Book Review - 'The Rise of Kyoshi (The Kyoshi Novels #1)' by F.C. Yee (Writer), Michael Dante DiMartino

2024 EDIT: Not as into it this time. The writing is great - apart from near the beginning when Yun, in dialogue, once refers to himself in the third person, when he meant to say Kyoshi's name; how did that get passed an editor? - but maybe my knowledge of the disappointing sequel sullied my enjoyment the second time. This prequel series still isn't finished; has it been abandoned? I can't look past the plot holes and contradictions these novels make when comparing them to the animated shows, either.

Or maybe I just don't find Kyoshi to be that great a heroine anymore, nor her relationship with Rangi to be healthy and supportive.

I like Kyoshi and all she represents - her character, personality and arc are genius, as I've gushed relentlessly in my original review - but like with Valkyrie Cain from the 'Skulduggery Pleasant' series, I can't separate the beginnings of her awesomeness from her disappointing and frankly terrible and insulting treatment in future instalments. Talk about wasted potential.

Good action, set pieces, and fantasy, though. And worldbuilding, and creative bending. I'm not really an 'Avatar' fan, but I appreciate and respect it, and everything good about it, as well as its astounding influences on the animation media as a whole.

Final Score: 3.5/5





Original Review:



I really didn't know what to expect from 'The Rise of Kyoshi'. I am a casual fan of the 'Avatar' verse at best, and I eat up any female-led media like chocolate. I've also always been interested in the figure - the image, the idea - of Avatar Kyoshi. The simultaneously famous and infamous, haughty, and imposing warrior woman Earth Kingdom Avatar, who is said to have lived for over two hundred years. But we still didn't know much about her - and nothing at all about the people she knew - so there's the elusive mystery element to her that entices fans, like the way some of us try to unearth and discover new details about real life historical women.

Kyoshi is a legendary powerhouse woman after my own girl power loving heart. Naturally, I was curious about the novel version of her origins, by F.C. Yee. I decided to ignore my disdain for prequels and buy it and read it.

As it turns out, not only did 'The Rise of Kyoshi' exceed my cautiously low expectations, it bulldozed them, pushed them, and flattened them to the ground, like a powerful earthbender would. The novel truly is an epic. It accomplishes what no other prequel I know does: it's unpredictable, shocking, exciting, clever, addictive, always on the move, and the characters are well realised and unforgettable.

Kyoshi, who would go down in history as one of the most revered, feared, fearless and intense Avatars, certainly did not start as such. She came from the humblest of origins, the lowest of the low, as an abandoned child in the streets. A very mediocre earthbender to boot, the only remarkable thing about her was her astounding height for her age. She was the last person in the Earth Kingdom anyone would think was the most important person in the whole world. Homeless, hungry and lonely throughout her childhood, she knew what suffering was, and about privilege and how unfair and corrupt the capitalist Earth Kingdom caste system was.

It wasn't until her teen years that, out of simple kindness, she was brought to live in a palace as a servant to a false Avatar - founded through desperation - whom she became friends with.

When she was sixteen, the truth about her own identity came crashing down on her, through extreme hardship and tragedy, caused by the corruption of elders who wanted to use her for their own means, which were ultimately selfish, no matter how much they tried to reason and reword their actions.

Kyoshi, devastated, traumatised, heartbroken, scared and confused, upon learning that she was, without a doubt, the true Avatar, chose to start her journey - of revenge, where she would associate with the criminal underworld (or overworld) of the Earth Kingdom. Not an ideal or traditional environment, nor a pure and pacifist motivation, for the most powerful and spiritual person in the world, who is supposed to bring balance to it and establish peace between the Four Nations, as well as the Spirit World. But under the circumstances, Kyoshi had no place else to go, had no one else she could trust, and she had no other guidance, to help her achieve her destiny. The underprivileged lot, with their own honour codes, were her only option, and her saviours.

Mastering any element was a huge challenge for her; initially she was a mediocre bender and student, clumsy and easily floored, with too many self-confidence issues and blocks. But at that moment in her life, being the Avatar, and everything that that entailed, didn't fully sink in for her like it should have. Only revenge mattered to her.

Well, except for her few friends left in the world.

A female Firebending bodyguard her own age, a hotheaded little bastard of an outlaw earthbender, a hulking but quiet and graceful outlaw earthbender, a balletic female outlaw waterbender, and an old Earthbending masquerading goof who is in fact a centuries-old guru and a terrifying, shadowy assassin - these made up Kyoshi's Team Avatar. They were her trusted cohorts, her teachers, her friends. Plus there was a female sky bison, so not everything was doom and gloom for her.

Kyoshi would lose so much more, and suffer so much more, in fulfilling her duty and destiny as the Avatar - one that fans would come to recognise. She proved herself worthy, achieved her status, through endless struggles, fears and tears. She succeeded in her own way, under her own terms. No pain, no gain; and with a hardened heart after witnessing firsthand what the world was really like, she wasn't afraid to kill when she deemed it necessary. However, she wasn't incapable of mercy and compassion. She accepted her responsibilities in a straightforward manner.

