Descendant of the Crane

by Joan He

"Deep world-building, magical family secrets, and intricate palace politics―Descendant of the Crane soars from page one. Its twists and treacheries kept me guessing until the very end." Rachel Hartman, New York Times bestselling author of Seraphina

Tyrants cut out hearts. Rulers sacrifice their own. Princess Hesina of Yan has always been eager to shirk the responsibilities of the crown, but when her beloved father is murdered, she's thrust into power, suddenly the queen of an unstable kingdom. Determined to find her father's killer, Hesina does something desperate: she enlists the aid of a soothsayer―a treasonous act, punishable by death… because in Yan, magic was outlawed centuries ago.

Using the information illicitly provided by the sooth, and uncertain if she can trust even her family, Hesina turns to Akira―a brilliant investigator who's also a convicted criminal with secrets of his own. With the future of her kingdom at stake, can Hesina find justice for her father? Or will the cost be too high?

In this shimmering Chinese-inspired fantasy, debut author Joan He introduces a determined and vulnerable young heroine struggling to do right in a world brimming with deception.

• ISBN10: 0807515515
• ISBN13: 9780807515518
• Publish Date: 9 April 2019
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 5 May 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Albert Whitman & Company
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 416
• Language: English

Reviews

[Veronica 🦦]

C-/D+ | While this book has a great premise, its execution was choppy and poor. The book’s saving grace is the writing. However, beautiful diction can’t hide the fact that there was no structure to this book, that the pacing was all over the place, and that the characters and their relationship didn’t feel genuine.

Full review does contain some spoilers.

[Chelsea]

I think the first half of this book was a 2/5 and the last a 4/5 so I kind of rounded it off. In the beginning everything was so shaky. I didn't feel like I knew the characters at all, some were randomly introduced with no explanation, and I didn't find them very interesting until the second half.

Plus I honestly had no idea what was going on with the plot at first. Why did this man with a cane randomly come into play? I get the seer told her about him but she just goes and gets him and he agrees easily. All too smooth. And all too boring. I didn't really have any clue about the Eleven they kept talking about because there was really no details given. I didn't feel like I was immersed in the world, just skimming over it.

The second half got better though. More action, a better plot, some twists and turns. Everything you'd want in a fantasy. I didn't find that the promised "Chinese inspired" world was seen until the second half. Maybe because the lack of plot and character depth threw it off but I was glad to see at least a little of it.

A decent start to a series and I'll probably continue with hopes that the writing gets better.

[bestmessever]

So I read this as an e-arc from netgalley so bear in mind that some things I say might not be in the finished copy. The formatting of this book was very strange and it honestly confused me a lot. As an example we would randomly jump from scene to scene without any kind of a cohesive structure. This lead to me thinking I had somehow missed a page. However I found that it was just how the book was structured. This might have been fixed in the final copy.

My next thing is more of the gripe, this book was very boring. I never really had a desire to pick it back up, I found the characters to be bland and unremarkable. The plot seemed to jump around a lot and it didn't really make too much sense. We would randomly get a little interesting tidbit and then it never got resolved in a satisfying way so you are left questioning about it. I believe this will be a series by the ending of this book so this might be something that gets explored in future books.

Suffice to say this just really wasn't the book for me which is sad because I was really looking forward to it.

[Kat @ Novels & Waffles]

💛Full review to follow. 💛

"No night was perfect for treason, but this one came close."

Things I Liked:

✑ Wow, so many unexpected twists!
✑ Gosh, that political intrigue tho. So intense. So realistic. So multi-faceted
✑ Beautiful, well-crafted writing that enraptures and enthralls
✑ Asian-inspired setting that was rich, lush, and utterly beautiful
✑ THE WORLD-BUILDING! THE MAGIC SYSTEM! EVERYTHING! 💛💛💛
✑ Loved that there was a romance, but it didn't take over the entire story

Things I Liked... Less:

✑ Took me a bit to get into (kind of slow at the start)
✑ There's lots of politics involved, and that might not be for everybody

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[pagingserenity]

Full review on Paging Serenity.

Descendant of the Crane makes up for its extremely slow start with its well-written characters and boatloads of unexpected plot twists. That said, its slow start nearly made me DNF it. I'm glad I stuck with it though, and I hope it gets a sequel.

[kalventure]

"But in trying times, truth is the first thing we betray."

Friends, this book gripped me from the first page to the very last. Descendant of the Crane is a stunning debut fantasy that delivers on the "Chinese version of Game of Thrones" comparison that I've seen. This is a fast paced and action packed book that you cannot miss!

The plot of the book seems simple enough: the king died mysteriously and his daughter launches an investigation because she's convinced it was murder and is determined to uncover the truth. But it is so much more than that. It turns out the truth is more than just with the king's death, but the 300 year history of the country following the revolution against the previous empire. The oppressed rose up to make things more equal for everyone... except for the sooths. I appreciated Hesina's sympathy for the sooths and the moral dilemma she faces while having to also not increase tensions and fear for her people.

