Jade City (The Green Bone Saga, 1)

The media could not be loaded.  Update- 25 August, 2015 I've relocated to Northern Illinois, the box just keeps working, and it has proven to still have a better tuner than my TV.Update- 13 May, 2015 Still working without issue.Update- 23 May, 2014 I am still satisfied with the box. It is still running without significant issue. I give it a double-plus-good rating.Update- 29 January 2014 The box has been running everyday, recording about 6 shows a week, and a fair amount of time-shifting too. It is sitting on top of a Satellite receiver which is warm on its own. The box is still working without issue.If you decided to buy this- read my review first anyway, I promise I have covered many details that are not in the manual. Details that will drive you nuts until you figure them out on your own.For the price this is a remarkable little box. Overall everything is simple enough that you can unbox it, hook it up, and have it running in a few minutes without the manual- which is actually good because the manual does not have any set-up instructions. On page 8 there is a wire connection diagram- some people may find this useful but most will probably find it more confusing than helpful.The remote is basic, and barely meets the requirements. Some keys are marked with icons we are familiar with, others lack those icons, namely the PLAY, PAUSE, and STOP keys. The keys are labeled clearly, they are just missing the familiar icons. The remote is a fairly narrow beam IR, so you can't expect the same performance as some of the high-power broad angle IR remotes (like DirecTV) or the be-anywhere performance of an RF remote. Just have a clear line of site within 25 feet and 30 degrees. The box has independent hardware keys for Power, Menu, OK, VOL -/+ and Channel -/+. The box also has a display that shows channel numbers- however these are the numbers of the memory positions that the box has stored the scanned channels into- these are not the actual broadcast station numbers.(Added 29 January 14) I have replaced the remote with a "learning" universal remote. By "learning" I mean the kind that you use the source remote to teach the universal remote what to do when you push the keys. You can program any key function into any key- which makes using this box a lot better. The universal works so much better, I can't emphasize it strongly enough. The original remote really started to annoy me.(Added 23 May 14) Some people have asked about "Universal" remotes. Most "Universals" get programmed by telling the remote a code that allows the remote to "emulate" the original manufacturer remote. Unfortunately I haven't found any "Universals" with a Viewtv code. I've heard that a certain high dollar brand might work- but I'm not trying to spend twice as much (or more)on the remote than I did on the box! Over-The-Air broadcast viewing works as expected. The digital OTA(Over-The-Air) tuner is slightly more sensitive than the tuner in my TV.(Added 23 May 14) That means that at my house with an amplified rooftop antenna pointed directly to the broadcast antenna location I get a few more channels on the box than I do with the antenna connected directly to the TV. OTA reception has a lot of variables. I live less than 10 miles from the broadcast site, but I am in a terrain shadow (I am behind some big hills.) The key point I can make is that this box tunes all of the broadcast stations available in the area- my expensive TV's tuner doesn't do that.The video quality is every bit as good as I could expect. Using HDMI connection looks as good as expected, using composite cables also delivers a good picture. Using the built-in RF modulator to output over channel 3 or 4 doesn't work with modern digital tuners- I no longer own an old TV with an analog tuner so I can't test how this works. Under MENU/ Channel Search/ Modulation you can enable "Loop through" which will allow you to watch one channel using your TV's digital tuner and record another using the box's tuner- you won't need to use a splitter inline before the box. The menus are responsive enough- they are not instant fast, but I have seen slower on big-name boxes. Pressing the OK key during regular viewing will show you the channel list. You can edit your channel names under MENU/ Program/ Program Edit. If you get bored there are games like Tetris, Snakes, and Reversi- also found in MENU/ Program/ Game The EPG (Electronic-Program-Guide) is decent. Since EPG is embedded in the ATSC broadcast signal (along with time data) I find it amusing that the box displays EPG info even though none of my TVs do. That being said- if you are familiar with cable and satellite on-screen program guide be prepared to be disappointed- so manage your expectations- there is a reason that Tivo has a subscription fee. This is not Tivo, but it does provide an onscreen guide of upcoming programming and the ability to set scheduled recordings with just a few clicks. The scheduling functions are basic, but you can set daily or weekly repeating schedules. It will warn you and prevent you from setting overlapping recordings. I feel the most obvious function missing is EPG full grid guide, the program list is displayed by channel. You can't see what is on multiple channels in the same time slot. Be aware also that viewing the guide for a channel actually changes to that channel, so there is a limitation here. If the box is in time-shift, playback, or currently recording it will not allow you to go to the EPG. So make sure you have scheduled your recordings before the box starts a scheduled recording.