We continue our story from Jade City and move into a deeper, more complex story that spans many years and several neighboring countries. We have trade agreements and political leaders and military might and a burgeoning world-economy. Our story expands from Janloon into a sprawling world more akin to the dynamics of a worldwide economy.

I’m not sure that overall I enjoyed this story as much as Jade City. While we do dive into deeper dynamics of our characters, and expand our world beyond simple city limits, there is… perhaps… too much going on in this story. There are lots of small characters and locations that don’t seem to have much impact on the overall story. Perhaps that changes with the conclusion in Jade Legacy, but that remains to be seen.

I’m still a fan of the Green Bone Saga and will certainly continue through to the end. I’ve also figured out my notes as I go process, so I’m getting much more detailed. For now though, let’s review Jade War.

Jade War – Book 2

Written by Fonda Lee, published 2019. Summary, review, and spoilers ahead.

We start with our idiots, Bero and Mudt who have robbed the grave of Kaul Lan. The balls. Two teens now coursing with vast amounts of jade. What could go wrong?

We also start with an expansion of our world and politics. Before we focused on Kekon, Janloon, and the various districts within – like the Armpit. Now we expand overseas, with a war being waged between Shotar and Ygutan over the disputed region called Oortoko. Kekon is not directly involved (yet?) but their ally and neighboring country of Espenia is, and they are supporting Shotar.

Espenia. This is where our boy Anden, who still won’t wear jade, is basically exiled (not literally, he’s just not staying in Kekon with the Kaul family) because Hilo needs him to study and expand their reach in the city or Port Massy. This is his way of supporting the fam while not wearing jade. Kind of like Shae did in Jade City.

While this is happening, a Kaul clan member is imprisoned in the Uwiwa Island (another new location!), and ultimately freed by bad-boy and smuggler, crime-lord extraordinaire Zapunyo. He’s not a good dude, and he’s powerful. He got Richie-Rich from smuggling jade during the great clan war and has a posse of barukan, a Kekonese-Shotarian mix that rocks jade and muscles around in Port Massy.

Hilo then decides to meet with Zapunyo, who positions him with an offer to profit off jade smuggling. Hilo, not wanting to taint the jade world, declines, and doesn’t think Zapunyo can do much for him anyway.

Shae meanwhile, isn’t super confident in her Weather Man abilities. Decides to meet with old Weather Man, and sneaky snake man Doru for some advice. But Doru, just over it, kills himself! WHAT?!

Anden is struggling some on Port Massy, but has a host family who are more than kind and slowly starts making friends and learning Espenian (their language). One of Anden’s new friends is Cory, the Pillar of Port Massy’s son. And they quickly become… more than friends. Lover friends. Oh my!

Now on the other side of things, we focus on Wen, Hilo’s wife. She’s now pregnant and playing James Bond spy. She infiltrates the Espenian and Ygutanian networks pulling information for the No Peak Clan aiding their position against the Mountain Clan. While she’s overseas, she discovers that Lan had a kid with his ex-wife Eyni. Niko. Niko is in for a rough adulthood. Because Hilo finds out that Niko exists, travels to Espenia to meet with Eyni and asks to let Niko come to Kekon and live/study with the Kaul family – as his father Lan was a Kaul (and Pillar). Well Eyni is like, yeah, no. You are not taking my boy. Hilo says maybe just think about it.

Cut scene to Eyni and her new boyfriend packing their bags and getting ready to get the eff out of dodge. Well Hilo is no fool, and catches them attempting to flee. He asks her again to let Niko come with them, and she goes all protective mother and refuses again. Hot-head-Hilo pulls some wild shit… and snaps Eyni’s neck. Straight up kills her. Niko doesn’t see this happen, but he sees his mom dead when Hilo walks him out and is like, yeah, she’s just sleeping. If Niko grows up in Jade Legacy (Book 3) he’s going to be a serial killer. Hilo takes Niko back to Janloon. Wild.

At basically the same time, Wen has Hilo’s child – a son. Their house is now hectic with two little rug rats.

Now Shae and Wen are collaborating on spy stuff and arranging overseas deals hoping to sabotage the Mountain and their jade distributions.

What? What are you saying? Did you say sandwich? – No I was saying that before, not now. Now I am saying sabotage. The ancient Dutch art of screwing up your own team).

They essentially arrange a coup via the Ven family. The Ven family runs a big freight shipping company and are quite powerful. No Peak backs them and pushes for Ayt’s removal as Pillar in the Mountain Clan.

