The world of Avatar: The Last Airbender continues to grow with Avatar, the Last Airbender: The Reckoning of Roku, a new book by award-winning author Randy Ribay. It is the 5th book in the Chronicles of the Avatar series, but as the series focuses on different Avatars throughout the world’s history, the latest offering can be enjoyed as a standalone entry. It centers on Roku, the Avatar who directly predates the TV series’ main protagonist Aang, during the formative years of the Fire Nation-born Avatar’s life and training.

Screen Rant is excited to present a lengthy excerpt from the first chapter of Avatar, the Last Airbender: The Reckoning of Roku. The excerpt sees the young Avatar Roku living with the Air Nomads and struggling with the teaching methods of his airbending master, Sister Disha. The excerpt also hints at Roku’s ambitions, even if they are loftier than he is prepared to truly enact. Take a look at the excerpt, below, and get ready to read Avatar, the Last Airbender: The Reckoning of Roku when it is released on July 23.

Read An Excerpt From Avatar, The Last Airbender: The Reckoning Of Roku

Roku laced the layer of dried nipa fronds into place to complete the roof, then sat up to survey his work from atop the hut. He was no builder—in fact, his parents had made sure their sons never performed any manual labor—but it looked decent enough. At the very least, it had walls and a roof, whereas it had been a pile of shattered and splintered wood like nearly every structure in the seaside fishing village when he and the Air Nomads arrived almost two weeks ago in the wake of one of the most powerful typhoons that had swept over the southwestern Earth Kingdom coast in recent memory.

They had all gone silent that day as their sky bison descended through the clouds. The village had been the picture of destruc­tion. Not a single structure remained standing. Debris littered the bay and the crescent-shaped beach. Jagged tree trunks jut­ted out of the ground like broken spears, while others had been uprooted and strewn across land and sea. The small harbor was destroyed, the boats sunken by the storm—and with them, the villagers’ livelihood. It was as if some vengeful spirit had dragged a mountainous arm across the coastline.

The Air Nomads and the new Avatar had come to help, sky bison saddles loaded with as much food, clean water, medicine, and other supplies as the great beasts could carry. Roku had spent the summer accompanying them on one such humanitar­ian trip after another, but hopelessness had still overcome Roku when he had taken in the scale of devastation and the work that lay ahead.

“Why don’t they just move elsewhere?” he’d asked his air­bending master, a short and slight older woman named Sister Disha who kept her tattooed head completely bald instead of only shaving the front half like most other Air Nuns Roku had seen.

Sister Disha answered patiently as she guided her sky bison, Amra, toward a clearing outside the village. “This is a poor vil­lage, Avatar Roku. Many of the younger generation have already left to find work in Gao Ling or Omashu or the other cities, and those who remain do not have the means to start again else­where. Even if they did, I doubt they would.”

“Why is that?”

“This is their home.”

That, for once, was something Roku understood better than any Air Nomad. “So what will happen when the older genera­tion passes?”

“I suspect so too will the village,” Sister Disha said evenly. Catching Roku’s look of dissatisfaction, she added, “Everything in this world is temporary.”

And so, the villagers—with the help of the Air Nomads and their sky bison—had gotten to work. From sunrise to sun­set through the late-summer heat, they had worked together to clean, clear, carry, bury, repair, replant, rebuild. And what might have taken the villagers months if working by themselves took only a couple of weeks. There was still more to do, but now that the bulk of the reconstruction was complete and the season was ending, the Air Nomads would return to the Southern Air Temple.

“Looks good,” Sister Disha said as she floated up to the roof to examine the final portion of work Roku had just completed, hands clasped behind her back. “I’m sure this family will be happy to move out of their tent.”

“I would’ve had time to make many more families happy if you’d taught me any airbending yet,” Roku said, then nodded across the way where a young Air Nomad used her airbending to blow a dozen palm fronds perfectly into place in a matter of seconds.

Sister Disha drifted back to the ground. “In order to fly, one must first learn to let go of the ground.”

Roku sighed and climbed down the bamboo ladder. He wiped the sweat from his brow with the hem of his saffron and yellow robes, retied his hair, and replaced the headpiece Sozin had gifted him. “Are we to begin those lessons after we return to the Southern Air Temple?”

“They’ve already begun.”

