Fonda Lee Explained

Fonda Lee
Birth Date:10 March 1979
Birth Place:Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Occupation:Author
Education:Stanford University (MBA)
Genre:Speculative fiction
Notableworks:The Green Bone Saga

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

Lee was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and currently resides in Portland, Oregon in 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

Lee's debut young adult science fiction novel, Zeroboxer, was published by Flux Books and nominated for the 2016 Andre Norton Award.[5] It received positive reviews from Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews, which described it as "top-notch science fiction and a great sports novel too".[6] [7]

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.[8] [9] [10] [11] 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.[5] [12] [13] [14]

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.[15] [16] 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.[17]

Her debut novel for adults, Jade City, the first in The Green Bone Saga, was published by Orbit Books in 2017 to critical acclaim.[18] [19] [20] [21] 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.[22] [11] [16] [23] 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, 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.[17] [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".[3] [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.[41] The first book will be published in January 2025 by Wednesday Books acquired the rights to the series and plans to publish the first book in 2024.[42]

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.[43]

Awards

!Year!Nominee!Award!Category!Result!Ref
2016ZeroboxerNebula AwardAndre Norton Award
2018ExoAurora AwardYA Novel
Andre Norton Award
Jade CityAurora AwardNovel
Nebula AwardNovel
Locus AwardFantasy Novel
World Fantasy AwardsNovel[44]
Old SoulsAurora AwardShort Fiction
World Fantasy AwardsShort Fiction
2019Cross FireAurora AwardYA Novel
Locus AwardYoung Adult Book
2020"I (28M) Created a Deepfake Girlfriend"Locus AwardShort Story
Jade WarAurora AwardNovel
Dragon AwardsFantasy Novel
Ignyte AwardsNovel - Adult
Locus AwardFantasy Novel
2022Jade LegacyAurora AwardNovel
Dragon AwardsFantasy Novel
Locus AwardFantasy Novel
The Green Bone SagaHugo AwardSeries

Bibliography

Standalone Novels

Exo series

The Green Bone Saga

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)

Short fiction

See also

External links

Interviews

Notes and References

  1. Interview: Fonda Lee . . Coleman . Christian A. . 2018-01-25 . 2018-03-09 . en-US .
  2. The 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time . Time . August 16, 2022.
  3. News: We asked, you answered: Your 50 favorite sci-fi and fantasy books of the past decade . Mayer . Petra . . August 18, 2021 . August 16, 2022.
  4. Fonda Lee: When the Alien Invaders Win (excerpts) . . July 16, 2018.
  5. Web site: Nebula Awards Nominees and Winners: Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy Nebula Awards - The Nebula Awards. The Nebula Awards. en-US. 2018-03-09.
  6. News: Children's Book Review: Zeroboxer by Fonda Lee . PublishersWeekly.com. 2018-03-09. en.
  7. Web site: Zeroboxer . Kirkus Reviews . January 20, 2015 . August 16, 2022.
  8. Web site: EXO by Fonda Lee . Kirkus Reviews. October 19, 2016 . August 16, 2022 . en-us.
  9. Web site: Exo by Fonda Lee . . August 16, 2022.
  10. Web site: 2017 Nebula Awards . Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America, Inc. (SFWA) . May 19, 2018 . August 16, 2022.
  11. 2018 Aurora Awards Winners . . October 8, 2018 . August 16, 2022.
  12. Web site: Cross Fire an Exo Novel . . March 5, 2018 . August 16, 2022.
  13. 2019 Locus Awards Finalists . . May 7, 2019 . August 16, 2022.
  14. 2019 Aurora Awards Winners . . October 20, 2019 . August 16, 2022.
  15. Web site: 2018 Aurora Awards . sfadb.com.
  16. https://locusmag.com/2018/11/2018-world-fantasy-award-winners/ 2018 World Fantasy Awards Winners
  17. 2020 Locus Awards Winners . . June 27, 2020 . August 16, 2022.
  18. News: Vibrantly Constructed Fantasy: Jade City by Fonda Lee. 2017-11-07. Tor.com. 2018-03-09. en-US.
  19. Web site: Jade City by Fonda Lee . . August 16, 2022.
  20. Web site: Jade City by Fonda Lee . . October 11, 2017 . August 16, 2022.
  21. Jade City by Fonda Lee . Gutterman . Annabel . . October 15, 2020 . August 16, 2022.
  22. News: Where to read 2018's Nebula Awards nominees online. The Verge. 2018-03-09.
  23. 2018 Locus Awards Winners . . June 23, 2018 . August 16, 2022.
  24. Web site: Jade War by Fonda Lee . . August 16, 2022.
  25. Web site: Jade War by Fonda Lee . . July 1, 2019 . August 16, 2022.
  26. 2020 Dragon Awards Winners . . September 8, 2020 . August 16, 2022.
  27. 2020 Aurora Awards Winners . . August 7, 2020 . August 16, 2022.
  28. Ignyte Awards Winners . . October 18, 2020 . August 16, 2022.
  29. Results: The 2020 Ignyte Awards . Lewis . L. D. . FIYAH Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction . October 17, 2020 . August 16, 2022.
  30. Web site: Jade Legacy by Fonda Lee . . August 16, 2022.
  31. Web site: Jade Legacy by Fonda Lee . Chadwick . Kristi . . August 1, 2021 . August 18, 2022.
  32. 2022 Locus Awards Winners . . June 25, 2022 . August 16, 2022.
  33. 2022 Aurora Awards Winners . . August 15, 2022 . August 16, 2022.
  34. 2022 Dragon Awards Ballot . . August 11, 2022 . August 16, 2022.
  35. Web site: 2022 Hugo Awards . The Hugo Awards . World Science Fiction Society (WSFS) . April 7, 2022 . August 16, 2022.
  36. Web site: The Jade Setter of Janloon by Fonda Lee . . August 16, 2022.
  37. Web site: 'Jade City' TV Series Based on Books In Works At Peacock From Dave Kalstein, Breck Eisner & Dean Georgaris . Petski . Denise . Deadline . August 12, 2020 . August 16, 2020.
  38. Web site: Peacock cancels adaptation of award-winning fantasy book years into development . Edwards . Molly . GamesRadar . July 5, 2022 . August 16, 2022.
  39. Web site: The Monster That Kills Other Monsters: Announcing Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee . . February 23, 2022 . August 16, 2022.
  40. Web site: Publishing . Tor com . Untethered Sky . 2023-06-09 . Tordotcom Publishing . en-US.
  41. Web site: Lee . Fonda . 2022-12-01 . Announcing the Guardian of the Scroll duology in collaboration with Shannon Lee . 2023-06-09 . Fonda Lee . en-US.
  42. Web site: Breath of the Dragon . MacMillan.
  43. Web site: Team . The Orbit . 2023-03-01 . Acquisition Announcement: THE LAST CONTRACT OF ISAKO by Fonda Lee . 2023-06-09 . Orbit Books . en-US.
  44. Web site: World Fantasy Awards 2018 . World Fantasy Convention . November 4, 2018 . August 16, 2022.