We finish the Green Bone Saga and continue our story from Jade War, crossing a time span of many years, and adding new elements to the story with new characters, businesses, plots, schemes, and shocking events.
There are elements to this book I liked and elements I did not like. Some of the business deals and political schemes didn’t seem to really tie in. Almost just filler or deflections to the real stories. But there are elements I really enjoyed. There are some good uses of jade abilities (though in my opinion, not enough). And some pretty shocking twists and turns. Ayt Madashi plays a pretty complex game of chess with nearly everyone in the story.
Ultimately, I enjoyed the entirety of the Green Bone Saga and would recommend these books to anyone looking for a completely new take on fantasy, gangster, crime, power struggle, family, and kung fu.
Jade Legacy – Book 3
Written by Fonda Lee, published 2021. Summary, review, and spoilers ahead.
Open with Bero as an employee at a No Peak casino. He’s working with the Oortokhan revolutionists, stealing money, and trashing the casino. They tear gas the floor and spray paint “the future is clanless.” Ominous.
Wen, Hilo’s wife, is still recovering from the near-death experience at the end of Jade War. She’s much better than her coma state, but struggles walking and talking smoothly. Hilo chats it up with some lanternmen who are upset about their tribute rates. There are pressures overseas (namely Espenia) and the Mountain is offering them lower rates. Hilo refuses to price match… he’s not Walmart.
Turns out, the leader of this Lantern Men meeting is already in the Mountain. He’s paying them tribute and is looking to extort Hilo (not smart). He says his son died under Hilo’s leadership, so he’s clearly on tilt. Fuyin then offers Hilo a clean blade (really not smart). But Hilo, in a fun twist, denies the offer for a clean blade duel. It’s actually quite clever. Hilo instead orders Fuyin to be exiled. Well, Fuyin, fully on tilt now, whips out a glock and starts poppin’ off shots. This, instead, ends with a knife in his face and Hilo not dead. The other lanternmen quickly fall back in line, saying they didn’t want to go along with Fuyin’s plan (yeah right). Survival at its finest.
Hilo needs to cool off after this, and heads to a whore house (so much for being a family man). Apparently, life with a backstabbing and shell-of-her-former-self wife, Wen, isn’t great. He’s Lonely Island and isolated as the Pillar. Cut to this books sex scene (every book seems to have at least one). Cue the porno music.
Shae, still the Weather Man is trying to “read the clouds”. She’s constantly been out foxed by Ayt Madashi. She talks with her #2 Woon Papidonwa, the Weather Man’s Shadow.
Side note – Woon Papidonwa is the best part of this book. Not because he is any great character (he isn’t). It’s because his name is so damn fun to say. Woon Papidonwa. Woon Papidonwa. Francisco!
Anyway, they talk about splitting Fuyin’s businesses among the remaining Lantern Men to keep everyone happy.
It’s hard to travel between countries these days, particularly Kekon and Port Massy and for Green Bones wearing that sweet, sweet jade. Jade is illegal in Espenia, outside of the military (nice). This is going to have to change.
Back with Woon Papidonwa, he’s quite busy working with Shae all the time. So much so that his wife isn’t very happy. On top of it, she also had a miscarriage, so life is real dark. Woon decides to ask for another role in the clan, to help free up some of his time.
Now from our previous book, Skinny Reaves was the new leader of the Espenian Southside crew, and he thinks he’s all that and a bag of chips. Hilo disagrees, and sends his Pillarman, Tar, to do some dirty work. He and a group of men snag Skinny Reaves and take him on a little boat ride, mafia style. For justice in killing Roan and nearly killing Wen before, he gets some new concrete shoes and the chance to swim forever. Tar also goes a little wild in some pre-swim torture and it’s apparently not pretty.
Now it’s New Year and Wen needs to show strength across the community (not her weak little post-coma shell of a human self), Hilo is distancing himself from her, Anden is in medical school, and we hear of a spy plane shot down in Espenia… which means potential war is brewing.