Roku laughed, but his airbending master kept a straight face. “I don’t mean any disrespect, Sister Disha, but all we’ve been doing is bouncing from one relief mission to the next. I’ve learned to mend pants, sweep floors, stir stews, wrap wounds, repair huts, distribute supplies—but that’s it.” Roku swept his arm out in imitation of a basic airbending motion. Nothing happened.

“Are those skills insignificant?”

“Of course not,” Roku said without conviction. “But I’m not here to train to be . . .”

Sister Disha waited for Roku to finish his thought. When he didn’t, she prompted, “To be what?”

Roku hesitated, but his frustration shoved the answer from his lips. “A servant.”

A look of disappointment crossed the Air Nun’s face. “Walk with me, Avatar Roku.”

They started down the main footpath. People nodded or stared as they noticed the Avatar and his airbending mas­ter walking by, and Roku attempted to return their greetings with the expected gravitas. They passed the new huts, the new school, the new temple, the new stalls of the rebuilt fish market and arrived at the beach where new boats swayed on anchored lines, their bamboo outriggers slapping gently against the water. A group of Air Nomad and Earth Kingdom children ran past, laughing and kicking up sand as they chased a dozen or so turtle-ducklings.

A light wind stirred the air, and storm clouds hung on the horizon. Hands still clasped behind her back, Sister Disha watched the waves. And kept watching. Roku crossed his arms and dropped his eyes to the sand, still uncomfortable around open water. He shifted his weight from foot to foot as he waited for her to speak. He wasn’t yet accustomed to the long stretches of silence with which the Air Nomads peppered their conversations.

Nothing else to occupy it, Roku’s attention turned to his sore feet, his aching arms, his greasy hair, his empty stomach. How he longed for those post-training hours spent at the Royal Spa when he and Sozin would lie back in the steaming tubs of water, sipping tea and snacking on fertilized turtle-duck eggs while servants trimmed their nails, brushed their hair, and massaged their shoulders. Once this conversation with Sister Disha ended, all Roku had to look forward to was a campfire she’d make him light by hand, another meatless meal, a threadbare bedroll, and a hard patch of ground.

Patience folding, Roku broke the silence. “Why don’t we do more?”

Sister Disha considered his question. “More what?”

“More good.”

“And how do you define ‘good’?”

“Progress,” Roku answered without hesitation this time.

“Tell me more.”

“As you said yourself, this village is in decline. Despite all the work we’ve put into its rebuilding, it will disappear with its elders—or with the next typhoon.”

Sister Disha didn’t disagree.

“We could establish a fund that each nation could contribute to. Then we could use that money to provide disaster relief and develop struggling villages like this,” Roku suggested, trying to sound more confident than he felt. But it was a clever idea, one that his own business-obsessed father might have come up with. “Help them build boats that can compete with the larger fishing vessels from Gao Ling. Teach to them how to be merchants instead of simply fishermen. Provide loans for those who wish to start new business ventures. Basically, we give those who’ve left a reason to return and those still here a reason to stay. In a generation, this could become a bustling port of commerce.”

Sister Disha kept her eyes on the waves, standing a full head shorter than Roku. “An interesting plan. But how do you suppose the leaders will feel about using their resources to boost the economies of the other nations?”

“As long as we’re assisting everyone, I don’t think they’d object.”

“Hmm.”

“What?” Roku asked, ready to defend his idea.

“We are to do this throughout the world then?”

“Wherever it’s needed.”

“And who will determine where it is needed?”

“We will.”

“You and me?”

Roku thought for a few moments before landing on the solution. “The Council of Elders at each Air temple could do so for their regions. I—as the Avatar—could help when needed.”

Sister Disha nodded. “That’s reasonable. But who will manage the funds?”

Roku faltered as he began to grasp the scope and layers of responsibilities accumulating in his proposed endeavor. “Also the Councils, I guess. No—wait—what about a group with representatives from each nation?”

“How will the representatives be selected?” the Air Nun pressed. “Who will choose the proposals? Who will draw up the contracts? Train the individuals?”

Roku didn’t have an answer this time. She had made her point.

“Who will monitor their dealings? Audit their accounts? Evaluate the impacts upon the Human and Spirit Worlds? Settle disputes? Deal with those who misuse the funds?”

Her questions extinguished the nascent pride Roku had felt in his cleverness only moments before.

“This is why you are not ready to airbend,” Sister Disha said. “You have not yet learned to leave the ground.”

Roku tensed his shoulders. “Meaning?”

“You’re still thinking like a Fire National.”

“I am a Fire National.”

