This is a really hard book to review without talking about what happens in it. So, I'll stick mostly to my reading experience and general impressions because I don't want to spoil how everything turns out for anyone. First and foremost, I was an emotional mess throughout reading this book. Fonda puts the characters through so much awful stuff, as usual, and it was all absolutely heartbreaking. I cried a lot while reading it, and there were a couple instances of actual sobbing. I mean full on ugly crying. It was that devastating. My reaction really is a credit to the fantastic character-building in these novels. It was truly some of the best characterization I've ever read, and it made me rejoice and weep alongside the characters as events happened in their lives.

My first general impression of this book is that it was probably one of the most epic finales, or honestly books in general, I've ever seen. The plot and writing were exquisite, and the complexity of all the different story-lines coming together the way they did was nothing short of masterful. I thought things were intricate and expansive in Jade War, but this book took it to a whole other level. There were three main plot threads in this book that were each massive in their own right: the conflict between the two clans, the overseas relationships and growth, and the brewing civil war at home between the clans and the clanless. Each conflict played an important role in the story, and its resolution, and the author managed to keep it all from getting confusing. In addition, there were plenty of callbacks to things that happened in previous books and how they influenced the outcome of the saga, which I enjoyed and appreciated. The expansiveness of the many plot threads, coupled with the devastating events, fantastic characters, and phenomenally written action scenes, made this book an epic read.

The second general impression I had after finishing the book was a feeling of wanting more. This story covers a lot of time, approximately 15-20 years I think, in a very expeditious manner. This was done really well, and it made sense for the story to progress in that way. I loved that it gave the opportunity to see how decades of age and experience changed (and didn't change) the characters, while also showing them deal with the limitations often set by the body growing older. However, the fast pace left me wanting more time with the newer characters. It felt like we barely got a glimpse of some of them because of the massive number of characters in the book and the pace it set. It made the book feel a little less intimate than the earlier installments, but despite that, I still loved the new characters. I know I'm getting repetitive, but it is a testament to how great Fonda is at creating characters that I felt like I knew them without getting a ton of the story from their perspectives. She just needs to write some spin-off books now to give us more of the newer generation, especially Jaya. Please, Fonda!

Needless to say, I will now forever be a fan of this series and this author. Fonda stuck the landing here in the most epic, satisfying, and emotionally devastating way possible. I cannot recommend this book, or this series, enough, and I predict there will be countless re-reads in my future. Therefore, I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars.

Thank you Netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review. Jade Legacy is the conclusion to the Green Bone Saga series and it unfortunately was a weak finale for such a strong series.

Jade Legacy spans over twenty years which on its own was a lot to take in but the lack of dates and ages made it difficult to understand exactly where in the timeline we were in. Overall this is something that happens in the entire series but because this book spanned over two decades it really stood out and made it difficult to connect to. I spent a lot of the time trying to understand what had happened over the different time jumps and how those had impacted the storyline and characters so they’d behave the way that they do now in comparison to before the jump, too much telling and no showing. The constant summarizing of what had happened during a year especially when it’s similar to what had happened in previous years just really weakened the entire book. Doing a few big skips and explanations of what happened would have been preferable and made it a far more enjoyable book.

I definitely had issues with this book but I did really enjoy and was invested in the Kaul family, there were a lot of new characters that just weren't properly expanded on and made it very difficult to care about. Seeing Niko, Ru, and Jaya grow throughout the series from toddlers and children to grown adults was really heartwarming and probably one of my favorite parts of the book. I think Jade Legacy could have been much better if it had been about them, the next generation of the Kaul family instead of the same plot being done over and over again in different fonts. I really like Jade City because we got to see into the Kaul siblings’ minds and how they think but because we got so little of the next generation we were robbed of that opportunity.

The whole world of the Green Bone Saga is filled with scheming amongst the different clans and outsiders which I found to be very entertaining but the repetitiveness was overdone in Jade Legacy and I wish Fonda had included other plots. What really bothered me was how throughout this series Fonda shows an overall disregard for her female characters while having well written male characters. I had liked Wen and Shae in Jade City but by the time I had finished Jade Legacy, I either didn’t care, disliked, or felt pity for them because of how they were written.

I did enjoy the characters but the writing and plot was a mess for me which made it difficult to truly care about the book.