This calls a special meeting of the KJA with 15 clans representing and stuntin’ like my daddy. They talk of boosting the military in Kekon and about SN2, a better version of the synthetic jade drug SN1. The general wants recent grads to join the military before joining clans and wants more cut of jade profits. Ayt actually supports this… she’s obviously up to something. Hilo says yes to the jade profits, but no to the grads. Well immediately it becomes apparent Ayt was up to something, as she knew No Peak had to decline this offer, which makes them look weak while making the Mountain clan look good. Per usual.
Now we have a meeting between Tyne, Weather Man of the Six Hands Unity clan, and Shae. They are the largest tributary clan of the Mountain but talk of defecting over to No Peak. Wild! Shae takes this news to Woon Papidonwa (still so fun to say) and gets some plans in motion, also changes his role in the clan, and oh, they kiss. His wife is going to be so mad!
We get another snippet of idiot Bero, now regularly meeting a group calling themselves the Clanless Future Movement (CFM for short). The stunt they pulled on the casino at the beginning of our story has helped bring members to the movement. At these meetings there is a hottie, Ema, that Bero wants to hook up with, but she plays hard to get. And a guy named Molovni speaks up, a foreigner from Ygutan.
Anden, meanwhile, is doing well in med school. So much so that he gets asked to attend a conference in Port Massy by an Espenian doctor. While he’s there he chats with Kelly, who is Cory’s sister and a high up official in the Espenian government, about brokering a meeting between the Kaul family and the Espenian government. She basically says no.
Anden then had din-din with his ex-Cory and others, including Dauk Losun who apologizes for his rude daughter and wants to help change Espenian laws, especially if it will help No Peak and generally benefit Kekon. This is where we hear about the death of Skinny Reams and it being “too terrible.” So whatever Tar did, twas not good.
Now Hilo goes to a gym to meet a guy by the name of Jim Sunto. He’s an ex-Navy Angel from Espenia. Like a badass retired military vet that is super scary and knows dangerous things. So, they chat, and naturally 2 seconds in, Hilo starts attacking him. Turns out just to be a test, and Sunto can fight well. Hilo offers to broker a business deal with him and wants his help reforming the Kekonese military.
Back at home, Hilo has a date night with Wen, and they don’t think Tar (her brother) should be getting married. They say he is “green turning black” a euphemism for jade is ruining this poor bastard and he’s losing grip on reality. On their date night, Wen straight up asks Hilo if he wants to go to the Big D and don’t mean Dallas (re: divorce) and hot-head-Hilo blows up. Talks of betrayal and lies and storms off.
But our boy is maturing, if only a little, decides to calm down with a few ciggies in his car, comes back inside to chat more, and ends up going to pound town. Happy endings for all.
Woon, who is now the Seal Giver in the clan, is in love with Shae. He can’t stop thinking about that kiss, but he also won’t leave his wife.
Back to Shae, she needs to finalize this deal with the Six Hands Unity clan. They chit chat about how the Mountain buying uncut gems (jade) and bolstering their reserves, while also messing with black market prices.
Long story short, they make a verbal agreement only to have the Horn of both Six Hands and the Mountain burst into their meeting! The sneaky sneak jig is up! The Six Hands Unity Horn is betraying his Pillar! Well, a fight breaks out, as they often do, and the Pillar gets a little bit stabbed, and bullets go a-flyin’. Shae gets a 9 in the thigh and it would seem the Mountain, again, has foiled any plans No Peak has to gain better footing.
She calls Woon and escapes to the hospital to live another day. She makes it back to Janloon and straight up hooks up with Woon Papidonwa! And while this is happening, Hilo barges in! Awkward! He’s like cool, you guys like each other (no duh) but we’re starting an embargo with Uiwiwa to stick it to the Mountain. They’re like, ok. Then Woon’s wife bursts in and is like, we’re through mister! Which is sad, but Woon is like bye bitch, I’ve got a new girl who is high up in No Peak now.
Now idiot Bero has been jailed for spray painting a sporting goods store. Idiot. But he’s released to some foreigners who basically kidnap him. Galo and Berglund are agents in the ROE Military Intelligence Service. They, like the CIA, have their hands in lots of things across lots of countries including military projects in Ygutan and SN1. They want Bero to be a spy/informant for them in the CFM. He agrees, though he has no choice. This or back to jail.