“You’re the Avatar,” she corrected with the stinging disappointment of a teacher whose pupil still failed to grasp an obvious lesson.

Roku sagged with shame, wondering if she regretted leaving her life at the Eastern Air Temple to train him.

Sister Disha placed a hand on his shoulder and softened her tone. “If you are to be a good Avatar, you must understand that you are a spirit of no nation. A spirit whose sole purpose is to maintain balance within and across the worlds. But you must be patient with yourself. History tells us this has always been a particular struggle for Fire Avatars.”

“Like Szeto?” Roku asked, referring to the last Fire Nation reincarnation of the Avatar.

“Like Szeto,” Sister Disha confirmed, withdrawing her hand.

She didn’t need to explain further. When Roku had first arrived at the Southern Air Temple, he began to devour every scroll he could find about his past lives, eager to learn about his new role. Avatar Szeto—who had also served as the Fire Lord’s Grand Advisor—was revered in the Fire Nation, but the other nations’ historians didn’t hold Szeto in such high regard. They believed Szeto’s official attachment to the Fire Nation wove bias into every institution he helped establish, every protocol he helped craft, every decision he influenced. They warned that this would become more apparent as the years passed—and that the consequences would be disastrous. Roku found this assessment unfair and alarmist, thin on evidence and over reliant on speculation.

The group of children who had run past them earlier returned, grounding Roku back into the present moment. This time, however, it was the turtle-ducklings who were chasing the kids. Still laughing, the children ran into the water as if forgetting their tiny assailants could swim.

Sister Disha laughed.

But Roku was unable to brush off his failure so quickly. “So how do I learn to do that—to let go of my attachment to my nation?” His question was genuine. He wanted to be a good Avatar—he just wasn’t convinced he had it in him.

Her smile widened as she continued to watch the children who were screaming in mock fear as they playfully splashed the advancing turtle-ducklings. “Go for a swim.”

Roku raised an eyebrow. “A swim?”

Sister Disha nodded.

“You can’t be serious,” Roku said.

Instead of answering, she began to remove her outer robes, revealing the nearly full length of the blue arrow tattoos that ran along her arms and legs, up her back, and over the top of her head.

Although she still wore her undergarments, Roku averted his gaze. Despite having lived among the Air Nomads long enough to learn that they carried absolutely no shame when it came to their bodies, it hadn’t been long enough to unlearn the Fire Nation sense of propriety, especially when it came to women.

Paying Roku no mind, the Air Nun folded her robes neatly and set them on the sand next to her feet. Then she ran down the beach, laughing. “I’ll save you!” she called to the children and dove into the water with a gentle blast of air that made the turtle-ducklings flutter their wings and quack with annoyance.

Roku remained on the shore, envying the way they all moved as if without a care in the world, as if free.

How Avatar, The Last Airbender: The Reckoning of Roku Expands On What We Know About The World Of Avatar: The Last Airbender

The legacy of past Avatars has always been an important aspect in the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender (Netflix’s live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender intro even features some), and Avatar, the Last Airbender: The Reckoning of Roku is the deepest look yet at the life of Aang’s predecessor. Roku is a large part of Aang’s story in Avatar: The Last Airbender, with his spirit helping to guide the young Avatar on his journey to heroism. In teaching Aang, Roku often references his own past, and the new book offers readers a chance to understand the events that shaped Aang’s eventual teacher more fully.

One of the most consequential events in Avatar: The Last Airbender is the Hundred Year War, and Avatar, the Last Airbender: The Reckoning of Roku is also set to recontextualize that conflict. The official synopsis for the novel reveals that it will focus heavily on a young Roku’s friendship with the Fire Nation’s Crown Prince Sozin, who ultimately would become the aggressor in that war. Roku himself would go on to stall the start of the Hundred Year War for as long as he could, and the first chapter of Avatar, the Last Airbender: The Reckoning of Roku showcases Roku’s desire for collaboration and peace between nations.

The tragedy that sets up Aang’s crucial importance in Avatar: The Last Airbender is Sozin’s eradication of the Air Nomads during the Hundred Year War. Avatar, the Last Airbender: The Reckoning of Roku focuses on Roku’s time learning from the Air Nomads, increasing readers’ depth of understanding of what was lost. With characters like Sister Disha and a young airbender named Gyatso factoring heavily into the story, readers will get a clear glimpse of a society that is lost by the start of Avatar: The Last Airbender.