Breach of Peace

Lawful Times #1

by Daniel B. Greene

When an imperial family is found butchered, Officers of God are called to investigate. Evidence points to a rebel group trying to stab fear into the very heart of the empire. Inspector Khlid begins a harrowing hunt for those responsible, but when a larger conspiracy comes to light, she struggles to trust even the officers around her.

Genres: Fantasy, Mystery, Novella, Fiction, Adult, Audiobook, Horror

98 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 18, 2021

Reviews

[Jay Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Breach of Peace is Daniel Greene's debut novella in what is planned to be a trilogy of novellas that are leading up to his full novel series. I worked with Daniel doing the cover layout for Breach of Peace (the beautiful cover art is by Felix Ortiz) and consider him a friend, but with that being said I will be keeping this review as un-biased as possible.

Here's my video review: https://youtu.be/XRledNAT94Y
My Interview with Daniel Greene: https://youtu.be/YuQMU3iC8tM


I’m always hesitant to go into a book written by a youtuber, because often their audience hypes up their work way too much. And lets be honest, lots of times YouTuber books are not that great. I’m happy to say, Breach of Peace is a solid debut novella! There’s a few little things that I’ll get into, but my overall experience was enjoyable and I’m looking forward to read more that Daniel writes.

Genre:
This novella’s been ranking on amazon in several genre’s including dark fantasy, grim dark, military fantasy, flintlock fantasy and even horror. I would probably say it’s like a fantasy detective story with some horror elements.

Story:
The story opens with a crime scene described in gruesome detail. An imperial family is found butchered in their home, and it’s up to three inspectors to get to the bottom of it. This includes Inspector Khlid as well as her husband Samuel, and a man named Chapman who’s like the star of the Seventh Precinct. Evidence points to a rebel group trying to stab fear into the empire, and a larger conspiracy begins to come to light, as inspector Khlid struggles to trust even the officers around her.

This introduction definitely sets the dark tone you can expect from this novella, and the descriptions and atmosphere were especially strong here.

Characters:
The the dialogue and dynamic between these three characters especially I found to be one of the major strong points to this story. It was refreshing to read the relationship between Khlid and Samuel because they already have this chemistry between them, idk why it was kind of remind me of the couple in To Sleep In a Sea of Stars. However, I just wish we got to see more of Samuel as I feel like he's the weaker character of the three. Chapman is my favorite, he's kind of an ass sometimes though you can tell his brain is just wired differently and he isn't always trying to be an ass. This is where I see a bit of an Arthur Conan Doyle inspiration, and being a big fan of Sherlock Holmes, I loved it. Chapman feels like Daniel's nod to Sherlock without ripping off that character at all. Chapman and Khlid especially I felt were very distinct. I felt like I cared for both of these characters in this short novella.

Worldbuilding:
For some reason I automatically thought of this world as being sort of Steampunk, I was thinking of something similar to like the Dishonored games. But its not really steampunk at all, I messaged Daniel about it... and he said no.. it's not steampunk. Its set in an industrial era world that's run by an Orwellian society, one that’s led by someone calling themself god and there’s basically no free will. The police force work for god and can get away with whatever because they’re above everyone else. And we’re following these people. These Police officers receiving a case from the almighty, feels almost like a holy experience to them, like they’re being drawn closer to The Almighty by carrying out its will through the system it has created.

So we’re following protagonists who are kind of indoctrinated into this religious cult that reigns over the government and they think they’re actions are justified. I've seen a small amount of controversy about this, with some people trying to frame Daniel for believing in that stuff. Which is ridiculous, I remember him previously stating that one of his biggest fears with this book is people projecting the belief of his characters on to him, when he’s decided to write from a perspective that he does not believe in. He recently made a video talking about authorial intent and how authors don’t always believe what they write. Writing about something doesn't automatically mean you endorse it. As much as I love the first law by Joe abercrombie, I don’t love the things that his characters do, and I’m sure he’s not promoting torture. I feel like it’s pretty clear after reading the Breach of Peace that Daniel is setting up a social critique of power given to the police as well as religious extremists. And I think there is a conspiracy within this book that’s building up and will be revealed further on in the story.

With that being said some of this is a touchy subject for a lot of people, so in that case this novella just might not be for you. Anyway back to the worldbuilding,

In such a small format, this is a 140 page novella, he handles the worldbuilding very well and establishing the dynamics of this society, and I feel like we get all this info as it flows with the story. It didn’t feel like we were getting large info dumps of information. I do feel like we are lacking description in some areas. Besides the extremely solid description of the intro, I can’t really picture the other environments in this story, I feel like the cover art is letting my imagination fill that in, but I would have liked to have seen some more work done to building description and atmosphere for this world, which of course then also connects to the tone and mood of the story.

Writing:

Now this leads me to talk about the writing. Besides the odd clunky line here and there, I've read a lot by self-published authors AND traditionally published authors that are not as good as this, I was actually surprised at how well it reads especially for a debut novel. Though I can tell Daniel is still finding his voice, and I look forward to seeing his writing style improve with each novella.

I see people comparing this to Brandon Sanderson Elantris, which I really don’t see a connection there. I think maybe Mistborn with the straightforward writing style and the lord ruler sort of oppression going on. I would say Breach of Peace feels more inspired from Stephen King, Arthur Conan Doyle and maybe even a bit of HP Lovecraft, and I think it’s a really great mix.
His prose is pretty straightforward it's nothing too elegant but I feel like it's solid and it goes with the gritty dark story he’s trying to tell, but like I said I would have liked a little more description. I love detective stories and mystery, and I especially love when those elements are brought over into fantasy. There’s a lot of intrigue that I feel like carries its way through the entire book and he also balances important character moments with action scenes very well. The overall structure of the novella is great. I read this novella twice, and the first time I read it all in one sitting because the pacing really made me want to continue on and learn more. There was a slight drop in pacing around chapter 3 or 4 but it wasn’t enough to lose my interest. His descriptions of crime scenes and the horror aspects of this book where the strongest parts along with his character dialogue. And even with the darkness of this story there’s even a little bit of subtle comedy through dialogue that I feel blends in seamlessly.

Usually I like my novellas to have some sort of resolution and feel contained, but Breach of Peace sort of feels like an episode or part one. I feel like its hard to make a complete judgment on just a teaser of a story, and it does kind of feel like a teaser to what we can expect later on. It sounds like Daniel wants to get the next 2 novella’s out fairly quick, so I think that is a good move. And I think eventually it would be nice to see a bind-up of all three of these novellas.

Conclusion:

Overall I gotta say, I’m impressed with Daniel’s debut. I think he’s only going to grow as a writer from here and I can’t wait to see some of the technical aspects of his writing improve and to see where this story is going (especially once the full series begins). The prose is pretty basic but it does the job well and his characters are interesting and the dialogue is great for the most part. It's a little difficult to picture the world at times since there needs to be a little more description, and I think it could have benefitted from being a longer novella rather than a short teaser. I would recommend Breach of Peace to anyone who likes a dark mystery stories and detective fantasy. Just know that you are going to get all the answers here. If you are very sensitive to dark themes and brutal crime descriptions then you probably don’t want to read this one.

