Jade City
"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 warriors like the Kaul family have used it to enhance their magical abilities and defend the island from foreign invasion. Now, the war is over and a new generation of Kauls vies for control of Kekon's bustling capital city. They care about nothing but protecting their own, cornering the jade market, and defending the districts under their protection. Ancient tradition has little place in this rapidly changing nation. When a powerful new drug emerges that lets anyone -- even foreigners -- wield jade, the simmering tension between the Kauls and the rival Ayt family erupts into open violence. The outcome of this clan war will determine the fate of all Green Bones -- from their grandest patriarch to the lowliest motorcycle runner on the streets -- and of Kekon itself. JADE CITY begins an epic tale of family, honor, and those who live and die by the ancient laws of jade and blood"
Stats for nerds
5recommend
7mentions
6people
2018–2023years
86% recommend14% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- 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
- 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
- In the fiction category I thouroughly enjoyed the "Green Bone Saga" by Fonda Lee:
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 possible..- Jade City - Jade War - Jade Legacy - I do!
- Django Wexler's THE SHADOW CAMPAIGNS - flintlock fantasy with demons! First book is titled "The Thousand Names"
- Robert Jackson Bennett's THE DIVINE CITIES trilogy, of which the first book is THE CITY OF STAIRS. For what it's worth, everything Robert Jackson Bennett writes is fantastic. He's one of the authors I consider to be at Sanderson's level (or better!) without much of the acclaim.
- Will Wight's CRADLE series, starting with UNSOULED. Like a lot of long-running series, first book is standard fantasy fare, but starting with the second book it turns into its own incredible world. If you like Dragon Ball Z and Chinese wuxia genre, this is fantastic.
- Max Gladstone's CRAFT SEQUENCE - Imagine legal contracts as magic. A secondary world urban fantasy, wildly imaginative, mostly involving mysterious events and the characters that investigate them. First book is THREE PARTS DEAD.
- Sebastien de Castiel's THE GREATCOATS series was described as the "Scott Lynchiest book since LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA." I don't really but _that_, but I did thoroughly enjoy the series, and have read everything else de Castiel has published on the strength of these books. Really good!
- Scott Lynch THE GENTLEMEN BASTARDS, of course, has to be on the list, with the first book being THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA. The series is unfinished, sadly, but the way the stories are structured, you don't really miss it. LIES is one of my favorite books ever
- Dan Wells' I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER follows a sociopathic kid named John Cleaver who... well, he's not a serial killer but he kinda wants to be. And it turns out he can hunt demons. Horror stories, but very well done. The series is complete. There's also a movie version of the first book!
- Josiah Bancroft's THE BOOKS OF BABEL are my favorite reads of 2022. It follows a schoolteacher who loses his wife on a tourist trip to the legendary Tower of Babel. Wildly imaginative, engaging characters, and a crazy trip! Series is complete and the first book is SENLIN ASCENDS.
- Fonda Lee's THE GREEN BONE SAGA is a secondary world fantasy following 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 with the rest of the world, but this island is the first line of defense against invaders. And, of course, there are invaders. Really good, character-driven story.
- Michael Livingston's THE SHARDS OF HEAVEN is an alternate history fantasy following the children of Cleopatra, a few Roman soldiers, and Augustus Caesar as they hunt down magical artifacts known as the Shards of Heaven. Very well done, historically accurate (as much as it can be). Criminally underrated, IMO.
- Evan Winters' RAGE OF DRAGONS is an African-inspired fantasy, with a character who grinds for power in a way that reminds of old-school video games. It's NOT a LitRPG -- it's straight up fantasy -- but the mechanic there makes me think of it. It's also a straightforward revenge fantasy ("you killed my father, prepare to die"), but it's told very well and both of the books so far are fantastic. Third book coming soon!
- C.L. Clark's THE UNBROKEN is also an African-inspired fantasy, focusing on an imperial regiment that occupies a city in order to stabilize it, and one of the soldiers falls in love with the princess. It's sapphic, but I really enjoyed it.
- Charlie Jane Anders' ALL THE BIRDS IN THE SKY is where urban fantasy meets science fiction. A witch and a wizard become friends in San Francisco and their lives intertwine over the years until they come face to face in a final confrontation. One of my favorite books. Anything by Charlie Jane Anders is gold, for what it's worth. Instant buys for me.
- Mary Robinette Kowal is better known for her LADY ASTRONAUT series, which I thought were good (Sanderson-level), but I really enjoyed her most recent book THE SPARE MAN which is a murder mystery... on a cruise ship! in SPACE! A SPACE CRUISE SHIP! I wound up devouring the entire book in a single night, from about 10pm-4am.
