Moving the world of Avatar away from television (esp. Nick) breathes some new life into the franchise. Although Korra was always dark, they had to obfuscate some things to get around the censors like saying the Earth Queen got "taken out". However that's not the case here, everything we ever thought about how gruesome bending could be is true and then some. It's a nice change of pace. Yee manages to paint such a familiar world so well while also bringing something new to the table, though the "Spirits!" stuff is a little cheesy at times.
Kyoshi has always been the most intriguing of the past Avatars to me and she more than rises to the occasion. She's strong, smart, and damaged but ultimately does the right thing and has a good heart. The supporting characters are all good as well but the romance between her and Rangi is a bit rushed. I always say a story is as good as its villain and Jianzhu is a great one. He's probably the best one in the entire franchise. I love, love, love political villains and he's a master politician at heart. I also appreciate that the book humanizes what he does without making excuses for him. Yee walks that line really well.
He also writes action really well. You can very easily see what's going on in your head. The chase scene when she and Rangi meet up with the dao fei is the standout set piece to me.
Where the book begins to falter a bit is the third act. It's just so rushed. Jianzhu finds out where she is, they fight, and then bam, it's over without much denoument. It's not bad, it's just rushed. The book probably should have been just a tad longer to smooth the ride out.
TLDR: This book is great but doesn't quite stick the landing. 9/10 from me.
Great book that runs out of steam at the end
Moving the world of Avatar away from television (esp. Nick) breathes some new life into the franchise. Although Korra was always dark, they had to obfuscate some things to get around the censors like saying the Earth Queen got "taken out". However that's not the case here, everything we ever thought about how gruesome bending could be is true and then some. It's a nice change of pace. Yee manages to paint such a familiar world so well while also bringing something new to the table, though the "Spirits!" stuff is a little cheesy at times.
Kyoshi has always been the most intriguing of the past Avatars to me and she more than rises to the occasion. She's strong, smart, and damaged but ultimately does the right thing and has a good heart. The supporting characters are all good as well but the romance between her and Rangi is a bit rushed. I always say a story is as good as its villain and Jianzhu is a great one. He's probably the best one in the entire franchise. I love, love, love political villains and he's a master politician at heart. I also appreciate that the book humanizes what he does without making excuses for him. Yee walks that line really well.
He also writes action really well. You can very easily see what's going on in your head. The chase scene when she and Rangi meet up with the dao fei is the standout set piece to me.
Where the book begins to falter a bit is the third act. It's just so rushed. Jianzhu finds out where she is, they fight, and then bam, it's over without much denoument. It's not bad, it's just rushed. The book probably should have been just a tad longer to smooth the ride out.
TLDR: This book is great but doesn't quite stick the landing. 9/10 from me.