Last March, I finally managed to read and finish Jade City by Fonda Lee after trying it two times before. I enjoyed it, although the second half did the convincing part since the first half is used for world- and plotbuiling. However, I got way too curious for my own good after the final events of that book that I just couldn’t resist picking up the sequel, jade War. Usually I leave a lot of time between books in series. Was this the right move or did this sequel suffer from second book syndrome?

About the book

Jade War by Fonda Lee
Series: The Green Bone Saga #2
Published by Orbit on July 23, 2019
Pages: 587
ISBN: 9780316440929
Genres: Adult, Fantasy

In Jade War, the sequel to the World Fantasy Award-winning novel Jade City, the Kaul siblings battle rival clans for honor and control over an Asia-inspired fantasy metropolis. On the island of Kekon, the Kaul family is locked in a violent feud for control of the capital city and the supply of magical jade that endows trained Green Bone warriors with supernatural powers they alone have possessed for hundreds of years. Beyond Kekon’s borders, war is brewing. Powerful foreign governments and mercenary criminal kingpins alike turn their eyes on the island nation. Jade, Kekon’s most prized resource, could make them rich – or give them the edge they’d need to topple their rivals. Faced with threats on all sides, the Kaul family is forced to form new and dangerous alliances, confront enemies in the darkest streets and the tallest office towers, and put honor aside in order to do whatever it takes to ensure their own survival – and that of all the Green Bones of Kekon. Jade War is the second book of the Green Bone Saga, an epic trilogy about family, honor, and those who live and die by the ancient laws of blood and jade.

My review

Expectations

I’m always a little nervous for second books in series as they often suffer from second book syndrome. Therefore, I always feel like I need a break before continuing the journey. I also was afraid second book syndrome would apply to this book as well, but I’m glad it didn’t. I was expecting Lee to follow the same structure fro Jade War as done for Jade City, a quite slow first half with the pace picking up in the second half of the book. Well, I was wrong.

Characters

This book picks up two years after the final events of the previous book. Therefore, the characters have grown alot compared to when I was introduced to them. Hilo especially has grown, he was quite short-tempered in Jade City, but now he has kids, he really considers his actions and makes less thoughtless decisions anymore. Both he and Shae got time to grow into their role within the No Peak clan and they did. Besides these two characters, there are other important ones. Both familiar faces and new characters are introduced, they all are important ffor the full story.

Writing

For me, this book is written well. I was of course familiar to the style now and therefore it was easy to get back into it. I felt like this book ngtrigued me more from the start and didn’t stop till the final sentence. It’s still heavy on POV switching, but this fits the plot. The length of the chapters sometimes is inconsistent though, but that doesn’t take away from intrigue and pace.

Plot

Even though years have passed between the storylines in this series, it works really well in my opinion. Of course we missed a lot about the characters’ lives in that period of time, but the author catches you up throughout the book. There’s no recap at the start, but everything is explained withtout the plot losing momentum. The pace is still cosistent, but I never had the feeling I was missing out on something. The world is enriched, which is a good thing since Hilo and Shae have to travel multiple times for clan business. Also, another important character is stationed somewhere else. This way, we get a glimpse of the world outside of Kekon and how clan and jade business work through into other parts of the world. You can leave Kekon, but you can’t leave the clans behind. The time span of this book is three years and there is plenty of action because of this. Also, this adds up to the character deveopment. The final chapters make me curious for the final book.

Final thoughts

I enjoyed Jade War much more than Jade City. Don’t get me wong, that book is n’t bad either, but this one gripped me from the start. The characters, plot and world undergo a lot of development and exploration, which I love. The final chapters make me really curious for Jade Legacy, the final book in this trilogy.