Fonda Lee (born March 10, 1979) is a Canadian-American author of

speculative fiction Speculative fiction is an umbrella term, umbrella genre of fiction that encompasses all the subgenres that depart from Realism (arts), realism, or strictly imitating everyday reality, instead presenting fantastical, supernatural, futuristic, or ...

. She is best known for writing ''The Green Bone Saga'', the first of which, '' Jade City'', won the 2018

World Fantasy Award The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year at the eponymous ann ...

and was named one of the 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time by ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine. ''The Green Bone Saga'' was also included on

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

's list, "50 Favorite Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books of the Past Decade".

Biography

Lee was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and currently resides in Portland, Oregon in the United States. She attended

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

where she earned her MBA. Before becoming a full-time writer, she worked as a corporate strategist. Lee is a martial artist and has earned black belts in

karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) un ...

and

kung fu Chinese martial arts, commonly referred to with umbrella terms Kung fu (term), kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (sport), wushu (), are Styles of Chinese martial arts, multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater Ch ...

Career

Lee's debut young adult science fiction novel, ''Zeroboxer'', was published by

Flux Books Llewellyn Worldwide (formerly Llewellyn Publications) is a New Age publisher based in Woodbury, Minnesota. Llewellyn's mission is to "serve the trade and consumers worldwide with options and tools for exploring new worlds of mind & spirit, thereb ...

and nominated for the 2016

Andre Norton Award The Andre Norton Nebula Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction (formerly the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy) is an annual award presented by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) to the ...

. It received positive reviews from ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' and ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

'', which described it as "top-notch science fiction and a great sports novel too". 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

, and won the 2018

Aurora Award for Best YA Novel The Aurora Awards are granted annually by the Canadian SF and Fantasy Association and SFSF Boreal Inc. The Award for Best YA Novel was first awarded in 2013 as a separate category to the Best Novel category. Currently, the award has only been spli ...

in a tie. 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

. 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 The Aurora Awards () are a set of primarily literary awards given annually for the best Canadian science fiction or fantasy professional and fan works and achievements from the previous year."Literary glow of Auroras lures galaxy of sci/fi stars". ...

for Best Short Fiction and the 2018

for Best Short Fiction.2018 World Fantasy Awards Winners
at ''

Locus Locus (plural loci) is Latin for "place". It may refer to: Mathematics and science * Locus (mathematics), the set of points satisfying a particular condition, often forming a curve * Root locus analysis, a diagram visualizing the position of r ...

''; published November 4, 2018 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 The Locus Awards are an annual set of literary awards voted on by readers of the science fiction and fantasy magazine '' Locus'', a monthly magazine based in Oakland, California. The awards are presented at an annual banquet. Originally a poll ...

for Best Short Story. Her

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to pu ...

for adults, '' Jade City'', the first in ''The Green Bone Saga'', was published by

Orbit Books Orbit Books is an international publisher that specialises in science fiction and fantasy books. It is a division of Lagardère Publishing. History Orbit Books was founded in 1974 as part of the Macdonald Futura publishing company. In 1992, ...

in 2017 to critical acclaim. ''Jade City'' won the 2018

and

for Best Novel, and was nominated for the 2018

Nebula Award for Best Novel The Nebula Award for Best Novel is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) for science fiction or fantasy novels. A work of fiction is considered a novel by the organization if it is 40,000 words or longer; ...

and 2018

for Best Fantasy Novel. '' Jade City'' was included on ''Time'' magazine's list "The Best Fantasy Books of All Time". The second in the series, ''

Jade War ''Jade War'' is a 2019 fantasy novel by Fonda Lee published by Orbit and is the sequel to ''Jade City''. It follows the island of Kekon as the jade-controlling clans are embroiled in an international war where jade is the centerpiece. The story ...

'', published in 2019, received a starred review and weekly pick status from ''

'', a starred review from ''

'', and was nominated for the

, Dragon Award,

, and Ignyte Award. The concluding third volume of the series, ''

Jade Legacy ''Jade Legacy'' is a 2021 fantasy novel by American Fonda Lee, published by Orbit on November 30, 2021. It is the third and final novel in ''The Green Bone Saga'', which began with ''Jade City'' (2017), and follows the surviving players from ...

