Written by: Tim Oerlemans | Published on: 2021-09-23

Book review: Breach of Peace by Daniel B. Greene

(This review was originally published on Goodreads)

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

Book links: Goodreads | Amazon.com