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Fonda Lee

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fonda Lee
Lee in 2024
Born (1979-03-10) March 10, 1979 (age 47)
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
EducationStanford University (MBA)
OccupationAuthor
Writing career
GenreSpeculative fiction
Notable workThe Green Bone Saga
Websitefondalee.com Edit this at Wikidata

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, won the 2018 World Fantasy Award and was named one of the 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time by Time magazine.[2] The Green Bone Saga was also included on NPR's list, "50 Favorite Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books of the Past Decade".[3]

Biography

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Lee was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and resided in Portland, Oregon, and currently resides in the Boston area of the United States.[1][4] She attended Stanford University where she earned her MBA.[4] 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][4]

Career

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Lee's debut young adult science fiction novel, Zeroboxer, was published by Flux Books and nominated for the 2015 Andre Norton Award. It received positive reviews from Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews, which described it as "top-notch science fiction and a great sports novel too".[5][6]

Lee's 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. Lee's career continued as she published the Exo duology for young adults in 2017 and 2018; both novels were well-received critically.

Her debut novel for adults, Jade City, was the first in The Green Bone Saga. It was published by Orbit Books in 2017 to critical acclaim. Jade City won the 2018 World Fantasy Award and Aurora Award for Best Novel, and was a finalist for the 2017 Nebula Award for Best Novel and 2018 Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel. Jade City was included on Time magazine's list "The Best Fantasy Books of All Time".[2] The second in the series, Jade War, published in 2019, was a finalist for the Locus Award, Dragon Award, Aurora Award, and Ignyte Award. The third volume of the series, Jade Legacy, was published in 2021 and also received acclaim, becoming a finalist for the 2022 Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel, the 2022 Aurora Award for Best Novel, and a nomination for the Dragon Award for Best Novel. The Green Bone Saga as a whole was a finalist for the 2022 Hugo Award for Best Series and was included on NPR's list, "50 Favorite Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books of the Past Decade".[3] 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.

In 2020, it was announced that a television series based on Jade City was being developed at Peacock, with Lee serving as a consulting producer.[7] 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.[8]

Lee's fantasy novella Untethered Sky was published by Tor.com in April 2023.

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.[9] The first book, Breath of the Dragon, was published in January 2025 by Wednesday Books.

Orbit Books published Fonda Lee's "cyberpunk samurai space opera" novel The Last Contract of Isako in May 2026.[10][11]

Awards

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Year Work Award Category Result Ref
2015 Zeroboxer Andre Norton Award Finalist [12]
2017 Exo Andre Norton Award Finalist [13]
Jade City Nebula Award Novel Finalist [13]
2018 Exo Aurora Award YA Novel Won [14]
Jade City Aurora Award Novel Won [14]
Locus Award Fantasy Novel Finalist [15]
World Fantasy Award Novel Won [16]
Old Souls Aurora Award Short Fiction Finalist [14]
World Fantasy Awards Short Fiction Finalist [16]
2019 Cross Fire Aurora Award YA Novel Won [17]
Locus Award Young Adult Book Finalist [18]
2020 "I (28M) Created a Deepfake Girlfriend" Locus Award Short Story Finalist [19]
Jade War Aurora Award Novel Finalist [20]
Dragon Awards Fantasy Novel Nominated [21]
Ignyte Awards Novel – Adult Finalist [22]
Locus Award Fantasy Novel Finalist [19]
2022 Jade Legacy Aurora Award Novel Won [23]
Dragon Awards Fantasy Novel Nominated [24]
Locus Award Fantasy Novel Won [25]
The Green Bone Saga Hugo Award Series Finalist [26]
2023 Untethered Sky Nebula Award Novella Nominated [27]
2024 Aurora Award Novelette/Novella Won [28]
British Fantasy Award Novella Shortlisted [29]
2026 Breath of the Dragon[a] Aurora Award Aurora Award for Best YA Novel Won [30]

Bibliography

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Standalone Works

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  • Zeroboxer. Flux Books. 2015. ISBN 9780738743387.
  • Untethered Sky. Tordotcom. 2023. ISBN 9781250842466.
  • The Last Contract of Isako. Orbit. 2026. ISBN 9780316568630.

Exo Series

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The Green Bone Saga

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Prequels

  1. The Jade Setter of Janloon (Subterranean Press, 2022) – standalone prequel novella
  2. Jade Shards (Subterranean Press, 2023) – collection of 4 prequel short stories

Main series

  1. Jade City (Orbit Books, 2017)
  2. Jade War (Orbit Books, 2019)
  3. Jade Legacy (Orbit Books, 2021)

Breathmarked series

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Short fiction

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  • "Universal Print", first published in Crossed Genres, issue #26 (2015)[31]
  • "Spectral", first published in Perihelion (2016)[32]
  • "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 (2020).[33]
  • "The Eternal Cocktail Party of the Damned", first published in Uncanny Magazine, issue #46 (2022)[34]