"A dead king. A deceived populace. A truth seeker. Sounds like a story that could end very well or very poorly, and I want to spectate."

The thread that runs throughout this narrative is essentially the philosophical debate on whether the ends justify the means and how far we are willing to go in order to fight for what we think is right. Hesina's dogged pursuit of the truth causes her to commit treason by seeking the guidance of a sooth, and in a court where everyone's motives are questioned trust is hard to come by. A friend of mine said in her review that she "suspected herself, and she isn't even in the book" -- if that isn't the most accurate representation of the unease and stakes that Hesina faces, I don't know what is.

"Justice was her only way to say thank you. To say goodbye. To say I love you too."

I think the reason this book spoke to me so deeply is that it deals with the very real anxieties of seeking truth and justice, and just how far we will go to achieve those ends. It's the anxiety-ridden coming-of-age story that translates really well to my life presently. (Of course, I am not ruling a kingdom and trying to avenge my father's death.) Hesina's story parallels well with my own loss of idealism and my internal struggle to buck against these structures to fight for what's right.

He manages to weave lush descriptions and heart-warming character development alongside this story. I fell in love with Hesina, Caiyan, and Lilian immediately and their sibling banter brings me to life. Her close friendships with them, and a budding friendship with Akira, acts as a foil to the tough relationship that she has with both her mother and brother Sanjing. The complex relationships and emotions all play into the decisions that Hesina makes and feel very authentic.

Overall there are not enough positive things that I can say about this book: it's fast paced and captivating from the first page with intricate worldbuilding that is doled out in just the right doses and characters that you cannot help but love. The twists and reveals will keep you guessing and gasping until the very end, and then have you craving more of this story. I sincerely hope that He gets to share more with us, and I will be anxiously waiting to read it & anything else that she writes.

PRE-ORDER CAMPAIGN: Pre-order or submit a library request for Descendant of the Crane by April 9, 2019 to receive character cards! Open internationally.

Many thanks to Albert Whitman Company for sending me an eARC via NetGalley for my honest review! Quotes are taken from an unfinished ARC and may not match final publication.

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[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I want to start off this review by refuting the claim that it’s a Chinese-inspired Game of Thrones. I honestly believe that got me in the wrong mindset from the beginning, because that comparison left me wanting so much more. Descendant of the Crane features a fairly messed up royal family, but otherwise, this is its own thing.

The opening of the story is great. We start just after the death of the king. The atmosphere is gloomy and unpredictable, even dangerous. The main characters steal into a disreputable district to seek forbidden magic. It’s a great beginning. It pulled me right me. The characters we meet are distinct and interesting – the desperate princess, her cautious adopted brother, and the sarcastic adopted sister. They’re well-matched and interesting together. After the opening scene, my interest started to wane.

Characters that were interesting at first failed to develop. For me, Lillian was the most interesting of the collection. She spoke with a more unique voice than the others, and added a bit of lilt to the dialogue. The main character, Hesina, waffled back and forth between what she believed and what she wanted. The ultimate betrayal was so flat that I couldn’t bother to be surprised. It was all so… underwhelming.

If I had to pick, it was the plot that really lost me. The story is supposed to follow the king’s murder trial, but the scenes in the courtroom are few and far between. The way the trial is treated and manipulated made the whole thing feel like a joke. At its core, the trial didn’t matter anyway, because Hesina was always off doing her own thing and getting her own answers. In fact, the entire plot of this novel was about the young queen and a greedy advisor having it out behind the scenes and pulling the strings of the system to get what they wanted. It was petty and uninteresting.

What was interesting was the magic. I wanted to know a lot more about the magical system, and I wanted to see more of the sooths. The sooths were central to the story, and yet, they only seemed to pop up when there needed to be a moment of political hysteria. All the interesting bits of the story surrounded the magic-users, how they had been hunted, and the future different rulers wanted for them… but Hesina was all over the place. And because of her uncertainty, the plot was all over the place. Sometimes she was looking for murderers, sometimes she was having spats with siblings. Sometimes she was parading for her people and sometimes she was lecturing about the history of her kingdom. I wish the story was more focused, because a lot of things were happening, but most of them felt very irrelevant.

Also the ending? The ending was anti-climatic. It may work if this is intended to be a series, but honestly, I don’t know if I would read on? If you’re looking for an intense Chinese inspired fantasy about war and magic and injustice, I suggest The Poppy War.

It’s not all bad, but I think my main takeaway from Descendant of the Crane was that it could have been so much more. And I feel like kind of a jerk leaving a less-than-favorable review. This debut is getting overwhelmingly positive reviews. And I am so so glad readers are enjoying it. But I’m also seeing that a lot of these reviews are from critique partners and the social media squad, so go in with in open mind, and you’ll probably like it more than if you go in expecting the next George R. R. Martin.