Happy 2025! I’m excited to start out this year by talking about a captivating new duology that just came out January 7th: Breath of the Dragon by Shannon Lee (Bruce Lee’s daughter) and Fonda Lee (Author of the Green Bone Saga– you can find my Jade Legacy thoughts here!). A huge thank you to Wednesday Books for providing me with a free eArc in exchange for my honest thoughts.
The first novel in a sweeping YA fantasy duology based on characters and teachings created by Bruce Lee!
Sixteen-year-old Jun dreams of proving his worth as a warrior in the elite Guardian’s Tournament, held every six years to entrust the magical Scroll of Earth to a new protector. Eager to prove his skills, Jun hopes that a win will restore his father’s honor—righting a horrible mistake that caused their banishment from his home, mother, and twin brother.
But Jun’s father strictly forbids him from participating. There is no future in honing his skills as a warrior, especially considering Jun is not breathmarked, born with a patch of dragon scales and blessed with special abilities like his twin. Determined to be the next Guardian, Jun stows away in the wagon of Chang and his daughter, Ren, performers on their way to the capital where the tournament will take place.
As Jun competes, he quickly realizes he may be fighting for not just a better life, but the fate of the country itself.
Review of Breath of the Dragon
Setting
The main area the readers find themselves is in a country that was once untied, but has been torn in two as the East and the West. In the East, the country who rebelled from the West, martial arts is illegal. In the West, martial arts is celebrated and every few years there’s a martial arts tournament for the honored title Guardian. There’s been recent rumblings of unrest and war, and a reunification effort that would cease the senseless animosities between the governments and reopen trade and communication between the peoples.
There is also a light magical element of those who are “breathmarked,” and they each have unique powers of one sort or another that can grant them advantages in their day to day life (for example, watching someone do a skill once and then replicating that perfectly; or falling asleep on command).
The world felt very fleshed out and the learning curve was not too difficult, and I was able to immerse myself quite easily into the tale.
Characters
Jun is our main character and hero, separated from his twin who is in the East, but desiring to reach the Guardian title and find meaning in his life. There are other secondary characters such as his sifu, his father, his friend Ren, and his rival Yin. I didn’t have a huge emotional connection with the side characters, and I would love to see further growth and dimension in the duology regarding the side characters.
Main Element
A major part of this story is the martial art fights. I’m not a martial artist, but I can appreciate the art form and I do love watching shows and reading books that highlight awesomely choreographed fight scenes. This book delivers above and beyond when it comes to the fight scenes: they’re exciting, breathtaking, and impossible to put the book down mid-fight. I’m a big fan of the show Warrior, and after seeing the various fight scenes in that show, it was easy to imagine how fights happened in this book as well. I love the fact that it’s Bruce Lee’s daughter co-writing with Fonda Lee, and I definitely see remnants of the Green Bone Saga sprinkled throughout.
Overall, I highly enjoyed Breath of the Dragon. While there were some emotional and heartfelt moments, I would love to see the side characters be given a bit more depth. However, I definitely recommend this book for fans of Bruce Lee/martial arts in general, The Green Bone Saga by Fonda Lee, or The Art of Prophecy by Wesley Chu.
Thanks for reading!
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