In short, the disastrously unprepared teenage Avatar suffered the worst that humanity had to offer her, and she came out the other side alive, and a no-nonsense badass. Kyoshi's iconic makeup, headdress and fans, which were heirlooms of her maternal origins left to her, and her gauntlets (at first bought to cover up scars), would become formidable signifiers of her Avatarhood, and which would help her to focus and master all four elements.

She learned to control her Avatar State, also in her own terms. Despite everything, she was not a weak or damaged Avatar. She was a survivor. Via her newfound strength, her efforts, her humbleness, her following her strict, consistent and orderly code, she had hundreds of years left to further cement her place as one powerful lady.

Oh, and Earth Kingdom Avatar Kyoshi was also half Air Nomad from her mother's side - her mother was as much unorthodox, and an insubordinate, as she would turn out to be.

How awesome does all of that sound?! It's a story that's plotted, structured and written far more awesomely than I've described it. For me it was like reading the 'Harry Potter' books again.

Kyoshi is an inspiration, especially to girls and women, and to the downtrodden. To have begun with nothing, thinking of herself as nobody, with no worth, no big plans or expectations for herself in the future - to suddenly and in consequence of sheer strife become an important figure to be remembered all throughout history, it's flipping amazing for a work of fiction to reflect that kind of feminist coming-of-age story, with no watering down. It's well written and well grounded. The worldbuilding is solid and stellar. And if being the Avatar in this world's current impaired state is a curse for Kyoshi, then by force of will, and the support of her small circle of friends, she will own that curse, and right wrongs and uphold justice as she sees fit in a world so broken. No one will bring her down, no matter what anyone thinks of her. She is rather like Elphaba from 'Wicked' in that regard, except she's less an academic and more a vigilante with a killer instinct.

In a way, I could relate to her and her feelings of inadequacy, and her helplessness in living in a cruel, unfair, uncaring world. (In real life though, I wouldn't approve of killing, and would try my best to find fair, peaceful and no less direct solutions to every problem, that benefit everyone.) It's far worse for her when she'll inevitably have to measure herself up to all the past Avatars. Like the illustrious Air Nomad Avatar Yangchen. The Water Tribe Avatar Kuruk, who preceded Kyoshi, died young, and was generally considered a failure, so there's that extra pressure to not end up like him, and risk rendering the Avatar a flop; a rejection in society, an unneeded relic in this everchanging world.

You will be happy to know that Kyoshi's LBGTQ character, which was revealed in 'The Legend of Korra' comics, is made explicit in the first book exploring her origin story. I won't reveal much due to spoilers (aside from the other Avatars' names, I chose to only disclose Kyoshi's name in this review, mostly because at the utmost it's a book about her, and it's less spoilery to focus on her and her development), but yeah, there's no question that she is bi, like Korra, and the people closest to her care more about her than she'd first realised. Not the Avatar, but her. The Avatar can be reborn, but Kyoshi can't - that line, spoken in passionate dialogue by a subsequent lover, makes all the difference in the narrative, in the 'Avatar' verse.

Speaking of, these 'Kyoshi' novels are not really for children. This one is very violent and bloody, and main characters die, often in horrific ways. Very rarely do I consume media where I'm actually concerned the likeable characters might not survive. As I was reading 'The Rise and Kyoshi', and I found out that some of them don't, I felt it. At the same time I'm pleased that these books don't censor or sugarcoat anything just because it's fantasy, and part of a franchise aimed at families.

And okay, one more slight spoiler: in light of the book's subversion of gender roles, all the characters that end up dead are male. There are as much, if not more, important female figures and influencers in Kyoshi's life as there are male ones.

Well, uh, yeah. 'The Rise of Kyoshi' is great and I highly recommend it. Maybe the ending is not as epic as it could have been, when compared to how the rest of the story builds itself up, seemingly towards an even wickeder climax. But that's why I'm excited for the sequel, 'The Shadow of Kyoshi'. I can't wait to read more about Kyoshi's character and life. How will she be fleshed out even further than she already is?

I wonder, how does she help establish the Dai Li? Will she discover more about her parentage? Will she again use her awesome Earthbending move of crashing through multiple walls without being hurt? In her "last stand", as it were, will her final line be, "I'm the Avatar, you've got to deal with it," mirroring Korra's first ever line in her own series?

Hmm, let me find out soon.

Final Score: 4/5

EDIT: I've now read 'The Shadow of Kyoshi'. In my opinion, it is nowhere near as good as 'The Rise of Kyoshi'. I'm sorry, but there is too much politics involved, and it is boring. Most infuriatingly, Kyoshi's "friends" give her so much grief, for things that are really not her fault. They undermine her, belittle her, criticise her, they are not on her side, and they do not respect her, as a person, a friend, nor the Avatar, with the weight of the entire world on her shoulders. Seriously, I can't imagine the companions of Aang or Korra being so cruel and callous to them. Kyoshi's fractured and everchanging Team Avatar needs to be called out on, and it is unlike Kyoshi to forgive and forget, or just plain forget. Disappointingly still, 'The Shadow of Kyoshi' clearly isn't the end. I don't think I will read any future instalments; I don't want to read any more of Woobie Kyoshi's toxic bullies disguised as her friends being mad at her for breathing. This is a shame, but it hasn't marred my experience with the first, excellent book. Kyoshi definitely needs all the love she can get.