Jade City (2017) by Fonda Lee, a fantasy novel with dystopian elements, combines the aesthetics and tropes of fiction about organized crime and martial arts to create the unique world of Kekon, where magical jade bestows supernatural power and status. The novel, the first in the Green Bone Saga series, focuses on how public image and perception can impact leadership decisions as well as the bonds that hold a family together through trying times. Lee, a black-belt martial artist and lover of action films, uses her passion and expertise to craft the novel’s world.

Jade City is Fonda Lee’s adult debut; she is the award-winning author of Zeroboxer, Exo, and Cross Fire, three YA science fiction novels. The novel has enjoyed critical acclaim, winning both the 2018 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel and the 2018 Aurora Award for Best Novel.

This guide references the paperback edition of Jade City published by Orbit, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, in June of 2018

Content Warning: This novel contains extensive scenes of violence, contends with the legacy of anti-Asian racism, and discusses drug addiction.

Plot Summary

The novel takes place in the nation of Kekon, a generation after this country gained independence from its colonizers after a conflict comparable to World War II. Now, Kekon is ruled by several warring clans—the descendants of settlers who pushed aside Indigenous inhabitants. The most powerful are the Mountain Clan of the Ayt family and the No Peak Clan of the Kaul family. Clan leadership consists of the following members: a Pillar, who heads the whole clan; a Horn, who directs the Fists and Fingers who provide muscle; and a Weather Man, who deals with the business side. Kekon is an important country because it is the only place to find jade, which in this world gives trained wielders magical abilities—but only those of mixed Kekonese and indigenous Abukei heritage. Jade wielders are collectively called Green Bones.

The novel opens in the city of Janloon. At the Twice Lucky Restaurant, run by the No Peak Clan, two young thieves, Bero and Sampa, scheme to steal jade from a drunken Green Bone. Bero grabs the jade, tasting its immense power for the first time, but the plan goes awry and he and Sampa are apprehended by Hilo, the Horn of No Peak, and his two most trusted Fists. They bring the boys to Hilo’s brother, Lan, the Pillar of No Peak, to whom Sampa lets slip about a new black-market jade cutter, signaling rising tensions between No Peak and their rival clan, Mountain.

Lan lets the boys go and meets with his grandfather, Kaul Sen, the former Pillar of No Peak, who criticizes Lan for his weak leadership. Lan is stuck between two diametrically opposed advisors: Hilo, his reactionary Horn, and Doru, his ambitious and calculating Weather Man. Lan’s grandfather rebukes him for suggesting replacing Doru; Kaul Sen is also angry that Lan’s sister, Shae, is returning from Espenia—a neighboring country—where she went to attend college with her foreign boyfriend, forsaking Green Bone culture.

When Shae returns to Janloon, she is determined to be independent. Though her grandfather forgives her and invites her back onto the estate, she decides to find her own apartment and job; she also refuses to wear her jade. Lan commits to not pressuring her, but Hilo insists Shae put on her jade once again; only after an intense disagreement does he reluctantly agree to leave her be.

Hilo visits his adopted brother, Anden, at Kaul Dushuron Academy. Anden is very talented, but he has inherited the Itches, a deadly side effect of jade, which makes him concerned for his future as a Green Bone. Hilo warns Anden that tensions are rising with Mountain and that he must be careful.

On Boat Day, a clan celebration, Anden accidentally wanders into Mountain territory and gets into a fight with students from a rival school. The fight is broken up by Gont Asch, the Horn of Mountain, who brings Anden to meet with Ayt Mada, the Mountain Pillar. She offers him a job and tells him of her plans to sell jade and the drug SN1 internationally. While non-Kekonese typically cannot wield jade because its power is too much for them, SN1 (also called “shine”) dulls the effect. Ayt Mada encourages Anden to convince Lan to join her. Lan refuses.

Meanwhile, Bero, itching for more jade and revenge on No Peak, finds a job in the criminal underworld of Janloon.

