Green Bone Withdrawal? ‘Jade Setter of Janloon’ is the Perfect Fix

Ahh. It feels good to be back in Janloon. It’s been a little over 3 months since my last excursion to Kekon (in Jade Legacy) and I guess you could say I was having some jade withdrawal.

Turns out, Jade Setter of Janloon was my perfect fix.

The first thing it has going for it, is that it’s pretty short, and quickly paced for a Green Bone book (not that any of the other Green Bone books drag necessarily). Second, it’s very much it’s own kind of story. For all that it takes place in the Green Bone universe, it still has a distinct feel. More Noir, and less Urban Fantasy. In some ways it’s perhaps even more grim even than the previous offerings, but Lee does not linger too long on any of those moments. After all, there’s a mystery to solve.

Readers of Jade City, and Jade War (and of course Jade Legacy but I already linked it above lol) will thrill to see some familiar faces but personally, I delighted at the experience of a great cast of new characters.

Pulo is at once, an enterprising young upstart, and a dutiful assistant. His master, Isin, is reserved and conservative in his work, but brash and daring when it seems no one is watching. Their shop is both renowned, yet overlooked; an essential part of all clans but separate from any one group’s control.

Or so they think . . .

Of course, it’s the tilted power structures in Janloon that are the catalyst for most of the story, but the dynamics between characters were my favorite part of this book. For instance, Pulo quickly forms opinions without considering all the facts, which inevitably leads him into situations he isn’t even close to prepared for. It may not make for great detection, but it certainly makes for a compelling narrative.

I’m lucky enough to already be well versed in the world of this story, but even if I had never read a Green Bone book before, I think I would still have rated this book just as highly (and for those who have read other ‘Jade’ books, this one sheds new light on certain places). Each member of the cast has a complicated relationship to each other and the world around them, and it was amazing to see how this seemingly ho-hum group just gets more and more interesting with every chapter.

I’ll admit though, if you’re going into this book expecting the same kind hard hitting (let’s face it, tear jerking) story as the other ‘Jade’ books, you’ll be disappointed. As I mentioned above, this book is its own thing, and I don’t think it tries to encompass the same range of emotions as previous entries. That is not to say there aren’t sad moments, or happy moments too, but we just don’t have the time needed for these characters to get their hooks into us.

After three wonderful but harrowing novels already set in Janloon, I felt this more even keeled approach to be a feature, not a bug.

Read?

Emphatically yes! Even if you’ve never picked up the other Green Bone books before, this one will be a fun and enjoyable read. I think I also read that it would be eligible for a Hugo for the Novella in 2023? That’s a long way off, and I’m not sure it’s quite that caliber, but it’s definitely on my radar as a contender.

Has anyone read this book yet? What was your favorite part (who was your favorite cameo)? Please let me know in the comments. I’m looking forward to talking about this one!

See you next time!

What a (Jade) Legacy . . .

Finally, we’ve reached the end.

And oh what an awesome journey it has been!

For those just arriving on the scene, I reviewed Jade City back in August (spoiler it was great!), and then Jade War much later in November (also loved it).

By the release of Jade Legacy on November 30th, 2021, I was so excited to get a copy, that I was pretty much squirming around my apartment, hoping to hear that the library had made my hold available.

It was still several days, maybe even a week until I was able to finally pick up the book and then almost a MONTH (twitter says December 22nd) until I started reading it.

But I was not disappointed at all when I finally did sink my teeth into this amazing final volume in The Green Bone Saga.

In a lot of ways, this book is more of the same excellent story that we loved while reading both Jade City and Jade War. But in many ways it’s quite different.

The detailed and miraculous world we are introduced to in JC and JW — a Kung Fu meets The Godfather esque city controlled by clans who use jade powered magic abilities to further legitimate and illegitimate business, personal, and family agendas — is expanded tenfold in Jade Legacy, reaching far across the Amaric Ocean into new territories with devastating consequences.