This works and has to be resolved with some peaceful negotiations worked out between Ayt and Hilo. But these peace negotiations don’t last long. The Mountain leaks some nasty little details about her studying abroad in Espenia as a college student (but as an agent for Espenia) selling national security secrets and discloses her adult relations with Espenian military-man. This straight up makes her look like a deceitful, lying little Scarlet Letter Lady. This is all true (minus the national security part), but regardless it doesn’t look good.

Shae, as this is going on, has also been falling in love. She’s been dating a guy named Maro. A guy from no real family of consequence, no real power, but a nice guy who loves Shae. Shae, loves him too, and gets that Eggo-Preggo. However, as having this baby would, apparently, destroy Maro for having a baby out of wedlock and the fact that, as previously mentioned, he’s a loser-nobody, she almost immediately and SECRETLY gets a shma-shmortion. The balls.

So Shae, on full-tilt here, having ditched her baby (without telling Maro) and with the nasty little rumors swirling around snaps. She challenges Ayt to a duel. We know Ayt is a total badass, and Shae is new to wearing jade. So this is not looking good. Before the duel, Hilo tells Shae he’s made arrangements. If Shae loses, as she almost certainly will, he’s going to burn this mother down. He’s got Green Bones ready all across town to murder everyone.

Well, Shae and Ayt duel. Shae does damn well, even slices off Ayt’s ear. WHAT?! YEAH! But she’s no match, gets a wicked cut on her abdomen, and before Ayt deals the inevitable death blow to Shae, she caves and grovels. Shae begs for mercy and promises Ayt all her jade (a powerful statement). Ayt doesn’t love this, but knows she can’t refuse for the optics of killing a groveling Weather Man who just offered all their jade.

After the duel, Shae spends time recovering and not talking to Maro (who wasn’t involved in the duel discussion or the baby situation). Relationship red flag. When they do finally talk, he’s butt-hurt and Shae plays tough girl. They end their budding relationship as “friends”.

Back in Port Massy, Anden and Cory are hanging out a lot. Playing relay ball (a sport) and also touching their balls. These young players are in love. One day, as they were hanging out with their friends at the Community Center (Grudge Hall) some thugs shoot up the place. Drive by style. None of our major players are hurt or killed, but it’s a bad situation. We come to find out “The Crews” are responsible.

Now back to dumb-dumb Mudt and Bero. After a little tiff and thinking Bero is too selfish and never intended to repay Mudt’s Da (which is Dad minus the d), Mudt poisons Bero’s drink. A bit extreme. But Bero is now dead. Wild. Mudt goes off his merry little way and tries to teach himself how to use jade, as a 19-year-old punk-idiot kid. At a bar he runs his mouth about the jade he’s wearing being Lan’s. No one believes him, but the bartender makes and ominous phone call.

Now post Grudge Hall shoot up, Hilo comes to Espenia to help out Anden… and to broker some trade deals that will strengthen the Kekonese living in Espenia. Hilo allies with Blaze-the-Bull Cromner, in secret, along with some other mid-level business thugs to try and keep up with the Mountain who’s selling jade, illegally, to Ygutan.

Shae doesn’t love what Hilo has done, promising raw jade and Green Bone support to some foreign kingpins. But that’s a classic hot-head-Hilo move. While this is happening, Shae and Wen discover Ayt has her own network of spies. Basically spy vs. spy.

Shae, finally recovering from the duel and her dumbass Pillar brother, tells Maro of the shma-shmortion. He’s like, well I loved you and thought we could work things out… but now you drop this little nugget on me? Bitch please.

Back to Hilo. He’s tracked down Mudt, as he was tipped off by the bartender. Mudt, wearing all of Lan’s old jade, doesn’t have a great excuse. Hilo takes it all, only to give Mudt just a little jade back. And then seals him alive in a coffin, burying him alive! OMG what? Says this will let him die as a Green Bone (though really it’s just a massively cruel and awesome end to our other idiot).

Now we cut to Wen, who is about to go out for the day with her kids when BOOM! A freaking car bomb blows up her car. Luckily, she and the kiddos were not in the car. Not so lucky, her brother (and Horn of No Peak, Ken) was. And he did not survive the blast. It’s clear we have an assassination attempt here, though the likely target was Hilo. Given the location of the car at the time, in the No Peak compound, it’s clear this had to be an inside job. But who?

