Review of "Jade Shards" by Fonda Lee

I received an ARC of this book from Subterranean Press in exchange for an honest review. This review will not contain any spoilers for Jade Shards but will discuss characters and events from the Green Bone Saga.

After her previous follow-up novella, The Jade Setter of Janloon, Fonda Lee returns to the setting of her Green Bone Saga with four short stories about the pro- and an-tagonists: Ayt Mada, Kaul Lan, Kaul Hilo/Maik Wen, and Kaul Shae. Each adds some backstory to characters that we see grow and change through the main novels and largely succeeds at delivering the kind of intimate character moments I appreciated from Lee's writing. 

In "The Witch and Her Friend," we get to see Ayt Mada's rise through the eyes of Anden's mother Aun Ure. The story does an excellent job of showing how the two girls' friendship, which began in school, gradually fades as they choose different paths in adulthood. Aun Ure's decision to step back from life as a Green Bone after developing an infamous reputation during the war parallels Anden's similar choice following the end of Jade City, and gives another glimpse into the life of non-clan-affiliated Green Bones in Kekon. Having seen several of my own friendships change, and some deteriorate, as I've moved on from high school and undergrad into (semi)-adulthood, the growing distance between Ayt Mada and Aun Ure rang true. Sometimes the people who are there for us at one particular time in life are the wrong people to lean on at other moments, and what began as genuine friendship can fade into a more transactional relationship. Of course, when one of the two parties is Ayt Mada, the specter of strategy is never too far away. This story was my favorite of the collection and made for a strong beginning.

"Not Only Blood" tells the story of the Kaul family's adoption of Anden from the perspective of Kaul Lan. Since Lan's time as a major character was abruptly cut short (tiptoeing around spoilers here), it was lovely to see the kind of leader he could have been. This story fills out the relationship between Lan and Kaul Sen and shows a time before Hilo was the dominant force he becomes in the Green Bone Saga, providing a different look at the highest levels of No Peak Clan. For me this was probably the weakest story in the collection, but it was still a good read and worth the time.

"Better than Jade" shows us the beginning of Hilo and Wen's relationship, pivoting again from friendship to family to romance. For me, Hilo and Wen were the emotional core of Jade Legacy especially. Early-stage relationships tend to be more common in fiction than late-stage ones, and getting to see them change and mature after the events of Jade War was one of the highlights of the long time frame Lee used in Jade Legacy. Their courtship here is more conventional, but enlivened by the alternating perspectives, which are well-used to show the early misinterpretations that so often happen when two people are just starting to learn each other's habits. Despite the potential for miscommunication, and the class differences that hang over a relationship between a Kaul and a stone-eye, Hilo and Wen's passion and love for each other come through from the very start. This relationship is one of my favorites in recent years, and despite being more interested in reading friendships than romances lately this story reminded me of the beauty of a romance done right.

With "Granddaughter Cormorant," Lee turns away slightly from the character-focused moments of the previous story and gives us a short spy vignette, describing Kaul Shae's early activities as a (only partially aware) Espenian agent. The story provides a nice balance to the collection, as it's the only one to feature the sharp, kinetic action scenes that the Green Bone Saga wove in so well. This angle doesn't mean it skimps on character, though--seeing Shae as a more naive and unsure person, rather than the smooth operator she returns as in Jade City, is the kind of backstory moment that this collection is meant to provide.

Four out of five stars. A welcome return to Janloon, even if it doesn't quite hit the heights of the Green Bone Saga.