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MY ⭐️ RATING: 4.5/5
Format: Kindle Whispersync
BOOK DESCRIPTION
A young warrior dreams of proving his worth in the elite Guardian Tournament, fighting not only for himself but the fate of everything he loves.
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 Heaven to a new protector. Eager to prove his skills, Jun hopes that a win will restore his father’s pride—righting a horrible mistake that caused their banishment from his home, mother, and twin brother.
But Jun’s father strictly forbids him from participating. He believes there is no future in Jun 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 and the very survival of everyone he cares about.
MY REVIEW
There’s something about martial arts that always grabbed me from a young age. While I never practiced it, growing up in the 80’s and 90’s in a household that watched a lot of movies starring the likes of Bruce Lee, Jean Claude Van Damme, Jet Li & Chuck Norris, while also playing the original Mortal Kombat & Street Fighter games in the arcade and on Nintendo, always playing either Liu Kang, Ken & Ryu, you could say it was a big part of my life. So to read something based off of the man who starred in Enter the Dragon and Fists of Fury that also created Jeet Kune Do, come to life once again was incredible, because this is a homage to classic Wuxia with a fresh new approach bundled in a Bruce Lee biography meets Naruto story.
Fonda Lee and Shannon Lee teaming up to tell a Bruce Lee story is perfection! The story was filled with so many things like the fact that the main characters name is Jun, which is Bruce’s birth name, Jun’s twin Sai also plays a big role for Bruce, as he was originally going to be named Sai-fon. While there is a lot more throughout the story, Bruce’s father and Jun’s father both worked as opera actors and the coolest one is Lee’s stage name that also comes in to play later in the book as Jun earns a martial name.
My only real issue with the story was that the prologue made it feel as if we would get a separation story between Jun and Sai, like a yin and yang type of story of twins split, one is raised evil while the other is raised good. Instead, Sai gets some spots here and there as a voice inside Jun’s head. I know it’s YA, but I really feel like there’s some meat that was left off the bone that could’ve made this story much larger and more complex than what can fit in a Duology. I’m assuming the second book will either focus more on Sai or at least introduce him into the storyline more prominently with how Breath of the Dragon ends.
“None of us know how long we have to live.
We have to do what’s important while we still have the chance.”
With that said, one of the best things about the characters in this story is that it’s not filled with a bunch of annoying angsty kids that typically fill a YA story. Instead, it was a story that had very likable characters of Jun, Ren & Yin Yue as well as some adult characters such as sifu Chang. While I enjoyed all the characters, Fonda and Shannon did a superb job with Jun, building his backstory and continuing to develop him throughout as he trained to become the next guardian of the heaven scroll. The best part is another Bruce Lee inspiration of his infamous one-inch punch.
Fonda and Shannon also did a great job making a plot and character story that was fun, fast paced and action packed. While it was fun and action-packed, it still had its moments that tugged on heart strings. If there’s one thing I always love, it’s a good hero’s journey with an added element of political scheming, a secret society and a coming war. If that wasn’t enough, the action was excellent, the tournament was filled with hard-hitting cinematic fights straight out of a martial arts film that were both tantalizing and brutal, though I did want to see a little bit more of the dragon scale powers in use, rather than what was put on display. Last but certainly not least, was the incredible narration by Eric Yang who really brought the words to life, making every character and scene standout, whether it was dealing with frustration, anger or sadness, everything was portrayed to perfection to make the experience that much better.
In summary, while I did have some minor issues here and there, I had so much fun reading this, and if you’re looking for something similar to Kung-Fu Panda or Naruto that is a YA, coming of age, Asian fantasy with very likable characters, a hero’s journey plot line and a fantastic narrator, then Breath of the Dragon should definitely be on the top of your list.
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