After the dust settles, Maro shows up at the compound and straight up says “Guys, it twas me.” That’s not an exact quote by the way. Maro says he had setup a meeting with Hilo a while back, which had allowed some goons to come into the compound as well and secretly setup the car bomb. Maro apparently didn’t know about the bomb itself, but was working with some unsavories as he was blackmailed by the barukan who were holding his family hostage. He said it was either my family or yours, and I chose my family. I mean you’d have to do the same thing right? But the balls.

Well, things have to be done, and Maro is on the hook for his actions. So Shae, ex-lover and ex-almost-baby-mama, kills Maro! She uses some jade Jedi tricks and explodes his brain, with MIND BULLETS! (That’s telekinesis Kyle).

Now we cut back to Bero. Wait what? I thought he was dead!? Well he isn’t. When Mudt tried poisoning him, he underestimated the SN1 tolerance that Bero had built up. Bero is basically a rock star druggie. He only seemed dead. He was mostly dead, not all dead. Anyway, Bero has some jade withdrawals, but he’s alive. He meets then, the most unlikely imaginable, Jen, the armless hochi maker. This is the Green Bone who got his arms chopped off by the Horn of the Mountain in Jade City. And he helps nurse Bero from the dark recesses of his life’s mistakes (basically his whole life).

Back to Hilo. He busts down a rat house where a barukan Crew is hiding, and encounters Soradillo (apologies if I misspelled this name, I’ll admit to audio-booking). He says that Zapunyo was the one who ordered the car bombing, not Ayt and the Mountain. Interesting twist, but ultimately doesn’t matter for Soradillo. Hilo kills him, knowing he was merely a puppet.

After this, No Peak starts cracking down on every little illegal jade and SN1 trap house. Basically it’s was in Port Massy.

Wen now travels to Port Massy, as a jade mule. Since she’s a stone-eye, she’s unaffected, and brings a truck ton (not literally) across borders. But in order to get past TSA Security, she pretends to be a fake-jade jeweler, trading nephrite. She does this behind Hilo’s back, but she also does this to arm the Kekonese who are in Espenia. Basically arming their thugs to take down their thugs.

Now Anden and his newly jaded boyz-in-the-hood look for and find the crew that was responsible for the Grudge Hall attack. Cromner, our gangster-partner of Hilo, gets busted for orchestrating and is hauled off for trial (and ultimately jail forever). This helps push Anden up the ranks as a leader and informant in Port Massy.

As part of his new status, Anden, at the request of Hilo, is told to kill Zapunyo. But one problem, the dude is heavily guarded at all times… but lucky we learn that he’s also a fat-lazy boy who is having diabetic surgery (whatever that means) soon, and will be leaving his fortified compound… leaving him vulnerable. Problem, this means Anden will likely have to wear jade again, which is still not his cup-o-tea.

While this plan starts in motion, Dauk Lo, the Pillar of Port Massy, approaches Anden and asks him to break up with Cory. Dauk Lo happens to be Cory’s father. He asks this in return for help in killing Zapunyo. A tough request.

We cut to the Horn of the Mountain chatting with a politician about the immigration policy. He scares the guy with a jade induced heart blockage. Kinda weird, and kinda doesn’t make sense. But worth mentioning at this point.

Now back to the plan against Zapunyo. Anden has arranged for an interview with him in Port Massy, before his scheduled surgery. They will hide jade in gloves and kill Zapunyo during the interview.

Remember our scheme between Hilo and the Ven family, the owners of K-Star Freight? Yeah, well so does Ayt, as she uncovers the secret coup attempt on her and the Mountain and forces a buyout of K-Star on behalf of the Mountain. She tells Ven that this is happening, then delivers his eldest son’s head in a box (what’s in the box?!). And then says she’s going to kill the rest of his sons, against his plea to spare his family. Then kills Ven and fade to black.

Now back in Janloon, Hilo’s son is screwing around and eats a bunch of jade buttons (not the gumdrop buttons!) and is taken to the hospital immediately for possible jade poisoning. Hilo is distressed, but as a soon-to-be father myself, give him credit for taking responsibility himself and not blaming the little tyke. However, this little hospital run messes up the coordination plans for timing on the assassination plans on Zapunyo.

This immediately becomes a problem as Zapunyo changes the location of the interview last minute. Was this the plan all along, or a coincidence? Either way, the jade gloves are of no use anymore and the plans are FUBAR.

Hilo hears this, and calls off the attempt. Says it’s not worth scrapping something together, and doesn’t want to put anyone in unnecessary danger, especially Anden.

Hilo’s boy is fine, kind of. He’s unaffected by the jade, but that’s because he inherited his mother’s (Wen) stone-eye symptoms. Probably not good for the son and heir of the Kaul family to be a stone-eye.

