Fonda J. Lee's Green Bone Saga is getting a snazzy special edition

Fonda J. Lee's Green Bone Saga has become a well-loved and acclaimed entry in the fantasy canon since the first book arrived in 2017. Comprised of Jade City, Jade War, and Jane Legacy, the trilogy is set in an Asian-inspired fantasy world set after a massive conflict called the Many Nations War in which the One Mountain Society booted an occupying nation from Kekon. In the years that followed, the liberation movement split into a number of rival clans, who've been fighting amongst themselves.

Complicating matters is that Kekon is a major supplier of jade, which imparts users with magical abilities which certain people can take advantage of. The various clans are fighting for control over.

The trilogy has been highly acclaimed: its installments have earned a number of awards, and Time Magazine named Jade City as one of the 100 best fantasy novels of all time.

Judging the covers

George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire is getting some new covers, and they’re a good example of the importance of striking art and the limits of minimalism design

Transfer OrbitAndrew Liptak

Orbit Books recently announced that it was rebranding the series with some new covers: Jade City, Jade War, and Jade Legacy will get that new treatment in September with art and design by Thomas Walker. Lee noted on her blog that she "felt that these are the covers I’ve always wanted and that the books were meant to have."

But that's not all. Before those new editions drop, Orbit will release special editions of the series in their Gold edition line. This edition will come in a special box with an illustration by Tommy Arnold, along with gilded edges, special endpaper art, foil-stamped covers, ribbon bookmarks, new maps. Jade City will also come signed. The set will be released on August 26th directly from Hachette. The set will run you $180, but preorders will be 20% off.

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Transfer OrbitAndrew Liptak

This release follows a larger trend in the publishing industry to release special editions of popular (or highly anticipated new releases) books. I've written a lot about The Folio Society's books over the years, but other publishers have gotten in on the game, hoping to entice readers into picking up a special version of a book that they really like. Orbit's been doing this for a couple of years. It released new anniversary editions of Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice and James S.A. Corey's Leviathan Wakes, Caliban's War and Abbadon's Gate, as well as a Gold Edition release for N.K. Jemisin's Broken Earth trilogy and Hannah Whitten's The Wilderwood duology.

This looks like a handsome release for the series. I really like Tommy Arnold's artwork, and it's great to see Orbit surfacing some of these recent classics for this sort of treatment, introducing new readers to the books while also rewarding those long-time fans with something unique for their bookshelves.