I have been following the progress of the Kaul family since Hilo and his Fists first appeared on the page some years ago in "Jade City", and I have cheered their progress after each setback. So I and opened this hefty book with some trepidation. Not because I was afraid Fonda Lee's Green Bone family saga would let me down. Rather, I wasn't ready to say goodbye to these characters that I have grown to love.
Unlike the other books, this book covers many years in the ongoing "Slow War" between No Peak and Mountain Clans, as well as tensions rising in the countries these clans do business in.
At every turn, No Peak's Weather Man, Shae attempts to outwit Ayt Mada's foreign pursuits. The problem is, the Mountain Clan has deeper pockets, and despite some truly great moves by Hilo's Weather Man and Pillarman, Ayt Mada keeps outspending and outthinking No Peak. It's a somewhat dispiriting situation because not only does No Peak have Mountain against it, but the clanless opposition movement is picking up steam, and there are problems in Espenia, and I just loved how complicated and difficult the many problems Fonda Lee created and managed.
Also, we get to see the next generation of Kauls and Mountain Fists and potential Ayt Mada successors, and it's interesting to see how these young people interpret Green Bone values against the foreign influences both of the warring Clans are contending with and against.
Difficult as the path was for the characters to the end of this trilogy, I’m so glad I opened “Jade City” years ago. The tale of jade-bearing gangster families building their ranks, holdings and influence, but centred on the difficult and frequently volatile family dynamics of one of these clans brought me to a world I’d frankly be a little scared to live in, as Fists and Horns dispensed clan justice and favour, Weather Men expanded the clans’ financial foundations, and Pillars made sweeping and final judgements for countless people, which excited and terrified me equally. I fell hard for this world and its Kekonese Green Bone clans, in particular the frequently at loggerheads Kaul siblings Shae and Hilo, and their adopted cousin Anden, and the brilliant Wen. I cannot express how much I loved this family and their struggles.
Much of the book concerns No Peak's efforts to expand their finances, and their political difficulties across the ocean, and how all this affects the Kauls, and how Hilo's desire for revenge for Lan plays out in the younger generation of the family, all of it brilliantly handled.
But there's one moment in particular, however, when I had to put the book down and walk away because I was so upset by the fate of one of the characters, which is a testament to the power of Lee's storytelling and just how invested I've become in the fate of the No Peak Clan. In fact, the last third of the book left me an emotional mess and saying, “No! No!”, while also being so thankful Fonda Lee delivered the kind of ending the brutal, warring clans (and I) needed after their many divisive, treacherous years of war. And the final scene was a perfect bookend to the very opening of this fantastic, heart wrenching, marvellous series.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Orbit Books for this ARC in exchange for my review.

There's a particular satisfaction I associate with long serieses of literary novels--I'm thinking of A.S. Byatt's Frederica Potter books or the Jane Smiley trilogy that starts with Some Luck--where a conflict between two people appears intractable because it's fundamental to who those people are, but slowly, over the course of many years, the people change and the world transforms around them, until at last a realization crystallizes: the old irreconcilable problem can be, not overcome, but gently set aside.

Jade Legacy is like that, but with knife fights and martial artists downing helicopters.

At the beginning of the novel, the Kaul family, leaders of the No Peak Clan and therefore informal rulers of half the island nation of Kekon, are in serious trouble. Their old enemy, Ayt Mada of the Mountain clan, is ahead of them in terms of subordinates and resources. Worse, they don't trust each other. The cheerfully ruthless Pillar, Hilo, isn't talking to his sister Shae, the clan's Weather Man and business leader. His wife Wen, who only survived an assassination attempt gone sideways due to desperate jade-powered magical healing, is struggling to recover and can't talk to Hilo. The family needs everyone's skills--Hilo's warrior leadership, Shae's business acumen, Wen's personal insight, and even contributions from their cousin Anden, who has chosen not to fight with jade at all--to stand against the Mountain.

I read the first chapters of Jade Legacy slowly, balancing the bleakness of the setup against the bleakness of the real world. No Peak members swear an oath: "The clan is my blood, and the Pillar is its master." At the quarter-mark, that oath heralds a transformation: an excruciating doom I had dreaded was turned aside, and the story becomes bigger and stranger. After all, Ayt Mada might not be the Kaul family's greatest threat. Kekon is only one island. Other nations, particularly the great powers locked in the Cold-War-like Slow War, would love to take Kekon's superpowered jade for themselves. The Kauls understand that wearing jade requires honor and responsibility--there are rules to follow and balances to maintain. The foreigners just want drugged-up supersoldiers. I sped through the remaining hundreds of pages in a matter of days.

If you began the series when Jade City came out, you have some idea what Jade Legacy might offer. If you're just picking up the series now, you'll find a fantasy story sideways from the twentieth century, rather than the more common medieval-ish technologies, that doesn't center fantasy-Europeans. These are books where bias and bigotry are real but are not destiny. They contain astonishing and bloodthirsty martial arts sequences, people who excel at mayhem, people who understand that finance is also mayhem, and small children who are their own people. Come for the jade; stay for the rich, layered, inexorable sense of transformation.

This was the perfect conclusion to the trilogy I have devoured so quickly this year. It felt like an epic, and taking place over the span of 3 decades it could have felt too long or too dense, and it never did. This conclusion is truly a credit to Fonda Lee's capable writing. These characters have such a special place in my heart. They've come so far. I cried (not surprising). If there is one wish that I have, it's that Jaya's character would have been more developed. But overall, an excellent series. One of the all-time greats.

Jade Legacy

I want to thank the publishers and NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read this book. Jade Legacy is the third book in the Green Bone Saga. The story is a Mafia/Godfather set on an Asian island nation. The books are about violent feuds between rival clans for criminal control of the island nation of Kekon.
The warriors of the crime families are able to possess magical powers using a substance called Jade. Also other governments want to obtain Jade for their soldiers. Jade is only found on Kekon and makes it a prized resource.
The two strongest clans are the No Peak and Mountain. The story follows the No Peak as the family struggles to maintain power and control during changes in the family leadership.

