Canadian-American author of speculative fiction
Fonda Lee (born March 10, 1979) is a Canadian-American
[1] author of
speculative fiction . She is best known for writing The Green Bone Saga , the first of which,
Jade City ,
[2] won the 2018
World Fantasy Award and was named one of the 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time by
Time magazine.
[3]
[4] The Green Bone Saga was also included on
NPR 's list, "50 Favorite Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books of the Past Decade".
[5]
Biography
Lee was born and raised in
Calgary, Alberta, Canada and currently resides in Portland, Oregon in the United States.
[1]
[6] She attended
Stanford University where she earned her MBA.
[6] Before becoming a full-time writer, she worked as a corporate strategist.
[1] Lee is a martial artist and has earned black belts in
karate and
kung fu .
[1]
[6]
Career
Lee's debut young adult science fiction novel, Zeroboxer , was published by
Flux Books and nominated for the 2016
Andre Norton Award .
[7] It received positive reviews from
Publishers Weekly and
Kirkus Reviews , which described it as "top-notch science fiction and a great sports novel too".
[8]
[9]
Lee's Exo series for young adults was published by
Scholastic beginning in 2017 with the first volume, Exo , which was well received by critics, was nominated for the 2017
Andre Norton Award , and won the 2018
Aurora Award for Best YA Novel in a tie.
[7]
[10]
[11]
[12]
[13] The second volume, Cross Fire , was published in 2018, was nominated for the 2019
Locus Award for Best Young Adult Novel, and won the 2019
Aurora Award for Best YA Novel .
[7]
[14]
[15]
[16]
Her 2017 short story "
Old Souls ", was published in Where the Stars Rise: Asian Science Fiction & Fantasy , and was nominated for the 2018
Aurora Award for Best Short Fiction and the 2018
World Fantasy Award for Best Short Fiction.
[17]
[18] Her 2020 short story, "I (28M) Created a Deepfake Girlfriend and Now My Parents Think We're Getting Married", was nominated for the 2020
Locus Award for Best Short Story.
[19]
Her
debut novel for adults,
Jade City , the first in The Green Bone Saga , was published by
Orbit Books in 2017 to critical acclaim.
[2]
[20]
[21]
[22] Jade City won the 2018
World Fantasy Award and
Aurora Award for Best Novel, and was nominated for the 2018
Nebula Award for Best Novel and 2018
Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel.
[3]
[13]
[18]
[23]
Jade City was included on
Time magazine's list "The Best Fantasy Books of All Time".
[4] The second in the series,
Jade War , published in 2019, received a starred review and weekly pick status from
Publishers Weekly , a starred review from
Kirkus Reviews , and was nominated for the
Locus Award ,
Dragon Award ,
Aurora Award , and
Ignyte Award .
[19]
[24]
[25]
[26]
[27]
[28]
[29] The concluding third volume of the series,
Jade Legacy , was published in 2021 and also received acclaim from readers and critics, earning a starred review and weekly pick from
Publishers Weekly , a starred review from
Library Journal , the 2022
Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel and the 2022
Aurora Award for Best Novel, and a nomination for the
Dragon Award for Best Novel.
[30]
[31]
[32]
[33]
[34] The Green Bone Saga series as a whole has also earned praise, earning a nomination for the
Hugo Award for Best Series and being included on
NPR 's list, "50 Favorite Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books of the Past Decade".
[5]
[35] In 2022,
Subterranean Press published Lee's standalone
novella set prior to the events of The Green Bone Saga entitled The Jade Setter of Janloon .
[36]
In 2020, it was announced that a TV series based on
Jade City was being developed at
Peacock , with Lee serving as a consulting producer.
[37] In July 2022, it was announced that Peacock had canceled the project, but Lee shared on Twitter that the team were seeking another service to take it up.
[38]
Lee's new fantasy
novella
Untethered Sky was published by
Tor.com in April 2023.