1 Year Later.
Shae and Woon are getting married. Their relationship has really blossomed. The clans have battled with no major incidents or changes.
But here we get one of the wildest scenarios I’ve ever seen in a story (or real life). Hilo decides to go talk with Niko and straight up tells him he killed him mother. Now he frames it as if she was a traitor, which I don’t think is exactly true. But he’s like, yeah, I killed your mom. And Niko is like, ok. WTF!?! I really thought this would be his snapping moment and go full Ed Kemper or something. MOTHER!
Then Hilo gets a call from Tar, he’s crying and said he did something bad. Well, he did. He went full black and knifed his fiancé and fellow Green Bone. Knifed her to death. Jesus take the wheel. Tar is clearing having issues, big psychological ones. Anden arrives and tries to heal her, but no dice. Hilo then takes Tar for a walk… thinking some Lenny action is going to happen (Of Mice and Men). However, shockingly, Hilo can’t do it and instead strips him of all his jade and exiles him from the clan and Kekon. He then makes Wen his new Pillarman!
A Few Years Later.
Anden is 31 and a full-blown doctor now. He fights for a bill to get bioenergetic jade legalized in Espenia for use in medical procedures (like getting medical weed legalized, it’s a step toward full legalization). The bill passes, and Hilo sends Anden off to Resville, a small town in Espenia outside Port Massy to chat with the leader there, Jon Remi.
No Peak wants Remi as a business partner, but he’s already been approached by the Mountain (shocker, always one step ahead, like a carpenter, building stairs). Remi, an interesting guy, takes Anden to a gay club to talk shop. They do in fact talk business, and Remi agrees to help No Peak… if… major if… if Anden will blow him. Right there, in da club.
Anden is gay, but not that gay. He’s offended and decides to strong arm some. They settle some terms, avoid any sexual acts, and become partners… though rocky start if you ask me.
Now we learn that some Espenian mining ships have started looking to mine jade off the coasts of Kekon and the clans do not like this. Both clans’ partner and send some frogmen to plant mines on/near the ship and blow it up. Wild move… and one they do, apparently, a lot throughout the rest of the story.
Idiot Bero, codenamed Catfish by his ROE “friends” is off playing spy games. He can’t figure out Ema, who he still wants to hook up with, and how she got so deep into the CFM. He approaches her for the millionth time and finally gets a date… but no action. Sad for Bero.
6 years since Tar was exiled.
Hilo, now 40 years old, is training with Sunto to learn of his military secrets. He learns that Sunto is starting a mercenary business… and isn’t happy to learn this. More on this later.
Shae is now preggo with Woon Papidonwa’s baby. Finally! A Shae baby!
Ru and Niko, now teens, sneak off to watch a duel in Mountain territory. Underground fight club stuff. All goes well until the CFM shows up and slaps some propaganda all over the subway… it has faces, their faces, which then calls attention to them, and things get dicey. But No Peak Green Bones show up in time, before any real altercations happen, and get them back safely… but get a stern talking-to.
Now, we have another meeting of the KJA to talk politics and whatnot. However, mid-meeting Hilo gets a feeling and tries to sneak out. But as he stands to leave, it calls attention to pretty much everyone in the room. With everyone’s attention on Hilo, an assassin stabs Ayt Madashi in the neck! Holy crap! Impossible to kill and always one-step ahead Ayt is staring down death! The rest of the room looks around wondering what to do. Hilo blocks the door (exit) basically saying no one can go for help. A bold but probably smart move. The assassin reveals herself as the daughter of the Ven family… the same family that Ayt had executed. Can’t blame her.
Ayt, with no real options, pulls a freaking Snape and jumps out of the window landing several stories down on a van. We can assume she’s alive, but have to wonder how. A knife to the neck and a fall from a building… absolutely wild.
Now as this happens, a freaking truck explodes at the base of the KJA building. We’re talking Oklahoma City bombing style. The building is reduced to rubble. We are to assume everyone is dead (except probably Hilo because he’s our hero… though can’t be certain). This is big. Major plot event. Major.
