The Dawn of Yangchen (The Yangchen Novels, #1)

by F.C. Yee

what a romantic memory

Better to parry the sword than heal the wound it made in the flesh.

Kavik twirled as he trailed her, attempting to take in the statues of great elders in the alcoves. “So many,” he said. “Will they ever put one of you up?” “After I’m dead, the temples are obligated to by Avatar tradition.” Yangchen winced. “Hopefully mine’ll be smaller than those. I don’t need everyone staring at my giant head for eternity.”

‘shaped teachings.’

“I suppose you and I are stuck having to decide for ourselves, aren’t we?” he said. “No one to tell us which path to follow.”

I know I said it was a handoff, but it’s really more of a dead drop.” Yangchen made a scooping motion with her arms and Kavik was sucked bodily into the air, the same way he’d been caught when they first met. He flew backward over the edge of the saddle and into the water. Popping his head above the surface, he grabbed the float. His eyes burned with salt and indignation. “This was always the plan,” Yangchen said. “Consider it pay-back for trying to kill my lemur.”

convenience ruled kings and peasants alike.

“That’s what being the Avatar is about. That’s what being a companion of the Avatar is about. We fight for people we’ve never met and never will.”

first ime the whitelotus begins answering to the avatar? weird for it to happen so «late»

Stop playing around and for once think about the kind of Avatar you want to be.” You mean what kind of figurehead,

“You think spying and intelligence and deception is a good use of your power. Such a waste when you, more than any person in known history, could inspire people with the truth instead.” “And what do you mean by that?” “Practically every Avatar struggles to commune with their past selves,” Mama said. “But you! The wealth of knowledge and wisdom at your fingertips! If you embraced your gift, walked with your predecessors along the courses of their lives to the breadth and depth you alone among the generations seem to be able to do, then there would be no limit to your accomplishments! You could guide the Four Nations to a new gilded era, because you were there for the old ones!” “How do you know about my gift?”

She would remain the instrument of her own suffering.

It was her fate to make the same choice over and over again, as generations of Avatars had done before her. To know the past was to know the future.