[Nick Borrelli · Rating 2 out of 5]

(***This review was removed from Amazon for some reason. But you can still read it here and on my blog Out of This World SFF: https://outofthisworldrev.blogspot.co... ***)

This novella has been highly talked about across many fantasy circles. Even some big name authors in the genre have been touting it on social media. So I was really excited to see what all of the buzz was about and at 100 pages or so this seemed like a quick read that I could knock out in no time and hopefully enjoy as many others apparently have. Unfortunately, BREACH OF PEACE didn't really work for me the way that I would have liked and ultimately I came away somewhat disappointed.

I won't give away too much of the plot other than to say that this is kind of a police-procedural fantasy tale where a group of investigators, led by Khlid the lead "detective" are trying to uncover the murder of an entire family. The story opens with the deed already having been committed and Khlid trying to piece together what took place. This is actually my first sticking point with the story as the assumed scenario is settled on pretty quickly just after a few pages.

After that the story goes on with the hunt to apprehend the perpetrator(s) and decipher the true purpose of why this heinous crime was committed. All in all it is pretty standard stuff and nothing that I haven't read a number of times before. I think the fact that this first book is a novella kind of worked against the author in some ways in that there wasn't a lot of time for a lot of character development. It is really challenging for a debut author's first book in a series to be a novella in my opinion. If you don't hook the reader in that short time-frame, it is difficult to care about any of the characters enough to get invested in what is happening going forward. And unfortunately, I didn't get hooked.

The writing is solid enough, albeit slightly clunky for me at times. Case in point with regard to the dialogue were a few oft-used cliched expressions like describing a character as "tall, dark, and handsome" at one point. Another aspect that was distracting and occurred kind of frequently was one of the investigators saying something and then another person finishing their sentence for them. It's a technique used to create drama or make what is being said impactful. But used too often it takes away from the story, and sadly it did that for me in key moments.

It wasn't all bad for me though. I thought that there were a couple of tense action sequences when Daniel Greene did a nice job of conveying the tension and danger inherent. He clearly has good instincts. But getting back to being invested in the characters, those instances would have been much more effective had the characters been more fleshed out. It's akin to reading a good outline of a story without the heart and emotional attachment required to breathe life into it.

In the end I came away slightly disappointed and felt like this one was pretty much a miss for me. At the same time, Greene is a brand new author and should get better with each successive effort. I look forward to reading his full length novels to see if him working with more space might suit his stories better for me as a reader. It seems I am in the minority with my feelings about BREACH OF PEACE, but some books don't work for every reader as we all are aware. By all means though, give it a shot yourself and see if it works for you.

[Hamad · Rating 4 out of 5]

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Actual rating = 3.75/5 or 7.5/10 Stars.

“Love is a beautiful thing. Is it not, Inspector?”

Breach of Peace is Daniel Greene’s debut and is a prequel novella to what will be his “The Lawful Times” series. I think it is not a common thing to do because authors usually release prequels to already successful series. Daniel wants his main series to be as polished as possible so the novellas are also a chance for him to hone his writing skills while making some money which is very smart and fair! So did I think it was perfect?



Of course I did not and I did not expect it to be. I know there is bad experience from books released by youtubers because either the quality is bad or because it is apparently not written by them! What is different here is that Daniel is a booktuber so he does read and review a lot of books and he knows what works and what doesn’t. I think writing is a talent that can be improved and honestly Daniel has a talent. I think with time, it will be even better.

So the book follows Inspector Khlid as the main character and we have the supporting characters of Sam who happens to be her husband and Inspector Chapman and they are all Officers of Gods. The novella opens with a pretty graphic murder scene of an imperial family and our inspectors need to investigate that.

I think the writing was pretty good with a few places where I felt it was clunky, some of the things were not consistent like the Ministry of Health which characters mostly called M.O.H. (which is a mouthful and I felt it is smoother to say the full thing.) Also the characters said it full the first time and then started using its abbreviation after that which did not make sense to me. I would have preferred a bit more eloquent writing because I didn’t highlight many things in the book.



When it comes to the characters, I kind of stand somewhere in the middle, I didn’t have strong emotions for them but I did not hate them. I think because it is a Novella and it is our first exposure to the characters then it is a tough thing to care about them in such a few pages. I don’t know why but I felt everyone were abusing their powers and positions and it kind of irked me!

The world-building is incomplete, I felt we needed more world-building and there were many things that were explained a bit late which made them feel like an after thought and a solution to a problem the author faced. I think it is a bit of a harsh criticism given that it is a short book but I would have appreciated more world-building!

The pacing is fast and the book can be read in a couple of hours (I read it in 1.5 hours) and it was full of action scenes which were very good and I liked. I think the foreshadowing was a bit too obvious for me so it made a few things predictable. But what I did not expect was how brutal the book is, Daniel is ruthless and has no problem killing most of the characters which I found equally awesome and scary!



Summary: I think it was a good job for a debut Novella, the writing is good and I know it will become better, the characters are okay but Daniel had no mercy for them. We could have used more world-building but the pacing and action scenes were pretty good. I loved the ending to be honest and I will certainly be reading the next books in the series!

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here is my Spotify Book Playlist!

"The scene at the front door was seared into Khlid's mind: a child, hanging by a chain from the second story window, his swollen, bloody face confronting her as she approached the manor."

~ Rating- 3 stars ~

Content/ Trigger warnings- Graphic descriptions of murder and attacks; specially in the beginning of the book, A Lot of Swearing, (clean otherwise) Characters constantly puff Cigarettes, Hanging scene described in detail, Mention of a potential suicide (not graphic or in detail), Killing a friend, Loss of a Partner and mild aftermaths of it, Loss of a Brother and mild grief with it, A Kind of Mental Breakdown Scene

-No mention of these incidents in this review

Breach of Peace by Daniel B. Greene was one of my most anticipated releases this year. I was waiting for this book the moment it was announced and was so excited to read it. I was scared that it might disappoint me, but fortunately it didn't. This debut novel was definitely a success in my eyes.


➼The plot

"Did we find what was missing of the boy?"

Rollins inhaled slowly before responding. 'No, ma'am.'"

After the murder of an imperial family, the Officers of God are called to investigate. When evidence points towards a group of rebels trying to conquer the empire, Inspector Khlid tries to find out who is responsible. But when a larger conspiracy comes to light, she struggles to trust even the officers around her.

"The land itself seemed to hold its breath, as if haunted by the events of the night before."

I enjoyed the plot of this book. I found the beginning to be engaging, and was hooked from the start.

I did loose interest slightly towards the second and third chapters, mostly because everything about the information of the case was being told to us through dialogue, but I still feel it wasn't a badly written section.

The middle of the book was the most interesting part, and kept me at the edge of my seat. Though I had a hunch on how it would end, the events in the middle took me completely by surprise.

I liked the way the book ended, as it kept me wanting for more but I was still satisfied with what I got.

I think for a 98 page novella (e-book edition), this book was very good.


