For anyone who was a fan of the Avatar the Last Airbender series, you should definitely give this a read. It shares the series’ pathos, morals and humor, it fits right in with the bigger universe.

Diving hundreds of years before ATLA and LOK, it follows the story of Kyoshi, an orphaned servant girl who is believed to be nothing but that. Her only joy in life is her friendships with the Avatar Yun and his firebender bodyguard Rangi. However, as everyone knows, Kyoshi is the one who becomes Avatar, created the Dai Li and gives her name to an era. 

I don’t want to give any spoilers to it, so I’ll just state the worldbuilding is very fulfilling. At once it feels like a recognizable landscape but also different as the era is more fractured than the somewhat harmonized balance we’ve come to see in the shows. 

It also allows readers to see the inner workings of the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Kingdom as well as the dafoi underworld, how each place has its own cultures, dirty politics and traditions that separate them from the others. Besides in terms of their bending. 

Furthermore the descriptions of bending were in one word, epic. The whole scale of the battles were epic and amazing, I could visualize it as clearly as if it were animated in front of my eyes. 

Also this duology is intense, so many of my favorite characters die. Yee pulls no punches when it comes to depicting the harsh world Kyoshi lives that which influences her more pragmatic/merciless approach to dispensing injustice.

Which brings me to characterization, Kyoshi was my one favorite character who didn’t die (of course not. She’s the main and we already know she’s the longest lived Avatar) and the reason she is my favorite is simply her characterization. She goes through a lot. Her past is a big reason for why she loathes criminals like the dafoi and two-faced money men. She is in favor of honesty rather than the intricate dealings of politics that the world is made of. She has a need for order which is why it’s easy to picture her creating the Dai Li in the future.

She’s not the cold-hearted murderer fans reduce her to. She can be harsh, but she has a code. She’s trying to take out the root of evil for all the peasants who cannot fight for themselves. She must make tough decisions that others cannot do.

But she is saddled with the legacy of her predecessors and concerns for the future state of the world. It is all so much to bear, but it’s a unique problem and I enjoyed seeing how the decisions of Kurak and his companions in the past help create the struggle that is Kyoshi’s present. Remember in Aang’s time they needed a fighter when he was a peacemaker, and in Korra they needed a peacemaker, not a fighter. Here they need a diplomat, but Kyoshi is an enforcer. 

Like the show, it doesn’t paint anyone as unilaterally good or bad, just in balance and out of balance, all shades of grey. And so are their decisions which is one of the things that Kyoshi really struggles with. Is she making the right choice? What will be her legacy as Avatar? 

This is one of my favorite quotes from it that really demonstrates her dilemma and her journey.

“There’s a thousand generations of past lives in the Avatar cycle. You could spend years talking to us, and you still won’t know how to best guide the world. This is what you must forgo, Kyoshi, the easy answers. You must give up your desire for someone to tell you your choices were correct in the end.” 

My one nitpick which is more of an observation is that Yee uses a lot of metaphors in the second book. They weren’t grandiose or clunky or ill-fitting to the story, but it’s just something I observed.

This was a light review as there is so much pathos, politics and morality woven into it that it has to be experienced to understand. Now go read it for yourself!