Review: Jade City (Green Bone Saga #1)

Jade City, Book 1 in the Green Bone Saga by Fonda Lee

Published By: Orbit
Publication Date: June 26, 2018
Date Read: May 27, 2026
Genre: Adult – Epic Fantasy
Source: Bought
Format: E-Book
Pages: 540

Add to Goodreads | Add to Storygraph

JADE CITY is a gripping Godfather-esque saga of intergenerational blood feuds, vicious politics, magic, and kungfu.

The Kaul family is one of two crime syndicates that control the island of Kekon. It’s the only place in the world that produces rare magical jade, which grants those with the right training and heritage superhuman abilities.

The Green Bone clans of honorable jade-wearing warriors once protected the island from foreign invasion–but nowadays, in a bustling post-war metropolis full of fast cars and foreign money, Green Bone families like the Kauls are primarily involved in commerce, construction, and the everyday upkeep of the districts under their protection.

When the simmering tension between the Kauls and their greatest rivals erupts into open violence in the streets, the outcome of this clan war will determine the fate of all Green Bones and the future of Kekon itself.

Jade City has been on my radar for years. It’s one that I have always wanted to read and something that I thought I would really love. I don’t know why I left it this long to read it, but I had an urge to read an epic fantasy that didn’t have a romance subplot so I decided to finally pick this one up. I am so glad that I did as this book was absolutely fantastic! I loved this world, the characters, everything.

Jade City is set in a fantastical Tokyo type city, where the gemstone Jade can give you power. There are two rival clans who are of the bloodlines that allow you to safely use Jade, meaning that they run the city. But when a drug that allows regular people to use Jade starts getting around the city, things become more dangerous. I absolutely loved this concept. It was just a unique and interesting premise. This definitely reminded me of the martial arts movie me and my Dad used to watch together so I really loved having this vibe in a fantasy book.

Jade City took me a little while to read, but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t enjoying it. It’s definitely a slower paced book, with a lot of world building, but the world definitely felt like it could be our world, or one of our cities and I really liked that. I usually read fantasy books that don’t feel like they’re our world at all, so to have one that felt familiar was a nice change of pace for me. All of the fantastical elements comes in from the gemstones so there’s not particular magical creatures or anything like that and I loved that. It was definitely different from my usual read.

The further I got into Jade City, the more I couldn’t put it down. It was fantastic! The writing was beautiful! I really got sucked into the world and everything happening. My one little gripe was that I felt like there was a little too many perspectives. It changed quite a lot throughout the book, and it just left me not connecting quite as much to the main characters as I had hoped. Having said that, I am so excited to dive into book 2 soon! The plot really ramped up towards the end of the book, and the ending has me super excited to see what is going to happen next. I’m hoping that now I feel like I do know the characters, that I will connect with them a bit more in book 2.

I would definitely recommend Jade City to any fantasy fan. If you are a fan of those gang warfare martial arts movies but want a bit of magic in there, then this is definitely the book for you. It’s epic in plot with wonderful familiar world building. I really enjoyed every moment of it.