Breakaway Books

Authored by Fonda Lee and Shannon Lee; Published January 2025; Fantasy

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 🏖️🏖️🏖️🏖️

Breath of the Dragon may be marketed for young adults, but it certainly didn’t feel childish as it whisked me away to a new kingdom. It was a delight to be immersed in the magic and politics of a new land.

In Breath of the Dragon, Li Jun is ripped away from his twin brother at a young age, with a simple explanation: Jun’s twin is breathmarked, Jun is not, and it is strictly illegal for Jun’s father to have trained them in the martial arts. Exiled to the west of their country, Jun dreams of being reunited with the rest of his family, but as that prospect dims, he grows more excited about the idea of becoming the most formidable warrior in the West—the Guardian. As political tensions between the east and the west grow, Jun absconds to the Guardian tournament. Can he beat the odds and make his dream come true?

The element that makes this novel most obviously one for young adults is easily the villains. The general is over-the-top evil, cruel, pursuing power and his own interests above all else. The general’s main henchman is very nearly a monster, so brutal that he can barely be considered human. But set against these purely villainous characters, there is no one who is purely good, no shining white knight who escapes without sin. I appreciated how the author made clear that neither the east nor the west of the country is squarely in the right of their conflict, and yet both have ensured that their citizens think of the other side as so evil as to be nearly demonic. The dynamic rang the most true to life as any in the novel—we love to make monsters out of our enemies. Li Jun’s maturity is on display when he too realizes this fact and begins to grow. His evolution throughout the book from headstrong and arrogant to reflective, less sure, is satisfying to witness.

The fantastical world itself was intriguing, with some children (“breathmarked”) born with small dragon scales that marked them as gifted with special abilities, but no indication of what those abilities are. These gifts are not those of typical superheroes but far more interesting: perfect mimicry, influencing the mood of others, even capturing the attention of a crowd. But magic cannot save the country from dissolving into warring factions in the east and west, and one of the most compelling features of the book is the rebellious Silent Flute Society, hated by both sides and pursuing reunification. The performers with whom Li Jun travels to the Guardian tournament are members of this society who hide their allegiance well, and by the time their secret is discovered, we’re already too attached to them to hold it against them. They are easily the most likeable characters of the book, if also some of the most deceptive. 

Breath of the Dragon is a great novel for young adults, and young men especially. But don’t discount it for adults, either!