[39]
[40]
In December 2022, Lee announced that she was collaborating with
Shannon Lee (no relation), the daughter of the late actor and martial artist
Bruce Lee , on a series of young adult fantasy novels inspired by Bruce Lee's writings called the "Guardian of the Scroll duology.
Wednesday Books acquired the rights to the series and plans to publish the first book in 2024, according to the announcement.
[41]
In March 2023, Orbit Books announced that it had acquired the rights to Fonda Lee's "cyberpunk samurai space opera" novel The Last Contract of Isako , which is scheduled for winter 2025.
[42]
Awards
Bibliography
Novels
Standalone
Exo Series
The Green Bone Saga
The Jade Setter of Janloon (
Subterranean Press , 2022) - standalone prequel novella
Jade Shards (
Subterranean Press , 2023) - collection of 4 prequel short stories
Jade City (
Orbit Books , 2017)
Jade War (
Orbit Books , 2019)
Jade Legacy (
Orbit Books , 2021)
Short fiction
"Universal Print"
[1] , first published in Crossed Genres , issue #26 (2015)
"Spectral"
[2] , first published in Perihelion (2016)
"
Old Souls ", first published in Where the Stars Rise: Asian Science Fiction & Fantasy (2017)
"Welcome to the Legion of Six", first published in The Overcast , issue #102 (2019)
"I (28M) Created a Deepfake Girlfriend and Now My Parents Think We're Getting Married"
[3] , first published in
MIT Technology Review (2020).
"The Eternal Cocktail Party of the Damned"
[4] , first published in
Uncanny Magazine , issue #46 (2022)
Untethered Sky ,
novella ,
Tor.com (2023)
See also
References
^
a
b
c
d Coleman, Christian A. (January 25, 2018).
"Interview: Fonda Lee" .
Lightspeed . Retrieved March 9, 2018 .
^
a
b
"Vibrantly Constructed Fantasy: Jade City by Fonda Lee" . Tor.com . November 7, 2017. Retrieved March 9, 2018 .
^
a
b
"Where to read 2018's Nebula Awards nominees online" . The Verge . Retrieved March 9, 2018 .
^
a
b
"The 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time" . Time . Retrieved August 16, 2022 .
^
a
b Mayer, Petra (August 18, 2021).
"We asked, you answered: Your 50 favorite sci-fi and fantasy books of the past decade" .
NPR . Retrieved August 16, 2022 .
^
a
b
c
"Fonda Lee: When the Alien Invaders Win (excerpts)" .
Locus . July 16, 2018.
^
a
b
c
d
e
"Nebula Awards Nominees and Winners: Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy Nebula Awards - The Nebula Awards" . The Nebula Awards . Retrieved March 9, 2018 .
^
"Children's Book Review: Zeroboxer by Fonda Lee" . PublishersWeekly.com . Retrieved March 9, 2018 .
^
"Zeroboxer" . Kirkus Reviews . January 20, 2015. Retrieved August 16, 2022 .
^
"EXO by Fonda Lee" . Kirkus Reviews . October 19, 2016. Retrieved August 16, 2022 .
^
"Exo by Fonda Lee" .
Publishers Weekly . Retrieved August 16, 2022 .
^
a
b
c
"2017 Nebula Awards" . Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America, Inc. (SFWA) . May 19, 2018. Retrieved August 16, 2022 .
^
a
b
c
d
e
"2018 Aurora Awards Winners" .
Locus . October 8, 2018. Retrieved August 16, 2022 .
^
"Cross Fire an Exo Novel" .
Kirkus Reviews . March 5, 2018. Retrieved August 16, 2022 .
^
a
b
"2019 Locus Awards Finalists" .
Locus . May 7, 2019. Retrieved August 16, 2022 .
^
a
b
"2019 Aurora Awards Winners" .
Locus . October 20, 2019. Retrieved August 16, 2022 .
^
"2018 Aurora Awards" . sfadb.com.
^
a
b
c
d
2018 World Fantasy Awards Winners at
Locus ; published November 4, 2018
^
a
b
c
d
"2020 Locus Awards Winners" .
