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(SFF Bingo): Jade City, by Fonda Lee
Oct. 27th, 2025 07:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
primeidealThis is the first installment in the "Green Bone" trilogy that ranks highly in /r/fantasy polls, and I found it lived up to the hype!
Premise: Jamloon is the capital city of Kekon, an island country that's the source of bioenergetic jade. Most ethnically Kekonese people--but few others--get magical powers from touching jade, and so they can train as martial artists to hone their skills. A couple generations ago, the One Mountain society of Green Bone warriors (and their civilian supporters) fought a guerilla war for Kekon's independence, as part of a wider global conflict. But after the war, the society splintered into feuding clans (sort of like the Chinese "triad" organized crime system), which are now on the verge of outright gang war. And it's happening against the backdrop of a late-20th century tech level. People strangle each other with telephone cords, record incrimidating conversations on cassette tapes, and there's a whole scene of "how do I get in touch with this guy, do I use his home phone number or his work phone or call his girlfriend or what?!" from the just-pre-cell phone era. I normally roll my eyes when authors namedrop a bunch of RL car makes or brand name guns, but if it's fictional car or gun manufacturers that coexist with fantastical superpowers, it turns out I'm here for it.
There are a lot of POVs, but not in an overwhelming way. The main focus is on the Kaul siblings, prominent in the No Peak clan: Lan, Hilo, and Shae, and their honorary "cousin" Anden. At times, mostly early on, it felt like head-hopping--are we in character A's POV, or did we just switch to B's? But maybe it's just A having a reasonably educated guess what B is thinking, either from normal human intuition or, in some cases, magically augmented Perception.
If you like magic systems, with clearly-outlined "disciplines" and delineations of what jade can accomplish, this book is for you. Anden is in his final year at the academy, which features such exciting tests and rituals as "the Massacre of the Rats," as well as non-magical education such as "competitive matches in poetry recital, speed math, and logic game." Would attend. And if you like the Wheel of Time-style magic where different people have different tolerances for magic, it can be dangerous and addictive, but there's a lot of social status riding on who outranks whom, this book is definitely for you. The descriptions of jade addiction, and the obsessive desire it provokes both in experienced users and small-time criminals with delusions of grandeur, are very compelling. A new drug has promise for increasing people's tolerance, or making foreigners able to use it when they wouldn't otherwise, but comes with its own side effects. Will international trade help Kekon modernize, or will they export their "backward" martial culture to the rest of the world? The tension that comes from being on the precipice of great technological change is palpable everywhere.
I loved the description of the war of independence, and how in some ways it was easier than maintaining unity in peacetime.
When the story begins, Shae has just returned to Kekon after parting on bad terms with her family two years ago. At first, it's like, "she was dating a foreigner, Kekonese people can be xenophobic, that's too bad." It's not until the 46% mark that we learn more about what she was doing that was so disgraceful before she left. I would have liked to learn that a little earlier, it feels pretty important in evaluating her character. That might say more about my priorities IRL, though.
When describing Kekonese festival or cultural traditions, the narrative voice occasionally jumps into generic present tense, which felt jarring. There are a couple "interludes" that recount Kekonese religious lore about the first humans; those were fine because they were their own chapters.
There's a sex scene early on that was a bit too NSFW for my tastes, I would not want to read 500 pages of that. The rest of the book is not like that, however. Even when there were other descriptions of intimacy, it was less gratuitous.
The ending:
( spoilers )
But overall, there are lots of great perspectives, like a small-time criminal getting a fancy gun:
Premise: Jamloon is the capital city of Kekon, an island country that's the source of bioenergetic jade. Most ethnically Kekonese people--but few others--get magical powers from touching jade, and so they can train as martial artists to hone their skills. A couple generations ago, the One Mountain society of Green Bone warriors (and their civilian supporters) fought a guerilla war for Kekon's independence, as part of a wider global conflict. But after the war, the society splintered into feuding clans (sort of like the Chinese "triad" organized crime system), which are now on the verge of outright gang war. And it's happening against the backdrop of a late-20th century tech level. People strangle each other with telephone cords, record incrimidating conversations on cassette tapes, and there's a whole scene of "how do I get in touch with this guy, do I use his home phone number or his work phone or call his girlfriend or what?!" from the just-pre-cell phone era. I normally roll my eyes when authors namedrop a bunch of RL car makes or brand name guns, but if it's fictional car or gun manufacturers that coexist with fantastical superpowers, it turns out I'm here for it.