But the heart of the story (and greenbone culture) is still in Kekon and it was amazing to see how it’s history, mythos, and backstory was expanded, and how that contrasts with what the nation has become, and how it’s people deal with the legacy (ohhh lol) they’ve been given.

And of course, how they will shape that legacy themselves.

I’ve heard a few negative comments about the Jade Legacy’s scope, specifically as it relates to the timeline in the novel. Unlike JC and JW, which take place in relatively short amounts of time (a year or maybe several), Jade Legacy‘s story plays out over two decades, sometimes with only a few moments in between chapters, sometimes months, and sometimes years.

I’ll admit, this aspect was a little jarring at first, but easy to get used to, and (IMHO) completely necessary to be able to tell the kind of story which Jade Legacy needed to tell . . . one of tragedy and ultimately evolution.

I mentioned that Jade Legacy’s world expanded, but so did the nuance of it’s characters. It was fascinating to watch them grapple with the changing perception of Greenbone culture, and how they themselves changed (or didn’t) in light of the new world which does not wait for them to shape its mores, and constantly threatens to leave them behind.

Of course, there is a fair bit of tragedy in Jade Legacy. Honestly, the hits just keep coming, and many things did not go as I expected, while a few did, but were no less shocking or impactful for being predictable.

Finally, I’ll say that this book truly felt like an ending. It’s easy (I think) to leave the last book on a cliff-hanger, to hint that their could always be a fourth, or maybe a fifth book, but ultimately (unless more is written) I’ve found these types of endings unsatisfying. Jade Legacy does not do this. It takes painstaking effort to make sure that every little thread that’s been woven in the last two books and more gets resolved, whether the stakes be large and world-changing in scope, or small and individual. Even characters which seem secondary, get endings in this book, and while that certainly contributed to Jade Legacy‘s massive word count, it ultimately felt right and satisfying (it certainly was never boring).

So . . . Read it?

Yes! Go read it now! Then comment here on this blog with what shocked you the most! Keep this book alive. Ultimately, I’m a bit sad that the story is over. I’ve spent so much time with the green bones (though not the six years that the series took to write woah) and so naturally it’s a little hard to think the story is over, but ultimately I’m glad that it is.

Also, I haven’t titled this as one of my “should __insert book title__ get a Hugo?” style Hugo posts, but if you are nominating for 2022 Hugo Awards in March, I think Jade Legacy should go on your list for best novel, and certainly The Greenbone saga for best series. Definitely one of the best series I’ve read this year, and somehow, Fonda Lee has never been nominated for a Hugo yet.

This is the book to change that . . . let’s change that!

Anyway, thanks all! Have you finished this book? Or any of the greenbone saga? Let me know your thoughts.

See you next time!

Red (cover) Means Stop and Go Read Jade War

Wow. It’s hard to believe that three months have already passed since I read, reviewed, and loved Jade City by Fonda Lee. I was anxious to jump immediately into the sequel, Jade War, but it seemed like other priorities kept cropping up (like a bunch of Hugo Award nominees).

Anyway, with only thirteen days left to spare until the last book in the trilogy comes out (Jade Legacy), I’m very excited to say I’ve finished Jade War and . . .

I absolutely loved it!

Like any good sequel, all of the elements of the original were present, and like any good sequel, they escalated in a natural fashion which felt new yet inevitable. Like any good sequel those new elements hinted at an exciting future to come.

But Jade War moved past what a good sequel does and on to the realm of what a good book does. This book kind of defied my ability to stop and analyze what aspects of the story were good or bad; I was too busy enjoying it. (and having a lot of feelings)

Now that is not to say that the book is perfect. Every book has some parts that stand out as being perhaps of a lower caliber than other parts, and unfortunately with a book this good, it made those parts stand out a bit, but I’ll admit that they were out shown immediately by the parts that were great.

