Six Crimson Cranes - Review

Six Crimson Cranes is Elizabeth Lim’s adaptation of the Brothers Grimm story The Six Swans, although it also contains elements from East Asian folklore and Japanese fairytales. Elizabeth Lim came to prominence with Rumpelstiltskin reimagining Spin the Dawn and its sequel Unravel the Dusk. She also wrote 'Reflection' and 'So This Is Love', two of the best books in Disney’s A Twisted Tale series of “What If?” novels.

What’s It About?

Princess Shiori’anma is the only daughter of the Emperor of Kiata, desperate to avoid the prospect of an arranged marriage. She also has secret magical powers, which she uses to create a talking paper bird named Kiki. Becoming increasingly resentful of her stepmother Raikama, Shiori spies on her and discovers that she has magical powers of her own. In response, Raikama turns Shiori’s six brothers in cranes and forces her out of the royal palace in Gindara. A few months later, Shiori finds out from her brothers that in order to undo the curse, she must weave a magical net and use it to remove the pearl that provides Ramaki with her magical powers. Whilst she is doing this, she has to remain mute or her brothers will die. Shiori finds herself in the northern region of Iro, where she is taken in by the powerful Lady Bushian, mother of Takkan, a handsome young Lord who was initially supposed to be her arranged husband. She forms a bond with her Takkan and his younger sister Megari, but is regarded with suspicion by their cousins Hasaege and Zairena. Shiori tries to complete her mission but finds three complications. First of all, the only way to defeat Raikama could lead to the death of one of her brothers. Second, Shiori finds herself caught up in a conspiracy involving sinister forces in both ends of Kiata. Most difficult of all, Shiori starts having doubts over whether Raikama is as villainous as she assumed…

Review

(Warning: This Review Contains Spoilers)

Casual audiences are only familiar with a few over-adapted Brothers Grimm fairytales (Snow White, Cinderella, etc), but there are plenty of others which deserve a moment in the spotlight, and The Six Swans is one of the most underrated fairytales in their catalogue. It has a compelling concept (A girl must stay mute to free her brothers from a curse – even when she gets framed for witchcraft) a brave and tenacious heroine, an inspirationally positive sibling relationship, a love story, two hissable wicked stepmothers, and a thrilling climax. The Six Swans is unusual because Hans Christian Andersen – best known for creating predominantly original fairytales – provided a pretty close adaptation called The Wild Swans (The biggest differences were that the princess was called Eliza, and the scheming stepmother who tries to turn the Prince against Eliza was replaced by a misguided bishop). Despite this pedigree, The Six Swans doesn’t get adapted very often, so it’s always nice to see a major reimagining. Elizabeth Lim’s Six Crimson Cranes has its share of problems but is definitely an entertaining and creative adaptation which will generally satisfy fans of the source material.

Despite all its positive qualities, it’s fairly easy to understand why The Six Swans doesn’t get adapted often – it can be pretty hard to stick with a character who is unable to speak for most of the story, whose single-minded focus on her mission can make her seem a little bit passive. The first person approach helps quite a bit, as Shiori is an engaging narrator. It means that alternative forms of communication can be explored. (As Kiki puts it, “What are words but silly sounds to tire the tongue?”) but these are handled in a slightly messy way – there are several times where Shiori relies on writing and mouthing her words, which can feel like a bit of a cheat. In order to conceal her identity, Raikama forces Shiori to wear an enchanted bowl over her eyes at all times, a device that creates plenty of conflict and irony, but it means that Shiori cannot use facial expressions to communicate. The disguise comes from a Japanese fairytale called Hachikazuki, and it’s a device that works fine in literary form, but might be less effective if the story gets adapted to a more visual medium. Although The Six Swans is generally a story of a young woman learning how brave and tenacious she truly is, a major part of Shiroi’s coming of age involves her learning to be more open minded, as she begins to reassess her previous hostility towards Takkan and Raikama. This may not be quite as inspiring as the traditional self-empowerment elements, but it makes the story all the more unique and allows Shiori to stand out as a narrator.

Adaptations of The Six Swans are at their most effective when they emphasize how difficult and dangerous the heroine’s mission is. Six Crimson Cranes mostly succeeds in this regard. The one thing worse than weaving with nettles is weaving with starstroke, a deadly plant which only grows on the mountains inhabited by dragons. The one thing worse than death by fire is death by ENCHANTED fire. There are also action scenes – a confrontation with deadly wolves is effective, but a late battle with demonic hallucinations feels like an incoherent retread of similar scenes from Lim’s 'Reflection'. At times, the need to stick to the structure of The Six Swans can be limiting, but for the most part, Lim uses it effectively to keep us engaged.

Elizabeth Lim demonstrated in her A Twisted Tale stories that she was good at creating likeable supporting characters, and this remains a strength here. Takkan is very much the perfect gentleman – He’s kind, brave and handsome, but has enough vulnerability to elevate him above being a mere vessel of wish-fulfilment. His younger sister Megari is the sort of precocious child who can be insufferable in the wrong hands, but her mischievous streak and her support for Shiori ensures she avoids being too cutesy or annoying. However, the standout character is Kiki, a paper crane brought to life by Shiori during her first uses of magic. She primarily functions as comic relief, remaining likeable whilst making quips that successfully lighten the mood, but also providing loyal support and advice when needed. Although the fact that her life is bound to Shiori’s means that Kiki is effectively safe, you genuinely care about her survival.