➼The world

I liked the world in this book, and the way it was executed. The officers here hold a lot of power, and have the ability to do as please because they believe they are following the orders of the Almighty. This brings a lot of moral greyness to all their characters, which is something I loved seeing.

"Disobeying an officer of God during a raid was punishable by death."

I liked the fact that the rules of the world were not info-dumped, and were spread out evenly.


➼The writing

I think the writing was good for a debut novel and excellent for a book that was this short.

However, my issues for this book are in the writing- (Note: All page numbers according to e-book edition, comprising of 98 pages)

In the first 25 pages, I spotted a lot of ellipses. They are also there in the rest of the book, but not as recurring. Ellipses don't usually bother me in books, if they are spread out. That wasn't the case here.

I am only using examples which contain no spoilers. There are a lot more of all that I am mentioning in the book;

"One daughter and one-umm..." [Pg 5]

"Which means..." [Pg 6]

"Smashed into the club, so we have..." [Pg 6]

"Officer..." [Pg 7]

"Six in total, but the family was killed... differently." [Pg 10]

"Oh..." [Pg 12]

"Yes..." [Pg 25]

There is also a repetition of words. While I think Daniel B. Greene has done a good job at using synonyms, I still spotted this a few times;

"Khlid had to process what he said, then burst out laughing." [Pg 13]

"Khlid, in the middle of a drag, coughed up with laughter." [Pg 14]


"He turned back to his unwanted partners, whispering in a hiss, "I had it!'" [Pg 30]

"Samuel hissed back," [Pg 30]

"... it emitted a guttural hiss." [Pg 31]

You must have got what I mean by now. I know I am being harsh, specially considering it was a debut, but this bothered me personally, to the point where I stopped reading and filliped back to mark all these sentences.

I was really enjoying the book, but this took away from my reading experience as I was focused on these sentences. I am only pointing this out as it might affect someone else as well.

There is also a lot of swearing, which I was ok with but at times I found it to be a bit forced. But I think this is more on me.

The characters also keep completing each other’s sentences, and while I understand it’s to build suspense, it felt a bit annoying at times.

But otherwise, the writing was very descriptive and it set the scene very well. I think Daniel B. Greene did a great job!


➼The characters

➡Khlid

I loved Khlid and her personality. She is morally grey, strong and fierce.

But she is also a very emotional person who does what must be done.

I think she was my favourite.


The only problem I had was the slight inconsistency with her talking at times.

She swears a lot, and I was fine with that.

"The damn thing had become as natural as walking" [Pg 5]

"Damn it." [Pg 6]

But there was a place where she called someone 'dear' and I spent five minutes thinking if it was sarcastic. I realized it was not.

"As she began to seriously consider drawing the sidearm, the officer returned with a pair of cutters.

'Thank you, dear.'" [Pg 6]

I found that to be a bit odd, but maybe this is just me.

➡Samuel

I liked Samuel a bit, but I feel he was the least developed character. There wasn't anything about him that stood out to me much.

➡Chapman

I liked Chapman a lot, and I felt there was a lot more to his story than what we got to see. I would have loved to see more of his character.

➼The character dynamics

I loved the dynamic between Chapman and Samuel, even though I felt it as childish sometimes. I liked that even the officers competed amongst each other, as that adds another interesting part to the world and the story.

"That was the dammed irony; when these two worked together, the results were amazing."

➼The romance

Khlid and Samuel have a great, healthy relationship, and I felt genuinely happy for them while seeing them together. I think their romance was very well written, specially taking into account that it was so short.

➼Why did I rate it 4 stars?

Despite the issues I had with this book, I really enjoyed my read. I loved the dark atmosphere of the novella, and am excited to see where it goes.

➼Final thoughts

I think this book has a gripping story, one that will definitely keep you invested. I am looking forward to more books by Daniel B. Greene!

"Love is a beautiful thing. Is it not, Inspector?"

Review written on 30th March, 2021.

DISCLAIMER-All opinions on books I’ve read and reviewed are my own, and are with no intention to offend anyone. If you feel offended by my reviews, let me know how I can fix it.

How I Rate-
1 star- Hardly liked anything/ was disappointed
2 star- Had potential but did not deliver/ was disappointed
3 stars- Was ok but could have been better/ was average / Enjoyed a lot but something was missing
4 stars- Loved a lot but something was missing
5 stars- Loved it/ new favourite

...............................................................

Pre-review

................................................................

Update- 30th March, 2021

Just finished it!

4 stars

Review to come in a while!

(Yes, I’m actually getting a review out immediately for once. I know, surprising.)

…………………………………………………………

Update- 29th March, 2021

YES, just pre-ordered my e-book! I convinced my parents to buy it.

Waiting for tomorrow. :)

…………………………………………………………………………………

I’m so excited to read this!

Waiting for it to release.❤️


Note- I’m a huge fan of Daniel Greene’s videos and have been watching him for a long time, but all my opinions on this book will be my honest comments.

[Mari · Rating 2 out of 5]

Check out my video review of Breach of Peace.

Why you make like this book: Primarily if you are willing to give time to about 100 pages that will serve as a slight introduction to a world Greene plans to expand on later. This might also be easier to enjoy if you are a reader who doesn't prioritize writing style and can be happy in a story that will bring you along rather quickly through a murder mystery that opens into a larger and magical bit of political mystery.

Also, though, if you really like Greene and want to support him and are willing to extend a bunch of grace.

Content warnings for: murder including the description of the mutilated bodies of children, smoking and addiction, police brutality, and our main characters all belonging to a police force.

Why you may not like this book: Unfortunately, I wasn't a huge fan of the writing style. If you are like me and enjoy prose that is more descriptive or sharp, I think this might be a tougher experience for you. To extend some grace of my own, this a debut effort. It felt like there were some tells of an inexperienced writer including: awkward phrasing, over-usage of trite and tropey phrases, head-hopping, stilted dialogue, bad placement of description within action and dialogue, and a bit more repetition of certain things (like words or actions) than I personally have a taste for. This was by no means painful to read, but it lands in the "it's okay" 2 star category for me largely because of the hiccups in the prose.

I think the character dynamic could've been really interesting, but there wasn't a ton of space here to flesh out the characters. While you don't expect a novella to produce the sorts of fully formed characters of a full length novel, there has to be some work done to get you to invest in the people you are following. While I can see why some people might be able to attach themselves to Khlid, Sam and Chapman through what was provided, it wasn't enough for me. We meet our characters well into their careers and relationships and don't really see them go anywhere. There are reveals about the characters, but I found it hard to care because I didn't have a good enough baseline for these characters. What do I care if one character looks like a traitor if I barely know who he was before? Sam was the least developed of all. We spent a little more time with Khlid, but I'm not sure I could tell you much about her. Chapman is the only character (I believe) who is describe as having dark skin, and while I don't think it was done intentionally, I did want to point out that this character basically turns into a monster. Again, I'm not saying Greene meant anything by it, but it was an optics thing I wanted to point out.

