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Jade City (novel)Jade City is a 2017 fantasy novel by Fonda Lee. It won the World Fantasy Award in 2018 and is the first in the Green Bone Saga trilogy. It was followed by Jade War in 2019 and Jade Legacy in 2021.

Plot
Bero, a minor thief, attempts to steal jade from a No Peak Fist while he is dining in a clan-affiliated restaurant, but Bero and his Abukei accomplice Sampa are quickly caught and brought to Hilo for punishment. After they are beaten, a remark by Sampa about a recent murder in clan territory leads Hilo to take the two boys to be questioned in the presence of his brother Lan, the clan Pillar.

Hilo attempts to convince Lan that the Mountain clan is squeezing No Peak territory, but he is opposed by Doru the Weather Man, who suggests it is a misunderstanding and counsels a peaceful solution. Feeling frustrated and unsupported by Doru, Lan asks his grandfather for permission to replace him as Weather Man, but Kaul Sen refuses to allow it. A short time after this, Shae returns to Kekon, looking for a job that will not require her to wear jade.

The Mountain comes close to violating aisho by kidnapping Anden, who is still in his final year at the Academy. Ayt Mada offers Anden a position in her clan, signalling that she wishes to unite the Mountain and No Peak. Her purpose is partially to send a message that she considers Hilo an unsuitable Horn.

Once Anden has been returned safely, Lan begins to move against the Mountain. He proposes a new law preventing any one clan from gaining control of the Kekon Jade Alliance, and he sends Shae to audit the KJA's accounts, looking for irregularities.

Their message to Anden having been disregarded, the Mountain makes an attempt on Hilo's life. In retaliation, No Peak threatens to storm their training complex. To prevent this, the Mountain apologizes, gives up the would-be assassins and makes a territorial concession. The more senior of the assassins offers Lan a clean blade, demanding to be killed in combat. Believing that he needs to prove himself to the clan in order to remain Pillar, Lan accepts and wins the duel, but only barely.

In the aftermath, Hilo asks his brother for permission to marry his girlfriend Wen, and Lan, despite misgivings about his brother marrying a stone-eye from a disreputable family, gives his permission.

Lan has been injured in the duel and his jade tolerance has been affected, but he cannot be seen to show weakness by failing to wear the additional jade he has won. He arranges for Anden to bring him packages of shine. When Anden realizes what he is delivering he pleads with Lan to stop using the drug, but Lan swears him to secrecy. When Shae comes to see Anden he tries to tell her about the shine, but misses his opportunity.

Shae reports to Lan that someone in the KJA is skimming jade, and that either Doru doesn't know about it and is incompetent, or he is allowing it to happen. Lan sends Doru overseas to get him out of the way and tells his allies on the Royal Council that he is going to suspend jade production. Lan receives a letter from his estranged wife, but can't bring himself to open it.

Meanwhile Bero has been stealing shipments from the Docks. Through his fence he meets a mysterious Mountain Green Bone, who gives Bero a submachine gun and tells him to use it to shoot up the gentleman's club Lan frequents. Lan accidentally takes an overdose of shine while visiting the club, and when Bero attacks him he falls into the sea and drowns.

When Shae hears about his death she immediately goes to the bank where her jade is kept and puts it all back on. Hilo is now Pillar and she persuades him to strike back by reclaiming some disputed territory rather than launching an all-out attack on the Mountain. She takes part in the battle, fighting several Mountain Green Bones and killing two. Afterward, Hilo asks her to become his Weather Man and she agrees. She cements her position by gaining the support of her main rivals for the role, and she spares Doru's life on condition that he gives up his jade, renounces clan business and spends his remaining days as a companion for her grandfather.

The clans are now in a state of open war. Shae and Hilo attend negotiations with Ayt Mada and her Weather Man until Hilo accuses the Mountain of skimming jade from the KJA and supplying it to non-Green Bones, then storms out. Ayt arranges to meet Shae on safe ground and tries to talk her into betraying No Peak, but Shae refuses, knowing that she is putting her life in serious jeopardy by doing so. She tells Hilo that No Peak can only hold out for another six months.

Wen asks Shae to make her a spy for the clan, without Hilo's knowledge. Shae sends her to a foreign military base with a shipment of jade worth millions, re-establishing the supply that has been disrupted by the KJA's suspension of jade production.

Kaul Sen gives his jade to Doru, and Doru uses it to attack his guards and escape, defecting to the Mountain with all his knowledge of No Peak's business dealings. The Mountain continues to use its superior position to maim and kill No Peak Green Bones. On New Year's Day, Hilo marries Wen, then has Anden drive him into Mountain territory to be killed in combat, in return for clemency for the remaining No Peak clan members. Hilo kills several Green Bones but is overwhelmed. When Gont Asch steps in to finish him, Hilo and Anden together kill the Horn of the Mountain.

The fight leaves Anden in a coma. When he regains consciousness, he learns that the loss of its Horn has dealt the Mountain a serious blow and given No Peak a temporary advantage in the war. Anden returns to the Academy for his graduation ceremony, but when he is presented with his jade he declares he does not want to be a Green Bone. He tells Hilo he does not want a life of violence, and when the Pillar rebukes him Anden runs from the Academy to Lan's grave.

Later, under cover of darkness, Bero also visits the grave. He is still looking for jade, and in the former Pillar's coffin there is a generous supply.

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