Book Review – Guardian of Chaos

Series: A Nyx Fortuna Novel

Author: Michelle Manus

I read a book! And it is not part of an older series I have already commented on. I read a new book in a new series by a new author and it was good. 

Guardian of Chaos by Michelle Manus follows the adventures of Nyx Fortuna, an amnesiac living on Earth – for the first five pages of the book anyway. Within moments, our protagonist is pulled into the Between, a magic waystation that guards the entrance to earth. But the fun doesn’t just stop there, immediately appointed Guardian of the Station, Nyx is almost as quickly assigned the impossible task of tracking down an escaped criminal – with zero training. She stumbles her way from deadly assassins to a prison planet and back again. Making friends and enemies alike, Nyx’s life of near invisibility suddenly becomes filled with others and their various demands on her. 

Overall, Guardian of Chaos is a fun romp through a fantasy-space setting. There are some magical creatures, some deadly chaos threats and other words to explore and become acquainted with. The writing was solid. Nyx was a good protagonist with enough of an unknown past – amnesiac, missing the first 20-ish years of her life – to hook the reader. The side characters have personality and their own goals, sometimes aligned and sometimes not with Nyx’s. 

There are a few things that I will knit-pick otherwise this review would be dreadfully dull and pointlessly short. First, the lazy use of tropes when establishing Nyx. This is the main protagonist and deserves more than American cliches. For example, she has an unwarranted predilection for back shirts and jeans. Which doesn’t make sense when she was so broke, she was down to some twelve dollars in her pocket. At that point, I am pretty sure she would jump at the chance to wear a nice suit if it was clean and especially if it was tailored to her physic. The love of her clothes feels like it is playing into the girl-next door ideal that America is setting up. This beautiful person in seemingly plain clothing designed to make the character relatable, even if they are not ‘normal’. 

Nyx’s obsession with coffee. While I appreciate she is not a raging alcoholic, as a non-coffee drinker I find this tiresome. Along with the clothing, this feels lazy. Like no thought was put into why she would love coffee or black clothing. I also don’t love the way coffee becomes a substitute for food. Why are heroines poor eaters, but still have the ideal body type? This perpetuates the terrible idea that a woman can have poor eating habits but still have a beautiful (and often powerful) body. I get that books are fantasy, but can we ground some of this in reality? 

So when Nyx arrives at Earth Between Station, she becomes bonded to the Station’s Avatar, which she promptly names – despite the avatar saying it is not necessary. Fantasy trope: names have power. Now, I am not opposed to Nyx naming the Avatar, which seems fine to me. But everyone in the story comments on it. And Nyx, despite knowing the Avatar for 6 seconds, suddenly crusades for equal rights. I appreciate morally upstanding citizens, but this felt forced. And it wouldn’t have taken much to make it better. 

First, you could establish the habit of Nyx naming everything because she longs for a friend. This is reasonable since it is quickly established she is nearly invisible to the people of earth and life is terribly lonely. Second, you could say that as guardian she feels the connection with her Avatar, so the Avatar feels like a real person to her. Or that she has always championed for the rights of talking lifeforms. But when every character comments on how odd this is, you better explain why Nyx, so new to this world, is sticking with the name. Because, if she was that lonely, I am pretty sure she would do her best to fit in and make friends with the new people who suddenly notice her. 

Finally, the character flaw. The best characters have a good character flaw. The strange attachment to black jeans and t-shirts or her obsession to coffee are clearly not flaws to the author. Instead Nyx is a nerd? Geek? It is not clear. It is also not a flaw. Reading fantasy novels is hardly a flaw, and Nyx seems to read mostly the popular works. I personally think she is selfish and deaf to the feelings of those around her, but that is not an intended perspective. The author did try to play up the clueless aspect, but even then Nyx has kickass skills from her forgotten past – which further diminishes any tarnish her few nerd/geek references might make. 

Still, Guardian of Chaos was sufficiently interesting that I will likely try the next book in the series. Being harsh I would give this book a 3.5/5 star rating – but that could just be me feeling critical tonight.