Locus . June 27, 2020. Retrieved August 16, 2022 .
^
"Jade City by Fonda Lee" .
Publishers Weekly . Retrieved August 16, 2022 .
^
"Jade City by Fonda Lee" .
Kirkus Reviews . October 11, 2017. Retrieved August 16, 2022 .
^ Gutterman, Annabel (October 15, 2020).
"Jade City by Fonda Lee" .
Time . Retrieved August 16, 2022 .
^
a
b
"2018 Locus Awards Winners" .
Locus . June 23, 2018. Retrieved August 16, 2022 .
^
"Jade War by Fonda Lee" .
Publishers Weekly . Retrieved August 16, 2022 .
^
"Jade War by Fonda Lee" .
Kirkus Reviews . July 1, 2019. Retrieved August 16, 2022 .
^
a
b
"2020 Dragon Awards Winners" .
Locus . September 8, 2020. Retrieved August 16, 2022 .
^
a
b
"2020 Aurora Awards Winners" .
Locus . August 7, 2020. Retrieved August 16, 2022 .
^
a
b
"Ignyte Awards Winners" .
Locus . October 18, 2020. Retrieved August 16, 2022 .
^
a
b Lewis, L. D. (October 17, 2020).
"Results: The 2020 Ignyte Awards" . FIYAH Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction . Retrieved August 16, 2022 .
^
"Jade Legacy by Fonda Lee" .
Publishers Weekly . Retrieved August 16, 2022 .
^ Chadwick, Kristi (August 1, 2021).
"Jade Legacy by Fonda Lee" .
Library Journal . Retrieved August 18, 2022 .
^
a
b
"2022 Locus Awards Winners" .
Locus . June 25, 2022. Retrieved August 16, 2022 .
^
a
b
"2022 Aurora Awards Winners" .
Locus . August 15, 2022. Retrieved August 16, 2022 .
^
a
b
"2022 Dragon Awards Ballot" .
Locus . August 11, 2022. Retrieved August 16, 2022 .
^
a
b World Science Fiction Society (WSFS) (April 7, 2022).
"2022 Hugo Awards" . The Hugo Awards . Retrieved August 16, 2022 .
^
"The Jade Setter of Janloon by Fonda Lee" .
Publishers Weekly . Retrieved August 16, 2022 .
^ Petski, Denise (August 12, 2020).
" 'Jade City' TV Series Based on Books In Works At Peacock From Dave Kalstein, Breck Eisner & Dean Georgaris" . Deadline . Retrieved August 16, 2020 .
^ Edwards, Molly (July 5, 2022).
"Peacock cancels adaptation of award-winning fantasy book years into development" . GamesRadar . Retrieved August 16, 2022 .
^
"The Monster That Kills Other Monsters: Announcing Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee" .
Tor.com . February 23, 2022. Retrieved August 16, 2022 .
^ Publishing, Tor com.
"Untethered Sky" . Tordotcom Publishing . Retrieved June 9, 2023 .
^ Lee, Fonda (December 1, 2022).
"Announcing the Guardian of the Scroll duology in collaboration with Shannon Lee" . Fonda Lee . Retrieved June 9, 2023 .
^ Team, The Orbit (March 1, 2023).
"Acquisition Announcement: THE LAST CONTRACT OF ISAKO by Fonda Lee" . Orbit Books . Retrieved June 9, 2023 .
^
a
b World Fantasy Convention (November 4, 2018).
"World Fantasy Awards 2018" . Retrieved August 16, 2022 .
External links
Interviews
Interview: Fonda Lee , Christian A. Coleman,
Lightspeed magazine , January 2018
Fonda Lee: When the Alien Invaders Win (excerpts) ,
Locus , July 2018
Interview with Fonda Lee (Jade City) , The Fantasy Hive, July 8, 2020
Fonda Lee: Exclusive Interview , Sirens Conference, April 19, 2021
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