The Legacy of Yangchen Review: Lies and Deceit

As a follow up to The Dawn of Yangchen, The Legacy of Yangchen was a much more enjoyable book to read. Personally, I feel like this story is about equal to the first novel of the Kyoshi novels . As an overall thought, if you’ve already read The Dawn of Yangchen, then The Legacy of Yangchen will provide a nice conclusion to the loose ends left behind in the previous novel.

As per my usual review style, let’s get into some of the specifics. The first thing I want to mention is how much more I enjoyed reading this novel compared to the first one. And I think this is mainly due to the characters. The one aspect I found overwhelming in the first novel was how many named characters get dropped back-to-back. Currently, I’m rereading the Kyoshi novels so that I can reviews those as well, and the one thing I’ve noticed is that the number of core characters are different between the two Avatar stories.

In Kyoshi, I noticed that there is a solid core group of characters that we follow for most of the novel. Even if new characters are added into the mix, the previous characters already have enough development that I’m ready to learn more about another character. But in Yangchen, characters kept getting added constantly, and I lost track of a few characters as I read.

So, how does this all tie into The Legacy of Yangchen? Well, since this is the second Yangchen novel, all the characters have now been established. I know all the characters, how they work, and their interactions with one another. As such, I can now enjoy the story to its fullest without being lost. This is probably why I ripped through this novel so much quicker as well.

Being the second Yangchen novel, we also got more development on these characters as well. I think my favourite part of The Legacy of Yangchen is the fallout between Kavik and Yangchen. Seeing these two characters struggle with trusting each other, and all the secret plans that each have to employ made for a very entertaining novel.

Speaking of which, the main thing I enjoyed more about The Legacy of Yangchen is that there was a better balance between the spy/thriller portion of the novel to the action. Personally, there were moments in The Dawn of Yangchen that I felt were quite slow, mainly due the style of the novel. But now that all the spying and sneaking around is done, The Legacy of Yangchen has a schemes and deceit.

It was very entertaining reading how each faction handled each event differently. It was also really entertaining reading how each faction was trying to outwit the other. The final great thing about the story is that there was a lot more action in this novel. I especially liked reading how all the characters handled combat situations. These fight scenes brought back the brutalness of the Avatar universe, which I felt was missing in the first Yangchen novel.

From this point on, I want to highlight some of my favourite moment from the novel. This section will contain spoilers, so if you haven’t read The Legacy of Yangchen, of if you plan to read this novel, I suggest taking a break here and come back after you’ve finished.

Still here? Alright, let’s get into it.

So the first part of the novel that I really enjoyed was Yangchen’s fight with Thapa at the Northern Air Temple. It was at this point where I was captivated by the story. The action was intense, and reading how Yangchen handled the situation was wonderful. I also enjoyed how this was the start of her schemes to defeat Chaisee. The second big event that I enjoyed was the Sparrowbones game between Yangchen, Kavik, Chaisee, and Iwashi.

Experiencing Kavik’s cunningness, which we haven’t really seen since the first novel, and a combination with his White Lotus training, it was an interesting plot point. The final big plot point that I enjoyed reading was how Yangchen and her team found out about the combustionbenders and the experiments on the island directed by Chaisee. It was a gruesome part of the novel, but it shed some light on how Unanimity came to light. It also ends in the death of Nujian, which was quite a blow.

Before I wrap things up, there is an aspect that confused me. And this was the use of the White Lotus organization. In this novel, they try to play a more neutral role in maintaining the balance of the Four Nations. But at the same time, they didn’t have the same feel as the White Lotus from the original Avatar series. They kind of gave me an uneasy feeling throughout the whole novel, and I wish they were a better utilized.

Overall though, I enjoyed this novel more than the first Yangchen novel. Now, I still prefer the Kyoshi novels more, but this was still quite solid. If you’re interested in the darker side of the Avatar universe, or even wanting to read more about another Avatar, give the Yangchen novels a shot.