#wu xia

When I finished my read of Wheel of Time in November, I wasn’t expecting to be hooked on a new series so quickly! I’d spared a passing thought on how difficult it must have been for WOT fans in the 90s and early aughts to have to wait between books. Now, as I join Lee’s countdown to Jade Legacy, I have a bit of an idea of how they felt. Luckily, I’ve only got to wait ‘til the end of the year to see how the Saga of the Kaul family concludes.

As a fantasy fan and something of a Sinophile with a MA in China Studies + trying to read more diverse books and actually living over here in Asia, The Green Bone saga was exactly what I have been looking for. It hooked me where Ken Liu’s Dandelion Dynasty left me a bit cold, had more compelling characters than the somewhat robotic protagonists of Liu Cixin’s Remembrance of Earth's Past (3 Body Problem books), featured tragedy and brutality that didn’t just piss me off like RF Kuang’s The Poppy War, and was more modern and accessible to lao-wai (westerners/gweilo/ang-moh...etc) than the epic wu-xia classic Legend of the Condor Heroes by Jin Yong. However, I think my familiarity with these books (especially Condor Heroes) is what made the first two Green Bone Saga books really “pop” for me.

These books are about a battle for control over the city of Janloon, the pan-Asian-influenced capital city on the island of Kekon. Until ~20-30 years before the start of the story, Kekon was ruled by the larger, foreign empire of Shotar (which made me think Kekon was a bit like Taiwan under Japanese occupation though Lee says there is not one influence for the setting... as a former Hong Kong-er, Janloon definitely didn’t “feel” like HK to me though). What makes Kekon special among all the other lands in this world is that it is the only place that produces jade. This isn’t normal jade like we know it. Rather, it gives people something of a “power-up” effect and the Kekonese people are the only ones who are able to hone it without becoming addicted or losing their minds. It is central to their culture and they have a rigorous code of honor controlling who can have it, how they train to use it, and what these “Green Bones” can and can’t do with it. 

During the occupation, there was one Green Bone clan called the One Mountain Society that organized a successful rebellion for independence. Now, in peacetime, that one clan has splintered into two, the Mountain and the No Peak, and are more like rival mafias squabbling over control of territory, business interests, and influence over politicians in the rapidly developing and prosperous modern Kekon. 

When I realized that their jade-powered magic system was the same as the feats of the heroic "Seven Freaks of Jiangnan" in Condor Heroes, this book sunk its claws into me and would not let go. Because for as much as this book is pitched as “The Godfather, but Asian,” it is that homage to the wu-xia genre that really made it special for me. To be fair, it contains plenty of “mafia” tropes--fancy cars (that may or may not explode), visits to brothels and gambling dens, and the struggle of supporting your family or leaving that life behind--but these mafiosos have the power of super strength and speed, are impossibly light on their feet, can make their skin unbreakable to blades, and the most powerful can “channel” the life right out of someone. If you’re having trouble imagining this, here’s a short clip I found from a Condor Heroes adaptation (there are a million of them) showing a wu-xia stye fight. What I loved about this book is that it’s this but in suits in a contemporary, ~1960s-70s setting. Almost like Legend of Korra and Republic City, but much grittier and adult.

There are a plenty of exciting twists and turns in these books that I would be remiss to spoil. I’ve definitely become attached to the Kaul family, the “heroes” (or anti-heroes?) of the book, and I am really excited for both the final book to be released this year and for the potential TV adaptation because there are many exciting fight scenes that would like great on screen. The combination of guns, knives, swords, martial arts, magic... it was fun to read but damn would it be even more fun to watch!

I loved these books, though I’m not sure who I’d recommend them too since I think it is my love for and familiarity with Chinese and other Asian media that took these books from good to great for me. As with any unfinished series, I’ll just have to wait and read the last one before passing final judgement. Perhaps I’ll squeeze in a reread in the mean time. 

Jade War

by

Fonda Lee

My rating: