(no subject)
Jul. 4th, 2020 10:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
skygiantsMy 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.
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.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-15 01:17 am (UTC)