The Legacy of Yangchen
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The Legacy of Yangchen 〰️
I will admit the Kyoshi books were better than Yangchen's. While I enjoyed them, Kyoshi's story was far more compelling and felt more in the Avatar world than Yangchen's did. But again, I still enjoyed the read. I would also like to say I enjoyed book two of Yangchen's story more than the first. Although, if I'm being honest, it only hooked me and got interesting a bit after the 50% mark. Before that, I wasn't sold and would have probably rated the book a 3-star or something.
This book had too much politics for my liking. While I don't mind a little politics, I feel like, for an Avatar story; this was a bit excessive. I can't recall if the first book had as much, but I believe it had its fair share as well. It took away from my enjoyment of the story.
Also, as mentioned in my review of The Dawn of Yangchen, Kavik seemed to be more of a main character than Yangchen was. Although, admittedly, she did have more screen time than book one. But for a story that is supposed to be all about Yangchen, she didn't feel as present as she should have.
I also wish that we saw more of her past lives leaking through. We know from book one that she remembers most of them more than other Avatars we know. And we do get one scene where Yangchen is with Kavik and she slips into the mind of a previous Avatar. Kavik decided to keep the information she said a secret, even to her, and I expected it to come into play later in the story, but as far as I recall, it didn't.
I do hope to see more books by Yee in the Avatar world, however. Even if Yangchen's story wasn't as compelling as Kyoshi's, Yee is still an excellent storyteller. I always applaud someone who can describe fighting scenes in a book so well that I can picture them happening in my mind. And with a story in the Avatarverse, you need lots of fight scenes, or at the very least, bending scenes. And to be able to show and not tell these complicated actions takes great skill. I'd imagine even someone not familiar with any martial arts or someone who hasn't seen the show can imagine the bending scenes with great ease in their heads.
Not my favourite installment in the Avatarverse, but I'm not mad at it. Still had a good time reading it and getting to know another Avatar in another time period. Hope to see more someday, especially by Yee.
