Flameo, hotman, and welcome to the Fire Nation! F.C. Yee and Avatar co-creator Michael Dante Dimartino’s The Shadow of Kyoshi brings us to a pre-war Fire Nation riddled with political intrigue as the collaborators conclude the Kyoshi duology, which began with The Rise of Kyoshi last year. This sequel continues the story of Rise while expanding on the Avatar lore and deep-diving into Kyoshi’s growth as the Avatar.
Shadow places Kyoshi in a precarious position. Kyoshi bursts onto the first pages with true earthbending flair as she raids the headquarters of a Ba Sing Se gang that’s been terrorizing locals. Kyoshi grapples with the trying political responsibilities thrust upon her as the Avatar while she recklessly charges into small criminal cells to disband them. Of course, every time she takes one down, another pops up. Her travels take her to the Fire Nation, where she’s reunited with her partner Rangi. As Kyoshi struggles to learn the elaborate customs of the Fire Nation capital, a strange threat from the Spirit World emerges and threatens to dismantle the delicate political tapestry of the country. Kyoshi must face the threat as she works to connect with the spirits of her past lives. If she doesn’t stop the Spirit World threat, the world could devolve into chaos and destruction.
There are a lot of great elements in Shadow, but Kyoshi’s spiritual struggle is a real treat. Kyoshi’s spiritual journey is also intriguing and relatable. It’s reminiscent of Korra’s spiritual arc. Kyoshi is a proficient and strong bender, but she comes up against a wall when she tries to communicate with past Avatars. Her relationship with Kuruk, her immediate predecessor, represents this roadblock. Kyoshi’s perception of Kuruk is less-than-favorable, and this struggle often feels self-inflicted. Her negative opinion of him stands like a rock clogging the flow of his past-Avatar wisdom. Spiritual growth is a cornerstone of any Avatar’s narrative, and Kyoshi’s challenges mirror her attempts to resolve political quarrels. She can tip the scales to either side in the Fire Nation’s conflict, but she has to be decisive and, perhaps more importantly, ready to take action that will ultimately mean the demise of one of the parties involved.
Throughout the book, Kyoshi’s position as the Avatar is cemented, but the world is still coming to terms with how she’ll handle the title. It doesn’t help that she seems unable to grasp what, exactly, an Avatar must do to keep the peace in both the physical and spirit worlds. One of the biggest appeals to the story, just like the prequel, is that Shadow drops plenty of lore bombs and extends the world of Avatar. It’s one of the areas where these prequel books really succeed and flourish, and it’s bound to please fans of the series. However, for me, I need more than some lore snippets to really immerse myself in a story, and this installment fell short of the mark for a few key reasons.
The spiritual facet of Kyoshi’s story is by far my favorite part of Shadow, but it’s surrounded by a story that I frankly found hard to care about. The brunt of the story drops Kyoshi in the Fire Nation, where one clan vies for dominance over the Firelord. The Firelord’s illegitimate brother leads the would-be-usurpers, and Kyoshi exacerbates the already-tense situation by greeting the brother improperly at a reception celebrating her arrival. That’s a catalyst for various screw-ups to come, and the story unfolds on that web of political intrigue. The problem is that the web feels half-done. It’s as if whatever cosmic spider the universe hired to create the web showed up late and made a halfhearted attempt at creating it to meet his deadline. The result is a superficial game of political checkers when Avatar has previously shown that it’s capable of three-dimensional chess.
The worldbuilding has the same problem. I’ve come to expect vibrant, diverse cultures from the Avatar world, and Shadow zooms so far in on the Fire Nation that it’s hard to reconcile the story with the larger machinations at work. In all likelihood, this is a personal quibble. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with a sharply focused story in a well-established world. But, come on, it’s Avatar. I want a massive story with high stakes. This personal story, though serviceable, just isn’t that.
The flipside of that argument is that we get hitherto unforeseen insight into the Fire Nation. Avatar gave us a glimpse of the propaganda-ridden country. Shadow gives us a compelling look at the pre-war Fire Nation and its intricate workings. Fire Nation folk value honor and integrity. Of course, when two clans define those words differently, problems arise. Kyoshi is the pebble that locks the well-oiled Fire Nation gears and sends the whole nation into disarray. And the spirit world threat (the identity of which will be familiar to readers of the first novel) exacerbates the unrest.
To put it simply, I can’t decide where I stand on the focus of the story. I enjoyed holding a magnifying glass up to the Fire Nation, but I simultaneously longed for a world-spanning narrative that felt more true to Avatar. The characters of Shadow are well-formed and multi-dimensional, a step up from my primary issue with Rise. Kyoshi in particular is a fantastically multi-layered Avatar. Her partner Rangi and her mother Hei Ran get well-deserved spotlight moments, too. The supporting cast, particularly those who are new to the series, pale in comparison, but that felt right. The Fire Nation cast exists for a purpose, and their characters reflect that purpose.
Though I’m generally on the fence about Shadow’s components, there’s one piece I just flat-out didn’t like. The novel’s ending is rushed and features reveals that I felt were unearned. The villain, who is “meh” throughout, poses a threat, sure, but that arc fizzles. I didn’t ever buy into the motivations there, and the final encounter did little to sway me.
All of this leads me to believe that The Rise of Kyoshi and The Shadow of Kyoshi are best consumed as two halves of the same whole. I read them over a year apart, and I know there are parts of Shadow that 2019 Cole, fresh off of Rise, would have loved. For that reason, I am happy to recommend Shadow to Avatar fans. It may not be the Avatar world’s crowning achievement, but it’s still a fun story. Plus, Kyoshi is a straight-up badass.
Rating: The Shadow Of Kyoshi – 7.0/10
-Cole
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