(Added 23 May 14) SO far my single greatest complaint, and honestly it is a minor annoyance, I wish it allowed setting a label for a recording when setting up a scheduled recording. Scheduled recordings are labeled by channel name and timed/date. It is possible to re-label the recording AFTER. So I keep a 3x5 card handy to remind me what shows I record by channel, time, and day.(Added 29 January 14) I've had recordings fail with scheduled recording if I didn't set at least one minute difference between the end of one recording and the beginning of the next. I've found that the least amount of key strokes to do this is change the start time to 1 minute after. It seems that every show starts with a review of previous episodes anyway...Once I started using the 1 minute after method it hasn't failed a recording. I plugged a 128GB USB flash drive in and tested the time-shift capability, it works as expected. To start time-shifting you press the PAUSE key- you will get the message "entering time shift, waiting"- then press the PLAY key. The manual does not describe this correctly. While time-shifting the OSD shows on the bottom of the display, press the EXIT key to hide the OSD, press the INFO key to recall it.(Added 29 January 14) Use the biggest USB Flash Drive you can afford. The video format at full HD runs nearly 7Gb per hour.If you had one of these in the living room and the bedroom, you can easily pull the USB storage out of one and stick it in the other to watch shows you've recorded. Call it the low-tech-hopper. One detail I find unusual is that while fast-forwarding during playback of a recording there is no OSD showing relative position in the playback. While the box is recording you will have a recording OSD in the top left corner of the display- press the EXIT key to hide the OSD, press the INFO key to recall it. On many laptops I have to use 2 usb ports to power an external harddrive (spinning disk type), but this box provides enough power through just the single USB port. The drive had multiple partitions both FAT and NTFS- all partitions show up. You can adjust the time-shift buffer from the default 1GB by increments of .5 GB up to 4 GB, you will find this setting under USB/ PVR Configure/ Record Device/ Timeshift Size.(Added 29 January 14) Use a flash drive. The box will time-shift to a external hard disk drive, it will play back your movie collection too, but I have had it fail scheduled recordings with the hard disk drive- even when I observed the 1 minute after rule mentioned above. After a little experimentation, and time staring at the box, and listening to it in operation I believe it is due to the time it takes for the hard-drive to spin up. When the scheduled recording kicks in the box spins up the hard-drive, but if the hard-drive speed is a little slow the box detects that the drive is not ready so it aborts the recording. You might have a different experience with a better external hard-drive. My recommendation is to stick to flash media- with no moving parts or spinning disks it gives better assured performance. Pressing the USB button on the remote will take you to the USB menu, then select the PVR icon and look for a folder called HBPVR to find your recordings. The recordings are named according to station call-sign/ date/ time. A menu appears across the bottom of the display that indicates which keys on the remote do what function. You can delete /rename files from this menu. To play a recording you have a few options. You can press the OK key to select the file and it will start playing the recording, or you can press the PLAY key, you will be presented with a choice to "StartResume", press the OK key to resume a previous playback or press the EXIT key to play from the beginning.fast-forward in the preview and see the relative position as it fast forwards, then press the HOLD key to go full screen. The video files played without issue on my Windows 8 laptop using VLC. I've been building my own HTPCs since TV capture cards have been available. I've been using DVR/ PVR appliances and applications since the first Tivo and since DirecTVs original UltimateTV. I've used MyHTPC, MythTV, BeyondTV, just to name a few. I currently subscribe to a satellite provider and use their whole home DVR, It is a good product- but for a subscription free system this device has me impressed. It performs as well as most mentioned above, and better than many. It has a few shortcomings- but nothing that I would consider a deal breaker. The only detail unknown (and only time will tell) is how well the box holds up. Overall this box performs solidly, far far better than I expected for such an inexpensive purchase. This box doesn't have some features that I would like to have: grid EPG, more than 1 USB port, ethernet or wifi, dual tuner recording, capability for an internal hard-drive. These are nice-to-haves, and most of these features are available on other units that cost 3 to 5 times as much. At this price point- the only reason you will be disappointed is if you have unrealistic expectations. I would highly recommend this product for anyone who has OTA television available.