This was also meant to introduce us into this world Greene has plans to continue writing in. It didn't work for me as a world introduction either, because there wasn't a ton of world building and what was given was often given through exposition instead of description or exploring the world. It's the kind of thing where two characters were saying things to each other that they really shouldn't have to say because they have the information and wouldn't talk this way naturally. Like "oh was it these people who did the bad thing?" "No, it was these other people. The ones called The Fist who are the elite of the elite." Not terrible but a clunky way to convey information. That all said, I think that whether or not the crumbs presented here are enough to make you hungry for more or just mad that you paid for an appetizer and all you got was crumbs? That depends on your taste and your investment in seeing this all through with Greene.

Now, I really enjoy mysteries and detective fiction. At the beginning of this novella, I thought those were the flavors this was giving off, but it ends up moving way too quickly to be satisfying. It is also the sort of detective work that relies heavily on deduction and observation vs. investigation which again, just not my personal taste. The Inspectors hop to an answer relatively quickly and then it kinds of leads them in a separate though related direction and it left me feeling like some of those early murder mystery vibes were abandoned.

The plot does resolve in the limited space, but the end left me questioning what the point was. I mean, I know the answer (an introduction to this world!) but considering who we are introduced to here and how this ends, I just felt a little deflated.

Ultimately, a work that both has some room for improvement and also wasn't quite for me.

[sol✯]

IT'S DANIEL'S BOOK

edit: the way this is charting on Amazon. oh my god.
i feel like a proud mother.

[Mark Greene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Daniel's first book is a violent and beautifully compelling fantasy journey through a dark world that leaves you anxiously awaiting to see what happens next in the hopefully released in the not so distant future sequel.

[Nicholas Eames · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, damn, that was WAY better than the first book I wrote!

A great start to what is hopefully a long series!

[William Gwynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Check out the in-depth review of Breach of Peace between by brother and I on The Brothers Gwynne channel - Breach of Peace review

Breach of Peace is a well-crafted, engaging and impressive debut novella from Daniel B. Greene.

We are introduced to a world and set of political circumstances that Daniel intends to explore further with future novellas and then eventually a novel. I can honestly say that I am really looking forward to discovering more of this dark, industrial fantasy world with political intrigue, detective plots and monsters.

This is a novella that straddles both fantasy, crime and mystery. This was light fantasy, with some awesome creatures and sneak peaks unto what I hope to see much more of in Daniel’s future works.

I know that Daniel Greene loves the tales of Sherlock Holmes, and you can really see that inspiration influencing his own work, in the form of intricate detective work with epiphany’s and twists that completely alter the entire picture, keeping you tense throughout.

Really interesting introduction to this industrial world and concept, from the perspective of policemen working for the Empire, which extends to an ongoing conflict with a violent, underground resistance. We’ve seen it before, but that doesn’t stop it being interesting or engaging if executed well. The part explored in this novella did show a fresh approach to this and Daniel B. Greene certainly made this his own, already.

The characters were one of the strong points. Khlid is our main perspective. One of the Officers of God, Khlid as a detective is thrust into a horrific, scarring case that is linked to a resistance fighting against the rule of the Empire. I loved how her relationship with her husband, Samuel, was actually heartwarming, and just nice. When do we ever see a great, happy couple in fantasy? It was a breath of fresh air. Their interactions together really exuded their friendship so well, and served to elevate my joy of this novella by a long shot.

"That was the dammed irony; when these two worked together, the results were amazing."

I would say that the only weaker aspect of Breach of Peace was the prose. IT was at times slightly clumsy, but not so much so that it was jarring. It served its purpose well, and Daniel executed his plot and characterisation well enough to get away with it. Inversely however, Daniel had amazing dialogue. It was so sharp, witty at times, and authentic, serving to really mirror the psychology of the character.

Overall, Breach of Peace is a great debut novella. He has shown himself to not only be a charismatic and natural speaker, but to be a talented writer who can also form a serious and severe atmosphere with ease. In this, Daniel Greene has shown himself to be a flexible author who is already writing fantastic characters, engaging plot, and is forming a really interesting world. I really look forward to reading his future novellas.

4/5 STARS

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Find this review and more at The Fantasy Inn

It’s always a risky move for a reviewer to try their hand at the craft they critique. If their work doesn’t live up to their own standards of quality, they may lose some of their audience. Daniel Greene has taken a risk with the publication of Breach of Peace. So the question is… Does it pay off?

The story opens with a macabre crime scene described in bloody, gristly detail. A family has been murdered and it’s up to Inspector Khlid to get to the bottom of it. She’s helped by her husband and fellow Inspector, Samuel, and the star of the Seventh Precinct, Chapman. The dynamic between these three core characters is one of the highlights of the story.

Sam and Khlid are happily married and seem to do an admirable job trying to keep their professional and domestic lives separate, and Chapman is a gets-shit-done asshole with the emotional intelligence of a brick. Taken together, the clash of colorful personalities accomplishes a lot in the brief number of pages we get to spend with the Inspectors.

If I had to be picky, I wish that we’d either gotten more time inside the heads of Sam and Chapman. We do get a brief, brilliant passage from Chapman’s point of view, but it feels out of place in a story almost entirely told from Khlid’s eyes.

Breach of Peace will feel like coming home for fans of Brian McClellan, Brandon Sanderson, and Joe Abercrombie. I imagine it’s what you’d get if the lovechild of McClellan’s Promise of Blood and Sanderson’s Elantris had to spend an hour in Glokta’s torture chamber.

With that said, there were some aspects of the novella that didn’t quite work for me. This is a world where in which the characters are all police working directly for God.

Now, children didn’t grow up wishing to be soldiers, but officers… Since their founding, The Capitol Police had been a force for good in the community. Those who had been among the first to join were all heralded as local heroes.

Yes, this is a fantasy world. But most of us reading this novella live in a world where glorifying cops comes with quite a bit of baggage. There’s also an uncomfortable attitude of “violence solves problems” in how the book talks about the interactions between police and civilians.

In a pinch, police could usually count on help from armed bystanders…

I’ve never been a fan of the mentality that the best way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. Again, this is fantasy—and edging toward the grimdark side of the genre at that. But this line took me out of the story and made me question it’s inclusion.

Disobeying an officer of God during a raid was punishable by death. Khlid pulled her trigger.

Putting me into the perspective of a cop who shoots people in a surprise raid is not what I was expecting in this fantasy story. Again, it’s hard not to draw real-world parallels here in a genre considered by many to be a temporary escape from reality.

From a craft angle, Greene balances action scenes, quiet character moments, and vivid description with ease. I can typically determine an author’s strengths pretty quickly, but I thought all of these aspects were handled well. There’s a recurring use of foreshadowing at the end of key scenes to hint at the direction the plot will take that kept me at the edge of my seat while reading. And though this is shorter than a full novel, it captured me attention enough to finish in one sitting, which for various reasons has only happened a handful of times in the last year.

Breach of Peace also takes hold of a few tried and true tropes from heroic fantasy and twists them into something beautifully horrific. I’d say more, but I’d rather you be traumatized like I was.

And finally, the closing chapter leads rather nicely into where I’m assuming the next novella will begin. It’s compelling, emotional, and sets the tone for the world and the story to come.

