Jade War

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Though Shae still has a significant role in Jade War, you will see more of Wen as well – a character I was intrigued by in Jade City – and how her identity as a stone-eye (someone who doesn’t react to jade and thus can’t wield it; an identity which holds a lot of taboo) will structure the trajectory of her story, her choices, and her life. Violent feuds and combat are abundant, but we also see the various characters and their relationships mature amazingly in this book. The Pillar Hilo, his sister the Weather Man Shae, their cousin Anden who moves abroad to study, and Hilo’s wife the stone-eye Wen. Since the first book, I felt truly invested in the characters’ journeys; it’s crystal clear that Lee understands and knows her characters incredibly well. She kills him but feels like she might have been too merciful on him despite all that he did in betraying the clan.

In similar fashion to Jade City before it, Jade War is strikingly original in its composition and presentation.But what Hilo does not know, the gangs are internally warring and this has just made it a whole lot worse.

The last quarter of the book ratchets up the intensity even further as the subplots unravelled into the proverbial shit hits the fan. I liked the characters in Jade City, but Jade War made me love them – the characters’ stories are incredible, well-paced, and true to their developments.

In July 2022, it was announced that Peacock had canceled the project, but Lee shared on Twitter that the team were seeking another service to take it up. Neither of the two surviving grandchildren of the Kauls were expected to become leaders, especially not in the aftermath of a devastating feud. On the island of Kekon, the Kaul family is locked in a violent feud for control of the capital city and the supply of magical jade that endows trained Green Bone warriors with supernatural powers they alone have possessed for hundreds of years. If that's the case, Fonda Lee has then achieved the seemingly impossible as the second novel in The Green Bone Saga excelled over the first in every possible way.

Fortunately, Lee belongs in a type of storyteller that prioritizes her characters and characterizations. So Wen tells Hilo about this and he goes and retrieves the child but when things take a bad turn and Eyni says no to Hilo taking her son, she is killed and so the child comes back to Kekon with him to be raised as the next heir of the No Peak Clan.There were many great highlights in this novel, from the badass fight/action scenes (again, so reminiscent of Mistborn, especially of the later era) to the poignant and heartbreaking, and a shockingly contentious one; like prime-time drama skillfully rendered in prose form. Jade War expands everything we already knew and added even more scheming, betrayal, and political power plays.