But we jump to Bero who goes out with Ema again. Finally gets what he’s been wanting, information. Just kidding, he gets sex. And information. He learns of an upcoming attack (the attack we just witnessed on the KJA). He knows this is bad stuff and tries to get out of town. But he’s being followed, and gets caught immediately. Ema dies.
Back at the scene of the bombing, Shae arrives and finds Ayt is alive! Realizing that Hilo and Woon may be dead, they need leadership of clans to avoid total chaos. So, Shae helps Ayt and heals her. Keeping her from death. Ayt says this was the work of the CFM. They have a major enemy now… not just a nuisance.
87 people have died in this bombing, but miraculously Woon and Hilo survive. With them alive, it’s pretty bad news that Shae saved Ayt. She could be dead and gone… but decisions had to be made. Oops. Turns out Hilo had learned some military steel tactics from Sunto, ones designed to save one from IED attacks, which saved him in the blast.
5 Years Later.
Dauk Lo, leader of No Peak in Port Massy, is dead. The crew meets for his funeral. Cory is now a lawyer and married… to a girl?!? Remy is still a thug, but he has helped keep the Mountain at bay in Resville, and really Espenia as a whole. Though he states he wants to be his own leader and pretty much looking to defect, to himself.
Niko, out and about, gets into a little kerfuffle with another and is challenged to a clean blade. Niko, being a total wuss, turns the duel down and instead gives him his car to make peace. A wild move, one Hilo certainly will hate. But does make you wonder what the new guard (re: the growing kids) will do in the future when they take power. They don’t seem to care as much about fighting and clan v. clan issues.
5 Years Later.
Woon has retired as Seal Giver, is still recovering from the bombing, and mostly stays at home playing Mr. Mom.
Berglund and Galo are working with Shae and No Peak. They all want the CFM gone. We learn that Molovni, that dude who spoke up in the CFM meeting a while back, is responsible for the bombing. But he’s gone full ghost protocol and can’t be found. We have a specific target now…
Niko, now an adult (well 18) has decided he’s leaving the family to go work a mercenary for Sunto. It seems he’s finally upset with what Hilo has done to his parents and this is his revenge. An odd move… but I respect it.
Hilo, of course, does not love this news. He goes straight to Sunto and says you can’t let my boy work for you. Sunto doesn’t care, says he’s not afraid and will let the boy do what he wants. He also is more afraid of his business partners than any clan. We have foreign business powers now…
We cut to Tar, Mr. Exiled himself, who meets with Remi. He wants to join his group and ultimately work to get some jade back for himself.
Hilo decides he’s not letting this Niko situation die, hires 3 double agents to follow Niko and keep him safe… 3 agents who are also mercenaries working for Sunto.
Now Tar has been doing good work and gets promoted at a dinner party by Remi. As a thank you, Tar stabs and freaking kills Remi! He calls Hilo from the hospital, who he hasn’t’ spoken to since he murdered his wife and got booted from the clan. He says he’s always been loyal, and this is a little “I’m sorry” peace offering.
But Tar, for murdering an “innocent” man, has to pay for his wrongdoings. He is jailed. And pulls an Epstein, “hanging himself.” A sad end, though not exactly a squeaky-clean guy.
Shae and Wen go off on a business meeting overseas in Shotari, working some angles in the movie business and an actor they want who can represent the clans and Green Bones positively (Bruce Lee style). Well, these two lovely ladies instead get kidnapped by some barukhan thugs.
Hilo pays for Wen’s release with mountains of money. Shae must stay, and get tortured by bathing (literally) in copious amounts of jade.
Hilo, ever desperate, needs help to get Shae home safe. He goes to Ayt! Asks her for help. Which, shockingly, she agrees to. She made assurances to folks everywhere and simply changes those assurances. This means the kidnappers don’t have protection anymore.
Word gets back to them, and they realize they are dead men. Regardless of letting Shae go alive. They prepare to execute her… when all of a sudden, a sniper pops the kidnappers and a group of Green Bones rush in to save the day. A last minute save!
