I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Breach by W.L. Goodwater Series: Cold War Magic #1
Published by Ace Books on November 6 2018
Genres: Adult, Fantasy
Pages: 368
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: A slow-paced beginning turns into thrilling excitement at the end, which makes up for some of the more tedious sections.
I’ll admit that when I first saw the cover of Breach, I thought it was science fiction. Maybe that’s why I feel like I got off on the wrong foot with this book. Breach is a fantasy that takes place in an alternate post-WWII Europe where the Berlin Wall is actually made of magic. Cool idea, right? I thought so too, but unfortunately this was a very inconsistent read for me. It took a long time for the story to capture my attention—and when I say “a long time” I mean it wasn’t until about the last 25% that I finally started to enjoyed myself. It’s almost as if two different writers had written this book. The beginning is very slow and meandering, but the end was fantastic, and even the writing was better, in my opinion. Now, you’ll see plenty of 4- and 5-star ratings on Goodreads, so keep in mind this could be a “it’s not you, it’s me” situation.
Karen is a magician who works for the Office of Magical Research and Deployment. She’s currently working on trying to develop a healing spell, when she’s asked to go on a secret assignment overseas. In Germany, a magical Wall stands between East and West Berlin, created with such strong magic that it is said its power will last forever. But something is happening to the Wall. A small breach has appeared, and it’s getting bigger by the day. Something has gone wrong with the magic, so the CIA decides to invite Karen to Berlin to see if she can fix the breach.
But there are other interested parties who will do whatever it takes to stop Karen and her team from interfering with the breach. As Karen delves deeper into the mystery of the magic behind the Wall, she discovers that the Wall is much more than just a magical barrier. Learning its secrets and trying to stay one step ahead of the Russians is not an easy task, and Karen finds herself in the worst sort of danger.
I’m not sure if the year is ever mentioned, but I’m assuming that the story takes place sometime after the War, maybe the 1950s or 60s. And if that’s the case, then I can understand the attitude towards women that rears its ugly head on every page of this book. Karen is the only female main character in the story. The rest of the book is populated by macho co-workers, Russian spies, and CIA agents who think they are God’s gift to women. Karen is chosen over a male co-worker to help with the Wall project, and that coworker insults her in every way possible. Karen herself, although a plucky go-getter who seems to have plenty of self-confidence, especially when she finds herself in the middle of a bunch of men with over-inflated egos, didn’t always act the way I expected her to. She is constantly apologizing to the men around her, and she even refers to herself at one point as “the weaker sex,” which I found extremely annoying. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I didn’t really connect much with Karen, and even at the end when she turns out to be stronger than everyone expected, she still didn’t completely win me over.
My favorite character turned out to be a magician named Erwin Ehle, trapped behind the Wall in East Germany. At one point he becomes critical to the outcome of the Wall and its breach, and I enjoyed the scenes where he and Karen work together. As for the other characters, it was hard to figure out which side everyone was on, because this is a tale full of spies, liars and cheats. The minute you think you’ve got someone figured out, they change sides, and I ended up more confused than entertained.
The magic itself is rather vague, and even the descriptions of the Wall left me with plenty of questions. I never got a clear sense of how magic actually worked in this story, other than at times magicians use spoken spells, and at other times they draw arcane symbols on surfaces in order to make something happen. Each magician has something called a locus, a personal item that they keep on them in order to focus their magic. I did love that Karen’s locus was a bunch of jacks that had personal meaning to her, a bit of her childhood that reminded her of her sister. I really wanted to know more about the ins and outs of the magic itself, though, especially the Wall, but perhaps in future books the author will delve a little deeper into specifics.
But then, the last quarter of the story completely blew me away! We get to experience exactly how high the stakes are for our characters and learn about the huge secret that the Wall is hiding. Goodwater also neatly ties up some loose ends from the beginning of the story, which made the ending even better. I much preferred the story when it takes place on the other side of the Wall, the dangerous side, because that’s where all the good stuff happens.
