Its the summer of Avatar: The Last Airbender. With the beloved series available on Netflix and its sequel series,The Legend of Korra, on its way there in August, the franchise is more readily available to fans than its been in years. Now, the franchises revitalized fandom has a new book, too.

F.C. Yees The Shadow of Kyoshi is the second instalment of a prequel series about one of the most fabled Avatars of all time. Building off of 2019s The Rise of Kyoshi, the series follows Kyoshi, an Avatar known in the main series for her strength, longevity, and uncompromising judgment, during the nascent stages of her Avatarhood. In turn, it serves to humanize one of the Avatar franchises most legendary characters.

Kyoshis beginnings werent particularly auspicious. The Avatar is an individual tasked with mastering all four elements and their bending disciplines, learning how to mainpulate and fight using water, earth, fire, and air. In turn, theyre tasked with bringing balance to the world, mitigating both human and spiritual conflict in the four nations: The Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation, the Water Tribes, and the Air Nomads. Each Avatar faces a unique set of challenges in carrying out this mission.

In The Rise of Kyoshi, everyone (including Kyoshi) believes that another Earth Kingdom boy, Yun, is the next Avatar. Living, working, and training at the estate of Jianzhu, a powerful Earth Kingdom politician, Kyoshi and Yun are friends. A violent encounter reveals their mistaken identities, cementing Kyoshi as the next Avatar and setting her on a path towards revenge.

The Shadow of Kyoshi is haunted by the specter of that encounter, while still maintaining the first novels wry sense of humour and adventure. After accepting a summons from the Fire Lord himself (with, of course, the promise of reuniting with her lover and Firebending master Rangi), Kyoshi finds herself trapped in a foreign political snare while simultaneously grappling with a new threat from the spirit world. Given that shes spent the better part of her Avatarhood hunting down corrupt bandits and detaching herself from the politics of her own nation, the situation leaves Kyoshi out of her depth.

The weighty, political conflict is just as thrilling as the action sequences peppered throughout the novel. Garden parties are just as fraught with tension as intense battles; strained clan relations have the potential to cause more trouble than physical threats. It also leaves ample room for granular worldbuilding, including new details about previous Avatars, like the oft-maligned Kuruk and the venerated Yangchen, as well as tidbits of information about geography, political history, and language that wasnt touched upon in the animated series.

Yees prose is also just as visceral as Avatars renowned animation sequences. Regarding The Rise of Kyoshi, the author told Polygon in 2019 that he looks for moments that were more easy to capture in a novel format, in particular where the action suddenly turns on a dime rather than attempting to capture every beat of a single action scene. Those intense, pivotal moments are what make The Shadow of Kyoshi a harrowing read, bringing an emotional resonance and vibrancy that cuts through the page.

A new cast of auxiliary companions and antagonists keep things lively, each imbued with their own complexities and mystery that prevent them from becoming just side characters to the larger conflict. Kyoshis Airbender companion, Jinpa, and his sky bison Yingyong, are particularly fun additions to the story, in addition to a cast of Fire Nation nobles that drive the political arc of the novel.

Rangi and Kyoshis relationship is the most compelling. With the realisation of feelings and getting together out of the way in the first novel, The Shadow of Kyoshi gives the two women plenty of space to be tender, bicker, fight, and reconcile over the course of the book. Thats part of what makes their relationship feel so different from other romantic entanglements in the Avatar universe: the franchise has never shied away from love stories, but both The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra end with romantic resolution rather than grapple with the relationships after the fact (although their central romances are continued in spin-off comics).

The fact that Kyoshi and Rangi have the most fully fleshed-out queer love story in the Avatar canon shouldnt go unmarked either. A Legend of Korra spin-off comic revealed in 2017 that Kyoshi was bisexual, and its a promise that Yee made good on in The Rise of Kyoshi, telling Polygon at the time that it felt important to not strip away Kyoshis queerness and do her relationships justice. In The Shadow of Kyoshi, Yee explores the complexities of Kyoshi and Rangis relationship and the ways that it affects their judgment, particularly in times of crisis with nuance and empathy. Their relationship is foundational to Kyoshis ascendance, and legacy, as the Avatar. In many ways, Rangi serves as her emotional and moral centre.

The Shadow of Kyoshi is a rewarding read for both dedicated Avatar fans and newcomers alike. Ultimately, it exceeds the task of fleshing out Kyoshis origin story, delivering a compelling character-driven narrative that bears just as much emotional heft as any other entry into the franchise.

The Shadow of Kyoshi is now available for purchase and debuted at number two on the New York Times Young Adult Hardcover Bestseller List.

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The latest book in the 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' universe gives us one of its most compelling relationships - Business Insider Australia