A review of the ‘Kyoshi Novels’

‘Avatar The Last Airbender’ Is one of the worlds most beloved and well-known series of all time, for its brilliant writing, characters and story.

Unfortunately, after the disaster of their live-action movie, the series was cancelled, and for the next decade, Avatar fans were left hungry for more content from the incredible world the writers had created. Unfortunately, they did not get anything until after 12 years of waiting, ‘The Kyoshi Novels’ were released. Unfortunately, not many people know about these novels, nor do they want to give them a try. This review is going to discuss how good the book series is, and how different it is from the animated series.

(WARNING: Light Spoilers Inbound)

TONE

An interesting difference between this book and the animated series is the, almost jarring change in tone and theme. While the original series was very mature and tackled deep themes, it was also mostly childish and kid-friendly. The Kyoshi novels, in contrast, are very dark and are not afraid of tackling more ‘PG’ theme’s and subjects. It is interesting because Avatar Kyoshi was infamous for being the most ruthless Avatar of all time, and it’s mirrored by her dark backstory.

WORLD BUILDING

One of the best parts of the Novels is that they flesh out and expand the world of Avatar, like never before. There are cool easter eggs and interesting tidbits of lore everywhere. Even more so, it introduced and expanded on things that fit in with the world and felt natural while doing so.

Overall, the Kyoshi Novels made the already interesting world of Avatar, even better and turned it into a world, you could think about forever.

CHARACTERS

For the most part, the story only revolves around Kyoshi, but other major characters are also present, they are all very interesting. But other than the villains, Kyoshi herself is a very well written character to read about. It is interesting to see how she goes from being a humble servant to one of the most powerful and terrifying Avatars to ever exist.

She goes astray into the darkness many times, and you can always feel her anguish and pain when she is put into an impossible situation. Her motivations are solid and her journey is wonderful to witness.

VILLAINS

One of the best parts of both novels is how the main antagonists are personal to Kyoshi, whether she loves or hates them. The antagonist of the first novel(Jainzhu) was incredibly smart, a genius. The antagonist of the second novel(Yun), however, was personally important to Kyoshi and therefore made their clash a lot more emotional.

Between the two of them, they have incredible motivations for wanting to oppose Kyoshi. One of them is doing it to preserve balance and make sure his kingdom is stable, the other is opposing her out of revenge and spite.

In many ways, the villains themselves and their interactions with Kyoshi are some of the best parts of the novels.

BENDING

Of course, we should also talk about the Magic System that gave Avatar, a lot of its charm- The Bending.

The Kyoshi Novels continue their streak of expanding and fleshing out the world, by also doing so for the bending. You get a view into what the bending used to be like before the 100-year war, and there are tons of different ways the bending is used that make it feel like a real part of the world. It is very fun to see the different benders use techniques you don’t generally see in an Avatar world.

You might also get to see the discovery of a new style as well….

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, the Kyoshi Novels are an excellent read and a wonderful addition to the Avatar World. They are a must-read for any Avatar Fan.

I hope you enjoyed this review of the books, and I hope that I have convinced you to read the books.