The Guardian of Avlina by A.J. Avila

The Guardian of Avlina by A.J. Avila
Series: a standalone
Publisher: self published (June 27, 2025)

REVIEW BY PRISCILLA BETTIS

The Guardian of Avlina is a science fiction fantasy story that takes place on an island on an Earth-like, faraway planet called Avlina. Davin is the island’s king. His baby sister, Princess Carranda, is born under bizarre circumstances. Could the lavender-eyed baby be the prophesied Guardian? Max, a high-level policymaker in the kingdom, is assigned to be Carranda’s official babysitter, and he’s not too happy about it.

Davin and Max do not like Carranda, though she loves both of them, and these three characters make up most of the story at first. There is a lot of family and castle drama. Then the angels and demons and a Messianic figure make themselves known, and this quaint princess story with a YA vibe suddenly becomes a story of strategy and action. Even more notable, it becomes a Christian allegory.

The story brilliantly illustrates how we are to trust God in all circumstances and how we mere humans have a short-sighted view, both in our present circumstances and how we’re so dang sure about the way things are going to turn out. If you know anyone having trust issues in their faith, I highly recommend The Guardian of Avlina.

The above-mentioned drama kept me glued to the page early in the book, and high-stakes, danger-filled action with evil villains kept me turning pages in the second half of the book. In this scene, Max has already been tortured, but the top-dog villain gives Max a stun gun set to KILL and toys with him:

“I’m wondering how much pain you can withstand, Max. From what I observed in the dungeon, quite a lot. But that was only for a little while. How many days, weeks, months of it can you take until you give in and use a stunner on yourself? One I provide that’s permanently locked on red?”

-A.J. Avila, The Guardian of Avlina

Scenes like that made for a tense and exciting read, but I did take off a fish. There was strong language I’m not used to seeing in a Christian novel (d***, what the h***, that b****), and in a fantasy story, the author could have made up fun curse words for the world of Avlina. Sigh, I realize I’m sounding like an old fuddy-duddy here. Anyway, The Guardian of Avlina is not marketed as a YA book, but strong language made me think the book might appeal to a YA audience, especially early on when the characters were so young, and even later when there was a video game scene.

This fuddy-duddy gives The Guardian of Avlina four solid fish.

composite image of four drawn fish from the British Museum on unsplash

I read The Guardian of Avlina through Kindle Unlimited.

42 thoughts on “The Guardian of Avlina by A.J. Avila”

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      1. Louis L’Amour, author of over 100 books, emphasized you don’t have to use course language to sell books.

        “I’ve written all these stories without any pornography, without any obscenity. I grew up among sailors and miners and lumberjacks and the roughest kind men in the world, but I never found it necessary to use all that in the stories. I can make them real without that. I think much of that kind of writing is a coverup for lack of real skill.”

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  4. I don’t think you’re a fuddy-duddy. Those words are surprising in Christian fiction. And given it’s fantasy, you’re right—words could have been made up in lieu of them. (Battlestar Galactica is famous for this.)

    That said, I love that genres like sci-fi and fantasy so easily embrace Christian themes and can teach a point without sounding preachy. It’s a great way to spread the message to people who are otherwise resistant to it.

    Thanks, Priscilla.

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  5. I’ve been reading a lot the last week about free will–do we have it. Lots of great thinkers don’t believe we do, that everything is pre-ordained. Your sentence–“trust God in all circumstances and how we mere humans have a short-sighted view”–maybe I don’t mind.

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    1. You’re getting all philosophical, Jacqui, how fun. (I mean, really. I enjoy reading philosophy.) Thanks for reading my review and commenting.❤ I’m excited about Balance of Nature coming out next week!

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  6. Thanks for your honest thoughts on the book. I’m looking for stories for my middle/high school grandchildren, so definitely don’t like inappropriate words. The quote Grant shared from Louis L’Amour is excellent. I’m in the fuddy-duddy camp.