The ViewTV AT 163 is built with a metal case. On the front are switches, a display, and a USB 3 port. The back has coax style antennae in and out jacks, an HDMI port, RCA style connectors for video and stereo sound, a coax port and a standard power cord. It comes with a remote control and two batteries, and HDMI cable and RCA style cables for use with an older TV.Build quality is pretty good. My unit came sealed in the box, but I noticed the top had some minor scuffing on top. That could indicate poor handling , storage, or packaging practices, or possibly a returned unit. Everything else was in pristine / new condition.I wanted to test the unit. I did not have an over the air antennae handy, so unplugged the cable from the cable box and connected it to ViewTV "antennae in". I used a short piece of coax I had on hand to connect the "antennae out" on the ViewTV to the input on my cable box. I connected the AT 163 to the TV via the provided HDMI. I plugged it and started a channel scan.The first channel scan completed quickly with no channels found, More disappointing, I could not view any channels using my normal cable box. The loop through requirement is one of my requirements for this class of device. Not to worry, I went further into the set up and made two setting changes: • Changed the antennae output from "channel 3" to "Loop through" • Changed the scan node from "antennae" to "cable" mode.I started another scan. It took about 5 minutes to complete. It found 379 channels!. I could view any channel that was not scrambled, including some that I do not normally get with my cable TV subscription. With the "Loop Through" setting, I had no problem using my normal cable system capabilities when I selected the HDMI port for the cable box. This validated that the loop through capability works fine, it was not the default and has to be configured in the settings.I could not get the program (EPS) to come up for my many cable channels. I suspect this is either because of the number of channels found, or the information was not provided by the cable provider. I could easily move up and down the channels using the remove. I could also directly enter in the channel number using the remote and tune it in. I do not think there will be a problem listing over the air channels.I tested the recording capabilities. I inserted a 32 GB Ultra USB 3.0 Sandisk into the USB port. Many reviewers complain about choppy recordings with thumb drives. I had no problems with the Sandisk, but have not used it extensively. If using a thumb drive, it should be 3.0 and rated for video. I plan to try it with one of my USB 3.0 hard drives.Pressing pause on the remote pauses the screen and displays a message "Entering Time Shift" mode. When you press play, it will continue from the point where you paused in. It creates a "time shift" recording starting at the point where you press the pause button. You can fast forward, pause and rewind to any point of that recording. You can only rewind to the start of the time shift recording. If you fast forward to current time (end of the time shift recording), it will return to real-time broadcast mode. When it does that, it deletes the time shift recording, so you cannot rewind or re-watch it any part of it again. If you press pause again, it starts a new time shift recording. This is just how it works.You can press record while watching a broadcast. It displays a message that the recording has started and adds a small display of the recording time to the upper left corner of the screen. You cannot rewind or fast forward. Pressing the stop (square) will display an message asking if you want to stop recording and giving the options to do so by pressing "OK" and keep recording by pressing "EXIT".You can set up a future recording by entering the channel, start date and time, end date and time, and repeat options. This can also be done conveniently from the program guide. You can also go into the program guide and select a program to record.This device provides the basic capabilities I wanted and easily meets my goal of an inexpensive solution at $30 USD delivered. It does not automatically start a time shift recording when tuning to a channel like my home DVR does, but the time shift capability will let me hit pause at the start of the first commercial break and do something else. It lets me start and stop a recording of what I am watching manually. It conveniently allows me to schedule a future recording and repeat it. For example I can record jeopardy each day for the week on the same channel and the same time. With the antennae loop through, I can watch something using the TV tuner while recording something else. It is like an old VCR, without the crappy tapes. Even better, It has a good channel list capability, supports favorite channels, and supports scanning both over the air and cable channels. I can also watch or listen to pre-recorded content I have on my many USB drives.With so much conflicting information in the reviews, I felt I had to try this