Reviewed by Jess
TITLE: Heart of Chaos
AUTHOR: Avery Stiles
PUBLISHER: Less Than Three Press
LENGTH: 64 pages
RELEASE DATE: June 13, 2018
BLURB:
Rin’s life is on track for long-lasting success, but when her business partner blindsides her by proposing marriage, she cannot accept. Desperate for a way out of the marriage that won’t ruin her business, she runs to the Hall of Altars and prays to Vistri, the shapeshifter god of the desperate and bringer of chaos.
Vistri appears and offers to fix her problem, asking only for her trust in return. With no other options, Rin accepts—but she’s not at all prepared for Vistri’s solution.
REVIEW:
This is a great example of a short work that still packs a punch. Stiles crafts great characters, an interesting mythology, and a sweet romance in very few words, making this the perfect story to devour in one sitting.
The trickster, Loki-type god is a hard one to embody in an original character, but Vistri is just about perfect. She (Vistri, and most gods, are generally genderfluid, but some have preferred pronouns and presentations) might be the goddess of chaos, but her chaos is not always destructive, though it is generally unsettling. She’s made out to seem real and flawed rather than ethereal and perfect. When she makes Rin’s parents uncomfortable during their dinner “date,” we don’t see it as a misstep—we see it as a valuable window into Vistri’s very being and purpose.
I’ve read very few stories that manage to pull off the “fake dating” trope in short form, but this one does it well. Rin is such an ambitious and pragmatic character that we trust her right away, making it easy to understand how she can fall for Vistri and her possibly insane plots and schemes. I also really like the subtle cultural and religious intersections, though the mythology is mainly fictional. There are elements of Indian and Hindu names and culture among many other inspirations, showing that not all mythological fantasy settings have to come from Latin roots.
If the story was a little longer, some of the more rushed parts would’ve settled a lot better on the page. The party scene with the various gods was done and over with before we got to really enjoy it, and I wanted to know a little more about pre-Vistri Rin and her family history. But as a whole, this was a really sweet, well-done story with a great developing arc and totally loveable characters.
RATING: 
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