‘Breath of the Dragon’ is a new book for young adults inspired by the life of Bruce Lee

By Kai Curry
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY

When something is meant to be, everything comes together. In this case, it’s the serendipitous arrival of a new duology for young adults based on the teachings of Bruce Lee and created through the loving intentions of Bruce Lee’s daughter, Shannon Lee, and writer Fonda Lee. “Breath of the Dragon,” the first of the series, combines Bruce Lee’s wisdom with his passion for martial arts, all wrapped up in a brand new fantasy world that also speaks volumes about the divisions in our own society and the series creators’ wishes for a harmonious existence.

“It was a match made in heaven.”

That’s how Shannon Lee describes her meeting with Fonda, a science fiction and fantasy writer who has already found acclaim through “The Green Bone Saga.”

“Not only is she an accomplished author,” Shannon went on, “but she’s also a martial artist and knew a lot about my father. We immediately started riffing and hit it off.” Shannon, who harbors book writing dreams of her own (she has done many other projects, including for television), had been looking for a vehicle to bring to light some of her father’s not-yet-publicized ideas. Having risen to fame in a time when culturally sensitive roles for Asians were pretty much nonexistent, Bruce Lee, it turns out, had come up with several scripts of his own that he had hoped to star in. Sadly, he did not get the chance. Luckily, Shannon and Fonda do have that chance, through this book series.

“Break free of rigid thinking.”

“Breath of the Dragon” follows Jun, a young man divided. The land where he lives has been split in two—east and west—and Jun has been separated from his twin. A mandate requires those who are “breathmarked” (a sign that shows up like dragon scales on the body) to separate from their families and train as protectors, meanwhile no one else is allowed to fight. Jun is not breathmarked. But he is born under the star of the dragon. Jun and his father are exiled to the western half of this divided land, where fighting is allowed, but Jun’s father doesn’t want Jun to go that route. Of course, this headstrong adolescent has other plans. The crux of the first book is a martial arts contest through which Jun begins to come into his own as a fighter and as a person.

One of the primary themes is that we all can give what we have to offer the world through our own path. We don’t need a particular school, a particular teacher, or a particular way of being. “If your master is ashamed of you,” Jun tells one of his rivals, “then you ought to find a new master. Or become your own.” Echoes of Bruce Lee come through in words such as these. And in action. One of the highlights of the book is Fonda’s mastery in writing fight scenes. “It comes down to emotional stakes,” she told the Asian Weekly of how she creates a scene in which the fighter takes into account not only the fighting styles of themselves and their opponent, but also their motivations. You will thrill as Jun learns to navigate life-threatening competitions and life. You will smile in understanding as Jun improves not just in martial arts but in humility and empathy.

“Caught between East and West.”

Just like Bruce Lee, Jun is caught between two places. The world he lives in is deliberately similar to Bruce Lee’s own. It’s not exactly the same—nor is the story exactly the same as Bruce Lee’s script ideas—yet it is an amalgamation of what Bruce Lee went through and what he thought. Raised in Hong Kong, a British colony, then living in San Francisco, and working in the film industry in both countries, there was a “push and pull between what was acceptable in one culture versus what was acceptable in another culture,” Shannon Lee explained. It was that “clash of cultures” that forced Bruce Lee, and forces Jun, to find his own path and “own sense of self.”

“There are people for whom it’s in their interest to keep people divided, right?” Fonda reminded us. Jun knows that pain “on a very personal level.” In that sense, the book is also about prejudice and discrimination. In addition, “Breath of the Dragon” deliberately turns a fantasy trope on its head: instead of the “gifted” or “special” child that is “chosen” being the star of the story, the unchosen child is the star. “The message that Shannon and I were trying to convey is that you make your own destiny.”

Fonda Lee herself did not have a lot of exposure to her own Eastern culture at first. Her parents emigrated from Taiwan. It was in her teens that Fonda’s dad started introducing her to movies like “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.” Prior to that, her primary inspirations had been western-based fantasies like “The Lord of the Rings.” It was a hop and a skip before she discovered Hong Kong cinema and Bruce Lee. “Bruce Lee became this figure that was just super influential,” she told the Asian Weekly, “in terms of being an Asian American who broke boundaries, who was presented as this strong leading man, the hero in a time when that just wasn’t seen.” Fonda took up martial arts as a teen, and still practices. Like so many Asian Americans, she longed for a science fiction or fantasy hero or heroine that was relatable for her. So like Bruce Lee, Fonda Lee created her own, and by doing so, she became a frontrunner in culturally diverse writing.

“The medicine for my suffering I had within me from the very beginning, but I did not take it.”

Shannon and Fonda hope that “Breath of the Dragon” will introduce younger readers to Bruce Lee’s philosophies, as well as being a riveting book in its own right. For Shannon, her father’s words came to her at a troubled time, when she was struggling with the death of her brother, Brandon Lee, who also perished tragically young. It was the above quote, that suggests that our salvation is always within ourselves, that inspired her to take up her father’s legacy. She is the co-founder and chairperson of the Bruce Lee Foundation (Linda Lee Caldwell, Bruce Lee’s wife, is the other founder). “I take a lot from my father’s teachings,” Shannon Lee said. These teachings are infused into Jun, are part of Jun, and are what Shannon recommends to those searching for their path: “If we’re willing to really take a look at ourselves. Where does it hurt? Where do I find joy? Where do I lose myself? Where do I find myself?” If we are willing to shift our perspective and understand that the answer is within us, we’ll “find some peace of mind.”

“Bruce Lee was a uniter of East and West,” Fonda said. Maybe Jun will be, too?

“Breath of the Dragon,” the first of the “Breathmarked” duology, releases Jan. 7, 2025.

Kai can be reached at newstips@nwasianweekly.com.