model for myself. I ordered it and spent a couple of hours to understand its capabilities. I am pleasantly surprised and have rated it 5 STARS based on value. Meaning, I believe it delivers great capability for the money. You have to understand what you are buying and what you intend to do with it. If I were "cutting the cord" and purchasing a DVR for use as my primary home media device, I would consider a more expensive and capable model like a TABLO, TIVO, or Fire Recast that is integrated into my home network and streaming services. But for occasional use while on the road, those are overkill and this simple device delivers "value plus" for the small investment.If it fails prematurely, or I find a significant fault with routine use, I will update my review accordingly.

Not great.I was going to give a grudging 5*, but then I got to the end and wanted to throw my kindle at the wall.To be honest I felt cheated out of the gate because what the blurb doesn't mention is that this is book one in a "saga". You have to read the front matter to find out. I suspect this says something about the level of confidence in the series.I pushed on because I liked the heavily advertised magical McGuffin and the writing isn't bad, just tangled in a very particular voice. It reads like a translation by someone who learned English from David Carradine's dialogue in Kung Fu.In the end, though, it's a failed crack at a not-bad idea that's more or less knocked off from the Matrix. The secondary world setting is a tiny, oriental island nation in a reimagined retro seventies where wearing magical gems turns certain people into Jet Li kung fu movie super-heroes. Guerilla fighters (with super-powers) have just ejected the invading force of a bigger foreign country, and - as you do - become a pair of competing criminal gangs who act as the de facto government. Meanwhile ... the ex-invaders have developed a drug that allows normal people to use the gems too.Out of either embarrassment or a limited special effects budget, the first half quickly pushes the magical chop-socky idea aside. Instead the writer focuses on building a mountain of "necessary impurities" to the gem's magical powers, because nothing says magical kung fu action like imaginary drug addiction. Or mining company audits, which is also a thing.It then turns out that there's no plot or protagonist, just an overlapped confusion of competing point of view characters wandering aimlessly in different directions. It's supposed to be the foundation of a saga of rival gangster dynasties, but the issues within the "good" side are mostly resolved early on and the "bad" side only raises its paper tiger head to bring some narrative drive to the third act. It lacks the substance to support its ambition, and regardless the local in-fighting makes no sense when the wider world offers much more serious threats, which are just hand-waved away.Another review has pointed out that this is basically a YA book, which is apparently the sinking genre ship from which the writer is trying to jump. There's even circumstantial evidence that this started as a YA story about two boys on opposite sides of the tracks, one taken arbitrarily into the bosom of a rich family while the other struggles under a cloud of fatally jealous envy at their privileges.It has the psychological depth of an Enid Blyton adventure. Regardless of their given ages, the main characters are thinly drawn cartoons of late teen children. Relationships are playground alliances. Adults are universally stupid and either mean, cruel, dull, officious, deviant or deceptive. The one exception lives on the child-adult border and is, in every sense, "too good for this world".All the boys are, basically, bullies. The tragically inevitable outsider is adopted, troubled and gay, and lives in the shadow of a Terrible Destiny - basically everything AND the kitchen sink. The female lead is a tragically inevitable Mary Sue, not just undervalued by the boys as a fighter but also better than all of them, and also an academic whiz-kid, and also the only member of the cast with the cosmopolitan advantages of foreign travel, further education and hard-knocks experience in affairs of the heart. There's another sibling whose entire personality is hit-stab-kill and who lives in a perpetual rage, until the plot requires a complete reboot.The third act ends a long way short of the final page. There's a bolted on second climax that I think is a holdover from the original pure quill YA story. The troubled, adopted outsider graduates from kung fu school and throws an arbitrary, childish tantrum that wreaks the kind of pointless havoc among established alliances only possible among such stick-figure characters.... And so, I wanted to throw my kindle at the wall.To add insult to injury this is also an Orbit book, so the final 5 per cent is a chunk of a different book by another author that I don't want to read. I don't begrudge the daily deal price I paid for Jade City, but I would like my 4p back for the padding.