There’s a ton of hype surrounding Breach of Peace. Hell, it was an Amazon bestseller hours after the preorder went live. So, does this risky novella pay off?

Let’s just say that I think this book only improves Daniel Greene’s standing as a critic, and if you discovered his work through a shared love of writers like Brandon Sanderson, I doubt you’ll be disappointed.

You can also check out our podcast chat with Daniel Greene here, where we discuss Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames and The Last Sun by K.D. Edwards.

I received an advanced review copy of this novella in exchange for a fair and honest review.

[Logan · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book does a cardinal sin for any mystery... it doesn’t allow the reader to have figured the mystery out. There is no way for the reader to have figured it out. It’s not a thriller as you don’t know the outcome at the beginning for the defenders of the book.

There are certain things you can’t do in certain plots and this is one of them. Unless the main character isn’t the master detective and only the master detective would have been able to see the connection but we aren’t watching for the mystery there we watch to see how the master detective figures it out. Daniel should go and rewatch Brandon Sanderson on plot as he describes this problem well.

The next issue is world building. It’s obvious he likes the wheel of time and that style of world building. Which isn’t a problem but this is a novella. He needed to scale the world building back because there was no way for the reader to figure this many things in such a short book. Also there was no fish out of water character or audience/reader character to ask our questions so the POV probably should have been partial or true omniscient so the narrator can tell us. Limited was a poor choice.

Am I being to harsh — probably. I’m trying to use what Daniel has said about other writers that he did himself. However not allowing a reader to figure out the mystery is an automatic 1 star no matter how it is written in my book.

That being said I think this book proves that you can know a lot about writing and not be able to do it yourself.

[The Fantasy Review · Rating 3 out of 5]

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

[Edward Gwynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent glimpse into such an intriguing fantasy setting. Some reflections upon our society today, with gruesome murders, solid and witty dialogue and twists that leave you with your mouth wide open in shock.

[Hope · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a real review — I listened to the audiobook which was released early.

I subscribe to Daniel Greene’s YouTube channel. I like some of his stuff and dislike/have no opinion to some of his stuff. Not as a rule — that’s just how it goes. I was disappointed by the clichéd beats and well-worn phrases (for instance, as soon as I heard the word “rookie” in reference to an officer I knew he would be puking at the crime scene). The pacing felt slow despite BoP’s short length and was not helped by the wooden dialogue and the clunky musings-as-exposition/world building. I recognize that this was a debut, self-published effort that could’ve been improved by the help of a professional editor.

I’ll note that the audiobook clarifies the pronunciation of “Khlid.” It sounds more like “Hlid” with a half-swallowed H-sound. Even so, I want Daniel to know it would’ve cost him absolutely nothing to name his main character after Pips (or literally anything else) rather than something dangerously close to a bit of inside-the-underwear anatomy.

All that said, I’ll stay tuned for the forthcoming volumes in the series. I didn’t enjoy BoP enough to recommend it to friends, but I didn’t hate it.

[Ren · Rating 1 out of 5]

i went in with low expectations and i still got disappointed... lmao

[Blake the Book Eater]

Very excited for this novella from one of my fav content creators! Super pumped for it!

[inês ☾ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have been subscribed to Greene’s YouTube channel for a while now and I generally enjoy his content, so I was excited when he announced he was publishing his first work. That said, I have to be honest and say that I found Breach of Peace to be generic and underwhelming.

In this debut police-procedural fantasy novella, we’re dropped right into the middle of a brutal murder scene, where we meet the main characters — the investigators who are trying to solve this huge case.

The biggest problem for me was that it was so bland it failed to hook me in. The characters lacked depth and I never felt invested in them. The story is something we’ve seen a million times before and there was nothing new that made it stand out, also I found the mystery plot and the world-building to be really basic.

The writing was okay if a little inconsistent, it’s a debut novella so I wasn’t expecting much, though there were definite issues with the structure and weird foreshadowing moments that were really jarring and took me out of the story.

Overall not a terrible first attempt but it missed the mark for me, with it’s flat characters and uninspired plot and world-building. I’d be interested in reading a novel from Greene in the future to see how he develops his characters and plot in that format, though I won't be reading any more of the novellas.

[Wera · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 stars

Daniel Greene's debut novella follows a band of policemen who investigate a terrible murder of a noble family. Very quickly new information leads them on a chase involving rebels and political intrigue. I think Daniel managed to do what he wanted with this novella: get the audience interested, set up his world, (and perhaps most importantly) get some practice writing before starting his epic fantasy series. Despite this, I must judge the novella solely based on what I found inside it.

Full disclaimer: (1)I do watch Daniel Greene, so perhaps I am biased in this review, although I try not to be. (2) On average I usually rate novellas and short stories lower just because I find it rare that an author can really wow me in the span of ±100 pages.

In this review I'll touch up on four main things: the writing, the characters, the plot, and the world building.

The writing was good for a first time author and obviously Greene isn't going to be on the level of Tolkien with his first novella. That being said, I found the writing to be quite personality-less. This isn't something I am particularly worried about, though, simply because this is a novella. My main thoughts about it were that at times the sentences were the same lengths for paragraphs and it made the reading monotone and that at times he used cliches (like the thunder booming during final showdown). On the other hand, I genuinely found some of his jokes funny (this one being a prime example):

“You just got into an argument with the Fist?”
“More like performed a soliloquy for them.”

The characters were good enough but limited by the fact that this is a novella. So, Daniel, if you're reading this, you did a good job with the page count that you had, but I'm rating this as I normally would, and due to the fact that this is a novella that has a bigger, perhaps, focus on the action and set up, I have to take some points away for characterisation. (Though again, you're on a great track). Khlid and Samuel were fine. Getting invested in Sam really relies on if you're invested in Khlid. In 100 pages, it is very hard for me to get invested in these characters (honestly, only Stephen King made me invested in characters this quickly, in The Stand, but that was also in ±200 pages not 100). The reason why I'm saying that Daniel has had a very promising start is that the way he writes his characters is very distinct and intentional: Khlid keeps not realising she is smoking and get's frustrated with it, Khlid and Chapman (the other Inspector) are contrasted right off the bat in how the former is concerned with remembering Officer Smits's name, whereas the latter doesn't and instead thinks of them as Officer Sh*ts. I thought that that was really really great. Chapman, though, stood out to me the most. Although he gets a bit more confusing towards the middle/end, in the beginning there is a scene that makes him stand out: he analyses the crime scene in a genius way but he misses a vital piece of information. This scene proves that Daniel can write his characters in a way that subtley gives them nuance and I find that very promising.

