A Study In Character
Come over-analyze some fictional characters with me
One consequence of being a known reader is that people — friends, family, coworkers — inevitably ask you what your favorite book is. And then, of course, why it's your favorite book.
More than once I've sung the praises of The Green Bone Saga by Fonda Lee out in public. Sipping beer at happy hour and talking about how it has "the mafia machinations of movies like The Godfather mixed with superpowered humans and martial arts style fight scenes a la wuxia films" (essentially a real sentence I uttered a couple of months ago). Lee blended a seamless patchwork of the high stakes and personal politicking that makes mafia movies compelling with a magic system that transforms every aspect of the world and takes it to the next level, and I'm always willing to talk it up to anyone who listens. The world-building is some of the best I've ever read, but what truly makes the story sing is the characters.
Characterization can make or break a story. An author's ability to make you believe in the fullness of a character, in their thoughts and motivations, and most importantly, their relationships with other characters and the world they exist in, makes a book worth investing in. Makes a world worth investing in.
In the first installment, Jade City, we are dropped into an East Asian-inspired urban fantasy world where a magical resource, jade, is central to the political, social, and economic life of Kekon, a small island country. Green Bones who are able to harness the power of jade train to be powerful warriors for their clan, which are the driving forces behind everything that happens in the city of Janloon. We follow the Kaul family, a powerful line of Green Bones that lead the No Peak Clan, as mounting pressures come in from both foreign powers and their rivals, the Mountain Clan. A new drug is also taking the city by storm and allowing more people to harness the power of jade than ever before. Family drama, betrayal, business dealings, and deadly secrets lay the backdrop as the city threatens open warfare.
I first wrote out the following character analysis a little over two years ago when I read Jade City. I was brimming with thoughts and preparing to speedrun the rest of the series. Now, I'm a series veteran: I've read the entire series including the prequel and short story collection twice, I've attended three separate author events to hear Fonda Lee talk, and I've made at least five people start the books. I've spent time with these characters within their world, and their foundations are laid down so well at the beginning of the trilogy.
What's In A Name
“A rose by any other name" as they say.
Kaul Lan
The eldest of the Kaul siblings and the strong but gentle leader of the No Peak Clan. He’s used to responsibility, used to forgiving, used to carrying the burden of the world on his shoulders and his alone. He knows better than anyone that perception is important, and he’s willing to bend the rules to save his people. Appearing strong is nearly as important as being strong — but at what cost? After all, Lan is a peacetime Pillar, and his maneuvers have little weight in a war.
Kaul Hilo
Brash, strong, and prone to fighting first and asking questions later, Hilo revels in his role in No Peak because he knows the role is his. There is no doubt in his mind where he, and everyone else he cares about, fits into the world. Loyal to a fault and with an unending love for his family, he sees no option but to defend what’s his and seek vengeance for any perceived wrong. For Hilo, there is nothing but the personal, and those closest to him know that best.
Kaul Shae
Headstrong and intelligent, Shae returns home to Janloon with no plan, except to put distance between herself and clan business. The youngest of the Kaul siblings and the favorite of their grandfather, the venerable Torch of Kekon, Shae has always had to be the best. At the Academy, as a Green Bone, in her rivalry with Hilo; there is no goal more worthy than to be worthy. Now, she grapples with what it means to be a Kaul with no jade. She dreams of creating new paths, new traditions, but perhaps you can never fully shake the responsibility of family.
Emery Anden
Top of his class at Kaul Du Academy, mentored by the Pillar, adored by the Horn, Anden keeps everyone at arm’s length. He lives his life on the margins — half-Kekonese, half-Espenian, and adopted into the Kaul family, he sees himself on the outside and knows that others see the same. The orphaned son of the Mad Witch, Anden lives in fear of his own power, but he’s determined to bring honor to the Kaul name he’s been entrusted with. It’s a lonely life to feel protective of a legacy that isn’t fully yours, but Anden’s intent on making them proud.
Bero
Bero scrapes by with minimal street smarts and a handful of refilling luck. After an initial encounter with the power of jade, little else occupies his mind. He has an inflated sense of self-importance and sees the world through a lens of what he is owed. He’s more than willing to get his hands dirty, and who knows, it might even all pay off in the end.
Diving In
How much could there be to say about these characters? Turns out, a lot.
I envision the foundation of each character clearest through their interactions with Hilo. He’s hotheaded, brash, and feels so deeply that the manifestation of his relationship with each member of his family is a pretty clear representation of how I interpret each character.
Lan stands alone as Pillar, but the person he leans on most is his brother Hilo. Appointing him Horn is one of the few decisions that he makes without the influence of his grandfather. It is clear how much of a rock and steady presence Lan is to his family and No Peak. As they neared open warfare with the Mountain, Lan was most concerned with public perception; he knew better than anyone that the members of the clan needed a clear, jade-studded, reassurance of power and resilience. When Lan keeps his growing jade intolerance and drug dependency from even Hilo, it emphasizes Lan’s reluctance to depend on or truly open up to anyone. He believes the future of the clan rests solely on his shoulders, and at the end of the day, this is his downfall. By bearing the weight of his deficiencies alone and not sharing with his family, he opened himself up to additional weaknesses that would otherwise have been little more than a nuisance.
