Jade City (The Green Bone Saga, #1) in Nothing But Reading Challenges

Mar 20, 2018 Katie Tillwick rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I’ve never read anything quite like this before. A king-fu gangster urban fantasy, filled with deep characters in a place somewhere in between Singapore, Japan, and Hong Kong. Fun.

2 likes · Like · see review

Aug 06, 2023 Bonnie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy-general, fantasy-non-western, 2017-books

This book definitely deserves all the rave reviews it has received. Lee has written an impressive fantasy epic with compelling characters and a vibrant world.

The book is set in Kekon, a mid-20th-century pan-East Asian analog (per Lee, it's inspired by East Asia generally, and is not modeled after Hong Kong, Taiwan, etc. specifically) - with cars and guns and phones. The Kekonese have the rare ability to use jade to endow them with enhanced abilities (basically magic) without going insane (usuall This book definitely deserves all the rave reviews it has received. Lee has written an impressive fantasy epic with compelling characters and a vibrant world.

The book is set in Kekon, a mid-20th-century pan-East Asian analog (per Lee, it's inspired by East Asia generally, and is not modeled after Hong Kong, Taiwan, etc. specifically) - with cars and guns and phones. The Kekonese have the rare ability to use jade to endow them with enhanced abilities (basically magic) without going insane (usually). After the Many Nations War, the Kekonese have successfully liberated themselves from foreign occupation and are starting to expand their influence. Although there is a civil government, power on the island is really in the hands of the clans. The two largest clans are the Mountain clan and the No Peak clan. Our heroes are the No Peak clan, run by the influential Kaul family. The heart of the book are the three Kaul siblings, a triumvirate of different personalities tied together by their loyalty to their family and their clan. Lan is the rational, cool-headed oldest sibling, and the current No Peak leader ("Pillar"). Hilo is the hot-headed but warm-hearted and jovial younger brother, who is his brother's right-hand man ("Horn"). And Shae, the only sister, is a mix of the two: she has a cool head for business like Lan, she understands people well, like Hilo, and she is also more rebellious, removing her jade and moving abroad to try to forge her own destiny.

My favorite kind of book is one that involves scheming and politics, with clever people using their wits to survive (The Thief series, The Goblin Emperor, etc.). Lee does an outstanding job of giving layers upon layers of schemes, with every person acting in a way that is compatible with their personality. Even the Mountain clan are not crazy villains - in a different book, the Mountain clan would be our heroes, and the No Peak clan would be the antagonists getting in the way of greater peace and prosperity through the Mountain clan's sole control of the Kekonese clans.

Lee is also not afraid to break your heart, and no one feels safe. The stakes are high and I will be biting my nails through the rest of the trilogy. ...more

Like · see review