There are a lot of POVs, but not in an overwhelming way. The main focus is on the Kaul siblings, prominent in the No Peak clan: Lan, Hilo, and Shae, and their honorary "cousin" Anden. At times, mostly early on, it felt like head-hopping--are we in character A's POV, or did we just switch to B's? But maybe it's just A having a reasonably educated guess what B is thinking, either from normal human intuition or, in some cases, magically augmented Perception.
If you like magic systems, with clearly-outlined "disciplines" and delineations of what jade can accomplish, this book is for you. Anden is in his final year at the academy, which features such exciting tests and rituals as "the Massacre of the Rats," as well as non-magical education such as "competitive matches in poetry recital, speed math, and logic game." Would attend. And if you like the Wheel of Time-style magic where different people have different tolerances for magic, it can be dangerous and addictive, but there's a lot of social status riding on who outranks whom, this book is definitely for you. The descriptions of jade addiction, and the obsessive desire it provokes both in experienced users and small-time criminals with delusions of grandeur, are very compelling. A new drug has promise for increasing people's tolerance, or making foreigners able to use it when they wouldn't otherwise, but comes with its own side effects. Will international trade help Kekon modernize, or will they export their "backward" martial culture to the rest of the world? The tension that comes from being on the precipice of great technological change is palpable everywhere.
I loved the description of the war of independence, and how in some ways it was easier than maintaining unity in peacetime.
During the war, the people called Ayt the Spear of Kekon. He was the daring, vengeful, ferocious Green Bone warrior that the Shotarians feared and hated, a man who spoke little but wreaked deadly havoc on the occupiers, only to always escape into the shadows and up into the mountains.
His closest comrade, Kaul Sen, was the elder, more seasoned rebel, a shrewd and masterful tactician who, along with his son, Du, distributed secret pamphlets and broadcast subversive radio messages that inspired and organized the network of Lantern Men that became the key to the One Mountain Society’s success.
The Spear and the Torch.
Kaul Sen's right-hand man, Yun Dorupon, turns out to be a total creep. This part was powerful but not overstated.
Years away had not dimmed Shae’s loathing of Yun Dorupon. He’d cost her not just a friend, but the once matchless admiration she’d had for her grandfather.
Some small nitpicks:
When the story begins, Shae has just returned to Kekon after parting on bad terms with her family two years ago. At first, it's like, "she was dating a foreigner, Kekonese people can be xenophobic, that's too bad." It's not until the 46% mark that we learn more about what she was doing that was so disgraceful before she left. I would have liked to learn that a little earlier, it feels pretty important in evaluating her character. That might say more about my priorities IRL, though.
When describing Kekonese festival or cultural traditions, the narrative voice occasionally jumps into generic present tense, which felt jarring. There are a couple "interludes" that recount Kekonese religious lore about the first humans; those were fine because they were their own chapters.
There's a sex scene early on that was a bit too NSFW for my tastes, I would not want to read 500 pages of that. The rest of the book is not like that, however. Even when there were other descriptions of intimacy, it was less gratuitous.
The ending:
( spoilers )
But overall, there are lots of great perspectives, like a small-time criminal getting a fancy gun:
He’d never owned anything bigger than a pocket-sized pistol and couldn’t believe his luck. He felt as if he were holding a baby; he didn’t know where to put his hands, how to properly cradle such a valuable object.
Or this kind of culture shock:
Sporting events on Kekon were different from how they were in Espenia. Shae had been astounded by how rowdy and jovial the crowds were over there. The Espenians sang and chanted constantly; they cheered and booed, waved flags, and shouted nonsensical instructions at the players and coaches. The Kekonese were no less passionate in their team loyalties, but no one would think to yell at the field or distract the participants.
The other countries aren't fleshed out in detail, so it's not distracting in the way that "oh this is just clearly the USA/Russia/China with the serial numbers filed off" would be. On the other hand, Espenia has a secretary of the War Department so...that aged well.
Bingo: Author of Color, was a previous readalong.
Bingo: Author of Color, was a previous readalong.