Jade City

If you ever wanted a mash-up of The Godfather and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, then Jade City is the book for you. Fonda Lee's book creates a world, much like Japan, where expert fighters, called Green Bones, hold dominion much like Yakuza or Mafioso. Only they are given their powers by wearing jade.

Jade City is set in Kekon, specifically the city of Janloon. There are two dominant "clans," the No Peak and the Mountain. The book follows the No Peak. Lee is very good in creating the world and the protocol of clans. The leader is called the Pillar, and his/her enforcer is called the Horn, who is the boss of "fists" and then below them, "fingers." The adviser is intriguingly called the Weather Man.

The Kaul family are the No Peak clan. Lan is the Pillar, who is a kind and wise man, the grandfather of a legendary figure who is now addle-pated. His brother Hilo, hot-tempered, is the Horn. Just returned from Espenia (which I figure to be the U.S., or the West in general) is Shae, who wants nothing to do with the clan business. Hilo can be viewed as Sonny Corleone, and Shae Michael, because it is evident from the beginning that she will get pulled into the family business.

An uneasy tension exists between No Peak and the Mountain, but a foolish act will bring them to war, and the dead will mount like cord wood. One chapter begins with like this: "The severed head of Lott Penshugon was delivered to the Kaul estate in a vegetable crate. Hilo’s howls of rage rang through the courtyard."

This book won an award for Best Fantasy novel, and the reason is that it supposes that jade gives Green Bones special powers. Lee is very good in describing just what jade does: "Jade was a mysterious but natural substance, not a divine gift or the remnants of some heavenly palace. The Kekonese were genetically fortunate, like the first monkeys with opposable thumbs, but that was all; people weren’t descended from the gods, and they wouldn’t return to being gods. People were people. The power of jade didn’t make them better or closer to godliness; it just made them more powerful."

At times this book is a page-turner, with terrific action scenes. At other times it is a slog, as there are countless meetings, and it is a bit too long. Jade City is the first of a trilogy, and I'm not sure if I want to continue, not if I have to read about more meetings, either among the No Peak or between them and the Mountain. No one likes to be in meetings, and no one likes to read about them.

But I do give Lee high marks for imagination. Yes, you can see how Mario Puzo influenced her (in an interview after the book she mentions she read all of his books) and how she loves Kung Fu movies. It's a nice mixture. There just needs to be some better editing.