Breath of the Dragon by Shannon Lee and Fonda Lee

Jen reviews Breath of the Dragon, the first book in the Breathmarked YA fantasy duology by Shannon Lee and Fonda Lee.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press/Hodder & Stoughton for the e-copy in exchange for review!

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.

“She was obviously Chang’s protégé—both of them compensated for their disadvantages with a slickness that made Jun feel like a bear trying to pin down a darting weasel. She couldn’t beat him, exactly, but she could defend against him, and he had no doubt she could incapacitate a clumsier aggressor.”

*quote is subject to change at publication

This song is a little more upbeat then I was looking or but I’m at the portion of my song choice hunt where I grab anything with any sort of lyric that fits the book!

Harmony Hall by Vampire Weekend

Anybody with a worried mind
Could never forgive the sight
Of wicked snakes
Inside a place
You thought was dignified

I think your level of like for Breath of the Dragon will depend on what you like in a story. For me, I love martial arts movies, and lately there have been some great fantasy books based around tournament-style fighting (like Combat Codes) so I was thrilled to see more in that subgenre of fantasy.

Breath of the Dragon definitely hit a lot of my like buttons with the fight structure, and a main character in Jun who is a great fighter but not necessarily the ‘chosen one’ but who over time becomes a bit of a symbol for the people. I also quite liked the fun side characters, the martial schools, and the great martial names.

The story in Breath of the Dragon opens up well; building the world and its conflicts into something that feels rich and fully realized. It’s nicely balanced between the politics, intrigue, and the fights.

The fights in Breath of the Dragon were solidly fun – I loved the variety of them. I loved the tournament – which I worried they would get a samey feeling after a while but I found each was as exciting as the last. I think my favourite fight though, took place on the bridge later in the book – partially because by that point there are a few characters I cared about and it was just a cool fight scene all around.  

The characters – well, I hate to say I didn’t love Jun at first, and maybe that was intentional to his journey. Part of Jun’s story is about him realizing his place in the world, and his selfishness and jealousy over others he perceived to have more, without knowing anything about them, etc.  Even though Jun could be very wise at times he is also still a teen who feels like he is missing out on stuff. And honestly, I am miles past being a teenager and tbh was never much of one anyway so a little of my lack of connection could have to do with that.

But I did love the characters’ eventual friendships; though they were a bit tough getting there and I wished for some to happen sooner, the road to them did make them feel well-earned.
 I did worry about the love triangle aspect taking and interfering with those friendships- which I really am not a big fan of love triangles, though I am a fan of there being a romance between characters but it seemed to fade into the background as bigger problems arose (for now at least).

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Breath of the Dragon feels a little like a mash-up of a Donnie Yen movie and Legends of the Condor – lots actiony-fight fun with a nice message at its core. I’d be curious to see how the duology concludes.