The setting and the world building of Fonda Lee's Jade City are really, really cool. I'd love to learn more about the world, which is something like an Earth-adjacent version of Taiwan/Hong Kong with gangsters who use jade-based magic. The magic system is cool, although we don't learn a whole lot about it. I really feel like I visited the city of Janloon, and thankfully observed the gangster fights from the sidelines!
Aside from Shae (who returns to her gangster family after studying abroad for several years), I didn't really connect with any of the characters. Maybe part of it is that we don't spend much time with most of the characters besides Shae and her brothers.
Honestly, I probably would have liked this better if it focused on Shae as the main character instead of trying to halfway introduce so many others. But since this is the first of a series, I'm sure readers will spend more time with other characters soon.
As far as themes and philosophical ideas, there's a lot about what people owe their families and cultures and how they in turn shape who we are (perhaps a Confucian sentiment, but also a universal one as much as we individualistic Americans like to pretend otherwise). All of this is within a cool Hong Kong/Godfather-style mafia story.
I'm not sure if I'll pick up the sequel, but it feels like things will get more epic in the next one. I wouldn't rule out another visit to Janloon.
See also my Goodreads review.
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