With the release a few months ago of the live action Avatar the Last Airbender on Netflix, I thought it would be fun to take a look at a book series that has been exploring the Avatar (not the blue people) universe. I have been an Avatar fan since I was a teenager. The show deals with a lot of heavy concepts for a kids show and is often dark at times.

The setting is in a world where each element has a nation based upon it. Those that live within the nation are tied to that particular element (if you are lucky enough to be born a bender and not a regular person.) The Four Nations are: The Fire Nation, The Water Tribe, The Earth Kingdom, and The Air Nomads. The Avatar is the one who ties them all together and is born with the ability to control (bend) all four elements. The job of the Avatar is to bring balance to the physical world and the spiritual world. The Avatar must be an intermediary who settles disputes and brings about a just deal between various parties. The Avatar is the key to keeping the peace. In addition to this role, the Avatar is reincarnated every time they die. An Avatar can access and talk to any of his or her past memories and incarnations. The job description is definitely a lot for one person to handle!

The show focuses on one incarnation of the Avatar: a boy named Aang. Through Aang we see the burdens of Avatarhood on a kid’s shoulders. He tried to run away from his responsibilities resulting in him being frozen in ice for 100 years. Waking up he finds the world completely changed. The Fire Nation has taken over most of the world and he is the only hope in saving it and restoring the peace.

If you have watched Avatar the Last Airbender you know Aang’s story. But what about his past lives? The Chronicles of the Avatar series explores the lives of the Avatars that have come before Aang. These books are Young Adult to Adult level reads and feature Kyoshi’s story and Yangchen’s story. Roku’s story is due to be released on July 23rd of this year. I am hoping for a Kuruk novel after Roku!

The Rise of Kyoshi by F. C. Yee

I was very excited when this book came out as I had found the glimpses of Kyoshi in the Avatar the Last Airbender series absolutely fascinating. She is imposing! She has cool makeup! She fights with metal fans and wears a cool outfit! She founded an entire island of warrior women! Of course I wanted to find out more about this interesting character. I did not expect Kyoshi to become my all time favorite Avatar. Though we see her in the show in her adult years as an imposing and wise Avatar, Kyoshi wasn’t always that way. I found her so easy to connect with as a character.

Kyoshi is an orphan. She had to fight for everything she has which is not much. Not only that, she is terrible at earth bending. She can’t seem to control the smallest of pebbles! Being an orphan, no one considers that she could possibly be the Avatar. The elders believe that the next Avatar will be a strong bender at birth. Kyoshi is abnormally tall, clumsy, and does not fit the beauty standards of those around her. She has to face her share of bullies. Thus Kyoshi ends up working as a servant girl in the mansion that belongs to a boy the elders believe is the real Avatar!

The Rise of Kyoshi follows our hero as she finds out who she really is. As Aang had his faithful companions, we get to meet Kyoshi’s gang of close friends. One stand out is Rangi, a fiery spark of a fire bender who is such a strong and loyal friend. The relationship between Kyoshi and Rangi was a pleasure to read. Being an orphan, Kyoshi deeply values the friendships and connections she makes. She feels that she is a guardian of sorts and will not let anything happen to those she cares about.

There is plenty of epic bending fights with bandits and other baddies the team comes across. The overarching villain is so well written. His motives are understandable from a power hungry twisted perspective. He is a very powerful and worthy opponent for Kyoshi.

There were points in this book I wanted to cry, cheer, and laugh with the characters. I really felt a connection with them and the author did really well exploring these relationships. Kyoshi is a LGBTQ Avatar, but I am not going to spoil who she has feelings for. I can say that the relationship was very well written and believable. The novel takes the reader on a journey as Kyoshi grows as a person and learns how to control the four elements and assume her role as the true Avatar. (Questions about where the fans and face paint came from are also answered.) This book ends making you want more! I read this book so fast as I could not put it down! Luckily there is a sequel. The second book in the series reviewed below resumes Kyoshi’s story.

