Magic is Power

Ah HBO, far do your enemies flee.

And yet I see that you have chosen to create a *checks notes* seven season long reboot of the live-action Harry Potter franchise. I admit, I’m curious about how you will do this and whether or not it will be any good. However, I am left asking…. WHY!?

Naturally, the answer is money. The answer is that there are still enough loyal fans who have separated the art from the TERF Queen herself to turn a profit for you. But it is not even 15 years since the release of Deathly Hallows Part Two and do we really need to see it again?

Are we in such a drought of new and exciting content that we must rehash the adventures of The Boy Who Lived? I say no. I believe that there are other franchises that deserve their turn in the spotlight. Also, that there are many franchises that better fit the… hmm… darker theme that HBO is famous for.

From the murder of POW’s in Band of Brothers to the horrors and beauty of Game of Thrones (excepting the end), HBO has a reputation for crafting some of the most gripping and impactful stories in serialized film. And I am confident that both of those IP's represented a significant risk when first they were green lit by you.

That is the mark of something great. The risk.

I firmly believe that you will succeed in grabbing attention for your return to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I even believe that you will distance yourself from the original creator as much as possible so as not to cause harm to the gender diverse audience that loved and still loves Harry Potter’s story.

But I also believe that it is unnecessary.

We know the story of the Boy Who Lived. We are aware of the rise and fall of He Who Must Not Be Named. Those characters belong to the modern zeitgeist, and they are entrenched in our hearts and our memories.

We also recognize those elements that have not aged gracefully. The plight of the House Elves and the representation of Hermione as an interfering do-gooder who acts without a thought for the desires of those whom she seeks to help is… in a word, problematic. Victor Krum’s interest at 18 in a 14-year-old Hermione in book four is a little bit yikes. The total absence in the text of representation for the LGBTQ2S+ community is stark, especially when measured against the espoused views of the creator.

(Fun Fact: The suffix ‘Tor’ is a gendered left-over from Latin which means roughly ‘man who does.’ The feminine suffix is ‘trix’ as in dominatrix v. dominator. But these days the meaning has shifted and tor, as in aviator and creator, is gender neutral and trix are for kids.)

But I digress. I do not think that a return to Harry Potter is the right move for HBO. Instead, I would like to recommend to the studio and the Vocal Community, an alternative that I believe fits more cleanly with the brand and style of HBO. Also, because I don’t think this series gets enough love or attention.

The Green Bone Saga by Canadian Author Fonda Lee is a complete series made up of three masterpiece novels, one brilliant novella and soon a short story collection. These are called: Jade City, Jade War, Jade Legacy, The Jade Setter of Janloon, and Jade Shards, respectively. And they might just comprise my favourite series of all time.

It is a generational story set in a secondary world where magic exists only on the island of Kekon thanks to the presence of bio-energic jade, which grants its users awesome powers. The powers gifted by jade to its users, Lightness, Deflection, Strength, Perception, Channeling, and Steel allow Fonda Lee to bring the incredible wire-foo action of Hong Kong style action movies to life within the pages of her masterwork.

The plot centres around the Kaul family and the No Peak Clan of Jade Users in their struggle against the rival Mountain Clan and later foreign agents from the Republic of Espenia, Ygutan, Shotar, and the Uwiwa Islands. It grows from a gang-land style power struggle between rival families reminiscent of the God Father (cited as an inspiration) to a continent-spanning struggle for control not only for the Island of Kekon but also for global control of Jade and its powers.

A rich, pan-Asian inspired world awaits readers and watchers when this show finally gets the adaptation it so richly deserves. The capital city of Kekon, Janloon, feels as real to readers as Hogwarts, the Shire, Luthidel, or King’s Landing ever did. The atmosphere bleeds of the page, completely enthralling readers, transporting them to the humid, foggy streets of a world at once foreign and familiar.

No matter how enthralling time in Janloon or the other cities and countries visited in the pages are, or how greatly superior I find them to be compared to the Wizarding World. It is the characters, action, drama, and personal struggle, and growth where Fonda Lee really shines.

Many people cried for the death of Cederic, Dobby, or Dumbledor, or Lupin, or Sirius, or George. I was one of them. A few tears as these good and noble characters were cruelly torn from people who were not ready to say goodbye. Perhaps HBO, with their demonstrated ability to tug on the heartstrings of viewers, can elevate those experiences. But the deaths, and worse the survivals, of the Green Bone Saga hit so very much harder.

When I read Jade Legacy on a flight home from Sweden to Ontario via Iceland last year, I cried more times than I ever had before at a work of fiction. Deaths and betrayals, honour and loyalty, love and loss of friends and family hit me with such force that I had more than one fellow air passenger actually ask me if I was alright.

Avoiding spoilers, the first critical death and its repercussions, emotional and plot-focused, are felt up until the last page of the final book. The impact on the characters that leaves behind, the ramifications not only for our beloved protagonists but also for the whole world of the story is truly awesome in the classical sense of the word. Every subsequent death, sacrifice, loss, and victory hit hard and left an impact that still affects me.

