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adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Read 2: December 31st, 2021
4.5 stars
Jade War is a book that aged like a fine wine upon reread. Looking back my initial disappointment in this book largely came from a frustration that this sequel was different from its predecessor. While I still think this installment didn't quite reach the legendary heights of Jade City I can now better appreciate the subtler plotting of this book.
Overall my respect has only continued to grow for Fonda Lee and the Green Bone Saga as a whole. Her plots are immaculate and her characters endlessly enthralling. I am salivating at the thought of getting my hands on Jade Legacy and can't wait to read the conclusion to an already fantastic series.
Read 1: March 11th, 2020
3.5 stars
Unfortunately, I didn’t love Jade War as much as I loved its predecessor Jade City. While the genius of Fonda Lee’s worldbuilding as well as her strong characterization was still present in this sequel the plot and pacing of this book didn’t connect with me as much as I hoped it would.
Jade War begins a year after the events of Jade City. A war is burgeoning between Kekon’s ally Espenia and Oogktan. The international pressures of war force peace between The Mountain and No Peak clans after two years of open clan warfare. However, old grudges are not forgotten and the clans wage a subtler war against each other under the guise of peace.
My biggest problem with this book was how it was plotted. Unlike the frenetic pacing of Jade City, Jade War shows our two clans making more understated moves against each other than before. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that and I can love a slow-paced book, however, I don’t think Lee quite managed to recreate the stakes and agonizing build-up in this book that she masterfully crafted in Jade City. Lee clearly understood set up and pay off, but it always felt as if there wasn’t enough rising action before we saw the fallout of the power plays between the clans and other actors. This made it a less satisfying read.
It didn’t help that we had a lot more antagonists in this book than we did in Jade City. Outside of the Mountain Clan the Kauls are dealing with Espenian gangs, jade smugglers and the Espenian government. These conflicts were much less intriguing and deliciously personal than the rivalry between Ayt Mada and the Kauls. While that conflict was still present it was a background element to the story and with years having passed since the cause of the initial feud between the two there was less immediacy to their conflict.
I will say that the climax of the Jade War was just as heart-wrenching and absolutely shattering as the one in Jade City. Fonda Lee really knows how to get your blood boiling and play with your heartstrings in that regard.
In Jade War Lee makes you confront the reality that the Kauls and the Clan system, in general, aren’t inherently good. Throughout this book, we see characters make horrifying choices for ‘the good of the clan’ that hurt innocent people. I’ve always struggled with following protagonists that aren’t good people and you can really see in this book that while the Kauls have good attributes the system they’re so desperately trying to uphold isn’t good and doesn’t benefit many outside of the rich elite. The punishment for not being subservient to an ultimately unjust system is violent and cruel and the people we’re supposed to root for upholding these power structures viciously. While I still adore our protagonists I found it difficult to root for them in this book.
Lee masterfully expands on her world-building in this book. We get to see the wider scope of her world and explore interesting pockets of it in depth. The time we spent in the Kekonese immigrant community of Espenia was fascinating. Lee explored the differences between native culture and its immigrant populations well. She pulls from our world to create rich and deep societies that have real weight to them and you can tell how much thought was put into crafting each country in this world and their relationships with each other. What’s great about Lee’s worldbuilding is the level of detail Lee puts into creating unique and distinct cultures.
Lee’s prose continued to be a problem for me in this book. I often found that it didn’t read as smoothly to me as I would have liked. She also often jumped time in a way I found awkward and disorienting. We follow many points of view throughout the book and it was a little difficult to track when we were from time to time. However, it ultimately wasn’t that big of a problem for me.
In the end, Jade War didn’t quite live up to the brilliance that was Jade City. I could still see a lot of fantastic storytelling on display in this book but the plotting of this story just didn’t work as well for me as I would have liked. Fonda Lee is still a great author and I can’t wait to see how the series concludes next year.
4.5 stars
Jade War is a book that aged like a fine wine upon reread. Looking back my initial disappointment in this book largely came from a frustration that this sequel was different from its predecessor. While I still think this installment didn't quite reach the legendary heights of Jade City I can now better appreciate the subtler plotting of this book.
Overall my respect has only continued to grow for Fonda Lee and the Green Bone Saga as a whole. Her plots are immaculate and her characters endlessly enthralling. I am salivating at the thought of getting my hands on Jade Legacy and can't wait to read the conclusion to an already fantastic series.
Read 1: March 11th, 2020
3.5 stars
Unfortunately, I didn’t love Jade War as much as I loved its predecessor Jade City. While the genius of Fonda Lee’s worldbuilding as well as her strong characterization was still present in this sequel the plot and pacing of this book didn’t connect with me as much as I hoped it would.
Jade War begins a year after the events of Jade City. A war is burgeoning between Kekon’s ally Espenia and Oogktan. The international pressures of war force peace between The Mountain and No Peak clans after two years of open clan warfare. However, old grudges are not forgotten and the clans wage a subtler war against each other under the guise of peace.
My biggest problem with this book was how it was plotted. Unlike the frenetic pacing of Jade City, Jade War shows our two clans making more understated moves against each other than before. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that and I can love a slow-paced book, however, I don’t think Lee quite managed to recreate the stakes and agonizing build-up in this book that she masterfully crafted in Jade City. Lee clearly understood set up and pay off, but it always felt as if there wasn’t enough rising action before we saw the fallout of the power plays between the clans and other actors. This made it a less satisfying read.
It didn’t help that we had a lot more antagonists in this book than we did in Jade City. Outside of the Mountain Clan the Kauls are dealing with Espenian gangs, jade smugglers and the Espenian government. These conflicts were much less intriguing and deliciously personal than the rivalry between Ayt Mada and the Kauls. While that conflict was still present it was a background element to the story and with years having passed since the cause of the initial feud between the two there was less immediacy to their conflict.
I will say that the climax of the Jade War was just as heart-wrenching and absolutely shattering as the one in Jade City. Fonda Lee really knows how to get your blood boiling and play with your heartstrings in that regard.
In Jade War Lee makes you confront the reality that the Kauls and the Clan system, in general, aren’t inherently good. Throughout this book, we see characters make horrifying choices for ‘the good of the clan’ that hurt innocent people. I’ve always struggled with following protagonists that aren’t good people and you can really see in this book that while the Kauls have good attributes the system they’re so desperately trying to uphold isn’t good and doesn’t benefit many outside of the rich elite. The punishment for not being subservient to an ultimately unjust system is violent and cruel and the people we’re supposed to root for upholding these power structures viciously. While I still adore our protagonists I found it difficult to root for them in this book.
Lee masterfully expands on her world-building in this book. We get to see the wider scope of her world and explore interesting pockets of it in depth. The time we spent in the Kekonese immigrant community of Espenia was fascinating. Lee explored the differences between native culture and its immigrant populations well. She pulls from our world to create rich and deep societies that have real weight to them and you can tell how much thought was put into crafting each country in this world and their relationships with each other. What’s great about Lee’s worldbuilding is the level of detail Lee puts into creating unique and distinct cultures.
Lee’s prose continued to be a problem for me in this book. I often found that it didn’t read as smoothly to me as I would have liked. She also often jumped time in a way I found awkward and disorienting. We follow many points of view throughout the book and it was a little difficult to track when we were from time to time. However, it ultimately wasn’t that big of a problem for me.
In the end, Jade War didn’t quite live up to the brilliance that was Jade City. I could still see a lot of fantastic storytelling on display in this book but the plotting of this story just didn’t work as well for me as I would have liked. Fonda Lee is still a great author and I can’t wait to see how the series concludes next year.