TL;DR: If you liked book 1, if you loved book 2, then you NEED to read book 3. Hilo’s growth, Shae/Ayt Mada’s continued frenemy vibes, and Kekon’s fight for the survival of jade culture are perfection. My rating: 5 of 5 stars.

Reviewing a third book in a trilogy is always tough because if you’ve read the first two then you’re probably already sold on The Green Bone Saga. That said, this series just got better and better. Jade Legacy was an excellent end to an excellent trilogy--probably one of my all time favorites. In terms of structure and theme, Legacy was very similar to Jade War (#2) in that it spanned multiple countries/continents and had large time jumps that allowed readers to experience deep and meaningful developments in Lee’s characters and the fate of Kekon and its jade culture.

While I will miss this world and these characters, Lee did an excellent job finally resolving the great feud between No Peak and the Mountain clans. If it’s been a minute since you read Jade War, have no fear--Lee provides good reminders of the last book’s main plot points, as well as introducing new conflicts, such as No Peak Lanternmen disgruntled by No Peak’s new focus abroad, Ygutanian spies fomenting discontent in Kekon, and a growing movement of jadeless Kenonese against clan rule.

As for our beloved Kauls, they continue to change and grow. Hilo and Wen’s children grow up and take on their own roles in the clan. Shae has a slow burn love affair. Anden comes home and finds his own way of supporting the clan. The best thing about the large time jumps is that Lee can take readers through upsetting, heart-wrenching periods in a relationship (like Hilo and Anden’s disagreement over his role in the clan or the inevitable rough patch Hilo and Wen have after the events of the last book), but eventually deliver happier times.
The greatest triumphs of this book (and trilogy) for me were 1. The character development of Hilo--when first introduced to Hilo as the brash and violent, though charismatic, younger Kaul grandson, I never would have expected him to grow into the leader of No Peak that he became. And 2. The dynamic between Shae and Ayt Mada--EVERY encounter these women have is incredible. The respect they have for one another's power and intellect layered on top of family enmity and building resentments is pure perfection. The duel between them in book 2 is one of my favorite scenes of the series, and Lee delivers another in this final book when Shae is forced to decide between destroying her enemy or protecting her country. It ties into a larger theme that I also really, really enjoyed--the effects of globalization and colonialism on national culture. Still at war, No Peak and the Mountain have to make hard choices about whether to fight one another or work together against colonial incursions in Kekon.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Orbit Books for giving me advance access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

Jade Legacy is a masterpiece, bringing Fonda Lee’s epic Green Bone Saga trilogy to a gut-wrenching, thoughtful and satisfying close. Each book in this series stands on their own in such a unique way: Jade City is a story about a city and its warring clans; Jade War broadens the scope, establishing a country on the geopolitical world stage; and Jade Legacy goes even further, as multiple generations of a family come to grips with their legacy and the future of their nation. As time progresses, as power waxes and wanes, who will finally take control of Kekon?

With each successive book in this series the scope gradually increases, and I’ve been left in awe of Lee’s skill as a writer. With a deftness for language and characters and world, this grand story work on so many levels, delving deeper into the morally complex relationships of the Kaul family and their enemies—as well as the place they call home. As a result, The Green Bone Saga weaves a genuine and emotional tapestry of flawed characters in a flawed world, bound by honor and duty to the ones they love. It is a mesmerizing rise to power, and Jade Legacy solidifies all the successes of its predecessors but amplifies them across a sprawling thirty-year narrative that had me riveted from beginning to end.

After the massive shake ups and twists of Jade War, I was anxiously awaiting where Jade Legacy would take the story. And honestly, I was surprised that Fonda Lee used time as her major narrative play in this book. As the story begins, the Kauls and the No Peak clan are still locked in a stalemate against their rivals the Mountain, and with the majority of chapters there are time jumps of days, weeks, months, even years. I wasn’t sure it would work, but it did—in every possible way.

The pacing at the beginning was a bit slow, and purposefully so, as it readjusted me to the world and players in a clear and enjoyable way. I felt I needed that, given the amounts of characters and governments and countries. From there, each time jump is done in such a way that you understand exactly why that amount of time was passed over, who is involved in the current scenario and what connects that current scenario to the plot lines and characters that came before. I thought I would be jarred, but thirty years passed over the course of Jade Legacy and at no point did I think, “I need more context for this” or “Why was this happening?” It all felt natural within the framing of the overarching story and how the characters were developing individually as well as in relation to one another.

What also helped the pacing was a conscious shift in tension, going from serious, humorous or heartfelt character moments to political manipulations, betrayals and twists to pulse-pounding fight scenes. Time of course plays into all of this, but Lee’s writing style carries enough weight and detail to pull you into a scene without drowning in it, then leads you into the next in a way that isn’t jarring.

