Jade City
by Fonda Lee · first published 2017
83% recommend17% neutral
Why HN recommends it
An Asian-inspired fantasy about rival mafia-style clans whose jade grants them superpowers. The story mixes crime drama, political intrigue and violence, and is fun and gripping.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
"Stylish and action-packed, full of ambitious families and guilt-ridden loves, Jade City is an epic drama reminiscent of the best classic Hong Kong gangster films but set in a fantasy metropolis so gritty and well-imagined that you'll forget you're reading a book." -- Ken Liu, winner of the Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Awards and author of The Grace of Kings and The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories FAMILY IS DUTY. MAGIC IS POWER. HONOR IS EVERYTHING. Jade is the lifeblood of the island of Kekon. It has been mined, traded, stolen, and killed for -- and for centuries, honorable Green Bone wa
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…https://publishing.tor.com/amasterofdjinn-dbtmp1230658/97812... - The Age of Madness Trilogy https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/joe-abercrombie/a-l... - The Green Bone Saga https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/fonda-lee/jade-city... - The Expanse (series) https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/james-s-a-corey/lev... - The Daevabad Trilogy https://www.harpervoyagerbooks.com/book/9780062678126/the-ci... - Teixcalaan (series)…
on “The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Books of the Past Decade” ↗…--> kind of trashy but fun and enjoyable. Priest by Matthew Colville --> terrible, don't read this. It's Behind You - The Making of a Game by Bob Pape --> Interesting if you grew up in the 8bit era Jade City by Fonda Lee --> Basically Jedi street gangs, pretty great Spin by Robert Charles Wilson --> Near future hard sci-fi with a Big Dumb Object, excellent Making the Monster by Kathryn Harkup --> Non-fiction…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2018?” ↗In the fiction category I thouroughly enjoyed the "Green Bone Saga" by Fonda Lee: - Jade City - Jade War - Jade Legacy The story sits somewhere between Asian mafia clan drama, crime and magical fantasy. They were the kind of books where I buy both audio and paperback to keep reading wherever…
on “Ask HN: Best books read in 2022” ↗I tend to steer towards Fantasy & Sci-fi. [0]: The Will of the Many: A fun take on the genre. You get magic, academia, mystery, etc [1]: Jade City: My favorite series I've read in the last year or so. Super bummed it's over. Highly recommend. [0]: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58416952-the-will-of-the... [1]: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43587154-jade-city
on “Ask HN: Best books you read in 2023” ↗I tend to steer towards Fantasy & Sci-fi. [0]: The Will of the Many: A fun take on the genre. You get magic, academia, mystery, etc [1]: Jade City: My favorite series I've read in the last year or so. Super bummed it's over. Highly recommend. [0]: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58416952-the-will-of-the... [1]: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43587154-jade-city
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2023 and recommend for 2024” ↗…Godfather-style mafia families on an Asian-inspired island. Jade gives them super powers, which they use to enforce control over the island. Very political and violent. Trilogy is complete and the first book is JADE CITY! - For a standalone novel, check out M.L. Wang's SWORD OF KAIGEN, which is another secondary world fantasy following a Japanese-inspired honorable patriarchal society that more or less refuses to modernize…
on “Sanderson shares intimate details about contracting with publishing industry” ↗…of, say, AAPI sci-fi/fantasy novels that I've never heard of, only to find out adaptations are being worked on for them. (examples include Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao, The Poppy War by R.F. Huang, and Jade City by Fonda Lee). Who are you to suggest that the authors behind these works are doing it out of some misprioritization of what the market is looking for? As far as the literary world is concerned, it would…
on “The Uprising of Mesopunk Books: A Subgenre Guide” ↗