The plot felt forced, I'm not gonna lie. I think that it would have benefitted from being moreso around 150 pages long just for the logic. It was very fast paced, but in a way that felt disjointed. The beginning is fascinating and then the action starts after the first chapter or so. The middle, right before the final action sequence, felt very disjointed because of the way Chapman's characterisation gets all messed up: We never really know if he is really with the rebellion or not and it is written in such a way where, at least I, fell onto the side believing he was just double crossing the rebels. But weren't we just told that he is like this super great Inspector who would do anything to get to the bottom of the mystery... Again, maybe this is this way because we are in Khlid's head and it is simply the way she views Chapman, but due to the fact this is a novella, we don't know Khlid too well, so I wasn't sure what to think... and this ruined the logic of the second act for me. Other than that, the ending felt like a huge question mark with a lot of things being pulled for shock-value. This made me wonder more about his intent with the book (like his goals for what he wanted to accomplish). Was it to simply explore this small segment of his world which would act as a prologue but its specifics aren't too important (think the dudes who ride out into the north in the Game of Thrones prologue). Or was it to actually make us care and cry and get super attached to this specific story which plays a central part in the future main series? I honestly do not know. I am specifically talking about the choice to literally kill of his entire cast. Like, huh?? Who will the next two novellas follow? It thought they were going to be like a saga about the police-force but apparently not???

The world-building was fantastic. I know some people may be annoyed that there is so little of it in this novella, but I had no problem at all because this is exactly how I like world-building to work: the characters point out different things as they go about their day without doing huge info-dumps about things they probably wouldn't be thinking about. For example, I live in Poland and let's say I'm going to my grandmother's house for lunch through the Warsaw Old Town. I'm probably going to think about her delicious pierogi ruskie (Polish traditional dish) and marvel at the architecture of the Warsaw Palace. On a smaller scale, I'm not gonna talk about Poland's extended history with the Vistula river tribes and I'm not gonna think about the 16 provinces and how all of them differ. On a much grander scale, I'm not gonna think about the US and info-dump myself about US history just because technically we are on the same planet. So I think that Daniel's world-building was amazing. He did it in a realistic way, which yes kept a lot to the imagination, but no one monologues about world history in their heads for no reason: there has to be a stimulus in world. Otherwise that is a random info-dump. I hope this made some sense.

Overall, I am very pleased with this first novella. Though I thought some things were a bit inconsistent and that Daniel has things he should improve on, I'll eagerly await his next work.

[Dylan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disobeying an officer of God during a raid was punishable by death.

I've been watching Daniel's Youtube videos for a few months now, so I was excited to see his authorial debut even if my expectations weren't super high. I'm not super disappointed with the fact that I found it underwhelming, I wasn't expecting it to knock my socks off or anything.

I think the most important thing to address relates to that quote I started this review with. This is a fantasy detective novel where the police are an almost religious organization and have pretty sweeping powers over life and death. It shouldn't be hard to see that a story like that might not be viewed in the best light in 2021 and it definitely detracted from my ability to enjoy the other aspects of the novella. Daniel has made it clear in his Youtube videos that this book is pretty far from his political views but I think more could have been done to critique this system within the novella itself.

Aside from that, my other issue was that this just wasn't a strong opener to a series. With a novella kicking off a series I'd expect one of two things (if not both): a focus on world-building or a focus on setting up an important character. For example, the Tracy Crosswhite series by Robert Dugoni has two short-stories/novellas that precede the main series which introduce Tracy's character and sets her up better for the main series. This novella does not have that as it's quite clear that the next novella in the series will not have the same main characters.

As for the world-building, I felt like that was pretty weak too. We don't get far past how the policing system works and the fact that this is an industrial era setting. There wasn't really any description of how the world is set up geographically (i.e. how big is this empire? Are the other important regions? What kind of climate is there?), there weren't any descriptions of buildings so it was hard to imagine what the world looks like, there weren't any details given on how leadership of the Empire works and most importantly there weren't really any details on the God who's supposedly in-charge. I know pretty much the same amount of info about this world as I knew before reading this novella.

Without strong world-building or strong characters, it's kind of hard to understand the purpose of this novella. The plotting and writing weren't strong enough for it to really work as a standalone and it doesn't do much in the way of setting up an arc for the remaining two novellas prior to his first novel. I imagine that a lot of folks will be understandably put off by the way police are portrayed in this (again, I don't think this reflects poorly on Daniel or anything, I just don't think it's a particularly palatable portrayal considering the current climate) and even if you can get past that this isn't a particularly compelling read. I like Daniel enough that I'm still interested in reading the other books, but I really don't have high expectations.

[Library of a Viking · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The trouble with solving a crime was there was never just one puzzle; not even in the most straightforward of cases. Just as different witnesses gave differing testimony of the same events, different players on her side had their own takes on how the puzzles should best be solved.”

When I heard that Daniel Greene was going to publish his first novella, I knew I had to read it! Daniel Greene was the first booktuber that I started watching and he has played a vital role in making me fall in love with the fantasy genre. That being said, I did not have high expectations due to this novella being a debut, and was sceptical of all the hype surrounding it. So did it live up to the hype? Let’s talk about it.

Breach of Peace is the first novella in a trilogy of novellas in The Lawful Times series. This novella follows a group of officers that are investigating a heinous crime. Although the initial investigation points to a rebel group being behind the crime, the officers quickly find themselves being drawn into a larger conspiracy that poses a threat to their lives and the whole of the empire.

I was pleasantly surprised by this novella. Greene sets the tone of the story very well, and he did an impressive job with the characterisation especially considering the length. Each character feels distinct, and Greene is able to establish the relationships between the characters well. Furthermore, the overall plot was engaging and intriguing throughout the novella, making this an enjoyable read. Breach of Peace has a great introduction, main body and conclusion.

However, due to its short length, the reader is left wanting to know more about this world, the politics, magic system and history. The reader only gets a brief introduction to each of these areas before the novella concludes. It is nearly impossible to create a vivid world, when you are limiting the story to only 100 pages, so I do not expect Greene to accomplish this. However, I hope that we learn more about this world in the sequel.

Lastly, Greene does not mind describing grim and gory scenes, which I did not have a problem with, but if you do then you’ve been warned. If you pick up this novella, then be aware that this book contains some awful and grim scenes.

In conclusion, Breach of Peace is an impressive debut novella. Greene sets the tone well, and the characterisation is terrific. My only ‘criticism’ is the length. The reader is left wanting to know more about this world due to it being restricted within a 100 pages. I will be picking up the sequel, which I am looking forward to reading.

4 / 5 stars

[Amanda The Jedi · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best quality a book can have is leaving you CRAVING what comes next, Breach of Peace achieves that.

I will say that I know Daniel, but if I wasn't a fan of this, I just wouldn't say anything here at all.

This is a brutal, genuinely chilling novella with a super compelling world that I'm so excited to dive back into. If I was a filmmaker and not just an idiot that talks about things on the internet, I'd wanna adapt this into a movie.

Other than the occasional awkward line, I have no issues with the writing itself. It's compelling, stays engaging, and the style matches the tone of the story.

Basically if this is his starting point, I can't wait to see what's next!

[Monte Price · Rating 2 out of 5]

full thoughts and opinions here...