Lan asks Shae to investigate records at the jade mines, believing that Doru is lying to him and helping Mountain sell jade abroad, in defiance of the Kekon Jade Alliance—a law that prevents any one clan from overpowering the others. While she searches, Lan meets with politicians to push for an investigation into Mountain’s jade dealings. Meanwhile, on the streets, Hilo searches for information about the new jade cutter. Shae finds proof that Mountain is mining and selling jade illegally; she also finds evidence of Doru’s collusion.

As she rushes back to Janloon, there is a failed Mountain assassination attempt on Hilo. In retaliation, Lan, Hilo and their forces demand custody of those involved and that Mountain surrender territory. Ayt Mada agrees. One of the assassins, Gam, challenges Lan to a duel. Wanting to prove his strength as a leader, Lan agrees and kills Gam, but sustains a serious injury that produces an imbalance in Lan that makes it difficult for him to bear the jade he wins from the duel. This new jade makes him tired, moody and irrational, but he continues to wear it to project a strong image to his allies and enemies alike. To cope, Lan begins using SN1.

A mysterious Mountain Green Bone gifts Bero a submachine gun, and instructs him to practice and be ready for his call.

Shae feels lost. She is unsatisfied with her life and feels disconnected from her family. She prays to the gods for a sign that will show her the right way forward.

Bero spots Lan and pursues him, believing he will be rewarded if he kills Lan. As Lan flees, he realizes that he has taken too much SN1—enough to block the jade’s power enhancement. Although he defends himself from Bero and nearly kills him, the SN1 proves fatal: Lan falls off a pier and drowns.

Shae and Hilo blame Mountain for Lan’s death, attacking their betting houses and beginning an all-out war. Shae takes Lan’s death as the sign she asked for. Hilo becomes the new No Peak Pillar and Shae signs on as his new Weather Man and puts back on her jade. Hilo is unsure of his ability to lead and is worried that the clan will not respect him.

Bero returns to his employer, hoping for a triumphant welcome, only to be forced to leave the city for what he did.

Shae takes control of the No Peak offices and quickly moves to consolidate power and eliminate any resistance. She advises Hilo to play along with the government’s meaningless peace talks, which give No Peak time to expose Mountain’s misconduct. However, halfway through the talks, Hilo destroys Shae’s plans by exposing Ayt Mada’s practices of giving jade to untrained street criminals, information gained through the torture of the mysterious new jade cutter.

With negotiations over, Ayt Mada tries to get Shae to betray No Peak, encouraging her to usurp Hilo and join their clans together. Shae refuses, tying her fate to Hilo’s. With Mountain being the bigger and better funded clan, No Peak’s outlook looks dire.

To find a new source of funding, Shae uses Hilo’s fiancée Wen to secretly trade with Espenia for jade, bringing in much needed money for the clan. But despite the need to win a street victory, Hilo’s Fists can barely hold their defenses. Meanwhile, Anden rises to the top of his class and continues honing his abilities, much to the delight of Hilo. With defeat on the horizon, Hilo plans to inflict maximum damage to Mountain during No Peak’s death throes. Gont Asch offers Hilo a face-saving deal: a death of consequence, or duel against incredible odds, in exchange for his family and clan’s safe absorption into Mountain. Hilo agrees. He and Shae make contingency plans for the safety of the family and Hilo marries Wen to protect her in case he dies.

On New Year’s Day, Hilo quickly defeats the first few men Gont Asch sends at him, but after antagonizing the rest, Hilo is swarmed. But, just as Gont Asch moves in to deliver the killing blow, Hilo calls to Anden. Anden takes secret jade from Hilo, giving him the power to freeze Gont Asch in his tracks. As Hilo and Anden kill Gont Asch and the other fighters, Anden realizes that he enjoys killing these men—a sensation that fills him with dread. The rest of Mountain flees in fear.

Anden’s heroics turn the tide of the war, and No Peak takes back all its territory and more. At graduation, Anden is treated with the utmost respect by other clan members, but he refuses his jade, scared by the joy he felt in murder. Angered by the shame Anden brings by refusing his jade, Hilo exiles Anden.

The novel ends with the expectation that Ayt Mada will soon mount another attack on No Peak. As the Kaul family reorganizes their clan, Bero exhumes Lan, taking the jade he believes he is owed for killing him.