Jade War by Fonda Lee (#2 The Greenbone Saga)

Jade War is the sequel to the spectacular Jade City. The Kaul family are still locked in a triangle choke as they attempt to seize control over the supply of jade and the capital city of Kekon. Having been pushed into leadership as a result of what happened in the first book , Hilo is now the leader of the No Peak Clan. By his side is his sister Shae, the Weather Man of the Clan.

Jade allows users to enhance their abilities which is why it’s one of the most sought out resources within Kekon. As a result of this, the resource has also caught the attention of foreign governments and criminals who wish to use variants of the resource known SN1. What this drug does is that it enables anyone to enhance their abilities. Normally only those with specific genes known as “Green Bones” can wield jade but now others are finding ways to make use of the resource.

The Kaul’s must therefore decide which of these individuals to form alliances with in order to keep growing the clan and stay one step ahead of the Mountain Clan. Unlikely alliances will form, enemies will come out of the shadows, and vengeance will be served cold to their rivals. The most important thing right now for the clan is to survive!

Fonda Lee delivers another great installment in the Green Bone Saga. I really enjoyed Jade City but Jade War takes the Greenbone Saga to another level. The book shifts from situations occurring in Kekon to outside of the country as we see how Anden is getting on in Espenia. The Kaul family also realize that if they wish to expand further they may have to start working with the Espenian’s in order to grow. This is very daunting for them as the Kaul’s don’t trust outsiders.

On top of that, the No Peak Clan must deal with the reparations of their encounter with the Mountain Clan in the previous book. The No Peak Clan managed to keep the Mountain Clan at bay but that won’t stop them trying to claw power from the Kaul’s. There is this major encounter between Shae and the leader of th Mountain Clan Ayt which blew me away!

When considering the characters, we again follow the story from the POV of members of the Kaul family. Hilo the Pillar, his sister Shae the Weather, Hilo’s wife Wen, and Anden their cousin. Since becoming leader of the No Peak Clan, Hilo has definitely matured. Although he is still ruthless in the name of his family and clan, Hilo begins to see the bigger picture when it comes to his clans survival. Shae is another fantastic character who having not wanted to be part of clan activities in the first book is now much more hands on. She must also try to balance her love life along with the work she does with the clan. This has a huge impact on her personal and love life.

Anden is still a character that I haven’t become attached to. I don’t know why but I just don’t care about him enough to be emotionally invested. But it was interesting seeing him to adapt to life in Espenia. The fact that he left Kekon to avoid clan activities only to find himself doing clan stuff in Espenia was pretty ironic lol. Hilo’s wife Wen was a really interesting addition to the story. Seeing things from her POV as she navigates being the Pillars wife was really interesting. I loved the development of her close relationship with Shae as certain situations in their lives bring them closer.

In terms of the writing itself, I will admit it was difficult at certain pointsm Some of the dialogue was long winded and just slowed down things for me. I did skim past a few lines when it got a bit too full for me because i just wanted to get to the point of things. This was an issue I had with Jade City and it continued in the second book for me. There are also a lot more political elements which I do love but again this slowed the pace down for me. The positives are that it was still a very intense read and the stakes are even hire this time around. The action sequences were also tantalizing which wasn’t a surprise considering how action packed Jade City was. The one scene where Shae fights Ayt Mada was *chefs kiss*.

Overall, I really enjoyed this and it was definitely a great read. The pacing however was really slow at points when things could’ve sped up. This didn’t annoy me but made me lose patience at times. Still I am excited to read Jade Legacy and see how this great trilogy concludes 😊

Thank you again to the lovely Angela and Orbit for gifting me a copy. I am grateful as usual 😊