The pacing and time mechanic also felt natural for the world itself. I loved the geopolitical intrigue and scheming of Jade War, and that’s juiced up in the final book. Countries are undermining each other, fighting proxy wars, using lawful and unlawful methods to outwit one another, and taking advantage of both financial and political weapons as much as real ones. All of this complex interplay takes time, as politics and wars and legislation are damn slow processes.

Meanwhile, the clans themselves are doing the same thing, expanding beyond Kekon with overseas businesses and investments, political allies and more. This international scope was so well executed because every location visited or mentioned came across as fleshed out and unique, but also very intentional. They were all fitting for the characters and story arcs that surrounded them, and each locale had the right amount of description and cultural depth that I could understand them in relation to the Kekonese perspective.

Even better, the characters themselves were so well utilized across the board. Each character and every location they visited was paired beautifully, giving that exact character the perfect opportunity to reveal more about themselves (both in relation to them and those around them). For example, the necessity for Hilo, as the clan Pillar, to be mature and wise constantly conflicted with his past as a fearsome warrior. But it was his relationships with his wife and children and the scenes they shared that clearly emphasized his personality and how he was changing, bit by bit. Sometimes for better, sometimes for worse. The same goes for Anden or Shae or Wen and so many other characters.

It also applies to the Kaul children, Niko, Ru and Tia, who have been raised in this fucked up environment of power and politics… and death. They are the ones who will take the mantle of this clan and carry it into the future. They bear the burden of what came before and what will come later: the legacy of a family, a clan, a city and a nation. That is by no means an easy responsibility, and each child handles it in their own way, resulting in three separate (but also interconnected) journeys that are just as engaging as those of the previous generation. How that passing of the torch plays out toward the conclusion is one of the best aspects of Jade Legacy.

All in all, the many characters in this series each have unique, memorable personalities and histories, and they are consistently challenged in situations that best reflect their strengths and weaknesses—that is what makes them interesting and relatable. This is even true of the villains, such as Ayt Mada. I know they are all damaged people, part of a culture of violence and pride. I know they have done terrible things. Yet I still empathize and connect to them because, beneath the weight of the clans and Kekonese culture and religion and all of it, these are well-realized fictional humans whose flaws I understand and whose resiliencies I admire.

But as The Green Bone Saga progressed, it was clear to me what the focus was: yes, the No Peak clan and the Kaul family are at war with the Mountain clan and the Ayts; and yes, Kekon is a small, once-isolated nation struggling to maintain its culture and jade power amidst global tensions and political maneuvering; but the core of this series truly lies within the Kaul family, their interpersonal relationships, their struggles and turmoil and deaths and persistence. Jade Legacy hones in on this family dynamic with purposeful precision, amplifying the gravity of their decisions and never shying away from authentic losses or successes, pains or pleasures.

The moment I finished the last sentence of Jade Legacy, the last word creeping its way into my brain, I was left feeling an intense satisfaction mixed with a sense of loss. Satisfaction in that I’d come to the end of a series I adore in so many ways, happy with how it ended; loss in terms of saying goodbye to characters and a world that I love. It’s like having a great friend move to another city, watching them walk away across the airport lobby and knowing in your heart all the meaning they brought to your life, the lessons they taught you, the love and excitement and heartache you shared throughout your journey together. This is where Fonda Lee has left me with these three books, and I am all the better for it.

The Green Bone Saga tore me apart as a reader, launching me on a roller coaster of emotions again and again—but it graciously pieced me back together by the finale. Despite the sadness I felt at times and the twisting of my moral psyche, the series is rife with human moments and relationships, tenderness and honor, and a sense of hope for the future. As I write this, I know I am saying goodbye to Hilo, Shae, Lan, Anden and the whole Kaul clan. I know I am wishing a fond farewell to Janloon and Kekon. But that’s okay. Every moment I spent there, every word and paragraph and page, was time I will cherish for the rest of my life.

Thanks to NetGalley & Orbit Books for the early copy in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, wow. A stunning conclusion to an epic trilogy! This is the third, and final, in the series, so I would start with "Jade City" if you're interested in starting them. I've been describing this series as the Sopranos but with magic. Political machinations, masterminded plans, and family really sum up the series well.

There's a lot of time skips here but honestly I didn't really keep track of the years, I just considered it as a way to introduce the main characters' kids throughout the story and have them grow up in the chaotic world.

One thing I appreciate the author often did was remind us of x character's previous notoriety from the earlier books, it was hard to keep track of the names but once someone said something like-- "Hey, aren't you the guy that blew up x place a couple years ago?" I'm like---ohhh, THAT guy! Ha, it might be annoying for people who are better with memorizing names than I am but I thought it was perfect.

Loved all the characters, only complaint I have is that I wish we had even more time with the kids. We do get a lot of time with them but y'know...I want mooooore. I hope the author considers doing short stories of a variety of characters within the universe because that'd be amazing!

I will warn y'all, lots of death and pain here. It's all amazingly written though, but just fair warning. If the "Sopranos" bit didn't clue you in, here's another warning. This series is daaaark but oh, so good. Can't wait to see what Fonda Lee does next! (Also HBO please pick this series up....it's perfect)

Stay green, keke...