Jade City is set in what sometimes feels like the early twentieth century and sometimes like the modern day, and sometimes a fantasy world, sometimes a fairly realistic one. It’s set somewhere a bit like Hong Kong, which is controlled by two rival gang families who can do magic using jade and who also control the island through both business and criminal enterprises. The plot revolves around the scheming and power struggles both within and between the two families.The best thing about this book is the worldbuilding. It takes an interesting premise and makes it totally believable and fleshed out. Everything from the different ways of manipulating jade to the island’s history to the main family’s business structures is lovingly explained.I had mixed feelings about the main characters. They were interesting, but I never felt that invested in them. Similarly, there was a good plot overall, but I thought it was a little slow-paced overall when there was so much potential for drama.It’s a good read overall though, and I’ll be picking up the sequel when it’s out.

ade City is the start of a new series by Fonda Lee. It feels like a blend of eighties kung-fu movies, gangster shows, and cunningly wrought, emotional family drama, blended together into one very appetising cocktail.The world of Jade City is one with several layers. It’s set on an island which overthrew colonial rule a generation ago. There’s a legacy of occupation here, one where immediate family, clan and associates are all bound together strongly. The social strings which tie these groups together are forged in a legacy of struggle against an external oppressor. With that oppressor vanquished – or at least temporarily removed from the equation – the society is out of equilibrium. The text isn’t afraid to embrace the exploration of clan based societies after declaring independence, and it’s all the better for it. This is a land where the government is beholden to families, and those families drive the political agenda. If there are a few institutions not under familial control, they’re the exception. This is problematic, and the text addresses it to some degree - the melting pot of post-independence prosperity is on the boil, as a second generation comes into power, and attempts to work out how to keep it. That generation has a certain familiarity, leaping offstage and screen at the reader.The leaders of the central clans, children of fighters for independence, are clever, ruthless people. They have a trade in Jade, which grants greater physical power to its owners – superhuman speed, strength, acuity. They’re ready to do anything to protect this trade from outsiders, and from each other. The thematic blend is one of gangster flicks and kung-fu movies, where the hard-souled line of “Just business” meet the operatic acrobatics of combat as-art. Which is to say, that the leaders of these clans, these owners of socio-economic respectability, are deadly. Fast-paced, hard-souled killers, skating on the edges of respectability. This isn’t a generation willing to settle down into rich respectability, but one determined to flex its economic muscle along with the physical, in the name of family destiny.If the idea of gangster families running an island for profit, and defending their privileges with supernatural martial arts sings out to you, then this is probably the right book.That the action is backed by some strong and nuanced character work is certainly not incidental. We follow one of the two ruling clans of the nascent nation, watching the conflicts between those who created independence, those who have to live in it, and those who have to live with them. It’s a family drama, in some ways, filled with past slights and future hopes. Still, the people with whom we spent our time are, between being terrifying exemplars of superhuman strength and agility, no less human than the rest of us. The youngest of the family has returned from a sojourn abroad, somewhat chastited and perhaps even more unrepentant, determined to cut her own path away from the family business. The middle child is fast, impulsive, unforgiving, a trained killer in the service of the family, with a ready smile and a hard loyalty for those he follows, and those he leads. Their elder brother is cool, collected and troubled, living up to the example of a father gently shuffled out of the way, working forever to live up to the image of a national hero.The interaction between family members, and their followers, is masterful. It shows off the bonds of loyalty and obligation, and doesn’t flinch awy from troubled waters. This is a family. It’s complicated, damaged, full of anger and unrealised ambition alongside the love – but one with a warmth and loyalty at the heart which keep the characters sympathetic and human.Plot-wise, it’s…well, there’s a lot going on. Territory seizures. Hand to hand fighting. The question of sovereignty and how a nation should be governed (and by whom). There’s old grudges to be settled, heroism, and new feuds being started. Jealousy and rage are here in spades, alongside faith, trust and humanity. It’s a complex stew of characters with emotional depth and their own motives, mixed in with some kick-ass fight scenes and moments of tension with a razor’s edge.This is a wonderfully drawn work, bringing a flawed, powerful family to life within an imaginatively detailed world, embracing some hard-hitting, bloodily realised action. It’s a very exciting work – you owe it to yourself to give it a try.