Recommended for fans of Avatar the Last Airbender, epic battles, fantasy worlds, political intrigue, LGBTQ, magic, and flying bison.

Click this link to request the novel! The Rise of Kyoshi

The Shadow of Kyoshi by F.C. Yee

This novel has everything an Avatar the Last Airbender fan could want. There are plenty of epic bending battles and strong main characters from each of the Four Nations. Each of the characters are well written and very likeable. Though there were both male and female characters, the very strong female characters stood out to me in this book. We still have our leading ladies, Kyoshi and Rangi, from the previous novel. Rangi’s mom, Hei Ran, gets more of a role in this book as being an Avatar companion. She is a strong Fire Nation noble with a rather serious and strict personality. She is definitely someone that you want on your side if there is trouble. Atuat, on the other hand, reminds me of a slightly zany older aunt figure who is a lot of fun, but wise and powerful. Atuat is an elderly water bender and an expert at using water bending to heal. It is a pleasure to see the friendship between Hei Ran and Atuat. They are two ladies with completely opposite personalities that actually compliment one another when together.

We get to see a lot more of the Spirit World than in the previous book as Kyoshi must face the fact that her friend, Yun may be possessed by a spirit! Yun was the boy from the first book that everyone thought was the Avatar. After Kyoshi was revealed as the true Avatar, Yun was practically tossed aside as worthless. Coming from an orphan background, Kyoshi has deep ties to the people in her life and feels as if her friends are family. This novel deals with her coming to terms with the fact that Yun may not be the boy she cared about any longer as he has changed in rather dark and twisted ways. Kyoshi has to figure out if that darkness is really who Yun has become…or if it is caused by his being possessed by a dark spirit!

Whether Yun is possessed or not, he is on a dark path. He has decided to track down and kill everyone who he perceives has wronged him in his life. He has a hit list. Unfortunately, those close to Kyoshi are on it. Yun is also causing political drama. Being the “previous Avatar”, Yun interacted with some high level officials from each of The Four Nations. The high level officials are also on his hit list. Add to this chaos some Fire Nation clan drama/civil war and Kyoshi has a lot to handle as the Avatar in The Shadow of Kyoshi!

Recommended for fans of Avatar the Last Airbender, strong female characters and friendships, demon possession, civil war, and elemental bending battles.

Click this link to request the novel! The Shadow of Kyoshi

The Dawn of Yangchen by F. C. Yee

The third book in the Chronicles of the Avatar series introduces us to Avatar Yangchen and her story. Yangchen is a VERY different Avatar than Kyoshi. A lot of their personality differences stem from the circumstances and cultures that they were raised in. Kyoshi was an orphan growing up in a war torn Earth Kingdom. Yangchen was born an Air Nomad. She was raised by monks in an Air Temple and was recognized early as being the next Avatar. While in the two Kyoshi novels we get to see Kyoshi grow and learn to bend the four elements, Yangchen has the benefit of the best teachers and we do not get to travel with her as she learns the elements. This does not mean that Yangchen is perfect and has no struggles! What interested me and got me diving in to learn more was Yangchen’s odd ability. Unlike other Avatars who can call on their past lives by choice for a chat, Yangchen is sometimes flung into violent seizures where her past lives at random possess her! She does learn to mostly control this, but sometimes another personality will slip out in times of exhaustion or distress. This is something she tries desperately to keep a secret and even lives in fear of.

The setting of this novel is different for an Avatar the Last Airbender novel. To avert a war, The Four Nations signed a treaty called The Platinum Affair. Due to this treaty each of the Nations became very isolationist. One would need special passes to travel and most borders were closed. International trade was agreed to be controlled by territories that existed outside of The Four Nations. These territories are referred to in the books as Shang Cities. The populations of these cities consists of people from each of The Four Nations. No one can get in or leave without special passes. The leaders of these cities are super rich and live in luxury while their people struggle in slums. The situation of these Shang Cities is the major conflict for Yangchen in her two novels.

