I love Avatar: The Last Airbender (but love The Legend of Korra a little bit more), and one thing that I can say with certainty is that I can never get enough of that universe!
I've already discussed some of the Avatar comics on this site, including the Katara and Toph one-offs, as well as the fantastic Suki, Alone story. But, if there's any offshoot that I love the most, it's the F.C. Yee Chronicles of the Avatar novels.
Now that the second book in the Yangchen duology, The Legacy of Yangchen, released not too long ago, I want to talk about everything I've learned from the Kyoshi and Yangchen books.
There Has Always Been A Constant Power Struggle With The Different Regions, No Matter The Time Period
For a "kid's show," there sure is a lot of political intrigue involved. We see some of that in Avatar: The Last Airbender with the machinations of the Fire Nation, and the Earth Kingdom ("There is no war in Ba Sing Se."), but we get a lot more of that in the four seasons of The Legend of Korra.
In fact, in The Legend of Korra Dark Horse comics, Toph almost becomes a governor, which would throw all kinds of things into disarray if it actually happened. But, the Chronicles of the Avatar books take the political intrigue to a whole other level. When I discussed the Kyoshi novels many moons ago, I kind of danced around the plot, but it involves how the wrong Avatar has been picked in the past, and how something like that could affect whole kingdoms.
The Yangchen novels take it even further with Yangchen’s shaky relationship with the Earth King, as well as there being a calculating character who is in command of some seriously powerful firebenders. If you love Avatar, but want some more grown-up storytelling, then the Chronicles of the Avatar novels are the content that you need in your life.
The Spirit World Acts Differently For Different Avatars
One thing I have always loved about the world is that each Avatar has a connection to the Spirit World to varying degrees. Before Korra bridged the gap between the physical world and the Spirit World, it used to be very difficult for anybody outside of Avatars to enter the Spirit World (though, Jinora in The Legend of Korra, who wasn’t one, was a pro).
We got to see the Spirit World often on the shows, but it was intriguing to see the Avatars of the past enter the realm in these books. What’s fascinating is that the Kyoshi books came before the Yangchen books, so we see the ramifications of Yangchen’s dealings with the Spirit World in her stories. This ultimately affected Kuruk in the Kyoshi novels, and then Kyoshi herself, who had a different relationship to the Spirit World because of Yangchen’s interactions there.
It’s all just another reason why these books are essential reading for any superfan of the Avatar universe.
The World Of Avatar Can Actually Be Super Violent
I’m super excited for the upcoming Avatar animated feature. Hell, I’m even excited for the upcoming live action Airbender series (even if Avatar’s creators hightailed it out of there). But, one thing that kind of bugs me is that both will decidedly be geared toward children.
However, again, that’s where the novels come in, because neither duology shies away from the more grisly side of the universe. Kyoshi has always been known by fans as the Avatar who will kill somebody if she deemed it necessary, and we see some of that in her novels. We see even more violence in the Yangchen books, though. For example, there is actually dead body disposal in these stories, and also a character who is very adept with knives.
Now, I’m not saying that this world needs violence to be “more grown-up,” as The Last Airbender’s whole plot centered around the genocide of the Airbenders. However, it’s great to see a completely unvarnished take on the world of Avatar that isn’t intended for either show’s core audience.
The Previous Avatars We Thought We Knew From The Show Are Completely Different
One thing that is unique and interesting about Last Airbender and Legend of Korra is that we see some of the former Avatars from the perspective of Aang and Korra. In Korra, we’re actually introduced to the very first Avatar in Wan. I’ve always loved this, because again, I can’t get enough of the world.
That said, as I just mentioned, we see some of the previous Avatars through Aang and Korra, but we don’t actually get to see the Avatars themselves when they were still alive. I mean, not really. But, their actions are put on full display in the books. The biggest revelation of all definitely comes from Avatar Kuruk, who we learn actually had a really tragic backstory. With the Kyoshi books, we learn that one of the Avatars who was often seen as one of the worst is proven to be one of the best.
We also see that Yangchen, who Aang often compares himself to since she was the last Airbender Avatar before him, was definitely no saint. She was actually really troubled and had a lot of emotional baggage due to issues that I won’t spoil here. It’s just really great to see these characters fully explored in a way that was only hinted at on the shows.
There Are All Sorts Of Bending Techniques That We're Only Shown Glimpses Of On The Shows
Some of my favorite moments of both shows were when we found out that there are other abilities attached to the different bending techniques. For example, how cool was it when Toph learned to metalbend out of necessity, or when Bolin first used lavabending? So rad.
It’s even cooler seeing Kyohsi dust bend in her novels, or, and this was my favorite moment out of all four books, when Yangchen sucked the air right out of an entire room, making sure that she did it just right so that she didn’t kill every single person behind a door. Yeah, we saw Zaheer actually kill the Earth Queen in this manner, but the way it’s written is just SO COOL in the books. F.C. Yee did an excellent job.
That’s just some of what I learned from these four books. As I’ve mentioned already, if you’re a fan of the world, then you NEED to read these novels. For more on all things Avatar-related, be sure to swing by here often.
