jreeb19's review
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
rachelmoore212's review
2.0
The story was enjoyable, however the dialogue was really lacking. The dynamic between the three officers was either cheesy cop dialogue or bizarre over reactions. I think had the dialogue been fantastic, this could have been a 4 or 5 star read, but with it being this short and with most of the characterization happening through the dialogue it was a major issue.
whodawala's review
3.0
I’ve been watching Daniel Greene for nearly a year now, and was excited to pick up his debut piece. Sadly, it fell short in a few places for me, but it was overall an enjoyable read.
Cons:
1) The dialogue felt pretty clunky. A lot of the conversations felt as if Daniel was telling us what to take away from them rather than us finding it out ourselves, and there were a lot of weird cliches and sentence-finishing.
2) I just wasn’t invested in the characters. Without getting too spoilery, a bunch of tragic shit happens at the end but I didn’t care all too much because the characters it happened too hadn’t been developed enough. I understand that this was a novella, but I needed something more there, and I’m not even a character based reader.
Pros:
1) What I am, however, is a plot based reader. On that count, I’d give full makes- the plot was intriguing and had me read the whole novella in a sitting.
2) The pacing was good and the world building was ample as one could expect from a novella. The hints given about the world were intriguing and made me want to know more while still providing enough details to let me understand what was going on.
This seemed like a pretty standard first foray into writing fantasy, and I hope to read more as Daniel improves and builds this world out.
Cons:
1) The dialogue felt pretty clunky. A lot of the conversations felt as if Daniel was telling us what to take away from them rather than us finding it out ourselves, and there were a lot of weird cliches and sentence-finishing.
2) I just wasn’t invested in the characters. Without getting too spoilery, a bunch of tragic shit happens at the end but I didn’t care all too much because the characters it happened too hadn’t been developed enough. I understand that this was a novella, but I needed something more there, and I’m not even a character based reader.
Pros:
1) What I am, however, is a plot based reader. On that count, I’d give full makes- the plot was intriguing and had me read the whole novella in a sitting.
2) The pacing was good and the world building was ample as one could expect from a novella. The hints given about the world were intriguing and made me want to know more while still providing enough details to let me understand what was going on.
This seemed like a pretty standard first foray into writing fantasy, and I hope to read more as Daniel improves and builds this world out.
kamke's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
oerlemans's review
4.0
I discovered Daniel's YouTube channel a few months ago, and I have watched every video he published since. I was an avid fantasy reader until a few years ago when I got more into science fiction and non-fiction books, and I practically stopped reading fantasy books altogether. Watching Daniel's video helped me rekindle my love for fantasy books and also taught me to not only read a book for its plot but also, or even more so, for its characters and worldbuilding. One of the first videos I watched on his channel was about his book, Breach of Peace. I was a bit sceptical about it because it was his first book, self-published, and he was just a guy who made videos about books. So I didn't have any intention of reading his book. But after a few months, I stumbled on the Goodreads page of his book, and it had a good rating and positive reviews. So I looked up at Amazon, and it was only a few books and at 95 pages, quite a short read. So I decided to try it. And boy, am I glad I did!
As Daniel is a big fan of the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan, I was expecting a story that is heavily influenced by this series. But nope, I was wrong again. It is clearly influenced by books like 1984 by George Orwell and The Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson, but Daniel created a unique world. It's hard to pinpoint a time in our world that corresponds with his. If I would guess, I'd say the beginning of the 20th century. The worldbuilding is very subtle, this book does not contain any info dumps, but we still get a good view of how the world and the society the characters live in works.
As for the plot, it starts very small. The main character is a police inspector who got called to a murder scene of an imperial family. As the investigation goes on, the book's scope gradually grows and grows. I won't tell much more details because I don't want to spoiler anything.
The characters surprised me. I don't think I ever read a book this short which had such rich characters. All of them, even the minor ones. The relationships between them are also very well written, and all have a deep back story that explains their reasons and motivations that brought them to where they are now.
The writing style also reminds me of Sanderson, but he does throw a few words in there that feel off. Lesser used synonyms of everyday words that do not fit the context. Almost as if he wanted to prove he could write like Gene Wolfe. Besides that, I liked his prose.
Overall, this book really surprised me, and it's a solid read. 4/5
As Daniel is a big fan of the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan, I was expecting a story that is heavily influenced by this series. But nope, I was wrong again. It is clearly influenced by books like 1984 by George Orwell and The Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson, but Daniel created a unique world. It's hard to pinpoint a time in our world that corresponds with his. If I would guess, I'd say the beginning of the 20th century. The worldbuilding is very subtle, this book does not contain any info dumps, but we still get a good view of how the world and the society the characters live in works.
