A review by miak2
The Dawn of Yangchen by F.C. Yee

adventurous funny mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

 
"I bet you thought you held all your tiles... Funny thing about that. Once you play your tiles, you no longer hold them." p.285


4.5 stars

This was not the story I expected but one that I'm incredibly glad to have gotten. Yangchen is a surprising change of pace from other Avatars that we've encountered. More proactive, more conniving, more political. Still an airbender at her core, naturally, but so very different not only from Aang but also from Korra and Kyoshi. This Team Avatar is also markedly different from others in the past. We spend a lot of time from Kavik's perspective too, but I found him to be a really fun character to follow as well, with a separate background that had me interested from the get-go.

In many ways, Yee had a fun task here, getting to write about an avatar whom we previously knew so little about, set in a time that we also hadn't yet experienced. As a whole, I'm such a fan of his writing. I said this when I read the Kyoshi novels last year, but he's the absolutely perfect person to expand this incredibly series into a book format. These books have all captured the emotional range of the original series, and similarly are able to tackle complex plot lines and mature themes.

For a bit here I felt like Yee got carried away with 'gotcha-ing' the readers, but I do think it fits the general mood of the book. Both Yangchen and Kavik are quick-witted and cunning, and their plays to one-up each other throughout the course of the book were reflected in Yee's delivery methods. Their relationship is one of the most interesting I've encountered in this universe (which is saying a lot) and I'm especially interested to see where it goes in the next book.

And, I have to say. With every new installment in the Avatar universe I find myself more and more dismayed at how dirty The Legend of Korra did The White Lotus. 
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