Kiki, her magic paper crane is not able to do much under the sea. Only Seryu is there to help her, but even he is not ready to challenge his grandfather for power. Will she marry Seryu, be transformed into an immortal and leave her brothers, Takkan and her father behind? If she doesn't, how does she escape? Added to that conundrum, time works differently under the sea, so Shiori needs to fulfill her promise before everyone she loves on land has grown old and died. 

The second half of the book has Shiori back with Takkan and her brothers but now that the demon Bandur is creating havoc and the people of Kiata want to burn Shiori in order to rid Kiata of magic and seal the demons back in the mountain.  Her brothers and Takkan still have a lot of protecting and fighting to do. 

Although this book was not as fast paced as Six Crimson Cranes, a few things were a nice surprise:

• great court intrigue and magic in Ai'long. The wager with the mirror shards was empowering
• connecting characters in the multiple realms, including the young magician that Shiori saves from becoming concrete
• bringing Bandur from Ms. Lin's other duology (Spin the Dawn, Unravel the Dusk) into this duology was especially clever as an Easter egg for fans
• as readers, learning  more about Raikama alongside Shiori

Although this book comes out at the end of August when school has already started for the potential audience of these books, this can still be devoured in a weekend so spend the weekend before re reading Cranes. 

Finally,  romance, yes. Happy ending ? It's not going to be what readers want, but I don't think it will hurt this book one bit. 

From the Publishers:

Princess Shiori made a deathbed promise to return the dragon's pearl to its rightful owner, but keeping that promise is more dangerous than she ever imagined.
    She must journey to the kingdom of dragons, navigate political intrigue among humans and dragons alike, fend off thieves who covet the pearl for themselves and will go to any lengths to get it, all while cultivating the appearance of a perfect princess to dissuade those who would see her burned at the stake for the magic that runs in her blood.
    The pearl itself is no ordinary cargo; it thrums with malevolent power, jumping to Shiori's aid one minute, and betraying her the next—threatening to shatter her family and sever the thread of fate that binds her to her true love. It will take every ounce of strength Shiori can muster to defend the life and the love she's fought so hard to win.