2 Years Later.
Ru, off having fun and partying, gets setup. He starts hooking up with a girl, who happens to be the on-again-off-again girlfriend of a Mountain fist. Word travels quickly and the fist shows up ready to beat the crap out of Ru. Ru, remember, is a stone eye and has no real powers. However, he’s got balls. And after getting beat some, offers the fist a clean blade. Well turns out the fist didn’t know that Ru was the son of Hilo. They figure this out and instead of killing each other, turn on the bartender who setup this little ruse. In a last-ditch effort to save his life, the bartender pulls a knife and stabs Ru in the neck!
Holy smokes.
Ru. Is dead.
At the funeral, Niko returns and apologizes for his stupid behavior. He then cuts his own ear off to make amends. A bit extreme, but alright.
Niko returns to the family and is working his way up the ranks. He ultimately tracks down Bero, now old and drunk, and learns of his involvement in the bombing. He also learns that Bero killed his dad, Lan.
A Few Years Later.
The bioenergetic jade bill is finally passed. Yay Anden!
Hilo isn’t involved as much as he used to be. Older and sad about Ru’s death, he mostly outsources clan business and decisions. He’s also instigated dueling rules so that things don’t get out of hand like they did with Ru. There is now a 24-hour grace period between challenges and actual duels, and no blades. Seems more mature.
Ayt is still up to her old crafty ways. She’s working on getting her own jade mine and operating outside the KJA completely. This simply cannot happen.
No Peak uses their army of white rats (little informants) to get blackmail on Sunto. This then gets Sunto to fess up some dirty details on Art Wiles, a major businessman pulling strings across all the lands.
No Peak then gets an interview with a Mountain member who has been in deep with Ayt for years. He spills the beans on all the dirty little tricks Ayt has used over the last 20 years. This gets aired out to the world and the press is bad, real bad, Joe Jackson.
Ayt loses power and is ousted from Pillar of the Mountain. Finally! Though I’ll admit, I didn’t love how this happened. Just an interview with bad news and she’s gone? This from Ayt the super bad baddie who has terrorized No Peak for 3 books?!? Whatever
With Ayt down and out, Shae talks of merging No Peak with the Mountain. She’s to meet with Ayt’s nephew and newly appointed heir of the throne, Ato. He, being much younger, is open to this since the kids have mostly fought together against the CFM vs. fighting each other (like the older clan members have).
Shae and Hilo do have some concerns though about Ayt possibly running things from behind the scenes. Controlling Ato as a puppet. They make plans to deal with her, but need to wait several months for things to be sorted and the dust to settle.
Hilo and Niko (officially not the No Peak Pillar heir apparent) are set to meet with Ato and crew to finalize this merger. But while this meeting is set to go down, Hilo has arranged a goon squad to raid Ayt’s home and kill her – once and for all.
Well, the meeting starts, and the raid commences. But Ayt isn’t there… she has an escape tunnel, El Chapo style.
Niko and Ato pledge friendship and things are all hunky-dory.
Except Hilo gets a feeling, not knowing the details about Ayt’s escape, his feeling is so strong he pulls a gun out – mid-happy-meeting – and starts firing. There was a firefight! Hilo gets plugged… bad.
We come to learn; Hilo’s instincts were right. Ayt had faked everything. She wanted to get all the major Kaul’s into one room and take them down. Her nephew Ato was never to be the Pillar.
But her plans were foiled by Hilo going full-Rambo.
Ayt, on the run, learns that the meeting didn’t go the way she had planned. She gives herself up knowing she’s finally lost. For real this time.
But not without one last victory… Hilo… dies from the gunshot.
Anden, on behalf of the new Pillar Niko, goes to meet with Ayt who’s pretty much in jail. He talks to her and says she is to be exiled. Death would be doing her a favor and is what she wants, so he sentences her to a jadeless existence in a crap town in the middle of nowhere. To live her last days worthless and alone.
Sad.
End.
TLDR: A solid ending to a very unique story. A little excessive at times, but plenty of moving parts and complexities. 4/5 Stars.