Jade Legacy is one of the most impressive books I’ve ever read. While it’s predecessors are already superb, this book is on a whole new level. Spanning over 30 years, it never felt underdeveloped, poorly paced, or rushed. Time jumps can often feel disjointed, but Lee effortlessly manages these by filling in necessary information with remarkable efficiency. It makes the book feel epic.

We watch an amazing amount of characters live (and die…) and the world is incredibly written. No character is safe in these books, and I think that’s what kept me on the edge of my seat. The masterful narration expands beyond anything I’ve read before. I truly cannot believe Kekon isn’t real and this story lived only in Fonda Lee’s head. It’s phenomenal.

Individually, the character growth is tremendous. But collectively, the story arcs are unparalleled. I stayed up late and missed meetings because I couldn’t stop reading. I cried multiple times (including the ending WOW). I felt so deeply ingrained in Janloon and the Kaul family that I desperately didn’t want this book to end. Even now, I’m sad it’s over and I want to go back.

One of the most impressive things an author can do is make you forget that you’re reading a 700+ page book. Fonda Lee handles this with ease

4.5 ⭐️
First, let me begin by saying that I did not expect to be sent the e-copy of this book! But I’m so incredibly happy that I was. The characters? So intricate, so complex, so wonderfully flawed. None of them (no, not even my favorite) are perfect. And I love that. The familial bond and rivalry was done in quite a believable way, in my opinion. I think this series captured the love siblings have for one another while simultaneously wanting to rip each other apart.
Now, this book specifically had a few time jumps. I wasn’t expecting it and that sort of thing isn’t usually my favorite within one book. However, I think Fonda Lee did a great job handling it. I’m not always the biggest fan of her writing or the way she world builds, but this book still had me tearing up and then getting excited. Perfect? No. Possibly one of my favorites? Absolutely.

The Kaul family, leaders of the No Peak Clan, faces an uphill battle as they move into the future. The Mountain Clan seems to be anticipating and countering their every move, while a new anti-clan movement is on the rise in the lower echelons of Kekonese society. Outside the country, allies and enemies of Kekon conspire with and against each other as they seek to gain a foothold in a long closed-off society and claim its most precious resource, the mythical jade, for themselves. As the world rapidly changes and modernizes around it, Kekon and its clans must keep up with the pace of it all. With enemies at every turn, the Kaul family faces the greatest test it has ever encountered, and if any of its members make the wrong decision or trust the wrong person, the entire clan may fall.

World Fantasy Award-winning author Fonda Lee found her initial inspiration for the Green Bone Saga in the films she grew up watching: Asian action films starring martial artists like Bruce Lee, wuxia films where the heroes flew through the air to fight in the sky or among the treetops, and crime movies about the politics of Yakuza or Mafia families. In the Green Bone Saga, the island nation of Kekon is unofficially ruled by its two largest, rival clans, No Peak and the Mountain. The clans are made up of those who can use the magical stone jade, which grants them superhuman abilities of perception, strength, and speed among others. These jade warriors live by an ancient code of honor that pervades every part of Kekonese society as the Saga progresses, but not without showing its flaws or its age. This code, aisho, determines how the clans’ warriors deal with their enemies (often with violence), their allies (with respect), and with those they’re honor-bound to protect.

But as the world outside of Kekon forces changes within Kekon, the younger members of the Kaul family push back against the expectations of aisho and the rest of their culture. What place do centuries’ old practices have in an age of cell phones, movies, and designer drugs? This question is at the core of Jade Legacy, and the Kauls struggle to find answers. The things their forbears did now seem out of place or irrational, especially as external influences grow. To the rest of the world, Kekonese ways seem barbaric and backward. How does a culture deal with such a perception while maintaining its history and values as it races to keep up with everyone else’s norms? How does a society with such a firm grip on the past reach out to the future?

The three novels of Lee’s Green Bone saga have dealt with these questions, though in a different way. The first book, Jade City, looked the most at Kekon’s past with a new generation taking over from the older one. Modernization wasn’t yet the force that it became, and the siblings Lan, Hilo, Shae, and their cousin Anden seemed to know exactly what was expected of them– until events turned their world upside-down. In Jade War, the Kaul family has maintained a tenuous grasp on their power and has managed to walk a razor’s edge as neighboring countries begin to truly encroach on Kekon. The present power is theirs to win or lose, they just have to keep up the status quo. But that approach will no longer work in Jade Legacy. The world has changed too much, and Kekon– and the clans– must change, too. How and by how much are the primary questions. Is aisho still a practical way of dealing with people? Do other countries have better ways? Is Kekon stuck in the past?

Jade City dealt with the past. Jade War dealt with the present. Jade Legacy deals with the future and all that entails. As a new generation grows up and begins to influence events, it’s clear that things are changing. How the No Peak Clan will deal with it is the question that drives the story. Will they succeed in modernizing? Or will they be devoured by a rival who seems to know everything they’re going to do?