As for the plot, it starts very small. The main character is a police inspector who got called to a murder scene of an imperial family. As the investigation goes on, the book's scope gradually grows and grows. I won't tell much more details because I don't want to spoiler anything.
The characters surprised me. I don't think I ever read a book this short which had such rich characters. All of them, even the minor ones. The relationships between them are also very well written, and all have a deep back story that explains their reasons and motivations that brought them to where they are now.
The writing style also reminds me of Sanderson, but he does throw a few words in there that feel off. Lesser used synonyms of everyday words that do not fit the context. Almost as if he wanted to prove he could write like Gene Wolfe. Besides that, I liked his prose.
Overall, this book really surprised me, and it's a solid read. 4/5
books_with_benghis_kahn's review
2.0
This was ok for being a debut piece of writing, but in comparison to the epic fantasy novels I usually read, it's just not much of anything. I don't like reading mystery or detective novels in the first place, so I wasn't predisposed to enjoy the whole situation of the novella. The main characters never really got to the point of being believable individuals in this setting for me, and the primary relationship that the emotional core of the novella hinges on never took hold for me -- so the death of Samuel didn't really have much impact. I'm definitely willing to give Daniel's future books a chance, as he's bound to improve with practice, and as the series opens up maybe it'll veer more toward the genre I prefer.
just_tommye's review
3.0
Overall Thoughts
In general, this is a great debut novella by Daniel Greene. The characters are distinctive and we feel an emotional attachment to them. The setting is as clear as it needs to be for such a short story. When it comes to the plot, this was the best part of the novella!
It is no secret that I have enjoyed Daniel Greene’s videos on his YouTube channel for several years. I love his reviews and ridiculous sketches, but I was a little apprehensive about reading his book as I worried I might think it was terrible.
That’s not a selfish thought – I hoped that this would be a great book because for the amount of work he puts into his channel, he deserves all the success in the world. Luckily, I enjoyed the book and am looking forward to the later entries.
Alright, less butt-licking and more reviewing!
The Characters
Having great characters is essential for any good fantasy book, and Daniel obviously knows this. So much work has gone into crafting the main characters so when we follow them into danger or watch them considering a mystery, we are on the edge of our seats.
We care, and that’s what’s so important. I have read books where I don’t care about the main characters and they can be good – the Foundation series by Isaac Asimov is a fantastic example of this – but I always miss the emotional attachment.
Khlid is the perfect protagonist. She is driven and motivated which moves the story along the beats of the mystery plot. Her relationship with Sam is strong, although in a novella there wasn’t a huge amount of time to spend on this. Obviously, I prefer it this way rather than having several paragraphs of exposition about their relationship! – Instead, we watch them interact naturally and their love for one another is clear.
Chapman was one of my favourites! He had an attitude which would make you hate working with him, but as a character in a story you love him! If this had been a novel, I would have loved a multiple POV with all three of these individuals.
The World & Plot
I have already mentioned the limitations of a novella. In a fantasy book, the limitations on worldbuilding are pretty clear. Despite this, Daniel brings the local setting into clear focus and we see the surroundings clearly through the eyes of the characters and vivid, concise descriptions.
I am a reader of the big, 1000+ page fantasy books, but Breach of Peace isn’t that kind of book and it didn’t need to be. We saw just enough of the world to enjoy the story. The ministries were very 1984 and I loved that! Such a fantastic addition to the world – a lot could be done with such an element and I am sure we will see more of it in the later novellas.
Even if you didn’t already know from spending too much time watching his YouTube videos, it is clear that Daniel is a fan of detective novels. Many aspects of the novella remind me of the classic noir mysteries, and because of this is also feels similar to The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher.
The plot was enjoyable and the mystery was riveting to read – it pulled you through the short book and didn’t let go until you’d found out the answers! A good mystery ends in enough answered questions to satisfy the reader, but also more questions – I will be thinking about the ending of this book for a long time to come, wondering what is going to come next.
Final Thoughts
This review of Breach of Peace by Daniel Greene is generally positive – as it should be! – but there were of course a few issues with the novella readers should be aware of. The writing isn’t perfect, and we wouldn’t expect it to be, but this can lead to being pulled out of the story a little.
For example, at the end of a few chapters we are pulled out of the story a little by the odd sentence that reveals what is going to happen next. To make this clearer, I would say that most of the story is in 3rd person limited (written in 3rd person but the writer can only see what is going on through the point of view of one character), but these one-off sentences are more like 3rd person omnipresent narration (where the writer knows all – points of view and what will happen in the future).