Shae and Hilo’s relationship is the most pivotal and fascinating to me. At odds since childhood, they are two sides of the same coin. Where Shae is logical and methodical, Hilo is gregarious and combative, but they are both intent on proving themselves. Shae left Kekon to do just that — she sought out a life no longer defined by her family and its legacy. To Hilo, however, this was the utmost betrayal. She returns to Janloon determined to keep finding her way without the clan, because the clan has disillusioned her. But she jumps on the chance to help Lan with clan matters, no questions asked. No matter her intent to live a separate life, Shae is also fearful of being discluded, of being powerless, of being inconsequential. Shae returns to No Peak because of necessity and circumstances, but fundamentally, for herself. The office of the Weather Man is the ultimate place for her to prove herself worthy, and she knows she’s good at it. And now, Hilo is her Pillar, but their tumultuous relationship filled with one-upmanship and tension is here to stay.
Anden is loved by his family and makes them proud by being top of his graduating class at Kaul Du Academy. Despite that, he never truly feels like a Kaul, never feels comfortable expressing himself or his thoughts to his family. Anden depends on validation, not from his peers, but from his family. Lan, who took Anden in after his mother succumbed to the Itches (a horrible death caused by jade overexposure), is more than just Anden’s cousin or Pillar, but a moral linchpin that Anden must live up to. There is no part of Anden who can go against Lan, because Lan represents the authority of the clan and the law of their family. After discovering Lan's growing jade sensitivity and drug dependence and keeping it a secret potentially results in Lan’s untimely death, Anden’s certainty in the Green Bone lifestyle starts to crumble. Boisterous Hilo, who embraces Anden like a little brother, is the last person he ever wants to disappoint. And Shae, who left Kekon and became the black sheep of the Kaul siblings, is the only one who understands his need to prove himself, and later live by his own standards when he rejects his jade at graduation.
By far, my favorite characters in Jade City are Shae and Anden. They are the most uncertain of their place in both the clan and their family. Both of them renege on what Hilo sees as their rightful place in the world, which incites his anger and disapproval.
The most fundamental part of Hilo’s character is his loyalty and strict worldview. He loves and protects fiercely, but expects those he cares about to behave exactly as he anticipates; anything outside of that is not just clan betrayal, but an intensely personal affront. When Shae returns to Kekon, Hilo offers his forgiveness because he sees her actions as something that requires being forgiven, even though that’s not something Shae ever sought. When Anden refuses his jade for his own personal wellbeing, Hilo can’t accept that, because Anden rejecting his place in No Peak is also a rejection of his place in Hilo’s life. Even Wen, who knows Hilo loves her wholeheartedly, goes behind his back to work as a White Rat spy because she knows that Hilo cannot fathom a stone-eye being involved in Green Bone affairs.
This is the most apparent part of Hilo to me. Everything is personal. Hilo misleads Shae into believing that Green Bones in the Mountain are directly responsible for Lan’s death while knowing all along that he had drowned and died with his jade on him. But he doesn’t do it maliciously or even intentionally. To Hilo, regardless of the exact nature of Lan’s death, it is a declaration of war that needs retribution. No matter what, it’s personal. This is what makes him such an effective Horn, and why he is so feared by their enemies. When the role of Pillar is thrust upon him, it is this very aspect of him that feels so deeply and retaliates so quickly, that he has to rationalize and subjugate to be taken seriously.
Last but not least is Bero, the scrawny, manipulative, jade thief whom we begin and end the book with. He’s already escaped death numerous times, and at the close of Jade City, it seems he’s on the cusp of attaining jade — Lan’s jade.
Beyond being a super convenient plot device, Bero serves as a stark contrast to the Kaul family, their allies in No Peak, and their enemies in the Mountain. He’s crude and inelegant, but his actions result in Lan’s death. The Mountain may be their enemies, but Bero is antithetical to everything the Kaul’s hold dear. His actions have no honor, no finesse, but he’s self-important enough to still deem himself worthy of jade. I undoubtedly root for and care about the Kauls and I want to see them succeed, and Bero’s attitude and actions throughout the novel made me angry. However, snippets in the text and Bero himself serve as a reminder that the Kauls are the Kekonese elite, that the Green Bone life, while culturally rich and important, is also an exclusionary and racially supremacist culture. This book had me determined to preserve the integrity and history of jade, while also being acutely attuned to the narrative from the other side in Bero that showcased the negative effects of jade on their people and society.
Texture Over Aesthetic
Creating People, Not Characters
This is why characterization is so important. When you can make the people in your story feel like real people, with their own motivations, fears, goals, and flaws, you bring a texture to your world and your story that would otherwise be missing. Readers can see how the world has shaped the characters, and how their existence and reactions have in turn shaped the world. For me, this is the most impressive, immersive type of story.
It's hard for me to quite get into words why I enjoy The Green Bone Saga so much. Since 2020, when I first really started avidly reading again, there haven't been many fiction books or series that have completely captured my attention. But I know that the focus on character, specifically on characterization that makes sense in the context of the world, is the reason why I love these books so much.
Jade City, and The Green Bone Saga in its totality, is a story about the Kaul family, and their relationships with each other are a major driving force. The backdrop and main narrative also include internal and external politics, economic maneuvering, and deadly action scenes, but the heart is the rise and fall of the relationships within the family. Because of this, the epic moments feel personal, and the small, intimate moments feel grand. That's what makes a story truly resonate.
What are some stories that have resonated with you recently? What are the most important aspects of a book for you?
just finished this series and i enjoyed reading your take!