I want to start off by saying this book is quite dense, not in a bad way, but there is a lot of information to take in so for people who like quick and easy reads this may not be the one for you. However, if you love seeing characters get built up, learning their backstories and seeing whether they shine or fall when faced with adversity. If you love intricate magic systems and cultures that jump off the page, then I can gurantee you will love this.Jade City follows the Kaul family, the leaders of No Peak clan as they face adversity from The Mountain. Lan, the Pillar and leader of the clan is calm and levelheaded, much needed qualities in the Pillar. He knows his strength is not necessarily in battle, but when it comes to working politicians, and the general running of the clan there is no one better qualified. He is quiet and reserved, but when the safety of his family and clan are brought into question he will step up and do what is necessary to protect them.Hilo, the Horn. He is the head of the Fingers and Fists, the fighters of No Peak. He is quick to anger and can certainly hold a grudge, but with Hilo family comes first always. He can’t stand for weakness of any kind and with his fellow fighters makes sure to make The Mountain’s life as hard as possible.Shae, the prodigal daughter returned. She thought she had left the clan, and the life of a Green Bone behind but as we know, blood is thicker than water, and she will find herself entangled with the clan again before she knows it. She is a woman brought up in a world where men are entitled to things women aren’t, but before long she will show her strength.Anden technically isn’t a Kaul, he isn’t even technically a full Green Bone, but after his mother succumbed to the madness that wearing Jade can cause, Lan and the Kauls took him in and raised him as a sibling. He is not sure where he fits in, and isn’t sure if he’s fit to wear Jade after what happened to his mother, but he is loyal to the Kauls and will prove that when the time comes to graduate.There are a multitude of side characters all of which are well built up Doru the No Peak Weather Man, the person in charge of funding and ensuring all the No Peak businesses are performing and safe. We also meet certain members of The Mountain Clan including their Pillar a violent woman who killed everyone in her path to become Pillar. There is one other POV that I can’t tell you much about without giving away spoilers but be sure to pay attention to them. There are no character or info dumps. The author draws you into the story chapter by chapter until you almost become one of the Kaul family, you feel their losses and triumphs as if they were your own, and if you’re like me, you become overly invested in their outcome.I’ve seen this described as Godfather-esque and it couldn’t be more on the mark. Rival families, plenty of death and battle scenes. This isn’t a book for the faint of heart. The battle scenes are pretty graphic with vivid descriptions, but this just adds to the darkness and drama of the overall plot. The battle scenes are also epic in their descriptions. Martial arts meets magic, Lee brings the battles between Green Bones to life, showing the difference between the offensive and defensive sides of Jade, as well as how easy it is to loose yourself to the Jade if you’re not careful or properly trained.Jade City held a big shock factor for me. There were some plot twists that I did see coming, and others that hit me out of the blue. But it wasn’t just the plot twists that had me gasping, some of the scenes had me gripping the pages with white knuckles hoping what I was reading wasn’t actually going to happen… like I said I got invested in the characters. It was a little slow to start off, but I enjoyed the build up, getting to spend time learning about the characters and the culture that Lee created. It definitely made the ending that much more gripping.A brilliant adult fantasy, think Romeo and Juliet without the forbidden romance, with all the darkness and shock factor of the Godfather. Filled with brilliantly written characters and a well built and imagined magic system. I enjoyed this book a lot more than expected and am excited to carry on with the series.

