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A review by anneklein
Jade War by Fonda Lee
5.0
Look, I didn’t particularly love the first instalment of this series. I thought the plot meandered too much, there was no direction to anything... but I really enjoyed the tangible sense of setting and the characters.
Well, guess what? Jade War ELEVATES EVERYTHING GOOD about Jade City, and fixes all the problems I had with the first book. And not just that – it manages to be an excellent book in its own right, as well.
These characters are almost real people: I wish I could take a plane and go visit Hilo, Anden and Wen. These three characters, in order, are some of my favourite characters ever, probably. Their thoughts and feelings are complicated, very complicated, and that leads them to make flawed decisions. They’re often morally grey, but not just because – they each have specific motivations and coherent character arcs. This applies to most of the main characters as well, even the “villain”! It is astonishing how much I have grown to care for these people. And they’re not even real!
The plot is slow, which gives the action scenes gravitas and power, when they happen. It is not very often as this is a heavily political plot, but the ones that do happen are excellent and did not disappoint. I also found them easier to follow than the ones in Jade City. The politics of it all and the multiple character focuses/storylines are complex and require careful reading, so would recommend taking your time reading this book. It’s absolutely worth it! And the conflict progresses in a way that makes sense and tugs at your heartstrings in all the right places.
The setting, as always, is gritty and palpable and excellent, but this time we are introduced to another metropolis: Port Massy, the Espenian capital. We discover it through Anden’s perspective, a very wise choice that allowed me to empathise with him a lot more than I did in the first book. Port Massy is a much more Anglicised city (San Francisco kept coming to mind, but at times it felt more British than North American) than Janloon, and the worldbuilding by contrast, never falling into cliché, is a delight to read.
What can I say that I haven’t yet? The ending was beautiful and nothing felt gratuitous at any point. And I didn’t cry but I might as well have, because the knot I had in my stomach from the 60% point onwards was painful and lovely and all I want from a book.
Well, guess what? Jade War ELEVATES EVERYTHING GOOD about Jade City, and fixes all the problems I had with the first book. And not just that – it manages to be an excellent book in its own right, as well.
These characters are almost real people: I wish I could take a plane and go visit Hilo, Anden and Wen. These three characters, in order, are some of my favourite characters ever, probably. Their thoughts and feelings are complicated, very complicated, and that leads them to make flawed decisions. They’re often morally grey, but not just because – they each have specific motivations and coherent character arcs. This applies to most of the main characters as well, even the “villain”! It is astonishing how much I have grown to care for these people. And they’re not even real!
The plot is slow, which gives the action scenes gravitas and power, when they happen. It is not very often as this is a heavily political plot, but the ones that do happen are excellent and did not disappoint. I also found them easier to follow than the ones in Jade City. The politics of it all and the multiple character focuses/storylines are complex and require careful reading, so would recommend taking your time reading this book. It’s absolutely worth it! And the conflict progresses in a way that makes sense and tugs at your heartstrings in all the right places.
The setting, as always, is gritty and palpable and excellent, but this time we are introduced to another metropolis: Port Massy, the Espenian capital. We discover it through Anden’s perspective, a very wise choice that allowed me to empathise with him a lot more than I did in the first book. Port Massy is a much more Anglicised city (San Francisco kept coming to mind, but at times it felt more British than North American) than Janloon, and the worldbuilding by contrast, never falling into cliché, is a delight to read.
What can I say that I haven’t yet? The ending was beautiful and nothing felt gratuitous at any point. And I didn’t cry but I might as well have, because the knot I had in my stomach from the 60% point onwards was painful and lovely and all I want from a book.