Firstly the book is nowhere near long enough to do the things that it sets out to do. I know it was meant to be a novella, but the premise [ both the murder mystery / investigation aspect and the way the world was started to be built out ] simply do not have the time required to feel satisfactory in any meaningful way. The actual writing style also leaves very little to write home about as it's flat. Seeing as that was the only thing that could have help compensate for the fact the book isn't nearly long enough to do what it wants to do it was extra disappointing that the writing was as bland as it was. The way the police force went from being not fucked with as they were a relatively new institution to seemingly a revered part of society, all while routinely violating the law and not following protocol and harming civilians willy nilly just did not make the kind of sense that does. If anything the rebel forces being a larger, actual threat would have made more sense, and yet they were still depicted as a small underdog force. Again, it wasn't the focus of the novel, but as it was what undergirded the framework of the world that the mystery is set in, I wished that it had been a more solid foundation. Overall it came across as half baked, with a lot of how the police and their function in the world really eclipsing the handful of decent ideas presented. I still don't know who to recommend this to, because even for diehard fantasy fans I don't think they'd enjoy it. If it wasn't something already on your radar I wouldn't bother looking into it.

[Anthony · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unfortunately, Greene is not an author

The prose was poor, the dialogue stilted and sophomoric. It was full of cliches, and not good cliches but bad cliches. The story was only mildly interesting and it seemed to use shock value gore at times as a crutch to try and keep the reader interested. For what was essentially a short story, it was not good at all.

[Celine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Our beloved dishevelled goblin is making his debut, one of his dreams becoming fulfilled. I wouldn't miss it for the world.

----- FINALLY READ IT -----

I LOVE DANIEL GREENE. WITH. MY. LIFE. But did I love his novella? Maybe, lol. Also, I normally don’t review books, only ones I really want to talk about, so pardon me if I seem scatter-brained all throughout.

Trigger warnings: graphic death/murder (especially the first paragraph, a child was hanging), chain-smoking, depressing thoughts that may lead to mental breakdowns


Worldbuilding:

For a novella, he was able to lay down the basics about the world, how it is governed and its law enforcement system. Glad the terms are simple and easy to remember too :) If a non-fan reads this without previously watching his vids explaining shenanigans about his book’s world, they might get a wee bit confused though, just might. He said he’ll be having 2 magic systems for his work, a soft and a hard one. The soft magic system is seen at works in the last 20% of the book. I watched him explain about it in one of his videos and it helped me follow why things were happening.

Patrons have access to a few short stories within the same world (correct me if I’m wrong) so I’m kinda jealous about that ‘cuz I WANTED MORE of this world. The glimpses I’ve seen through his channel has always made me excited to read more of it~ It’s a pretty dark world he created and I am l i v i n g for it. I’ve also read a review that this had Elantris-like elements so I kept an eye out for that. I could see why (?) ‘cuz a ‘character’ was like a Shaod victim but make it 50x worse, I guess. Loved the industrial setting and was easily engrossed in it. The atmosphere reminds me of Ketterdam a lot. I’m not saying it’s like Six of Crows mind you, only the Ketterdam vibes can be associated with it.


Characters:

I loved Khlid, Samuel and Chapman A LOT. Their dynamics worked really well for me, a very strong point of Daniel’s writing. I wish, again, it was longer and so that I was able to spend more page-time with them. I really wanted to know more about them and they would've been given more depth. (I keep reminding myself this is a novella lmao so it’s really short *cries*.. asdhhjdfs). I appreciate how healthy and mature Khlid and Sam’s relationship was, the way how they’re professional around each other during work. Samuel and Chapman’s face-offs amused me because their rivalry could’ve been something I read about more. There’s nothing more satisfying than two rivals with the same sharp mind bicker and end up helping out each other. There’s also Captain Williams who might as well be a utopian officer, he’s definitely a rarity in real life. And the “villain”, okay they creeped the hell out of me, that’s all I can say.


Others:

His writing style is straight to the point, nothing flowery or poetic, very atmospheric and descriptive enough to help you visualize and feel what was happening. It sets the tone well most of the time, especially during horrific moments. I bet if this was longer, the suspense and build-up would’ve been great! I kinda noticed that there were a few moments when the writing style felt iffy or different. Is it just me? Like my gut reaction reading them was “hmm? :/” Nothing that big, just a few nitpicks of mine. I was gripped by the pacing. The story was heavily plot-driven. I’m glad there was a break after the murder scene, dialogues here and there, and then we’re back on track going 250 miles/hour lmao. The dialogues he wrote were smart and engaging. The last 25% was a freaking roller coaster on its way down. Like things literally went down but man the adrenaline it began within me drove me nuts towards the end. I was breathless and mentally cursing because *BreatheS*... Strong ending, and again, I wish it could’ve been longer.

I enjoyed my time and would say this lands on a solid 4 for me! Nothing ground-breaking, imo, just a solid good read. Looking forward to picking up the rest of the series~ Thank you SO MUCH for your hard work, really made the goblin clan proud *rounds of applauses*

[Pranav Prabhu · Rating 2 out of 5]

Breach of Peace was a decent novella by a debut author. We follow three main characters who are inspectors, trying to solve a case that soon gets out of hand. Out of the three, Chapman was the most memorable, with his distinct personality and thoughts, even though he got the least page time. Khlid was somewhat interesting to follow, but I found Samuel to be flat. None of them had much development, but I didn't expect there to be from this short novella. Overall, the characters were serviceable enough for the story it wanted to tell. However, the book didn't evoke any kind of emotion in me besides a general indifference.

It read very quickly and did not have any lulls in its pacing, stuff was always happening. Occasionally, the writing and prose felt clunky and out of place, but there were also sections where I felt certain descriptions and the atmosphere writing were well-done, especially a particular section in chapter 2. The worldbuilding in this novella was quite sparse, but it fit the story - there were no unnecessarily indulgent info-dumps.

The inciting incident was interesting enough to grab my attention. I did feel that the story feels somewhat incomplete, more of a beginning to a larger story than a self-contained plot in itself. A few loose ends and promises for future plotlines were present at the end, I felt the story could have benefited more from fleshing out the characters and the plot, as a full-length novel rather than a short novella. The ending was quite good, especially the last chapter. I liked getting a different perspective, even if just for a short while. Overall, a story that was neither exceptional nor terrible in any aspect.
5.0/10

[luce (cry bebè's back from hiatus) · Rating 3 out of 5]

❀ blog ❀ thestorygraph ❀ letterboxd ❀ tumblr ❀ ko-fi ❀

3.5 stars

I am always hesitant to read books by youtubers or other public figures I like as alas they tend to disappoint (and then I kind of guilty for not liking their stuff). Luckily, Daniel Green's debut is promising indeed.

Set over the course of one day, Breach of Peace begins with one of our main characters walking in on a brutal crime scene. When an imperial family is butchered Inspector Khlid, an Officer of God, is assigned the case. Greene keeps his cards close to his chest so that we learn slowly of Inspector Khlid's world (which vaguely reminded me of BioShock for some reason).
Alongside Inspector Khlid we meet two of her colleagues, Samuel, who happens to be her husband, and Chapman, who is a bit of a wild card. They all approach the case differently and the tension between them, particularly between Samuel and Chapman, adds an edge to their interactions.
Within these pages, there is violence, monsters, corruption, and betrayals.
Breach of Peace presents its readers with flawed characters, an atmospheric setting, and a gripping storyline. While we do get the occasional moment of humor, this novella is dark with strong roots in the noir genre.
This novella is quite clearly setting up the story for the future The Lawful Times novellas so readers who prefer self-contained stories may be better off skipping this one (or you could always wait for the rest to be published).
There was the occasional turn of phrase that was a wee bit conventional and there were aspects of the world that I wish had been explored some more but overall this is a solid novella that ultimately managed to subvert my expectations (I mean....that ending was something). I will definitely be reading the next one!

