Do the Ends Justify the Means? Descendant of the Crane Book Review

Thank you to Albert Whitman & Company for providing me with an advanced reader copy for review. Receiving this galley does not impact my opinion of the book.

"If you want to understand a person, peer at his heart through the window of his prejudices and assumptions."

Descendant of the Crane follows the journey of Hesina of Yan as she searches for her father's true killer. Now the queen, Hesina holds the power to order a formal investigation and trial to identify the murderer. Yet the young leader's pursuit of justice is not so simple. Hesina hides her own act of treason from the public: seeking the assistance of soothes, clairvoyants rejected by society. To complicate matters, Hesina's representative in court, Akira, is a criminal himself, and the court desires a quick answer rather than a fair trial. Even worse, other kingdoms, sensing the new court's vulnerability, near closer to war. With the help of her royal siblings, Sanjing, Caiyan, Lillian, and Rou, and her representative, Akira, Hesina must quell public dissent and mediate court politics to find the king's murderer and save her kingdom.

What most distinguishes Joan He's debut novel is its characters. Hesina's siblings are flawed and nuanced, which make them all the more interesting. Sanjing, while a bold soldier, grapples with the implications of murdering the innocent and his weak relationships with his siblings. Caiyan is loyal to his sister, but his motivations are unclear. Lillian, too, is loyal, but less tolerant of Sanjing than her twin brother Caiyan. Hesina's mother is perfectly gray. Wracked by grief, she attempts to dissuade her daughter from taking the crown. Hesina herself acts in ways not easily classified as good or bad. Only a teenager, she struggles to reconcile the public image she must maintain with the consequences of her decisions.

These characters' actions and moral conflicts illuminate one of the novel's core questions: do the ends justify the means? The protagonists face demanding situations that force them to choose between losing the consensus of the public and hurting potentially innocent people. To preserve peace, Hesina must compromise her values. Should she choose to punish no one, however, a revolt could ensue, leaving her powerless to address her kingdom's greater problems. Descendant of the Crane's portrayal of difficult issues enhances the complexity of its characters and examines to what extent hurting others is forgivable.

The court intrigue and gossip illustrate the effects of mob mentality and supplement one of the most enjoyable parts of the book: the trial to punish the king's murderer. In the informal (albeit entertaining) court proceedings, a rigid director presides over what can only be described as a search for a scapegoat. Rather than enforce a just trial and discover the true identity of the killer, many of the attending courtesans are willing to lie to maintain their public standings, even if what is popular is morally wrong.

"What is truth? Scholars seek it. Poets write it. Good kings pay gold to hear it. But in trying times, truth is the first thing we betray."

In these moments, Akira confronts the antagonists' falsehoods with dramatic counterarguments. While Akira raises substantial points, he fails to convince the politicians that the principle of innocent until proven guilty matters. Meanwhile, the trial polarizes the general public so much so that they engage in the same blackmail as their corrupt leaders to maintain a more comfortable but unjust status quo. 

Although the court drama and resulting conflicts accelerated the pace of the story, some parts of Descendant of the Crane proceeded more slowly and, at times, were difficult to follow. In particular, the role of the sooths was initially confusing until later plot developments clarified their significance. 

This inconsistent pacing left other elements of the story underdeveloped. For instance, Hesina follows the advice of the first sooth woman she meets verbatim, even though the sooth advises the queen to make an unknown prisoner her court representative. Hesina's trust in this advice and her consequent romance with Akira felt rushed and convenient at times.

Still, thanks to He's characters, the plot twists in this novel were unpredictable and exciting. It's a rare occasion that I am surprised by the conclusion of a book, but Descendant of the Crane packed some potent punches.

- ★★★ -