At 640 pages, Jade Legacy feels at times both too long and too short. Too long because of the occasional passage that merely narrates events that have happened over the course of months or years. This is a necessity, given the amount of time that passes across the book’s entirety– nearly twenty years. But it also feels too short, particularly at the end, when all the threads Lee has spent the entire trilogy weaving into the story begin to come together to reveal the full pattern. A series lives or dies by its finale, and though Jade Legacy has its flaws, it ends on a perfect note.

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Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for providing me with a free ebook in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion.

I stand in sheer awe at Fonda Lee’s brilliant conclusion to The Green Bone Saga. The sheer scope of this book (almost 30 years), the depth of character growth in Hilo, Shae, Anden, and others, the breadth of international political and cultural events addressed. Lee somehow manages to assemble it all into an absolute masterpiece.

Jade Legacy is such a brilliant title for this final book, because truly this story is one about legacy: the legacy of the Kauls and the Ayts and their respective clans, the legacy of green bones, from small island fighters to major players in international politics, the legacy of Hilo and Shae, young rebellious teenagers who questioned the way clans ought to be run turned jaded clan leaders. Lee so brilliantly explores all of these areas, weaving together personal stories of pain and growth with the power plays of an international superpower.

Let’s start small. Specifically, let’s start with Shae and Hilo’s stories. Perhaps it’s because I only recently read Jade City and Jade War for the first time (late September, in fact), that it feels like just recently was I reading the exploits of the young Horn of No Peak, brash and charismatic, or the recently returned daughter determined to make a living for herself without the clans and without Jade. Both headstrong, brilliant jade warriors of their generation. And all of a sudden, Hilo and Shae have aged twenty, thirty years. They’ve become that next generation of leaders, the figureheads that others look to. But they’re also past their martial prime, the speed and reflexes that once came so naturally now require more energy, more effort. It amazes me that this aging, this slow progression of time, reads so naturally across this trilogy that so many of these changes only occurred to me as I started thinking about this review.

Taking one step back to look at the clan and the legacy of the Kaul’s, the progression of Hilo, Lan, and Shae living in their grandfather’s shadow as one of the most stories rebels of Kekon, to the rebellion of Kekon barely even mentioned in passing felt so subtle, yet so stark. With Legacy, Lee brings in the new generation of Kauls with Niko, Jaya, and Ru, and manages to so perfectly capture the generational shifts. There’s so much that stays the same, with characters becoming disillusioned by symbolism of Jade and the power of the clans, or characters charging headfirst into battle, eager to make their name among the clan’s green bones. Yet with the generational shift, as Kekon goes from shuttered island nation to international power, the reasoning and justifications differ so greatly.

Pulling back once again, I can easily state that my favorite aspect of this book is the care, consideration, and depth Lee gives to the political machinations. No Peak and Mountain have yet to find peace, but with this coming age of technology and the ever-increasing international presence Kekon has, military wars have fallen out of favor to economic and cultural disputes. Jade War shows the clans establishing footholds into the politics of other countries. Jade Legacy truly expands those proxy wars, juggling so many different players, so many different countries, rogue agents, and factions, yet I never felt overwhelmed or lost. I also loved that Lee show’s the power of a cultural victory. A major subplot within Legacy not only securing financial status, but No Peak using its resources to establish its preferred image of jade-wielding green bones within other countries. The medical jade campaigns, the cinematic pushes, both to make the lives of green bones easier abroad, but also to oil the wheel for future economic campaigns.

Legacy, of course, is written at the signature breakneck pace of this series. Chapters will skip months at a time to show advances, then focus in on how one small event, one short conversation, will have lasting effects on the rest of the story. And naturally, Lee remains unafraid to continually break the reader’s heart. There were so many times I found myself shouting at my Kindle, unwilling to believe that someone had died or ‘holy shit Fonda actually went there’. The sheer emotional rollercoaster that is this book had me entranced.

Obviously, I rate this book a 5/5. There’s really no other rating for it. The scale of the plot, the growth of the characters, the sheer brilliance of the entire book really. There’s no way a single review can do this book justice, so I beg you, please read this series.