In short, it is beautiful.

Now that I have, hopefully, induced some of my readers to pick up this series. I want to explain why I am certain that it would be a better choice for adaptation.

Firstly, characters.

As mentioned above, the characters are rich and varied. They are beautiful and complex, deep and vibrant. Each member of the central cast, and several of the named supporting characters are among the most well realized characters I have ever had the pleasure of reading.

Men and women are dynamic and agency-filled characters in this series. They make decisions, drive the plot, are fleshed out and richly detailed in every sense of the expression. Each one of them has their own motivations, losses, traumas, fears, ambitions, and regrets that are written in such a way as to make the reader understand their struggles as they would those of a dear friend.

None of them feel like characters designed on an architype. None of them exist simply to further the development of another only to be left aside when their role is done. The world they inhabit feels lived in, as though we are only seeing a small piece of it, and that it will continue when the ‘camera’ pans away.

These people, and they do feel like real people, surpass the much-loved witches and wizards of our childhood in every way.

Secondly, representation.

It is no surprise that there would be a lot, and I mean a lot, of Asian representation in this series when it is finally made. The story takes place mostly in an isolationist island nation still reeling in many ways from a violent occupation analogous to the legacy of Imperial Japan. Its adaptation would bring a much-needed variety to the screen and display Asian cultures without the glorification or fetishization that often plagues Western representations of those cultures and peoples.

Queerness is demonstrated in this series with a care and authenticity which is simply beautiful. One of the main characters, a plot-driver and decision maker, is gay. But not as an afterthought, not declared to be so on Twitter after the story is finished.

It is also not the sum total of his personality but rather a simple fact of his character. It is part of who he is and it is represented as such on the page. His struggles in a world that, while not as discriminatory as many real world places are, is not welcoming to his authentic self. But he is there, proud of who he is, and his family (to me this is the most important part) understands and loves him as though his sexuality does matter. Because it doesn’t to them.

The island of Kekon has an Indigenous Population. I say again, the island of Kekon has an Indigenous Population. Being First Nations myself, this is incredibly important to me. The Abukei are the Indigenous inhabitants of Kekon and the Kekoneese are their oppressive colonizers.

In much the same ways as in many settler countries (Canada, Australia, Mexico, Norway, Finland, Greenland, Japan {yes, really. Look up the Inu}) there is a tension between the Indigenous and Settler populations. But critically to me, neither group is painted with one brush.

The Abukei are not perfect paragons, nor are the Kekoneese exclusively vile oppressors. Exactly as in the real world, it is complicated. Even better, as the series goes on and the years pass, things get better. Slowly, and incrementally, relations and the status of the Indigenous Peoples improve.

It’s so realistic and well done that it made me cry all on its own.

Representation within the Green Bone Saga is leaps and bounds above what we see in Rowling’s work. Admittedly, Harry Potter is a series for children and Green Bone Saga is an epic for adults, but shouldn’t we shoot for the best we can have at all times?

Thirdly and finally, the plot and merchandising.

I predict that HBO could get four (max five if they stretch) amazing seasons out of this trilogy, plus a movie from the novella and shorter one-offs from the short stories, and the interludes contained within the epic volumes. Spin offs are possible, and I think the author would love to contribute to that work in similar fashion to how GRRM does with the Song of Ice and Fire IP.

Starting from a simple heist gone wrong, the plot of the Green Bone Saga expands naturally until it encompasses the whole world. Nations striving against each other for influence and power; a cold war that the small island of Kekon struggles to be a player in, rather than just a piece moved across the board at the whims of greater powers; family drama that emotionally affects me even as I write this appeal.

I don’t want to spoil anything, but from the first chapters of Jade City promises are given that are steadily paid off until the end of Jade Legacy. Events are put in motion that influence the final chapters. A world and narrative is built with a richness and connectedness normally reserved for the likes of Grandpa Tolkien (no relation) and Saint Magic System himself Brandon Sanderson.

Unlike book five and six of the single most commercially successful series of all time, there is almost no bloat. Not a page of this series is wasted despite the final book clocking in at 736 pages (English hardcover). Fonda Lee’s writing, plotting, and pacing remain as tight and gripping in book three as the inciting incidents in book one. The only series I’ve ever read that I would call perfect.

Merchandising, a critical consideration for film studios, is a weaker aspect for my beloved Saga, however. But I believe it could at least match what Game of Thrones was able to put out. Working with the author to ensure consistency of vision, the merch departments could churn out action figures, tabletop games, clothing, tourism posters, cookbooks, clan insignia and logos, fashion, replica moon blades and talon knives, jade jewelry and so much more.

I truly love this series and desperately want to see it adapted to live action as it so dearly deserves.

Thank you, dear reader, for taking the time to indulge my ramblings about this topic I love so dearly.

Please, get the books for yourself at your preferred retailer or library and in your preferred language, come back and let me know how you liked it. Do you agree with me? Please tell me in the comments below and recommend your own most-desired adaptations and which studio you think would best bring them to life.

The clan is my blood, and the Pillar is its master.