There are books for Avatar: The Last Airbender!!!

After the show came to Netflix a few years ago and I rediscovered it I also found out about the comics, which are excellent btw and also finally tell us what happened to Zuko’s mom.

Then I found out that there are books taking place in the same world. They are YA novels and have a lot more violent, and darker themes. They are also LGBTQ+ novels! Currently there are 4 and the next one is set to release in August. Each two books are about a different Avatar.

The first two are about Avatar Kyoshi (the Earth Avatar before Aang, and the predecessor to Avatar Roku. They are titled Rise of Kyoshi and Shadow of Kyoshi, respectfully. They are a story of revenge, and show us the origin of Kyoshi from a small girl to the strong bender we know her as, they also give us the origins of her classic outfit, makeup and fans! They show us how the world treated the Avatar before the war and also expand on Avatar Kuruk, the Avatar before her who was mentioned a couple of times in the show.

The second two are about Avatar Yangchen, the Air Avatar before Aang. They show us what experiences she went through that made her became an Air nomad who told Aang to kill a person for the sake of the world. They are a story about espionage and politics. They are much darker compared to Kyoshi’s and have some rather graphics descriptions of violence and tourture. They expand a lot about Air nomad colture and how the world viewed them, they also show us how much the White Lotus changed over a few hundred years and give us an origins for something in the show (saying more will be major spoilers).

I’m making this post because I love these books and I wish more people would know about them. If you grew up on this show (like me) or are a YA or just an adult who recently discovered the show and want more stories in this world that feel like they grew up with you then these books are for you. I honestly say that thanks to these books Yangchen has become my all time favorite Avatar, even more than Aang! I’m not saying that the story is better than that of the original show, because that’s just impossible, but they are excellent and I love her character and companions.

I hope I convinced you to check them out because the don’t get nearly enough attention, even in the fandom itself

by bateen618