Being an Air Nomad and the Avatar, Yangchen wishes to right the wrongs of the world. She wants to heal the sick and make sure that those who are struggling are taken care of. Most of all, she wants those in charge of the Shang Cities to share their wealth with those they are in charge of. Yangchen acts to obtain those goals in a very un-Air Nomad-like way. She uses spies and a lot of political double crossing and shadiness. To be honest, Yangchen would not seem out of place transplanted into the Game of Thrones universe.

Though this novel is about Yangchen, much of it focuses on her recruit, Kavik, a young water tribe man from one of the Shang Cities. She uses Kavik as an agent as he can go places that as the Avatar she cannot due to being recognized. Kavik has his own issues. His brother disappeared a long time ago. He has found evidence he made it out of the city to another Shang City. Yangchen has promised that if he goes on missions for her she will help him to find his missing brother.

If you are looking for all the shady fantasy political intrigue of Game of Thrones in the Avatar the Last Airbender series then this book is for you! There is bending of the elements involved, but we get to see bending in a more shifty underhanded way than in open battle. We also are introduced to a new “weapon” called Unanimity. This weapon is being used by one of the Shang leaders against another, but no one seems to know what it is or what it even looks like. Yangchen and Kavik must unravel the mystery behind Unanimity and figure out how to stop a weapon that is said to be able to take out an entire city! A cherry on top for fans of the Avatar the Last Airbender series is the origin story of Combustion Man and others of his kind from the animated show.

Recommended for fans of Avatar the Last Airbender, political intrigue, shady dealings, spies, powerful weapons, Air Nomads, and Combustion Man from the show.

Click this link to request the novel! The Dawn of Yangchen

The Legacy of Yangchen by F.C. Yee

In the second Yangchen novel, our Avatar is still dealing with the aftermath of the weapon Unanimity from the last novel. Yangchen is stuck with cleaning up the mess and keeping the existence of such a powerful weapon under wraps. If word of this weapon were to get out, it would mean war between The Four Nations as each would seek control over it. We get a deeper look into Yangchen’s struggle to uphold her Air Nomad values with her struggle of being the Avatar and keeping the world from exploding in war. I found viewing her inner struggle to be oddly therapeutic as many of us have a lot going on in our individual lives and can relate to the feeling of wanting a vacation from it all. In Yangchen’s case it is a bit more serious as she has the world on her shoulders and starts to wonder if she should let the regular humans destroy each other. She often considers running away from it all. The burden of being the Avatar weighs heavily on her. She is constantly wondering if she is good enough. She wonders if her future lives will look back on her and see her legacy as a failure.

Kavik screwed up a lot in the previous book. He spends most of this novel trying to make it up to Yangchen while still trying to get his brother back. His brother ends up being one of the main antagonists of this novel alongside the powerful Shang ruler Chaisee. If I continue comparing the feel of these books to the feel of Game of Thrones, I would most compare Chaisee to the Game of Thrones character Cersi Lannister. Chaisee has the same motives…but she is more likeable. There are points I almost wanted to side with her as she had a very convincing way about her.

On top of dealing with the aftermath of the previous novel, Yangchen is still struggling to bring down the rulers of the Shang Cities. In addition to this, she has to find out how Unanimity was made and if there are any other weapons like it out there. I found this story very compelling. It is great getting to see Yangchen struggle with her morality and being the Avatar. The plot kept me guessing and wanting to find out more. The conclusion to the novel was VERY satisfying. With all the political intrigue and characters underestimating Yangchen, it was very good seeing her show what the Avatar is made of and accepting who she is.

Recommended for fans of Avatar the Last Airbender, strong female villains, shady dealings, political intrigue, and moral struggles.

Click this link to request the novel! The Legacy of Yangchen