[Travis · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disappointed

I have followed Daniel Greene for a bit on youtube and he is a fantastic reviewer/entertainer!

He is often critical of a lot of fantasy series in a professional way which is refreshing when compared to other youtubers that review the same kind of content.

This novella started out with a strong introduction, followed by two decent supporting chapters but it quickly fell apart.

The characters were fairly flat in terms of their personalities. We the reader are told their quirks rather than shown much of anything. Super frustrating as Daniel Greene has talked about that issue before in his reviews of other author's works.

The world building incredibly simple (not a bad thing). But even for a novella, it seemed the setting was in a small bubble without much supporting descriptions.

And the plot paper thin. I felt like I was reading an episode of CSI with monsters and a hint of an overarching story.

I see so many reviewers mentioning giving the book an extra star or two because of the author's status or because it is his first attempt. I do not find this to be fair at all to people picking up this novella expecting a 4 star book.

Daniel has always seemed to hold fantasy books to a high standard and not held back when it comes to YA books. I feel if someone else wrote this book, word for word, and gave it to Daniel, he would rip it to shreds.

I wish Daniel would have taken more time, written an entire book with more feedback from his beta readers before releasing BoP.

The novella felt more like a few months work on a rough draft than a completed story.

It is not my intent to bash him, or be hateful towards the book or him as a person. I just want to see him develop more as an author.

[Sepidaar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Daniel Greene. Our disheveled goblin. He used to be my favorite Booktuber. He only had several thousand subscribers when I subscribed to his channel and I used to watch every single video. When he got his 100K subscribers plaque I was so proud of him and was genuinely happy but I'm sad to say that I haven't watched any of his videos for months. These days his channel leans more toward entertainment than book reviews and unfortunately I can't stand his new sense of humour 🙁 l've tried believe me, but no. I still watch his book reviews (when he releases them once in a blue moon) but other than that, his videos are no longer for me.

In my opinion The breach of peace is a solid short story but not a masterpiece as some fans are trying to advertise. For me, it felt more like the first 8 chapters of a book than an independent short story and this made it a less enjoyable read for me.
I liked the worldbuilding. It gave me strong Mistborne vibes but the story was too short and I wanted to know more about the Empire.
The characters were ok but Khlid didn't act like a middle aged woman in my opinion. The other characters were nothing special but not bad either.
And I expected to see more magical elements in the story but sadly magic is nearly nonexistent. I recall one of Daniel's videos about a very fascinating magic system he had crafted for his book. I thought we'll finally see it in action here but it seems he's keeping it for the main book.
All in all, l liked it. It was ok but If you don't read it you'll miss nothing. I think he needs to practice more but God knows I've read far worse debut works.
Well, Mr Greene, I believe you are an intelligent man so I'm sure that your next story will be far better. I may no longer be a fan of your channel but I'm still looking forward to reading the next story.

[Elena Rodríguez · Rating 4 out of 5]

+4

“I am coming, little rabbit. Run fast as you can ".

Este es un libro que me llamó bastante la atención hace tiempo, sin embargo, no fue hasta el otro día que le di una oportunidad. Sinceramente ahora mismo este libro me ha salvado del “colapso” mental que llevo desde hace un par de semanas.

Esta novela está en inglés. Por el momento no han salido otras traducciones. Me ha costado un poco, pero ha merecido mucho la pena.

“Love is a beatiful thing. Is it not, Inspector?

El libro solo cuenta con 98 páginas, sin embargo, eso no impide a que sea una buena novela y engancharte. Fue terminarlo y mirar a todos lados como: no puede estar pasando lo que estoy leyendo y maldije todo lo que pude durante al menos media hora.

El punto fuerte de esta novela son los personajes. Tienen bastante carisma sobre todo la inspectora. Los amé. Son mis pequeños adoptados. La narración también juega un punto importante, es sencilla y clara. Sin embargo, falta un poco de worldbuilding, pero es normal porque en tan pocas páginas no da. Encima quedan muchas cosas que explicar.

Creo que este libro debería considerarse una precuela de lo que va a hacer el siguiente, es decir en vez de ser el primer libro de la trilogía sino un 0.1 que es como lo vi la primera vez lo encontré. No sé.

Dentro de poco va a salir el segundo y no dudo que voy a leerlo. Le tengo muchas ganas. Totalmente recomendado.

No te dejes llevar por las páginas, merece la pena.

[Isabella · Rating 3 out of 5]

***Before you read this review, here are some reasons why it is not at all trustworthy:
1. I am a long subscriber of Daniel and he (plus my English teacher) introduced me to Wheel of Time (and then it took me 3 years to actually get around to it, but whatever. I blame my stupid small town, we-only-have-cool-people-books library)
2. I listened to the audio for this book which was narrated by the gods (aka Michael Kramer and Kate Reading)
3. I have been in a reading slump (and off study) so my "critical thinking brain" is largely out of practice
4. It is currently 12 in the morning, and should you really trust a review written by a sleep deprived brain? Because I sure wouldn't.


Rating: 3.5 stars

So the Goblin wrote a book. And it wasn't very disheveled. It was actually quite good. As much as I want to criticise and critique it, I... can't. Not just because of my zombie brain. There is just nothing egregiously wrong with it, and I personally have no real issue with it.

Well, that's not totally true. Some things regarding the "antagonist" were a touch clunky and the characterisation wasn't my favourite, but (I'm going to say the thing all the reviews are saying) it's a bloody debut, and no one should expect it to be perfect.

I was (for some reason) worried about the crime scene at the beginning which I knew was going to be brutal (I'm always sensitive to desensitisation and how I can be becoming used to things without realizing what is happening that I shouldn't be) but, in my typical fashion, when I got round to reading it, I wanted more information. I have such a morbid sense of curiosity. Especially when it comes to things that don't actually exist (I have always been good at separating them in my head). So it said something like "parts of the boy had been recovered from upstairs" I'm like "what parts?! Foot? Leg? Top portion of the left kidney? Tell me!!" Fortunately, (or unfortunately, however you want to look at it) my curiosity was satisfied. And then some (because crikey, man).

At the risk of sounding elitist and gate keeper-y, I have been following Daniel for a very long time now. Close to 4 years. It's kind of strange to think of him (and Merphy, who I've been following for a similar amount of time) as some of the bigger booktubers (however "big" you can get in the tiny subsection). Somehow, I am still proud of this stranger half way across the world, who I'll never meet, whose videos I am too afraid to comment on. If this is but a taste of what he can offer, I think Daniel will be one of, if not the only, internet personalities whose book isn't 90% PR stunt. A book that actually earns the pages it's printed on.








Real review:
Terrible. There were no goblins in this book. 0 stars. Would not recommend.