I absolutely loved this finale to the Green Bone Saga. This book both broke my heart and repaired it within the matter of pages. My only entirely selfish problem with this book was that I felt it should have been two books! I need more of these characters! Thank you Fonda Lee.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. Jade Legacy is the third and final book in the Green Bone Saga. I’m sad to say that I liked this series less and less with each installment.
This final book spans a period of twenty years and that was just too much for me. I think if it had been done differently, I could have enjoyed it more, but there was no rhyme or reason to the jumps forward in time, so it completely took me out of the story every time it happened and I had to figure out how much time had passed since the previous chapter. I think a part of the reason I disliked these time jumps was because they led to a lot of telling instead of showing. There were so many instances where suddenly were reading about things happening a year or more later and the past year is being summarized before starting to share what’s going on in that moment. I felt like it could have been done differently with one big jump forward in time and maybe some flashbacks to share relevant things about the past rather than skipping forward five years every so often. This was something I didn’t like in Jade War as well and it bothered me even more in Jade Legacy.
Now that I’ve ranted a little bit about that, I do was to say that I did still enjoy this book. I’m invested in the characters and their stories (though mostly just the Kaul family because there were so many new characters in this book that they were hard to keep straight in my head). I did really enjoy getting see Hilo and Wen’s children as adults, though I think they should just get their own series so we can actually get to know them. I think because there were so many new characters in this book, some of the characters (like Shea) suffered in the area of growth and development. It almost felt like each character got their own little bit of trauma and then growth before moving on to someone else. We just didn’t get to see the characters grow like we did in Jade City and I was a bit disappointed by that because I’ve grown to love them so much.
The world and the politics and the scheming of the clans was fascinating. I loved seeing how things played out for the clans and I was pretty happy with the conclusion, even though I was absolutely heart broken. I think it was really interesting to see the results of everything that Shea and Hilo had been working towards. I also loved being able to see Wen take more of a role in the clan because she’s just as clever and scheming as the rest of them.
Overall, I did enjoy this book. The pacing really bothered me and I wish it had been done differently, but that isn’t really a surprise since it bothered me in the previous book too. I loved the characters. I loved the world and the magic of the Jade. I especially loved the politics between the clans, the plotting, and the outcome of said plotting. I think if you didn’t mind the pacing and the weird time jumps in Jade War then you will love this book.

4/5

Fonda Lee went out big with Jade Legacy... we had everything, family drama, questionable romance, violence, and even more violence!

I greatly enjoyed the final instalment of Keeping up with the Kauls, loved seeing some of my predictions come through and others just crash and burn.

Anden, once again proving he is the superior Kaul, both healer and killer all in one. I'm glad Lee had him living the life he wanted and not the one others would dictate for him. He remains as one of my favourite characters from the series, so I was content with his arc.

Hilo was.... Hilo... I do like how we get to see him in role of raising older children while still trying to badly handle clan business. He does as well as you would expect him to, truly he was a senile middle-aged man but I did appreciate his chaotic and quick to anger nature. Growing older did not make him any more mature and honestly I think that's in line with who he is overall. I think initially he irritated me immensely with his behaviour, especially when it concerned Wen. Wen, compared to how we ended Jade War, I was pleasantly surprised the route Lee went with her.

Shae, no words.... girl was doing her best I guess.

The new gen Kauls really shone, I absolutely loved Jaya and her posse of new age greenbones.. Niko.... well he had a lot of growing to do and we got to see him go through it, was very interesting to see how alike he and Lan were, and how at times Lan would've probably clocked him for his words and actions. Ru.... sweet Ru.... he was doing his best with the cards he was dealt but he got caught up in shit he had no business being in.

Now, to the true star of the series.... Bero.... not a single comedian out there that's funnier than this dude, truly the highlight of the series and of course like the cockroach he is, he persevered! I want to fail through life like this man, he really lived life on his own terms and I respect that immensely!

Now to my critiques... I think Lee severely underused Jaya, of all the new gen Kauls I was most excited for her story. Yet, her story took a backseat to her brothers.... I would read a follow up novel/novella solely focused on her and her story. The way Jade Legacy ended left me wishing for more, Ru and Niko got so much but all we got was scraps for Jaya.

I received an ARC of this book from Net-Galley in exchange for a spoiler free review

How do you encapsulate pain? The answer is you don’t. This is one of the hardest reviews I have ever written because I do not want to face what I read. That book was phenomenal. Fonda Lee closed the green bone saga perfectly. Did I cry? Yes. Fonda Lee definitely had the intention of causing pain with this one and I am not upset.

The book takes place over the course of 20 some years. We see the growth of the younger Kaul kids and growth in the already grown up characters. There was so much growth for all the characters but they still stayed true to themselves. For me Hilos character arc was the best. I enjoyed watching him grow older and see just how his views changed as he learned more. Seeing him as a dad and interacting with his kids as they grew up showed a new side of him that I loved. In this book Fonda Lee really brought humanity to her characters. I felt like I watched them grow and learn. I felt like I was with them not reading about them.

I thought the book was structured well. I never had trouble figuring out what exactly was happening which is surprising seeing as there were a lot of POV’s and time changes. The book takes place over so many years. At first I hated the idea, I just wanted to watch Hilo, Anden, Shae, and Wen in their prime. But while I was reading I realized there was a point to it. The character growth within the book could have never been achieved without those 20 years.

The plot of the book was amazing. While I can’t say much without spoiling I know fans of the earlier books will love this one just as much. From the very beginning Jade Legacy had me wrapped in. There was no time wasted. I was hooked. Fonda Lee really did show off her writing skills. I hope everyone that loves the Greenbone Saga as much as I do enjoys their read of Jade Legacy.

