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A review by danilanglie
The Shadow of Kyoshi by F.C. Yee
4.0
I'm extremely impressed with this duology, honestly! It speaks to the brilliance of the Avatar property that I can know it's primarily for a younger audience and still wonder in the epilogue if possibly the protagonist of this novel sent her assassin friend to murk the Fire Lord. I mean, obviously Kyoshi didn't do that, but she wasn't above threatening it and I kind of love that.
So much of the brilliance of the world building in these novels is in how you can see the origins for a couple generations down the road when it's Aang's turn. Like Fore Lord Zoryu strengthening the Fire Nation and starting to chip away at specific clan alliances, giving us the Fire Nation united under a strong tyrannical leader we get in the show.
The characters in this text are all so rich and specific and conflicted and flawed. Yun, and Rangi, and Zoryu, and the Flying Opera Company, and Hei-Ran... also, the way Kuruk is portrayed kind of broke my heart. Kyoshi's journey to accept this flawed former self was one that also forced her to accept herself as the Avatar, to embrace the role.
This was an excellent book that kept me on the edge of my seat! If I had any major complaints it would be that I wish I could have seen more of Kyoshi's time as the Avatar, how she ultimately founds the Dai Li and stuff like that. It felt like this entire duology was all about her establishing her position as the Avatar, and we didn't get to see what she actually built once she got there.
So much of the brilliance of the world building in these novels is in how you can see the origins for a couple generations down the road when it's Aang's turn. Like Fore Lord Zoryu strengthening the Fire Nation and starting to chip away at specific clan alliances, giving us the Fire Nation united under a strong tyrannical leader we get in the show.
The characters in this text are all so rich and specific and conflicted and flawed. Yun, and Rangi, and Zoryu, and the Flying Opera Company, and Hei-Ran... also, the way Kuruk is portrayed kind of broke my heart. Kyoshi's journey to accept this flawed former self was one that also forced her to accept herself as the Avatar, to embrace the role.
This was an excellent book that kept me on the edge of my seat! If I had any major complaints it would be that I wish I could have seen more of Kyoshi's time as the Avatar, how she ultimately founds the Dai Li and stuff like that. It felt like this entire duology was all about her establishing her position as the Avatar, and we didn't get to see what she actually built once she got there.