While Hilo is finding this out at the hospital, and frankly hard to get ahold of, Shae and Wen make plans to keep the interview in place. New location, but same idea. Kill Zapunyo now, while he’s open and vulnerable. What could go wrong?

Anden interviews Zapunyo at the new location with Wen and Roan, all pretending to be not themselves. But Zapunyo see’s right through Aden’s Groucho-Marx glasses and calls his bluff. He knows Anden isn’t who he says he is. The jig is up. Roan whips out some jade and Anden straight up says, you got me… we’re here to kill you. Bullets fly. IT WAS A FIRE FIGHT! Roan takes down the guards with the swiftness and Anden gets Zapunyo in a chokehold. This allows Wen to shoot Zapunyo. Kaul Family 1, Crime Lord 0. Game over.

Anden and crew flee back to their designated safe spot at Anden’s old hardware store job, but immediately get got by 6 thugs. Roan loses a kneecap and Anden tries to make a phone call. The three are held captive and in a last ditch effort to get more jade, Roan is 86’d, Hitman piano wire and bag style. Cops at the hotel where the interview went down tipped off the boys, part of Cromner’s old crew.

Skinny Reams is the new Cromner, and doesn’t want jade of Kekoneses in Port Massy. Next they turn to Wen and Anden and begin strangling them as well. We have like 30 seconds or so on the clock.

But who cares… cut to Shae. She is freaking out because she hasn’t gotten the safe call from Anden and team.

Ok back to Aden and Wen. Near black out and death, all of sudden guns shots ring from just outside. It’s Anden’s friends! His phone call attempt was enough to get them to come by. Great success!

Oh except not. Anden tries to CPR Wen who is lying unconscious. And he does… not succeed. Wen, the wife of the Pillar of No Peak, is dead. Me thinks Hilo is going to be upset.

Anden is also upset. He puts on dead Roan’s jade and hulks up hardcore. He focuses all his energy on… Wen? He basically does jade CPR. And Wen wakes up. Hilo is still going to be mad though right?

Anden finally calls Shae and is like, yo, we’re ok… but also we are not ok. Shae’s like I got this, I’ll tell Hilo. And Hot-head-Hilo surprises us all and takes the news calmly. No I’m lying, he’s super made and beats the every living crap out of Shae – who I remind you readers – is his sister. Mid beatdown, Niko and Rue, Hilo’s son’s (well one real son, one adopted stolen nephew son) walk in a witness Monday Night Raw IRL. Again, Niko is going to be full serial killer in Jade Legacy… he has to be.

Hilo then fires Shae as Weather Man, a move that would’ve been warranted in lieu of punching her senseless… but I digress. Shae then, with balls of steel, denies her removal as Weather Man straight to Hilo’s face. Talks about her dedication to the family.

Later on, Shae goes off to pray (which she does weekly at the same time and same place). And who sneaks up on her, but Ayt. She’s like, doing the same thing at the same time is a good way to get got. But I’m not here to kill you. Ayt wanted his business, Hilo wanted him dead… both the Mountain and No Peak basically wanted the same thing. And now Ayt has control.

And now with the new immigration policy in place (remember the cliff note about the Mountain Horn, the politician, and the heart blockage) Ayt has serious international power.

Ayt also says she wants a truce with No Peak. The Mountain is bigger, better, stronger (still) but knows they both still have serious international power. And this is no longer a street level thing. Ayt does however threaten Shae, saying she needs to keep Hilo in check or she’ll just kill errbody – remember the Ven family?

Anden arrives back in Janloon where Wen is still recovering, she’s partially paralyzed but alive. Hilo apparently had to do some damage control on Port Massy, and pulled some strings to get folks home safely and avoid an international fiasco.

They hold a funeral for Roan, where Anden and Cory talk for the first time since breakup. Cory knows his dad put him up to it, so their isn’t bad blood.

Hilo then tells Anden he can stay in Janloon, and can study to learn more about healing – like what he did for Wen. Anden agrees, and agrees to wear jade. But only to heal, not hurt. How noble.

Epilogue – we end with Bero, who is coming out of his little pity-party, and meets some Oortokon revolutionists. They all hate jade and the clans. They vow to take them all down. Dun dun DUNNNNN.

TLDR: Definitely a good story and one worth reading. I preferred Jade City to Jade War, but it appears we’re teeing up some epic things for our finale with Jade Legacy. Would recommend. 4/5 Stars.