James Nicoll Reviews

2025’s Breath of the Dragon is the first of two volumes in Fonda Lee and Shannon Lee¹​’s secondary-universe fantasy Breathmarked duology.

When two warriors with special powers (warriors known as Aspects of Virtue) arrive to collect Jun’s twin brother Sai for training as an Aspect, six-year-old Jun is outraged. While Breathmarked Sai’s gift allows him to copy perfectly other people’s martial arts skills, mundane Jun has trained hard to be a skilled martial artist.

East Longhan forbids common folk from learning martial arts. The end result of proud Jun’s display of prowess is that Jun and his father are exiled to West Longhan for five years.

Ten years later, Jun and his father are still in West Longhan.

Longhan was until recently a single nation under the emperor. The Council of Virtue rebels were able to take control of the East. The loyalists were able to keep control of the West. An uneasy stalemate has lasted half a century, but tensions between the two nations are slowly escalating.

Jun may be a decade older now, but he has lost none of his love for martial arts. This distresses Jun’ father, who would prefer that Jun focus on scholarship and official position, which would provide a reliable income (and won’t leave Jun as prematurely aged as his father). Jun is not receptive to his father’s pleas. Indeed, Jun wants to take part in the impending Guardian’s Tournament.

The Guardian defends and studies the Scroll of Heaven, one of two divine scrolls granted to Longhan by the divine Dragon centuries ago. Every six years, a new Guardian is selected though a grand tournament in which all of Longhan’s martial artists may participate. Jun is determined to take part, regardless of his father’s feelings in the matter.

Jun’s martial arts teacher Master Song selects rival Yin Yue to represent the Iron Core school. In an unprecedented decision, Master Song offers Jun the chance to accompany Yin Yue as the Iron Core school’s second champion… if Jun can somehow fund his own trip. Alas, Jun’s father not only refuses to provide the funds, he forbids Jun from going at all. Master Song has no choice but to honor Jun’s father’s decree.

Nothing for it but for Jun to disobey his father and his master. Jun sets out for the tournament. He will represent no school and no master, only himself. He will rely on no other people… except for Chang and Ren², entertainers in whose cart Jun conceals himself. They graciously give Jun a job and further training when they discover him.

Despite various misadventures Jun reaches and enters the tournament. However, it will not be the tournament he expected. Patriotic General Cobu has changed the rules to ensure that the next Guardian will not be as disappointing to Cobu as the previous Guardian. Weapons will now be allowed, as will lethal combat.

Jun has no interest in imperial politics save as something to avoid if possible. Jun will learn that politics has a considerable interest in him.

~oOo~

Odd coincidence: this isn’t the only book I’ve read recently about people being forced by circumstance to struggle against oppressive oligarchies. It is almost as though there were some common real world phenomenon pushing authors in that direction.

About the series name: some people have ​“breathmarks,” scaly patches that signify that they have some sort of supernatural gift³. These appear to manifest in random people. The abilities vary greatly. Many have no obvious combat use; some are so subtle that their owners have no idea what their special power might be. Jun is not Breathmarked, so his path to prowess is the old fashioned one: hard work.

Neither East nor West governments have a monopoly on vice or virtue. The East rebelled because of imperial excesses, which they replaced with doctrinaire ideology. The West is loyal to traditional ways, but to protect them, Cobu and his supporters upend convention. We don’t really get a good look at the Council members in this volume, but we learn that Cobu isn’t in the game for personal power. He simply feels that as the man with the clearest idea of what needs to be done, he should be in charge.

The appeal of a young protagonist like Jun is that their naiveté facilitates no end of useful educational moments, whether discovering that some mistakes have no take-backs, or learning that how governments claim they work and how they actually work can be very different things. Lee and Lee take full advantage of the opportunity Jun presents. 

Some readers might not be interested in Jun’s journey of political discovery. Good news! There is also a considerable amount of high-stakes combat in this volume. All but one contestant will lose, many will be permanently maimed and some will die. Even the winner will have to deal with Cobu, who may not have exceptional martial arts but who does have a loyal army. Great fun all round, except for the people left with life-altering injuries or who are killed outright.

Breath of the Dragon is available here (Amazon US), here (Amazon Canada), here (Amazon UK), here (Apple Books), here (Barnes & Noble), here (Chapters-Indigo), and here (Words Worth Books).

1: Although they share a surname, Fonda Lee and Shannon Lee are not related.

2: Ren is an attractive woman who does not fall for Jun, possibly because she feels (with considerable evidence) that she could do a lot better than one poorly disciplined, pugnacious teenager.

3: The Scrolls of Heaven and Earth are believed to be the gift of the benevolent Lady of Many Hands, while the breathmarks might be a gift from Dragon himself. Or so it is believed. The magic is real, and the large-scale magical consequences from the East and West mucking around are real, so maybe the divine beings exist too.

This raises the question, if the gods cared enough to give humans the scrolls and breathmarks, where are they now? One answer is the gods aren’t that invested in mortal humans, and by providing scrolls and breathmarks fulfilled whatever obligations were owed.