‘Breath of the Dragon’ Review: An Interesting Yet Tonally Confusing Read

Powerhouse fantasy writer Fonda Lee and actress and businesswoman Shannon Lee have teamed up to bring readers “Breath of the Dragon,” which constructs a fantasy world full of martial arts and magic. And the result is: just fine. The book is partly based on the life and personal philosophy of Shannon Lee’s father, Bruce Lee. It is a coming-of-age narrative about Jun, a young fighter who must win the legendary Guardian’s Tournament in order to prove his skills to both the world and himself. Fonda Lee and Shannon Lee craft an exciting new fantasy world in “Breath of the Dragon,” but the novel is tonally confusing and ultimately lacks a strong character-driven core, leaving Jun’s universe feeling surprisingly lifeless.

The best aspect of the novel is its world-building, which feels unique without going too overboard on its details. Jun lives in Longhan, which has been split into the West and the East by the long Snake Wall due to factional feuds. Longhan has a simple yet comprehensive history that isn’t hard to follow. Within the East of Longhan, martial arts are favored, while in the West, they are outlawed. Most of the novel is set in the West, where Jun hones his fighting style and learns how to channel the Breath of the Dragon — the deity of this world.

Fonda Lee and Shannon Lee make the world feel lived-in and realistic by borrowing martial arts philosophies from Shannon Lee’s father, Bruce Lee, and tapping into Chinese history and mythology. Yet they also make it feel otherworldly with small bits of detail woven into the otherwise straightforward narrative, like magical gifts bestowed upon fighters, martial arts training based upon mystical inner energy, and references to artifacts that come from another realm.

However, the vision that Fonda Lee and Shannon Lee build loses some of its cohesiveness due to the novel’s tonal shifts. At first, the novel seems to approach its tale with the tilt of a childish fairytale — when the reader first learns about Jun and the powers of his brother, who is “breath-marked,” or given magical powers at birth, the world feels dreamy and full of potential.

After this ethereal introduction, the plot changes course and the style shifts as Jun and his father are separated from his brother and mother. At this point, the novel time-jumps to Jun’s teenage years, and it seems like the novel will keep a young adult, bildungsroman tone. Jun struggles with the need to prove himself and has a crush on Ren, his travelling companion — traits that feel perfectly young adult. For a while this YA tone persists, but in the third act, the novel takes a much bloodier and R-rated shift, with fights, random F-bombs, and chopped-off hands. While these qualities are not bad in and of themselves, the mashup of these tonal shifts leaves the novel on unstable ground without a unifying atmosphere.

Beyond tonal problems, “Breath of the Dragon” also contains some flat characters — which is surprising since Fonda Lee has always given attention to character building throughout her career. Jun and his goals are the most fleshed out, as he seeks to prove himself and battle against memories of his mother and twin brother.

The other characters, though, feel like archetypes — the wise teacher, the doubting father, the demure yet powerful love interest, the stoic rival. If the novel had kept its fairytale-esque tone throughout, perhaps the characters would have felt more appropriate. But since Fonda Lee and Shannon Lee try to make the world much more mature and epic than it truly is, these choices seem one-dimensional. The novel is lengthy at just over 350 pages, so there is no reason that the characters, apart from Jun, should lack attention.

“Breath of the Dragon” has potential, but it doesn’t quite hit the mark. While the world of Longhan is simple and fascinating, the Fonda Lee and Shannon Lee duo fails to populate this world with rich characters or a story that is tonally cohesive. This lack of narrative detail is disappointing, as it feels like a pure retelling of Bruce Lee’s real life would have been more interesting, even if he didn’t have to deal with dragon powers. Perhaps the disconnect is due to the dual authors, a case of too many cooks in the kitchen. No matter the cause of these problems, “Breath of the Dragon” is a case of a fantastic idea that falls flat.

—Staff writer Hannah E. Gadway can be reached at hannah.gadway@thecrimson.com.