- Lindsay Buroker's DEATH BEFORE DRAGONS series is an urban fantasy set in Seattle. I wouldn't say Buroker is better than Sanderson, but she publishes more often -- typically 6 books per year -- and they're all really enjoyable reads. Not going to win any awards or anything, but if you want reliably enjoyable and cheap reads, she's your girl. DEATH BEFORE DRAGONS is her best, so far, but I've read all 60+ books in her catalog and I would recommend any of them to anyone who tires of the huge, epic fantasy worlds and wants something simpler. If Sanderson's Cosmere is STAR WARS, then Buroker's books are episodes of FRIENDS.
- Daniel Green's LAWFUL TIMES series is surprisingly good. The first book, BREACH OF PEACE, is a novella, and it's dark and has horror-vibes. The second book is even better, though. I'm really looking forward to book three!
Hope that helps. If you have more specific types of fantasy or sci-fi that you like, let me know and I can recommend some more :)
- Here they are for easier reference:
* Worlds To Get Lost In
- The Imperial Radch Trilogy https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/ann-leckie/the-impe...
- The Dead Djinn Universe (series) 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) https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250186430
- The Thessaly Trilogy https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250811837
- Shades of Magic Trilogy https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780765376466
- The Divine Cities Trilogy https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/228171/city-of-stai...
- The Wormwood Trilogy https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/tade-thompson/rosew...
- Black Sun (series) https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Black-Sun/Rebecca-Roa...
* Words To Get Lost In
- Piranesi https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/piranesi-9781635575637
- Circe https://www.littlebrown.com/titles/madeline-miller/circe/978...
- Mexican Gothic https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/577068/mexican-goth...
- The Paper Menagerie And Other Stories https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Paper-Menagerie-a...
- Spinning Silver https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/554775/spinning-sil...
- Exhalation: Stories https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/538034/exhalation-b...
- Olondria (series) https://smallbeerpress.com/books/2013/04/30/a-stranger-in-ol...
- Her Body And Other Parties: Stories https://graywolfpress.org/books/her-body-and-other-parties
- The Buried Giant https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/85613/the-buried-gi...
- Radiance https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780765335302
* Will Take You On A Journey
- The Changeling https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/234343/the-changeli...
- Wayfarers (series) https://www.harpervoyagerbooks.com/book/9780062444134/the-lo...
- Binti (series) https://publishing.tor.com/binti-nnediokorafor/9781250203427...
- Lady Astronaut (series) https://us.macmillan.com/series/ladyastronaut/
- Children of Time (duology) https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/adrian-tchaikovsky/chil...
- Wayward Children (series) https://us.macmillan.com/series/waywardchildren/
- The Space Between Worlds https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/610612/the-space-be...
* Will Mess With Your Head
- Black Leopard, Red Wolf https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/561305/black-leopar...
- Southern Reach (series) https://us.macmillan.com/series/thesouthernreachtrilogy/
- The Echo Wife https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250174666
- The Locked Tomb (series) https://publishing.tor.com/gideontheninth-dbtmp1127517/97812...
- Remembrance of Earth's Past (series) https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780765382030
- Machineries of Empire (series) https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Ninefox-Gambit/Yoon-H...
* Will Mess With Your Heart
- The Broken Earth (series) https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/n-k-jemisin/the-fif...
- Station Eleven https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/239452/station-elev...
- This Is How You Lose the Time War https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/This-Is-How-You-Lose-...
- The Poppy War Trilogy https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-poppy-war-r-f-kua...
- The Masquerade (series) https://us.macmillan.com/series/themasquerade
- An Unkindness of Ghosts http://www.akashicbooks.com/catalog/an-unkindness-of-ghosts/
- The Bird King https://groveatlantic.com/book/the-bird-king/
- American War https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/543957/american-war...
- Riot Baby https://publishing.tor.com/riotbaby-dbtmp1144773/97812502147...
- On Fragile Waves https://www.workman.com/products/on-fragile-waves#:~:text=On...
* Will Make You Feel Good
- The Goblin Emperor https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780765365682
- Murderbot (series) https://publishing.tor.com/themurderbotdiaries-marthawells/9...
- The Interdependency (series) https://us.macmillan.com/series/theinterdependency/
- The Martian https://www.broadwaybooks.net/book/9780553418026
- Sorcerer to the Crown/The True Queen https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/series/761/a-sorcerer-to-...
- Not an exhaustive list but these were the books I felt moved to record[0] reading:
The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Welles --> 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 about Mary Shelley, disappointing
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer --> Effectively creepy and well written
The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin --> Absolutely fantastic, highly recommended
