Full Disclosure: This book was read as an e-ARC (Advance Reader Copy) obtained via Netgalley from the publisher in advance of the book's release on July 31, 2023 in exchange for a potential review. I give my word that this did not affect my review in any way - if I felt conflicted in any way, I would simply have declined to review the book.
Jade Shards is a collection of four prequel stories to Fonda Lee's The Green Bone Saga (Jade City, Jade War, Jade Legacy), her award winning trilogy that combined concepts of mafia books like The Godfather with Wuxia/Kung Fu tropes from southeast Asia. The four stories include three which were originally published on Lee's patreon followed by a fourth brand new story, and together the collection only makes up the length of a middle-length novella (the stories also each come with an afterward explaining Lee's thoughts in making them).
I very much wound up liking The Green Bone Saga, so I was very willing to try out four new stories in this world. As you might expect from stories so short, they will only be of interest to big fans of this world, but if you did really like the trilogy, you will probably enjoy this quick look back at what happened to setup its events.
This collection contains four stories, all of which come in timeline prior to the original trilogy. The four stories are:
The Witch and Her Friend, which tells the story of the relationship between Ayt Madashi and Anden's mother Aun Uremayada, the "Witch" who once was known as a deadly assassin but who prior to the trilogy seemingly went mad and left Anden orphaned.
Not Only Blood, which follows Lan's perspective as he struggles with conflicting clan and friendship obligations as Anden's uncle and mother die and he insists Anden be taken into hte clan.
Better than Jade, which shows the first moments of dating of Hilo and Wen as the two finally come together in a relationship.
Granddaughter Cormorant, which shows a younger Shae and how she becomes an agent of the Republic of Espenia.
All four of these stories are well done, although none of them really hold up on their own if you aren't a big fan of the trilogy. Instead they color in the lines of the trilogy and further show how events came to be - how Anden's mother left the Mountain and started the path that led to her death all alone; how young Lan, Shae, and Hilo operated when their father was still very much alive and in charge of No Peak and how Lan became determined to do right by adopting Anden; etc. Yet while there's not enough here to interest those who haven't read the trilogy, the stories do all have enough substance on their own to satisfy those who have - these are more than flash fiction, but genuine stories showcasing moments in the characters' past lives, and they work quite well in those respects.
There's not much more to say here given how everything here is so short, but I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that Not Only Blood is easily my favorite, as it's a steamy (especially in the second half of it as the protagonists finally get to have sex) and extremely romantic showing of how Hilo and Wen's relationship began, and it is just really sweet and lovely (and again sexy). I loved Wen in the trilogy (although I didn't love Hilo) and this was just really great as it showed how she took matters into her own hands to make sure that the relationship she wanted with Hilo came to be.
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