I guess if it’s not from the Sicily region of Italy you can’t call it a mafia; it’s just sparkling mob.

The Green Bone Saga by Fonda Lee is a trilogy that I would pitch as “The Godfather, but on a low-fantasy alternate world with superpowers” The main plot revolves around two clans, both descended from the famous heroes who liberated the country of Kekon from foreign occupation roughly 25 years before the books begin. 

The magic system is based around carrying Jade. Only Kekon has bioenergetic jade, which allows Green Bones who wear it(as studs, or bracelets) to move with supernatural speed, strength, and perception, as well as toughen themselves to block blows and limited telekinesis to block bullets. Because that matters in this setting, we start off with 1970s technology and go from there. Deflecting bullets and perceiving that someone placed a bomb on your car are critical ‘staying-alive’ skills.

Kekonese are the only group of people who can safely use Jade. To the indigenous peoples, it is inert. To foreigners, it is a dangerous substance that will put you in the hospital or morgue. To the local clans, descended from freedom fighters, it can be used carefully. However, there exists an illegal foreign drug with punishing mental and societal side effects that allows anyone to use jade. If you go off the drug, or hold onto too much jade, you die of the “itches”, clawing your own skin off.

The protagonists are the Kaul Family, and over the course of three books, we move both violently and lovingly through a family with richly fleshed-out characters. With the problems of running a clan through an uphill gang war stretching out into international relations against a large cast of unique allies and adversaries, the Kauls have their work cut out for them

I cannot overemphasize the genuine depth of the characters. Each of them has a rich story, motivations, trials and tribulations. I was up well past my bedtime reading these books over and over again on the strength of the characters.

The setting, almost entirely on the island of Kekon, is a little too perfect. Isolated enough to be generally unbothered, picturesque, and steeped in Green Bone culture. That culture is a sort of mafia utopia, where Jade-wearing Green Bones collect tribute and fight gang wars, although civilian casualties are a deeply, often lethally punished offense.

Kekon is deeply fantasy Asian-themed, drawing elements of Japanese, Filipino, and Taiwanese culture. The narrative of a country liberating itself only to split in two is reflective of the Korean Peninsula. The growing economic power of Kekon is the ‘Asian tigers‘ narrative of the 1990s. A combination of open-carrying swords out of limousines and into restaurants with fried squid to perform a sanctioned duel is deeply atmospheric. The post-colonial narrative is also alive, well, and richly established.

It’s a strange dichotomy to read with unhurried tension, but that is the case here. The lack of fun is the main problem. These are high drama with little slapstick or room to let out after the duels, kidnappings, and tense boardroom meetings. For content purposes, we are moderately gory and very violent, with a handful of sex scenes. But it’s a mafia story; it’s R-rated.

All told, I recommend The Green Bone Saga by Fonda Lee for interested readers and give them a 7/10 Freshness, with positive notes for systems, setting, pacing and characters.