YMMV / The Star of the Guardians

• Awesome Music:
  • The author has mentioned that Vangelis' "Heaven and Hell" should sound at the epilogue of Ghost Legion.
  • The Golden Squadron March that is based on the part of Vangelis' "To the Unknown Man"
• Complete Monster: Abdiel is the leader of the Order of the Black Lightning, a rogue faction of mind-rapists. He uses his abilities to build an army of mindless followers by promising them exquisite pleasures, but actually uses his followers as toys to torment for kicks. Abdiel is revealed to have orchestrated the old revolution against the monarchy, murdering the whole royal family to seize power before his gamble was exposed and his Order destroyed. In revenge, he proceeds to hunt down and wipe out every member of the Blood Royal genetic line. Later, he tries to sell a doomsday device that could destroy all life to a rival empire for profit. When his enemies finally put him down for good, he ensures that his final blow will drive his slayer Maigrey insane, forcing her soulmate Sagan to kill her to spare her the pain.
• Fair for Its Day: Raoul is a walking Camp Gay stereotype; he's obsessed with makeup, fashion, and boys, he's a total airhead, and his priorities are so skewed that, when kidnapped in the sequel series, he considers the fact that he's wearing a hospital gown more horrifying than the fact that he's being held hostage. He's also a highly respected and extremely talented Master Poisoner who's considered one of the galaxy's greatest mercenaries, and nobody (except occasionally his enemies) ever looks down at him or considers him weak for being as flamboyant as he is. His passion for fashion and ebullient personality are actually considered invaluable assets for the Mag Force 7 team, as he fits in well in high-society events and is excellent at gaining others' trust with his friendly personality. All of his more conventionally masculine compatriots consider him a genuinely close friend, and when he's in trouble in the first sequel book, they don't hesitate to drop everything to go rescue him.
• Funny Moments: Tusk seeing Sagan for the first time in Ghost Legion.
• Nightmare Fuel: The alien race of Corasians, feeding on anything living, from trees to humans; Abdiel and his mind-deads.
• Tear Jerker: The author herself admitted to have been crying all day long after she wrote the scene where Maigrey died. The scene of Sagan's death probably counts, too. In fairness, Maigrey is quite possibly an Author Avatar.
  • "The king is dead, Maigrey. Long live the king."
• Values Resonance: The Deuteragonist of the Mag Force 7 sequel series, Darlene Mohini, is a trans woman, portrayed in a way that's rare in mainstream media and was almost unheard of in 1997; she's an old friend of Xris's who has since transitioned. Instead of just using an Easy Sex Change, the book mentions her going on hormone replacement therapy, and acknowledges the fact that transitioning is a process and doesn't just instantly happen. Those who knew her before her transition note that she was a lot more withdrawn, awkward, and depressed in those days; she's still a socially awkward nerd who's married to her computers, but she's a lot more confident and happy than she used to be. Raoul also states that on his planet, trans kids are typically discovered before puberty and helped to transition—something that's still relatively rare, and considered extremely progressive. Even the fact that she's a Playful Hacker has aged well; "trans woman programmer/hacker" is an affectionate stereotype that has become more well-known outside of the LGBTQ+ community in recent years. Admittedly, Xris is pretty awkward about it in the first book, but Raoul reminds him to do things like call Darlene by her preferred name and pronouns. Much of his awkwardness is because he believes Darlene betrayed him in the past, and he thinks she's only presenting as female due to some kind of deep-cover thing. After she explains that she didn't betray him, she bungled the mission because she was in the middle of a depressive episode caused by gender dysphoria, he becomes much more accepting, even if he doesn't entirely "get it." Best exemplified by the fact that in the first book, Xris always refers to her by her gender-neutral former last name, Rowan, but in the sequels, he properly calls her Darlene most of the time.

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