Rebecca F. Kuang studies modern Chinese history. She has a BA from Georgetown University and is currently a graduate student in the United Kingdom on a Marshall Scholarship.Kuang's new book, her debut novel, is The Poppy War.
At Tor.com she tagged five notable East Asian SFF novels by East Asian authors, including:
Jade City by Fonda LeeRead about another entry on the list.
This book was just nominated for a Nebula Award so Fonda doesn’t even need my hype, but I’m going to rant about how much I loved Jade City anyways. It’s a secondary world fantasy based on Hong Kong circa the mid-20th century where jade grants superhuman martial ability. Those without jade crave it; Western powers demand it.Green Bone warriors from the rival Mountain Clan and No Peak Clan embark on adventures of gangster warfare, treachery, family drama, and all the good stuff that made up the Hong Kong action films of my childhood. For many Chinese diaspora readers, Jade City is nostalgia. Reading Jade City felt just like stepping foot in the Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport. I resonated so hard with the scene when prodigal daughter Kaul Shae returns to Kekon via the Janloon International Airport after years spent in the West. There’s something in the air—as Shae puts it, “Kekon had a special smell, a certain indescribable, spicy, sweaty fragrance.” It smells like coming home.
The Page 69 Test: Jade City.
The Page 69 Test: The Poppy War.
--Marshal Zeringue
Posts
