Jade City

Jade City is a gangster novel set in Janloon, the capital of Kekon, an island nation in an invented world with cars, televisions and guns. Kekon is the only source of jade, and jade gives those born with the right affinity for it, the Green Bone warriors, extraordinary strength, speed and perception. Two clans run the city. The Kaul family leads No Peak, and the book belongs to its grown grandchildren: Kaul Lan, the thoughtful Pillar, or head of the clan; his brother Hilo, the Horn, who commands its fighters on the street; their sister Shae, back from two years of study in Espenia and refusing to wear jade; and their adopted cousin Anden, a student at the clan's academy. Their rivals are the Mountain clan under the ruthless Ayt Mada, who means to dominate the island. And a new drug called shine threatens to put jade's power within reach of anyone.

A delicate peace breaks down into open war. Partway through, Lan dies: he takes an overdose of shine, is attacked by a young thief named Bero, falls into the sea and drowns. Hilo becomes Pillar, Shae puts her jade back on and becomes the clan's Weather Man, and Hilo and Anden together kill Gont Asch, the Mountain's Horn. Anden then refuses the jade he has earned and the violent life that comes with it. In the last scene Bero digs up Lan's grave and finds jade buried with him.

The book is long and runs a big cast, and the opening chapters ask you to learn a lot of invented vocabulary. After that it moves fast. The fights are brutal and cinematic, and the family arguments carry as much weight as the street battles. Publishers Weekly called it "an engaging blend of crime drama and Asian martial arts film tropes." It suits readers of The Godfather, and anyone who likes Hong Kong action films and wants the fantasy version.