Dragon's Promise - Rambling Readers

Paperback, 496 pages

English language

Published July 23, 2022 by Random House Children's Books.

ISBN:: 978-0-593-30095-4

(1 review)

'A dazzling fairytale' Stephanie Garber, on Six Crimson Cranes

A dragon's kingdom. A star-crossed love. And a cursed pearl with the power to mend the world, or break it . . .

Shiori's quest continues in the soaring Sunday Times bestselling sequel to the New York Times bestselling young adult fantasy Six Crimson Cranes.

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 the 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; …

'A dazzling fairytale' Stephanie Garber, on Six Crimson Cranes

A dragon's kingdom. A star-crossed love. And a cursed pearl with the power to mend the world, or break it . . .

Shiori's quest continues in the soaring Sunday Times bestselling sequel to the New York Times bestselling young adult fantasy Six Crimson Cranes.

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 the 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.

5 editions

Soh Kam Yung reviewed Dragon's Promise by Elizabeth Lim (Six Crimson Cranes, #2)

On handling dragons and demons to fulfill a promise.

4 stars

The second book (or part) of the Six Crimson Cranes series, this one has Shiori facing a series of challenges as she sets out to do what she promised her stepmother at the end of the first book: return the dragon's pearl she holds back to its owner. But standing in her way are a Sea Dragon King who wants the pearl, a Daemon King who wants the pearl and her blood, and parts of her kingdom who don't like magic and only want her reduced to ashes.

While the first book developed the character of Shiori, as she struggled with her task to free herself and her brothers from a curse, this one is more action-packed with Shiori facing task after task with not much room for her relationship with her father (the Emperor), her brothers or with the prince who is her betrothed. We do get to see …

The second book (or part) of the Six Crimson Cranes series, this one has Shiori facing a series of challenges as she sets out to do what she promised her stepmother at the end of the first book: return the dragon's pearl she holds back to its owner. But standing in her way are a Sea Dragon King who wants the pearl, a Daemon King who wants the pearl and her blood, and parts of her kingdom who don't like magic and only want her reduced to ashes.

While the first book developed the character of Shiori, as she struggled with her task to free herself and her brothers from a curse, this one is more action-packed with Shiori facing task after task with not much room for her relationship with her father (the Emperor), her brothers or with the prince who is her betrothed. We do get to see more of the world and the role that magic and demons play in it. One of the things that Shiori has to struggle with is whether her kingdom should continue to do without magic (and demons), or to restore the balance but on her own terms.

The ending is both expected and unexpected, with divine intervention playing a role. But on its terms, it is perhaps a proper ending to the story, leaving the characters to deal with their world on their own terms, instead of continuing with the way things were.