Jade City

I loved this book. It's about the control of the jade trade, a magical stone that is only found on one island. It's a fictional Asia-based island that has recently achieved independence. Although it has a government, the island is basically run by several families, not unlike mafia families. The family with the main characters is mostly benevolent while its main competition is not as nice, illegally mining jade and dealing in a drug that counters the effects of the stone on those who aren't born with the gift of using its power. Reading the author's notes, this book is a mish-mash of Mario Puzo and other mafia tales along with martial arts movies and other Japanese and Chinese influence. Despite sounding like there'd be a lot of politics, and there is, I was completely engrossed in it. I read this nearly 600 page book in six days and loved every minute of it. This book won the 2018 World Fantasy and Aurora (Canadian SF) Awards and was nominated for several others.

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