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Jade City

Jade City

Book · Fantasy books · 48 mentions · 3 subreddits · discussed in r/Fantasy, r/suggestmeabook, r/booksuggestions

Reddit take

Not enough linked mention summaries yet; the source excerpts below are the evidence.

Pros

  • It is a very character driven story, and the jade is just a medium for power and conflict. If it were just these characters without any magic, and it is just a gang story, I would still have read it. Some of the best character work I hav...
  • Jade City by Fonda Lee is set in a fantasy Hong Kong
  • Definitely seems like a neat premise, I'll be checking it out, thank you!
  • I’ve enjoyed the Jade City trilogy. It’s urban fantasy, but adult themes and very well written. I’ve been describing it as the Godfather x Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.
  • Jade City by Fonda Lee, fantasy. The author drew inspiration from both Asian and Western stories, and describes this series as quintessentially Asian American.

Cons

  • Yeah me too. Bounced right off it pretty early. I think the prose just didn’t work for me.
  • I don't know how I feel about it. I DNF it about a year ago but kept hearing good things so I went back to it. I liked the setting, the gang rivalry, the implications of jade on a global scale with SN1 etc. I felt like it could be amazin...
  • Jade City was... good. Respectable, but didn't blow me away. Great dialogue with memorable quotes, but the path the story took was very predictable for me. I feel lukewarm about the characters. ... the attemted smut? erotica? scenes are...
  • Recent Flops: -Jade city (although might try book #2)
  • I stopped after Book 1. I can see why others enjoy it and that it was written well, but personally I disliked the characters, the themes, and just everything that happened in the story.

Sentiment

36 positive (75%) · 7 mixed (15%) · 5 negative (10%)

Trust + time weighted score: +61% · raw score 65%

What redditors said (10 of 48)

Yeah me too. Bounced right off it pretty early. I think the prose just didn’t work for me.
negative · u/d****s · r/Fantasy · comment · Jul 9, 2025 · open on Reddit ↗
It is a very character driven story, and the jade is just a medium for power and conflict. If it were just these characters without any magic, and it is just a gang story, I would still have read it. Some of the best character work I have seen. And you do see the growing implications of Jade in later books, which is what made me love the series as a whole
positive · u/B****n · r/Fantasy · comment · Dec 2, 2025 · open on Reddit ↗
Jade City by Fonda Lee is set in a fantasy Hong Kong
positive · u/t****r · r/suggestmeabook · comment · Jul 11, 2025 · open on Reddit ↗
Definitely seems like a neat premise, I'll be checking it out, thank you!
positive · u/R****s · r/suggestmeabook · comment · Dec 28, 2025 · open on Reddit ↗
I’ve enjoyed the Jade City trilogy. It’s urban fantasy, but adult themes and very well written. I’ve been describing it as the Godfather x Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.
positive · u/e****2 · r/Fantasy · comment · Dec 17, 2025 · open on Reddit ↗
Jade City by Fonda Lee, fantasy. The author drew inspiration from both Asian and Western stories, and describes this series as quintessentially Asian American.
positive · u/H****e · r/suggestmeabook · comment · Dec 13, 2025 · open on Reddit ↗
Jade City by Fonda Lee is the first book of the Green Bone Saga... It's a really cool magitek world
positive · u/P****s · r/Fantasy · comment · Dec 5, 2025 · open on Reddit ↗
I loved the book and am halfway through the second. I think the jade use is realistic, and tbh I often find action scenes to be a bit repetitive if they are too prominent. I’m far more interested in the characters, their choices, and the effects of them
positive · u/S****1 · r/Fantasy · comment · Dec 2, 2025 · open on Reddit ↗
I thought the use of jade was very realistic. Fast and gritty fights. It’s not an anime battle.
positive · u/c****n · r/Fantasy · comment · Dec 2, 2025 · open on Reddit ↗
I don't know how I feel about it. I DNF it about a year ago but kept hearing good things so I went back to it. I liked the setting, the gang rivalry, the implications of jade on a global scale with SN1 etc. I felt like it could be amazing but it held itself back a lot. There is so little actual use of jade and its use feels so inconsistent.
mixed · u/S****s · r/Fantasy · Dec 2, 2025 · open on Reddit ↗

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