Readers who enjoy slow-building action, spy thrillers, feisty heroines and Cold War intrigue will love this book. If Goodwater had been able to infuse the beginning and middle of his story with the thrilling action of the ending, I would have enjoyed this a lot more. As it stands, though, after that finale, I’m certainly willing to see what he does next.
Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.
I had the same thought as you when seeing the cover. I totally thought this was going to be a sci-fi book! The plot sounds very intriguing. I’m a huge sucker for magic in a book. Your review was fantastic and I can’t wait to check out Breach!
I hope you enjoy it if you get the chance to read it, Kelly!
A lot of writers these days make the mistake of saving all the good stuff for the end of the book.
I wonder why that is??
Two primary reasons, I think:
Serialized novels have almost entirely disappeared, as has their influence (which I think took much longer). It’s easier to get away with delaying the payoff if you aren’t doling out the stories in chunks (and that may make for a better story).
I think a lot of writer’s today believe that characterization necessarily happens when action doesn’t and that characterization is “better.” Neither is true. Characterization is mostly driven by choices, and action often forces characters to make choices. Characterization is more “literary,” and SF writers of all “genre” writers worry about being seen as literary (which more often results in weak stories than stories with actual literary merit).
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Good points, I do agree, my favorite books incorporate characterization and plot together in a seamless way.
It does look like sci-fi. That’s such a cool premise though! Sorry it was inconsisten and you didn’t connect to the character, but it sounds like it still had some redeeming things, and at least the end was good!
The ending did make up for everything else, at least to some extent!
An excellent review, Tammy. Yes… looking at it, I, too, thought it was sci fi. And sadly, the attitude towards women was exactly as you describe. And yes… you did occasionally find yourself apologising for being one of the weaker sex. I think it’s difficult for women nowadays to understand just how far we’ve come. I just have to watch some of the early James Bond movies for my recollection of the casual sexism of the time to come crashing back. When women were only there to hang off Bond’s arm, warm his bed and make his martini cocktails… oh – and scream attractively while he saved them…
I think it would have been nice, since it was alternate history, if he had changed some of those sexist mannerisms, but oh well! A lot of people love this book, so I don’t feel too bad about my reactions.
Alternate post-WWII Europe???? Those words sound so magical in themselves! I’ve always been curious about those WW2 fantasy stories too. They’re rare, but they always sound so good! Awesome review nonetheless. Would definitely give it a try now myself. 😀
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I think I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m just not into war stories that much, although this isn’t really that so much, but the references just didn’t work that well for me. You might love it!
I really enjoyed this one! My review is going up later this week, but I rated it a 4 to your 3.5, so I guess I only liked it slightly better 😀
I’m glad you enjoyed it. It could have been my mood, I’m struggling with a couple of books right now, so who knows:-)
I’m planning to get to this one at some point. Thanks for letting me know to hang in there!
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You may not have the same issues I did, I’ll be curious to hear your thoughts:-)
It’s always hard when the beginning of a book drags, but at least the ending was good! 🙂
It definitely made up for the rest:-)
I love the idea of a magical Berlin Wall and agree that the incessant sexism might point to a post-war time period. I think I would want to know more about the hows of the magic though. Especially if the novel is slow for so long, it might as well be informative
I am interested in reading the next book, and hopefully the author goes into more detail about the magic system:-)
Loved reading your thoughtful review of this one, Tammy! Yes, that ending is what really brought it all together, and you raise a wonderful point about the women.At first, I took it as the time period, which I also guessed to be in the 60s, and you are absolutely right that the author had a choice there to make it different. Fantastic review, as always!
I always struggle with period books where you understand how things were back in the day, but I’m never 100% satisfied when women are portrayed that way, even when I know it’s probably OK for the story.
Sounds like it had an interesting concept at least. I have to admit, I never would have thought it was alt history based on that cover either, and the title as well–it all screams sci-fi to me!
I don’t know why but this book wasn’t really on my radar at all which could be because it looks sci fi – I don’t tend to pay as close attention, for which I do feel guilty. I kind of like the idea of this one so will keep an eye on it – although my wishlist is a bit crazy.
Lynn 😀
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