'', was published in 2021 and also received acclaim from readers and critics, earning a starred review and weekly pick from ''

'', a starred review from ''

Library Journal ''Library Journal'' is an American trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey. It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional prac ...

'', the 2022

for Best Fantasy Novel and the 2022

for Best Novel, and a nomination for the Dragon Award for Best Novel. ''The Green Bone Saga'' series as a whole has also earned praise, earning a nomination for the

Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) and chosen by its members. The award is administered by th ...

for Best Series and being included on

's list, "50 Favorite Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books of the Past Decade". In 2022,

Subterranean Press Subterranean Press is a small press publisher in Burton, Michigan. Subterranean is best known for publishing genre fiction, primarily Horror fiction, horror, suspense and dark mystery, fantasy, and science fiction. In addition to publishing novel ...

published Lee's standalone

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most novelettes and short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) ...

set prior to the events of ''The Green Bone Saga'' entitled ''The Jade Setter of Janloon''. In 2020, it was announced that a TV series based on '' Jade City'' was being developed at

Peacock Peafowl is a common name for two bird species of the genus '' Pavo'' and one species of the closely related genus '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae (the pheasants and their allies). Male peafowl are referred t ...

, with Lee serving as a consulting producer. 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. Lee's new fantasy

'' Untethered Sky'' was published by

Tor.com ''Reactor'', formerly ''Tor.com'', is an online science fiction and fantasy magazine published by Tor Books, a division of Macmillan Publishers. The magazine publishes articles, reviews, original short fiction, re-reads and commentary on specul ...

in April 2023. In December 2022, Lee announced that she was collaborating with

Shannon Lee Shannon Emery Lee Keasler (born April 19, 1969) is an American actress, businesswoman, singer, and martial artist. She is the only living child of actor and martial artist Bruce Lee and retired martial arts teacher Linda Lee Cadwell, and is t ...

(no relation), the daughter of the late actor and martial artist

Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (born Lee Jun-fan; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was an American-born Hong Kong martial artist, actor, filmmaker, and philosopher. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy which was formed from ...

, on a series of young adult fantasy novels inspired by Bruce Lee's writings called the ''Guardian of the Scroll'' duology. The first book was published in January 2025 by

Wednesday Books St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan in New York City. It is headquartered in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 ...

. 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.

Awards

Bibliography

Standalone Novels

''Exo'' Series

* *

''The Green Bone Saga''

Prequels #'' The Jade Setter of Janloon'' (

, 2022) – standalone prequel novella #''Jade Shards'' (

, 2023) – collection of 4 prequel short stories Main series #'' Jade City'' (

, 2017) #''

'' (

, 2019) #''

'' (

, 2021)

Short fiction

*"Universal Print

first published in ''Crossed Genres'', issue #26 (2015) *"Spectral

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"

first published in ''

MIT Technology Review ''MIT Technology Review'' is a bimonthly magazine wholly owned by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It was founded in 1899 as ''The Technology Review'', and was re-launched without "''The''" in its name on April 23, 1998, under then pu ...

'' (2020). *"The Eternal Cocktail Party of the Damned

first published in ''

Uncanny Magazine ''Uncanny Magazine'' is an American science fiction magazine, science fiction and Fantasy fiction magazine, fantasy online magazine founded by publishing editors Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas. History First issued in 2014, the pu ...

'', issue #46 (2022) *''Untethered Sky'',

(2023)

References

External links

* *

Interviews

Interview: Fonda Lee
Christian A. Coleman, ''

Lightspeed magazine ''Lightspeed'' is an American online fantasy and science fiction magazine edited and published by John Joseph Adams. The first issue was published in June 2010 and it has maintained a regular monthly schedule since. The magazine published four o ...

'', January 2018
Fonda Lee: When the Alien Invaders Win (excerpts)
''

'', July 2018
Interview with Fonda Lee (Jade City)
The Fantasy Hive, July 8, 2020
Fonda Lee: Exclusive Interview
Sirens Conference, April 19, 2021 {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Fonda 1979 births Living people 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American short story writers 21st-century American novelists American women short story writers American women novelists Marvel Comics writers World Fantasy Award–winning writers Writers from Calgary American women science fiction and fantasy writers Canadian women science fiction and fantasy writers American women writers of young adult literature Stanford University alumni Aurora Award–winning writers Canadian women writers of young adult literature American writers of young adult literature Canadian writers of young adult literature