That was my only predominant negative aspect of reading Breach of Peace and it is easy to skip over when the rest of the story is told so well.
I am really looking forward to what Daniel will publish in the future. I strongly believe he will develop into a very strong writer and maybe one day I could have a chat with him about the writing process, fantasy books in general, and other nerdy stuff!
View the full review at The Fantasy Review
In general, this is a great debut novella by Daniel Greene. The characters are distinctive and we feel an emotional attachment to them. The setting is as clear as it needs to be for such a short story. When it comes to the plot, this was the best part of the novella!
It is no secret that I have enjoyed Daniel Greene’s videos on his YouTube channel for several years. I love his reviews and ridiculous sketches, but I was a little apprehensive about reading his book as I worried I might think it was terrible.
That’s not a selfish thought – I hoped that this would be a great book because for the amount of work he puts into his channel, he deserves all the success in the world. Luckily, I enjoyed the book and am looking forward to the later entries.
Alright, less butt-licking and more reviewing!
The Characters
Having great characters is essential for any good fantasy book, and Daniel obviously knows this. So much work has gone into crafting the main characters so when we follow them into danger or watch them considering a mystery, we are on the edge of our seats.
We care, and that’s what’s so important. I have read books where I don’t care about the main characters and they can be good – the Foundation series by Isaac Asimov is a fantastic example of this – but I always miss the emotional attachment.
Khlid is the perfect protagonist. She is driven and motivated which moves the story along the beats of the mystery plot. Her relationship with Sam is strong, although in a novella there wasn’t a huge amount of time to spend on this. Obviously, I prefer it this way rather than having several paragraphs of exposition about their relationship! – Instead, we watch them interact naturally and their love for one another is clear.
Chapman was one of my favourites! He had an attitude which would make you hate working with him, but as a character in a story you love him! If this had been a novel, I would have loved a multiple POV with all three of these individuals.
The World & Plot
I have already mentioned the limitations of a novella. In a fantasy book, the limitations on worldbuilding are pretty clear. Despite this, Daniel brings the local setting into clear focus and we see the surroundings clearly through the eyes of the characters and vivid, concise descriptions.
I am a reader of the big, 1000+ page fantasy books, but Breach of Peace isn’t that kind of book and it didn’t need to be. We saw just enough of the world to enjoy the story. The ministries were very 1984 and I loved that! Such a fantastic addition to the world – a lot could be done with such an element and I am sure we will see more of it in the later novellas.
Even if you didn’t already know from spending too much time watching his YouTube videos, it is clear that Daniel is a fan of detective novels. Many aspects of the novella remind me of the classic noir mysteries, and because of this is also feels similar to The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher.
The plot was enjoyable and the mystery was riveting to read – it pulled you through the short book and didn’t let go until you’d found out the answers! A good mystery ends in enough answered questions to satisfy the reader, but also more questions – I will be thinking about the ending of this book for a long time to come, wondering what is going to come next.
Final Thoughts
This review of Breach of Peace by Daniel Greene is generally positive – as it should be! – but there were of course a few issues with the novella readers should be aware of. The writing isn’t perfect, and we wouldn’t expect it to be, but this can lead to being pulled out of the story a little.
For example, at the end of a few chapters we are pulled out of the story a little by the odd sentence that reveals what is going to happen next. To make this clearer, I would say that most of the story is in 3rd person limited (written in 3rd person but the writer can only see what is going on through the point of view of one character), but these one-off sentences are more like 3rd person omnipresent narration (where the writer knows all – points of view and what will happen in the future).
That was my only predominant negative aspect of reading Breach of Peace and it is easy to skip over when the rest of the story is told so well.
I am really looking forward to what Daniel will publish in the future. I strongly believe he will develop into a very strong writer and maybe one day I could have a chat with him about the writing process, fantasy books in general, and other nerdy stuff!
View the full review at The Fantasy Review
little_night_owl's review
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
ethanjpollard's review against another edition
5.0
This little novella is barely over 100 pages long, but I swear it gave me a book hangover when I finished it. And I don’t usually even get those. It’s a tightly-plotted, well-written little spiral of fantasy, horror, and police procedural that accelerates to a gruesome and utterly intriguing conclusion. The fact that this is also a self-published debut makes it all the more impressive. Greene has crafted a brutal and fascinating world, and I will absolutely be reading everything else he writes within it. This is the kind of story that inspires me to keep writing, and excites me for the future of the genre. Highly recommend picking it up!