skygiants | (no subject)

My littlest cousin is about a half-generation younger than me, which puts him squarely in the right age bracket to independently discover Avatar: The Last Airbender now that it is airing on Netflix and very sweetly recommend it to me. He's right! It's a great show! It's not his fault I've been here since 2006 already.

This cousin in fact moved to Boston at the beginning of this year; unfortunately, then, the quarantimes, as a result of which he has just moved back to his hometown where he has a job opportunity and significantly cheaper rent. It was nice having him here while it lasted! Anyway, before he left, he lent me his copy of the new tie-in novel The Rise of Kyoshi, which I almost certainly would not have picked up on my own, having been for the most part very lukewarm thus far on all Avatar tie-in comics materials etc.

However: I really enjoyed it! Thank you, littlest cousin, I completely take back my initial "speak not to me of the deep magic, child" response to this initial burst of Avatar-recommendation enthusiasm.

The premise of the Kyoshi book is that:

a.) the previous Avatar was a fun-loving failboat who died extremely young, leaving all of his companions -- the most talented benders of their generation -- guilt-ridden and psychologically warped by their role in helping him avoid the path of righteousness in favor of the path that rocks
b.) due to complications related to a combo of this plus the fact that Kyoshi was an abandoned street child, she was never properly identified as the Avatar in childhood
c.) after years of desperate Avatar-hunting, everyone has recently assumed that a completely different street child is the Avatar because he spontaneously reinvented a bunch of the previous Avatar's favorite complicated chess moves, and a very relieved world has accepted him into their hearts! which makes it extremely awkward for everyone, especially the aforementioned guilt-ridden and psychologically warped mentors who discovered him, when the other street kid who works in their household begins to demonstrate some clear Avatar signalling...

So basically it's all astoundingly messy from the get-go and I'm extremely into it. Everything escalates very rapidly from there (in ways that are much darker than Avatar-the-show, which I had been told to expect and yet still took me by surprise!) It actually reminded me a little of Frances Hardinge in some ways; the prose and pacing style is not at all similar, but Kyoshi is absolutely a feral revenge-driven heroine with murderous mentors coming out her ears.

Some other things I enjoyed in particular:

- the complexity and affection in the relationship between Kyoshi and the kid who was previously tapped as Avatar
- I already mentioned the murderous morally ambiguous mentors but let me say again how much I appreciate the range
- the way the book brings in the Chinese opera influences of Kyoshi's signature fans + stage makeup
- the unresolved ambiguity around Kyoshi's parents, whom Kyoshi has extremely valid reasons to hate and resent and whom others have equally valid reasons to admire
- yes Kyoshi DOES unambiguously get a girlfriend and yes they DO make out!

The book does end on a fairly significant cliffhanger -- I did not realize going in that this was intended to be the first in a series -- but my littlest cousin has already preordered it and promised to send it to me when he's done, so we're all set on that front.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

the_rck

I recommend F.C. Yee's The Epic Crush of Genie Lo and The Iron Will of Genie Lo. They're excellent YA fantasy books. I had to talk my niece into reading the blurbs because she assumed high school romance based on the title of the first book, so please don't be put off by the title.

From:

skygiants

I'd heard very little about them, but they're definitely on my list based on how much I enjoyed this!

(deleted comment)

From:

thistleingrey

(Seems that Yee uses male pronouns.)

From:

chestnut_pod

Oops, thanks very much. Editing now.

From:

ceitfianna

I read one of the tie in graphic novels and while the art was good, the stories were only okay, but I'm glad to know that this is good. I've enjoyed rewatching Avatar, its such a good show.

From:

skygiants

I've been really enjoying the Avatar renaissance on the whole, very delightful to see some iconic quotes and moments making their way round the internet again!

From:

musesfool

*adds to library holds list*

From:

skygiants

:D I hope you enjoy!

From:

sovay

Kyoshi is absolutely a feral revenge-driven heroine with murderous mentors coming out her ears.

*blinks*

Shall read, thanks.

(I enjoyed without totally accepting the first three sequel comics—I liked most and argued least with The Rift (2015), in which a human-spirit problem must be solved, technology happens, and Toph is awesome—and then just drifted somehow. So this is nice to hear about.)

Edited Date: 2020-07-04 06:43 pm (UTC)

From:

skygiants

I got very affronted around The Promise's premise that Aang, whose pacifism was one of the central premises of the series, would agree to kill a friend under pretty much any circumstances, and it soured most of the rest of it for me ... another benefit of the Kyoshi novels is that I have no opinions about existing characterization to be cross about!

From:

sovay

premise that Aang, whose pacifism was one of the central premises of the series, would agree to kill a friend under pretty much any circumstances, and it soured most of the rest of it for me

That's fair. I had actually forgotten that was the title premise! As I recall, it was done with a loophole from real-world Buddhism in which the rule against taking life can be waived by request of the person whose life it is, which could be really thorny and complex except that the series had given no hint of its equivalent existing within Air Nomad philosophy. I mostly think of The Promise as the one about multiculturalism. (I think of The Search as the one about Zuko's mother—which was fine; I didn't like its handling of Azula—and The Rift as the one I just like.)

another benefit of the Kyoshi novels is that I have no opinions about existing characterization to be cross about!

Extremely handy.

From:

conuly

another benefit of the Kyoshi novels is that I have no opinions about existing characterization to be cross about!

Inasmuch as she has any characterization at all in the show, it seems to match this - Aang meditated and asked her for help in deciding whether or not to kill Ozai, she told him to do it, and he grumbled that he should never have asked her advice.

From:

sovay

Aang meditated and asked her for help in deciding whether or not to kill Ozai, she told him to do it, and he grumbled that he should never have asked her advice.

There's also the episode in which Aang stands trial for the crimes of a past Avatar, which the main characters all expect to be disproven as malicious rumor and instead Kyoshi herself manifests through Aang in the courtroom and testifies that she did in fact kill Chin the Conqueror: in order to protect her people from his oncoming army, she sundered the peninsula that would become Kyoshi Island from the mainland and Chin, being too arrogant to run for his life when the ground started fissuring under his feet, died in the process. She considers herself as responsible for his death as if she'd killed him outright with the Avatar State. Also consistent with the novel.

From:

thistleingrey

I liked the first Genie Lo book and have the Kyoshi one on a tbr list. (Like, actually have epub available, could start whenever, not one of those long notional lists that never get anywhere.) I gained a copy for Reason originally, who read all the AtLA graphic novels she could get from the library, more than once--but it sounds as though I should, ah, not push this on her until she's ready to try it. (It's on her Kindle, but she's dubious because it's not a GN.)

From:

skygiants

Yeah it's definitely ... more in the upper end of YA than the graphic novels or the show, I would say ..... like, I'm pretty sure this one book has a higher named character body count than the entirety of the TV series.

From:

thistleingrey

Ah, good to know, thanks!

From:

happydork

I completely take back my initial "speak not to me of the deep magic, child" response to this initial burst of Avatar-recommendation enthusiasm.

<3<3<3

From:

skygiants

A lesson in hubris! There's always more to learn! <3

From:

bemused_writer

It sounds like your cousin has good taste in TV! ^^ I've really wanted to read The Rise of Kyoshi and it sounds like there is some good stuff in there. ^^

From:

skygiants

Yeah, one of the nice things about having him here was the opportunity to learn all the places our taste overlaps, and it turns out quite a few! I will miss being able to offload books onto him that we don't have shelf space for anymore ...