So let’s start with the good parts 🙂

As in Jade City, the intriguing parts of Jade War were undeniably the setting, the intercharacter relationships (read as family drama), and its tight and often racing plot. If you’re unfamiliar with any part of the Green Bone Saga, author Fonda Lee describes it as “The Godfather with magic and kung fu”. Jade War seems to lean more heavily on the Godfather part of that description than perhaps Jade City did.

For one, the violence (as you might expect in a war as opposed to a city) seems much more present throughout the novel, and while I don’t recall a lot of gore, it was still much more grim somehow. Vengeance was in no short supply during Jade City, but its execution felt more purposeful (for the characters, Lee definitely had a purpose in depicting these scenes), and there was a kind of nobility in that.

In Jade War, it becomes clear that the Kauls have been fighting for too long, and everyone — on all sides — has lost that sense of purpose. The Green Bone code, Aisho, seems to be quickly evaporating and each act of violence is escalated in hopes that it will scare off the next one, but of course there is always a next one. One death in particular seemed like it could have come straight out of the show Breaking Bad, another story in which murder is as much a personal statement as it is a path to victory.

Of course, all this violence and gang related war is just what’s happening at home in Janloon. We also have war abroad in several different countries, which further builds up this world, and provides (literally) more space for conflict. Perhaps the main expansion we see is from the perspective of Anden who — I don’t think it’s much of a spoiler to say — moves to Espenia.

I had some trouble figuring out exactly which real world country Espenia was supposed to represent, but after chatting with some friends we decided that it was firmly America. These scenes were fascinating not only because of the expanded possibilities they present for the book’s themes of war and violence, but because they also seemed to represent a kind of immigration story which had its own unique power and sentiment.

Finally, there was the family drama . . . and boy if it didn’t keep hitting me right in the feels. I won’t spoil each revelation here, but I can easily think of at least five different parts of the novel which had me going: “Whaaat!?”. In contrast to Jade City‘s one epic shock, this might seem like too much, or that it might dilute the value of each of these events, but I didn’t feel that way at all while reading. I mostly just wanted to read further to see how it was going to play out.

The only portion I didn’t like about the novel was ‘the Crews’ Anden contends with over in Espenia. To me they seemed to draw just a little two heavily from 1920’s American gangster archetypes to the point of almost being cartoonish. Their introduction is perhaps one of the only info dumps I ever read by Fonda Lee which in a weird way was its own kind of incredible.

But that was pretty much it for bad . . .

So . . . ?

Probably stop reading this and go read Jade War. It is everything I loved about Jade City and also a lot more. I am beyond anxious to see what happens in the final chapter which comes out November 30th, Jade Legacy.

That’s pretty much it for this review? Have you read Jade City or Jade War yet? What’s your favorite part? What would you do if jade really gave you super powers like it does in these stories? What’s the scariest thing about that prospect?

Please leave your thoughts and answers in the comments section. I’m anxious to talk about this book!

Jade City: A Rare Gem of a Novel

This could probably be a pretty short review. I’m half tempted to simply write ‘go read this book’ and call it a day. But I suppose I should work a little harder than that, and actually explain why I feel this way about the book. After all, it is clear while reading Jade City that it was a project of passion and painstaking craft; the end result deserves more than a sentence in review.

I think it makes sense to start with the premise. As described by the author, Fonda Lee, Jade City is essentially “The Godfather with magic and kung fu” and honestly, that description hits the nail pretty well on the head (and for me basically sells the whole thing right from the start).

Add in a sort of post World War II modern, vaguely Asian setting, and you pretty much have all the ingredients for the novel’s success listed and defined. Each of these ingredients serve as excellent hooks, and any one of them draw the reader in, but as with all good recipes, I think it’s how these things are mixed together, which really causes the book to shine.