Plot: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
Setting: 5/5
Writing: 5/5

As a wrap to the trilogy and the Kaul family, this is an incredibly satisfying story. What gets a little iffy in this final book is that though it follows up on the seeds planted in the second book, it can’t decide whether to do consistent deep dives or to frequently use time jumps to gloss over certain things and tell, not show us what and how these developments happen. There’s also some odd technology jumps that I think might be a side effect of my having gotten an ARC (flat screen TV? video games? When the fuck did that happen when we don’t have cell phones and the concept of handheld 35 mm cameras is amazing??) that didn’t have some consistent editing done. As a familial epic, I imagine that the final copy of this book is going to be thicc as hell (736 pages in hardcover according to the book page), and it took me a while to get through it pacing myself at 7 chapters a night or so. Fonda Lee gave herself a hell of a challenge here, and I almost wonder if she shouldn’t have been given another book to fully wrap it, but overall, this has been a hell of a series, and one I’m excited to see adapted to a show (it recently got picked up by Peacock).

Jade Legacy is a remarkable conclusion to what is now my favorite series of all time. In fact, I’ll unreservedly declare this the best finale to a trilogy I’ve read to date. I don’t think my review can do it justice.

This is an impressive feat considering my extremely high expectations from the start. I read both Jade City and Jade War back in 2019 and absolutely loved them. I’d been craving more of this series so much that I was re-reading the previous books regularly just to tide me over. Jade Legacy was by far my most anticipated read of the year and I’m blown away that Fonda Lee managed to surpass my wildest hopes.

We return to the Kaul family and the No Peak clan in this installment that spans three decades. On the surface this seems daunting, but incredibly there is not a single moment wasted or misused on any page. The careful plotting and attention to detail in regards to this extensive timeline was masterful. No scene or event that occurs feels unimportant in any way, and no time skip ever feels abrupt. Each chapter held some sort of hint or allusion to what would come next, even if only to foreshadow something that would not come to pass until much later into the book. Not to mention how every single one of the numerous plotlines are all so tidily and satisfyingly wrapped up! The storytelling is simply top notch.

The characters themselves are also as richly developed as ever. It truly felt like I was growing older with each of them. One of the things that’s always made me so attached to the Kauls and their allies is that they’re all written as such authentic, true-to-life people – albeit in circumstances that are much more violent than our own. I’d be experiencing the emotional highs and lows right alongside them throughout all their various triumphs, challenges and agonies. This connection is only aided by phenomenal dialogue that makes you feel like you’re in the room right with them all. I’ll also give major credit to the way the narrative could make you so angry with a character at one point and then so invested in their fate at another.

The interfamilial dynamics between the Kaul family in particular is again just superbly done. We get to see the aftermath of the tumultuous state Hilo and Wen’s marriage is left in at the end of Jade War, and how Hilo, Shae and Anden face all their past disputes. We also get to see Hilo, Shae, Anden and Wen raise the next generation – Niko, Ru and Jaya. Now, if there are doubts on whether it will be as easy to get attached to the younger Kauls as it was with former generation, let me assuage your fears now. All of the Kaul children grow completely into their own in this book. It’s easy to become enamored by them both on their own merit and because of how the interact with their older relatives. Niko, for example, has a very compelling character arc in this book and I have a huge soft spot for his bond with his Uncle Anden.

The sincere interest the book evokes for these characters only heightens other things Fonda Lee does so well: tension, action and atmosphere. The stakes are higher than ever and threats expand on an international level – more so even than in Jade War. There are times the Kauls don’t seem to be safe no matter where they are in the world. The machinations of their enemies kept me on the edge of my seat, always worrying that one fatal strike or another would finally meet their target. In the case of Ayt Mada (still my all-time favourite antagonist) all the clever strategizing even left me impressed. Then, of course, there are the fight scenes which are as viscerally written as always. There is truly never a dull moment.

The last thing I want to touch on is the worldbuilding. One of the reasons this series as a whole is such a marvel is because you really feel like you could walk the streets of Janloon. The social and political aspects of Green Bone culture is so intricately explained to us at this point that it’s impossible not to get fully immersed in this world. Jade Legacy then takes this up another notch by taking us to new places in Kekon and abroad – while always bringing up fascinating new tidbits about the traditions, histories and socioeconomic ties that bind them all. The approach to the Kekonese diaspora in particular is so thoughtfully handled, and I appreciate it all the more since topics concerning diaspora is something I see so rarely in fantasy.

So, the final adieu. I’m proud to say the clan is my blood and the Pillar is its master. I finished this book feeling like I was grieving and reminiscing over dear friends. But as much as I didn’t want to part with these characters, at least I could bid them that bittersweet farewell with a sigh of deep satisfaction. There’s a sense of peace just knowing that their stories were so thoroughly and expertly told. My sole regret is that I’m sure I’ve forgotten to mention some other amazing part about these books in this review.

My sincere thanks to NetGalley and Orbit for providing the free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. The only difficult part was trying to find the right words for my gushing.

Fonda Lee takes a huge undertaking in this final book in the Green Bone Saga. Having previously stated that the final installment was going to span over 20 years, I was skeptical to say the least. While there are a few moments/chapters that felt rushed as a jump of several years is just sprinkled into a paragraph or two, the overall storyline was told wonderfully and jampacked with wonderful action and intense situations that had me turning page after page of this MEATY book.