One of the most consistent positives is the use of food in the narrative. One of Shiori’s most important memories of her mother is watching her make soup as a toddler, and she reproduces her signature recipe on several occasions. We also get to read about monkeycakes – orange rice cakes filled with peanut, and mouth-watering descriptions of permissions, rice and sweet potato. This provides an element of personality and uniqueness- you genuinely want to make the food yourself when you’ve finished reading. The narrative also makes use of songs, including a ballad which Shiori also inherited from her mother. Lim’s ability at integrating these elements ensures the story remains entertaining to read, even in its slowest moments.

The world of Kiata in general is also really fascinating. Superstitions which might be familiar to those with a basic understanding of Far Eastern mythology (Seven is a lucky number, four is unlucky) are mixed in with more unusual ones about demons and magical powers, and Six Crimson Cranes uses these to generate atmosphere and even some conflict. There is also an element of mythology, as several myths play a prominent role in the narrative. The most notable of these is a myth of red strings created by a goddess to “bind” couples into relationships, which adds substance to Shiori and Takkan’s relationship whilst also explaining the importance of cranes in this world, and why THEY are being used as the enchanted birds. The culture of Kiata gets an impressive spotlight twice in the story, with a Summer Festival early in the story and a Winter Festival nearer the climax. Both events provide wonderful bursts of joy and escapism, but Shiori’s attempts to lose herself in them are disrupted by major plot developments. Like the best YA fantasy authors, Lim has created a kingdom which you genuinely want to stay in and explore for multiple stories.

Despite its strengths, Six Crimson Cranes falls into a fairly common pitfall for YA fairytales at the moment, by trying to complicate things too much with subplots and intrigues that disregard the fact that the appeal of any great fairytale is the simplicity. This is made clear in the subplot over a mystery traitor responsible for murdering one of the castle guards. Even with a couple of attempts to mislead us, the perpetrator is pretty obvious. The same is true with the initial misdirection over Takkan’s true identity. When Shiori is given a choice between the aggressive soldier in the Lord’s uniform and the kindly sentinel who helped her out earlier in the story, it is pretty clear that the latter is the one she should choose, even without an extra twist to justify it. Although The Six Swans can seem relatively static when the heroine reaches her new home, throwing in plot points like this can feel like a distraction rather than an organic way of keeping things moving. The overstuffed nature of the narrative leads to a climax which alternates between talky reveal scenes and hectic action sequences. Most of these are delivered well on an individual level, generating the suspense and emotion required. But they also blur into one another, diminishing the fairytale simplicity as characters who were given relatively little time at the start are revealed as major players in a grand conspiracy involving the source of Shirori’s magic. When Shirori starts having second thoughts about her mission, her brothers tell her “Don’t make things complicated”, and this is advice that Lim should have heeded more often.

This emphasis on adding too much to the story has a particularly damaging effect on Shiori’s siblings. The six brothers she is fighting to restore have some level of individuality – they make the decision to part ways with Shiori, and this means that they barely feature for large stretches of the story, making it harder to root for them. This also affects some of the original characters - Sheryu – the shapeshifting dragon who agrees to help Shiori control her powers - is a likeable character with a creatively designed human form, but gets relatively little to do beyond giving occasional snippets of advice. His dragon family barely appear after removes the starstroke from the mountain, and this feels like a bit of wasted potential. The role of the “bishop” from Andersen's The Wild Swans – the misguided zealot who persecutes our heroine - is shared between two characters; Hasege is an aggressive cousin to Takkan, driven by toxic masculinity, whilst Zairena is a snooty, prejudiced relative whose sympathetic backstory fails to hide the fact that she has turned into an incredibly unpleasant person. Both have enough personality to avoid being total caricatures, but are still two-dimensional unlikeable individuals who end up feeling like little more than roadblocks.

However, out of all the underused characters, the one who truly feels like the most interesting is Raikama. Set up as a traditional villain, Raikama turns out to be a lot more nuanced and vulnerable than Shiori believes. There are several moments where this approach echoes Jennifer Donelly’s recent Snow White retelling Poisoned, which also tried to turn the traditional Wicked Queen into a more tragic figure. Lim’s story shares the same flaw, that its focus on bringing psychological depth is diminished by the fact it is harder to invest in the plight of a character who is absent for most of the narrative. However, Raikama’s moral ambiguity makes her one of the most memorable characters in the story. The climactic scene where Raikama tells Shirori all the secrets she went to such desperate measures to conceal is genuinely moving. In a sense, it is a good thing that we want to learn more about these characters, but it also leaves us wondering if the complications of the narrative are keeping them from getting the opportunities to shine that they truly deserve.

Six Crimson Cranes ends with a couple of blatant sequel hooks, leaving a few elements of the storyline unresolved. The need to resolve many of the loose plot threads could cause headaches, particularly if it involves discarding the fairy tale template that save Six Crimson Cranes some much needed focus and structure. However, we like the characters so much that this does not feel as annoying as it could have been. The sequel – The Dragon’s Promise – will be released in September, and it will be interesting to see where Lim takes Shiori, Takkan, Kiki and the other protagonists.

Verdict

Six Crimson Cranes is an effective retelling of The Six Swans, bringing the tale into its own unique setting, but also embracing the themes and messages of the original story to keep the fairy tale spirit. The level of ambition Lim displays is pretty admirable, but there are times when the sheer amount of detail and plot points can be overwhelming. Ultimately, Six Crimson Cranes is elevated by its colourful, engaging world and its likeable cast of characters. It represents another enjoyable YA tale from Elizabeth Lim, confirming her status as one of the most talented authors in the genre.