The two main things that immediately stood out to me upon reading Jade City was just how tightly plotted the novel is, and how deep the world building goes. From the very first scene, we’re exposed to the undercurrents of political unrest which will shape the main intrigue plot, a systematic but not overly (faux) scientific magic system, and some pretty exciting and harrowing action from the point of view of a seemingly minor character (who just keeps happening bumble into more and more important plot points). This could have been an absolute disaster of a first chapter in its ambition, but remarkably gets everything across to the reader in a way that draws us in, sets up the basic information that we need to continue forward, and leaves us with enough (and the right) questions to encourage us to continue reading. It really sets the tone perfectly for the novel, as the scenes which follow may not be as action packed, but they rely on the building blocks laid out here to keep the tension building throughout in a way that (to me) never felt slow or dragging.

I mentioned the worldbuilding before, and I’d like to circle back to it as it was certainly a main component of the book which really stood out. In a lot of fantasy novels, I feel like “Worldbuilding” with a capital W is often actually myth building. The author builds the setting and explains current conflicts through legends and history of the world. In a lot of fantasy, these histories are ancient, and there is often a remove of hundreds or even thousands of years between the events of the myths/legends, and the plot we experience. They are related, but there is something of a remove.

I think in a lot of stories that feature this kind of worldbuilding, the remove is (more or less) necessary in order to establish the magnitude of the stakes being set up. The epics we know in the real world are set thousands of years in our past, and so that kind of remove in a fantasy story will naturally give a kind of epic quality to the events we see in the story.

By comparison, the events of Jade City feel very young. We get a few interludes which give three parts of an old myth, but most of the history makers in this world are still alive, aging badly, and worse, are failing to live up to the myth and legend which has come up around them. To me, this was a nice contrast from more traditional fantasy, and I think only served to bring the drama of the story closer to its main actors, the No Peak clan, and specifically the Kaul family.

The next thing that stood out to me about the worldbuilding, I said in a tweet so I’ll just post that here:

“I’m not sure what I was expecting but I’m pretty much digging it. For such a deep setting it’s pretty quickly paced and (at least to me) there doesn’t seem to be much filler. I also really think the setting would make a fun board game or RTS. There so many definitions of winning.” – @jamesweber16

I’m not sure what I was expecting but I’m pretty much digging it. For such a deep setting it’s pretty quickly paced and (at least to me) there doesn’t seem to be much filler.
I also really think the setting would make a fun board game or RTS. There so many definitions of winning

— James Weber (@JamesWeber16) August 2, 2021

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

I got about 75% of the way through this book and realized: “If so-and-so does this, that would be a satisfying ending to the story, but also if so-and-so does this, so would that.”

And of course, the ending was completely different from either of those things and still (to me) completely satisfying.

I attribute this to Lee’s story telling, but also must acknowledge that it was the depth of the world which provided the scaffolding for her to accomplish this. Each of the main characters seemed to have their own aspect of the world in which they were striving to create change, but all interlocked, and no one plot seemed to take the backseat to any other.

Finally, despite all that I’ve been going on about the worldbuilding and the setting, this story is primarily a family drama. The interpersonal relationships were what really drove so much of the tension in the story, but I was never frustrated by this. In a lot of family conflicts, issues that effect the character’s motivations can sometimes amount to very little more than shallow squabbles which any reasonable person would ‘suck it up’ and move forward from, especially when faced with world defining problems, and it can be very frustrating to see them fail to make these changes.

This was not the case in Jade City. The family conflicts seem deeply rooted in past history, and given the lives these characters have had to lead, seems completely reasonable. But Lee takes it one step further and also shows how they are still a family, and despite everything, seem to have a real familial love (or at least respect) for each other. I pretty much ate these scenes up (as well as all the others if I’m honest) and they were some of the scenes that stuck out to me the most.

TLDR

Anyway, please give this one a shot. There is so much more I could have written about but honestly, it would probably take more words than the book has in it already, so I think any readers still here should just go forth and read it. I’m really looking forward to the sequel, Jade War, and can’t wait to gush more about that here later.

If you’ve read Jade City, please let me know your thoughts in the comments. What did you love? Was there anything you hated? I’m excited to talk about this one.

Thanks again for reading! See you next time.