I’ve heard nothing but praise for this Asian-inspired fantasy novel, which I think can best be described as wuxia meets The Godfather, and that praise is well deserved. This book is so darn good. Weirdly it took me a few tries before I got into it, and buddy reading it with Dini certainly gave me the motivation to push through the opening scenes which aren’t boring at all, but for some reason kept stalling me, and I found that listening to the audiobook for this one when I went out walking really helped me get into this world—particularly when it came to some of the pronunciation!Jade is mined on the island of Kekon, and can be used to enhance the magical abilities of those known as Green Bones. In Kekon’s capital city it’s not the politicians or the aristocracy who are in charge, but the gangs who rule the streets, patronise the businesses and line the politicians’ pockets with favours. The Kaul family is one such gang, ruled by the youngest Pillar—their name for a gang leader—it has ever known, because the previous Pillar, Kaul Sen, has been forced to pass power straight onto his grandchildren after his only son died in a war almost thirty years before. Each gang has a Pillar (Kaul Lan, the eldest of Kaul Sen’s grandchildren), a Horn, who is in charge of the streets and any fighting that occurs there (Kaul Hilo, Kaul Sen’s second grandson and Lan’s younger brother), and a Weather Man, who essentially controls the businesses and finances (Yun Dorupon, Kaul Sen’s oldest friend).The Kaul family also boasts two extra members: Shae, Lan and Hilo’s younger sister and Sen’s favourite grandchild, who returns to Kekon after living abroad, hoping to stay out of the family business, and is ultimately drawn back to it; and Anden, the Kauls’ adopted cousin who is in his final year at the Academy where he is on his way to becoming a very skilled fighter who can follow in Hilo’s footsteps.There are now two major gangs in Kekon—the No Peak Clan, ruled by the Kaul family, and the Mountain Clan, ruled by Ayt Mada who came to power after she had her brothers assassinated—and the majority of Jade City focuses on the increasing animosity between these two gangs as they fight for control over the city and, perhaps more importantly, for control of jade and its properties. Especially now that a new drug known as SN1, or ‘shine’, has been developed that gives its user the same powers that jade gives Green Bones. Ayt Mada (who, by the way, is one of my favourite characters in this novel because she’s deliciously shrewd and morally corrupt) believes that selling SN1 to foreigners is the way forward, whereas the Kauls don’t agree with people who aren’t Green Bones being allowed to have the same kind of powers they train years and years for.I adored this book. When I reach for high fantasy I often find myself reading stories that are low on technology and high on cloaks and pretty dresses, which I love, but it was so refreshing to read a high fantasy novel set in a very modern world where there are cars and guns and high-rise buildings where business meetings are held. The world is so visceral, but it’s Fonda Lee’s characters, and the way she writes their relationships, that are this novel’s greatest triumph. I loved reading a fantasy novel about a family and the ways they stick together even during the moments when they might not like each other very much. They feel like a real family—with Lan having to come between Hilo and Shae when they start bickering; Hilo rolling his eyes every time he’s reminded that Shae is Sen’s favourite grandchild; Anden so desperately wanting Lan to be proud of him; and Sen insisting that everything was better in his day—to the point where I wouldn’t be surprised if I bumped into them on the street, because they leap off the page.This is one of the best, most original fantasy novels I’ve read in a while and has once again reminded me that I need to be reaching for more Asian-inspired fantasy. In fact this and The Sword of Kaigen are perhaps a hint that I should be looking for more modern, urban Asian-inspired fantasy. Fonda Lee can tell a damn good story and, after some of the turns this novel took, I don’t trust her with my feelings, but this book is fantastic and I am so excited to continue with the series.