Jade War

Product Information

Both Ru and Jaya take after Hilo. Jaya is more obvious being a Green Bone and Fist with the same natural charisma and penchant for violence her Da had in his youth. But while Ru's similarities aren't immediately apparent, with his nature as a stone-eye and passion for charitable causes making him seem more like his mother Wen, his brief clean blade duel with Tadino shows had has the authority and skill to command Green Bones and gain control in a chaotic situation, if only he'd hadn't been born nonreactic to bioenergetic jade then he might've been Hilo reborn and survived the duel by being able to Steel against a knife. Deliberate Values Dissonance: One of the main themes of the series. Green Bones operate by a moral code that sometimes seems alien to modern sensibilities. Hilo in particular sometimes veers towards Blue-and-Orange Morality.

It’s no understatement to say that Fonda Lee has improved on the first book in every way. While this is most evident in the characterisations, it applies equally to the world-building and plot. Everything is more vibrant, better realised. This feels like a whole new world. Accordingly, while Jade City offered some notion of what was outside of Kekon, this time the stage is truly international. And just like it says in the title, this is a WAR. One that will determine not only the future of the Clans, but Kekon and its place in the world heirarchy. It’s all about power and the deadly games people play to get it, or keep hold of it. The knives are out and nobody is safe. Alas, Poor Villain: Even with everything Ayt Mada is responsible for, it's hard not to feel sorry for her when she's bleeding out on the floor of the KJA conference room. Either out of fear of Hilo or the realization that they'll profit from her death, nobody in the room moves to help her. Even Hilo feels pity for her in this moment, though not enough to allow anyone in the room help her get medical treatment. Would Hit a Girl: Hilo, who murders Lan's ex-wife Eyni in Jade War when she tries to keep Niko away from Green Bone culture, and later starts beating up Shae when he learns she nearly sent Wen to her death in Espenia. The addition of Jade as the main fantasy element that this world revolves on was the perfect cherry on top. It almost felt like the Jade just made them a little more super human and made the fight scenes/perceptions make a lot more sense even though I consider it as more of a soft magic system. Don’t get me wrong, this is definitely still a violent and brutal book with graphic imagery and arguably cruel characters so just keep that in mind. Hilo pursues Bero and Mudt, who have become involved in Zapunyo's illegal jade smuggling operation. Mudt betrays and seemingly kills Bero. Hilo kills Mudt, believing that he was Lan's murderer. Bero survives. He bitterly reveals information about the smuggling operation to No Peak, allowing them to cut off supplies of jade illegally leaving the country.Famed In-Story: By the time of Legacy, Ayt Mada and Shae's duel in War has ascended to a nearly legendary status as one of the last true clean-bladed duels between old-school Greenbone warriors. Jade City centers around the Kaul family: Lan, Shae, and Hilo, and there is such a current of love and rage and loss running between the three siblings. People were people. The power of jade didn’t make them better or closer to godliness; it just made them more powerful” While all this is going on, the outside world is thrown into disarray by the growing influence of jade trading, while a war between neighbouring countries Shotar and Ygutan over the disputed oortoko region threatens to cause further chaos. Only, the latter is mostly told to us through different characters and news reports on TVs. Given there’s a separate thread involving Beko and Mudt, the two crooks we finished the first book on, it would have been nice to see how this war actually played out from someone on the battlefield. Sometimes, Andy, the people you think you can count on, they let you down in a bad way, and that’s hard to take. But for the most part, you give a man something to live up to, you tell him he can be more than he is now, more than other people think he’ll ever be, and he’ll try his godsdamned best to make it true.”

All that mortals could do was accept the lot they were given, and yet still fight to better their own fate and that of their loved ones.” The stereotype about the Espenians is that their first instinct to solve any problem is to buy their way out. Sequel Goes Foreign: Jade City takes place on Kekon, almost exclusively on the city Janloon. Starting with Jade War the characters visit foreign countries, with mayor plotlines taking place entirely on Espenia.Undying Loyalty: The Maik brothers to Hilo, starting from when they were all in school together. This is particularly true of Tar, who offers to kill himself to spare Hilo having to execute him as punishment for murdering Iyn Ro. Later, he kills an enemy for them in Espenia despite having been exiled for decades at that point. People in-universe have noticed—when Wen is made Hilo's Pillar Man, people pointedly gossiped that maybe he needed a Maik at his side at all times and was down to his last one. Fight Clubbing: The Kekonese-Espenians maintain a couple of underground fight clubs for "grudge matches", which are publicly sanctioned in Kekon but not legal in Espenia. Some of the younger and more-assimilated members of the community object, while their parents want to maintain the tradition. Fantasy Counterpart Culture: While Kekon is not inspired by any one Asian country, the foreign powers in the setting do closely resemble some real world inspirations: Break His Heart to Save Him: Horrifically deconstructed. After constant internal struggle Shae decides to break things off with Maro, as she finds it too difficult to juggle her responsibilities as the Weather Man of No Peak and her relationship with her well-meaning but narrow-minded boyfriend, by confessing to her greatest breach of trust: aborting their unborn child without consulting them. Maro is understandably devastated by this, and unable to place his faith in her or the No Peak clan, he leaves before telling her of the threats made to his family by Barukan gang members. This leads to him playing a role in the failed attempt on Hilo's forcing her to kill him to spare him from suffering a worse fate.

Special thanks to my Patrons on Patreon for giving me extra support towards my passion for reading and reviewing! Jade City is a 2017 gangster fantasy novel by Fonda Lee. It won the World Fantasy Award in 2018 and is the first in the Green Bone Saga trilogy, followed by Jade War and Jade Legacy.Affably Evil: Ayt is quite capable of having a civil conversation with her mortal enemies. Could also apply to Hilo, depending on how you feel about him.

By Jade Legacy, Shae may not see much of herself in her daughter - Tia - but she resembles a version of Shae who committed to her intent in the very first book, of cutting ties to the violent and criminal parts of her family and not wearing jade. Tia has a much easier time leading a life separate from Green Bone affairs because her parents are supportive of her decisions, unlike Shae's father was. Technical Pacifist: By the time of Jade Legacy, Anden has sworn off personally using violence for good, and staunchly insists on only wearing Jade when acting as a physician. He does not, however, have any qualms about facilitating violence in other ways, such arranging to have someone else wipe a prominent Kespenian gangster and his entire gang off the map to end the trouble they're causing the Kauls and their allies. The Witch and Her Friend. Before she was the ruthless leader of the Mountain clan, Ayt Mada was an orphan without friends at school except for one: Aun Ure, a teenage girl feared and renowned as an assassin but yearning for a simpler life. Supernatural Martial Arts: Jade grants the Green Bones superhuman abilities, which can only be safely used by people with the right combination of genetic predisposition and intense training in the six disciplines of Strength, Steel, Perception, Lightness, Deflection and Channeling.

Fantasy Books Of The Year

Harmful to Minors: When Anden was seven, he woke up in the middle of the night to find his mother in the bathtub, scratching her arms bloody with a cheese grater because of the Itches.