History Literature / TheDawnOfYangchen

''The Dawn of Yangchen'' is a novel written by F. C. Yee chronicling the life of Avatar Yangchen, taking place hundreds of years prior to the events of ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''. The book largely follows Yangchen through her teenage and young adult years, mapping her journey from a girl traumatized by her own power to the revered leader and diplomat still remembered centuries later.

* MerchantCity: The shang cities - Bin-Er, Jonduri, Port Tuugaq and Taku - are these, being the only places where international trade is permitted following the PlatinumAffair.

* BittersweetEnding: Yangchen, Kavik and their allies have foiled the shangs' attempt to use Unanimity to breakaway from the Four Nations, and Yangchen finds herself in a position to actually improve things for the downtrodden people of Bin-Er. But [[spoiler: combustionbending now exists within the world, and despite Yangchen's attempts to keep it secret, it'll inevitably become known to those who would exploit it for the sake of their goals]]. Yangchen has been forced to deal with Unanimity by [[spoiler: imprisoning the three combustionbenders within the Northern Air Temple's domain while having the monks there serve as their guards]], an act that very much goes against the tenets of the Air Nomads. As for Kavik, [[spoiler:his betrayal of Yangchen means that she and her friends no longer consider him one of their own, he's become disillusioned with Kalyaan, and his last scene features him being hunted down by an agent of the Water Tribe over his involvement with Unanimity]]. The one saving grace for him is that [[spoiler:The White Lotus have reached out to him with an offer of recruitment]].

* MacGuffin: The plot of the book is driven by the main cast's attempts to claim Unanimity, a mysterious object that can apparently bring even the Earth King and other heads of states to their knees, and make it disappear. Interestingly, for most of the story the cast is left in the dark as to what Unanimity is, so they're also trying to figure out the identity of the very thing they're trying to find and hide. [[spoiler:It isn't until the last act of the story that it's revealed that Unanimity is a LivingMacGuffin -- to be more specific, three very well-trained and ''very'' powerful combustionbenders]].

** In the ''Kyoshi'' novels, it's mentioned that many of the deals Yangchen brokered with the spirits on the behalf of humans [[spoiler:were eventually broken, leading to Kuruk constantly having to fight -- and kill -- angry spirits to protect humanity]]. We see one such deal in the novel, which she brokered on the behalf of the Saowon clan. [[spoiler:Yangchen is only able to save the clan by prolonging their dishonor for breaking the deal by not allowing them to grow back their hair for fifty years. It is ''strongly'' implied that this incident is why the clan became so obsessed with elevating their status and power in Kyoshi's time]].

* TheCaligula: The current Earth King is known for being vengeful and petty, which is why the Fire Nation and the Water Tribe quietly backed a rebellion against him. Unfortunately, he also turned out to be far more dangerous than anticipated; once he crushed the rebellion, he cut off all international ties in retaliation, killing the international economy. This is what led to the shang system, little more than a monopoly under the guise of fairness.

* BrokenPedestal: When Kavik meets [[spoiler:Kalyaan]] again, you can pinpoint the exact moment Kavik's idolization of [[spoiler:his older brother]] die. [[spoiler:It doesn't stop him from initially siding with Kalyaan anyway]].

* {{Realpolitik}}: In full force in this novel, as Yangchen is far more politically active and astute than Kiyoshi was. One of the reasons why she wants to find Unanimity and make it "go away" is because she knows that, no matter how well-intentioned they may be, there's not a head of state in the world that won't use it to forward their nation's agenda if it really is as powerful/influential as it's implied to be.

* CallForward: Unanimity, the one thing that can bring nations to their knees and threaten even the Avatar's power, [[spoiler:is three combustionbenders. It seems like combustionbending has ''always'' been a thorn in the Avatar's side, no matter the era]].

* MacGuffin: The plot of the book is driven by the main cast's attempts to claim Unanimity, a mysterious object that can apparently bring even the Earth King and other heads of states to their knees, and make it disappear. Interestingly, for most of the story the cast is left in the dark as to what Unanimity is, so they're also trying to figure out the identity of the very thing they're trying to hide. [[spoiler:It isn't until the last act of the story that it's revealed that Unanimity is a LivingMacGuffin -- to be more specific, three very well-trained and ''very'' powerful combustionbenders]].