See also

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Notes

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  1. With Shannon Lee

References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 Coleman, Christian A. (January 25, 2018). "Interview: Fonda Lee". Lightspeed. Archived from the original on October 12, 2019. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
  2. 1 2 "The 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time". Time. Archived from the original on October 18, 2020. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
  3. 1 2 Mayer, Petra (August 18, 2021). "We asked, you answered: Your 50 favorite sci-fi and fantasy books of the past decade". NPR. Archived from the original on September 10, 2024. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 "Fonda Lee: When the Alien Invaders Win (excerpts)". Locus. July 16, 2018. Archived from the original on July 24, 2026. Retrieved July 24, 2026.
  5. "Children's Book Review: Zeroboxer by Fonda Lee". PublishersWeekly.com. Archived from the original on April 26, 2019. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
  6. "Zeroboxer". Kirkus Reviews. January 20, 2015. Archived from the original on August 17, 2022. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
  7. Petski, Denise (August 12, 2020). "'Jade City' TV Series Based on Books In Works At Peacock From Dave Kalstein, Breck Eisner & Dean Georgaris". Deadline. Archived from the original on August 13, 2020. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  8. Edwards, Molly (July 5, 2022). "Peacock cancels adaptation of award-winning fantasy book years into development". GamesRadar. Archived from the original on August 13, 2022. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
  9. Lee, Fonda (December 1, 2022). "Announcing the Guardian of the Scroll duology in collaboration with Shannon Lee". Fonda Lee. Archived from the original on June 7, 2023. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
  10. Team, The Orbit (March 1, 2023). "Acquisition Announcement: THE LAST CONTRACT OF ISAKO by Fonda Lee". Orbit Books. Archived from the original on June 9, 2023. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
  11. Chadwick, Kristi (March 4, 2026). "'The Last Contract of Isako' by Fonda Lee". Library Journal. Retrieved March 10, 2026.
  12. "2015 Nebula Awards Winners". Locus. May 14, 2016. Archived from the original on August 17, 2022. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
  13. 1 2 "2017 Nebula Awards Winners". Locus. May 19, 2018. Archived from the original on December 7, 2022. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
  14. 1 2 3 "2018 Aurora Awards Winners". Locus. October 8, 2018. Archived from the original on December 2, 2024. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
  15. "2018 Locus Awards Winners". Locus. June 23, 2018. Archived from the original on May 9, 2023. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
  16. 1 2 "2018 World Fantasy Awards Winners". Locus. November 4, 2018. Archived from the original on December 4, 2024. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
  17. "2019 Aurora Awards Winners". Locus. October 20, 2019. Archived from the original on October 20, 2019. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
  18. "2019 Locus Awards Finalists". Locus. May 7, 2019. Archived from the original on June 22, 2022. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
  19. 1 2 "2020 Locus Awards Winners". Locus. June 27, 2020. Archived from the original on March 29, 2022. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
  20. "2020 Aurora Awards Winners". Locus. August 17, 2020. Archived from the original on December 7, 2024. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
  21. "2020 Dragon Awards Winners". Locus. September 8, 2020. Archived from the original on September 11, 2020. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
  22. "Ignyte Awards Winners". Locus. October 18, 2020. Archived from the original on January 4, 2022. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
  23. "2022 Aurora Awards Winners". Locus. August 15, 2022. Archived from the original on December 8, 2024. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
  24. "2022 Dragon Awards Winners". Locus. September 7, 2022. Archived from the original on September 7, 2022. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
  25. "2022 Locus Awards Winners". Locus. June 25, 2022. Archived from the original on July 17, 2022. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
  26. "2022 Hugo, Astounding, and Lodestar Awards Winners". Locus. September 4, 2022. Archived from the original on March 20, 2023. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
  27. "2023 Nebula Awards Winners". Locus. June 8, 2024. Archived from the original on January 15, 2026. Retrieved July 5, 2025.
  28. "2024 Aurora Awards Winners". Locus. August 12, 2024. Archived from the original on July 24, 2025. Retrieved January 1, 2026.
  29. "2024 British Fantasy Awards Winners". Locus. October 14, 2024. Archived from the original on December 4, 2024. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  30. "2026 Aurora Awards Winners". Locus. August 10, 2026. Retrieved August 10, 2026.
  31. ""Universal Print" by Fonda Lee | Crossed Genres". crossedgenres.com. Archived from the original on February 6, 2015. Retrieved March 6, 2026.
  32. "Perihelion Science Fiction". www.perihelionsf.com. Archived from the original on June 24, 2016. Retrieved March 6, 2026.
  33. page, Fonda Leearchive. "I (28M) created a deepfake girlfriend and now my parents think we're getting married". MIT Technology Review. Archived from the original on December 12, 2023. Retrieved March 6, 2026.
  34. Words, Fonda Lee in Uncanny Magazine Issue Forty-Six | 3253. "The Eternal Cocktail Party of the Damned". Uncanny Magazine. Archived from the original on December 12, 2023. Retrieved March 6, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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Interviews

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