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    1. Yes, she stepped outside the box. I loved that about the novel. I hope she has more coming down the pike. Thanks for commenting, Jan.❤ I hope it’s thawing out over there. We’re starting to see bits of the road here (near Abilene).👍

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  8. I love Christian allegory. However, I agree with the others, no curse words for me. And yet, as my former pastor once told me, the only truly bad words are those that use the Lord’s name. All the others may be crude, but they aren’t a sin. He said he used to curse in Gaelic when golfing so no one would know what he was saying. (Yes, he was Irish.)

    Even so, I don’t care to hear or read those words, except a few. I don’t mind a little here and there, as that’s true life these days, but not on every page. You didn’t mention how many and how often, but it must have been enough to deduct a fish. I too like the author to be more creative with slang in a novel. It’s much more fun to read.

    All that said, it sounds like an interesting story. Thank you for sharing your opinion.

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    1. Cursing in Gaelic on the golf course, that’s hilarious! I’ve wondered sometimes how many of our ordinary words are curse words in other languages. Thank you for reading my review and commenting, Marie. You’re a treasure.❤

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  10. Hi Priscilla, this is an intriguing review. I’m not a fan of strong language either. I use a little in my The Soldier and the radium girl book because it felt a bit unrealistic to have none in a soldiers at war setting. I kept it minimal though.

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    1. I understand the use of language in a historical war setting. And I actually read a good friend’s horror stories which have quite a bit of strong language, but it’s to be expected. Thanks for reading my review and adding your thoughts to the discussion, Robbie.❤ Have a great rest of your week!

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  11. LOL, Priscilla, I’m laughing at your fuddy-duddiness. I likely would have felt the same way. I remember the first time Frank Peretti used a curse word (F, no less) in one of his novels and how shock rebounded throughout the world of Christian fiction. I don’t recall him doing it after that, but wow did that “F” stir up a lot of controversy.

    This does sound like a YA read, but a strong one. Just reading your pull quote I felt horrible for Max!

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  12. It’s sad to me that authors today think they have to use strong language to attract a teen reader. I get it…most kids aren’t reading anymore, so the need to draw a kid to a book is quite a challenge. But it still makes me sad. As a teacher, the day reading for fun ended was the day the schools let cell phones into the classrooms. Anyway, I digress. Great review for what sounds like a very interesting Sci-Fi. 🙂

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    1. I was a swim coach for many years. I was pretty happy that there weren’t such things as waterproof iphones. The kids had 2 full hours of interacting with me and each other (well, you know, when their faces weren’t in the water during laps). Thanks for reading my review and commenting, Nicole!❤

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  13. Great review and interesting storyline, Priscilla. Like you, I cringe at strong language in a book such as this. Thank you for introducing A. J. Avila to me. I’ll visit Amazon and consider.

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    1. LOL, hello fellow fuddy-duddy! It was a fun read despite my misgivings. I wouldn’t hesitate to read whatever Avila writes next. I hope you all are thawing out on the East Coast (though I just saw the forecast, yikes). Take care.❤

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  15. I don’t think there is anything fuddy-duddy about you, Priscilla!!! I loathe bad language (on page and off page!) and I love that quote that someone gave from Louis L’Amour. This sounds a book of two halves, which is interesting. Not too keen on allegory myself but loads of people are and I am sure there will plenty of enthusiastic readers for this book. Thanks for sharing!

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  16. Thanks for such a thoughtful review, Priscilla! The story sounds like a really good read, and I appreciate how clearly you highlighted its themes of trust in God. I tend to steer away from books with strong language (the fuddy-duddy that I am 😁), but it’s helpful to know what to expect for those who might read it.

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  17. Your review had me chuckling, Priscilla. I don’t mind a bit of “language,” but modern curses in fantasy novels sometimes knock me out of a story. This book sounds like an interesting read that held your attention in both halves. It seems like the story would work for a wide range of readers. Thanks for the review.

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