The Berlin Wall is an interesting if short part of history. At the end of World War II, the allies split Germany into four parts. The Americans, British, and French remained allies, and their parts of Germany remained united. Russia, in the form of the Soviet Union, separated its occupied territory from the rest, becoming East Germany. The city of Berlin was also split into four parts with the Russians separating the Western sections from the rest of the city. The formerly free Germans didn’t take kindly to the Russian occupation. Soviet governance didn’t respect its citizens. Many defected to the West, and to stop this, the Soviet Union built a literal wall to keep their citizens, their citizens. This dark part of Germany’s history is thankfully over, but in W.L. Goodwater’s debut fantasy, readers get to revisit the Cold War and the Wall with a twist. In Breach the Berlin Wall is a magical construct, dividing East and West. At the start of the novel, there’s a small problem, though. The Wall has a hole in it, and it’s growing. Is the magic failing? Or is something more sinister happening?
TL;DR
From the Publisher
AFTER THE WAR, THE WALL BROUGHT AN UNEASY PEACE.
When Soviet magicians conjured an arcane Wall to blockade occupied Berlin, the world was outraged but let it stand for the sake of peace. Now after 10 years of fighting with spies instead of spells, the CIA has discovered the unthinkable:
THE WALL IS FAILING.
While refugees and soldiers mass along the border, operatives from East and West converge on the most dangerous city in the world to stop or take advantage of the crisis.
Karen, a young magician with the American Office of Magical Research and Deployment, is sent to investigate the breach in the Wall and see if it can be reversed. Instead she will discover that the truth is elusive in this divided city, and that even magic itself has its own agenda.
BECAUSE THE REAL PURPOSE OF THE WALL IS ABOUT TO BE REVEALED.
Story
In Breach World War Two was fought similar to our timeline except with the addition of magic. The novel starts at the height of the Cold War at the Berlin Wall. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is running operations in the city, and their spies find a hole in the magical wall. At the Office of Magical Research and Development (OMRD), Karen O’Neil is just a researcher, seeking a spell that heals. At the end of the war, all uses of magic tend to be destructive. When Berlin station asks for help, the CIA turns to OMRD, and Karen gets assigned to research and report back. Once at the actual wall, she begins a journey that will take her across to the East, into the dark secrets at the end of World War 2, and to the bounds of humanity’s magical knowledge. Along the way, she’ll learn the history of the wall, one that the Allies want to keep buried. The uneasy peace between her nation and the Soviets rest on her decisions, and World War III hangs over all their heads as the Wall fails.
Breach is an excellent debut. Its fast pace builds to an epic confrontation. Mr. Goodwater balances character development, tension, and plausibility really well. The setting conveys the post war hangover with violence always lurking close in the background. The city feels occupied and filled with terror. Karen and Jim stand out as characters, but the whole cast is excellent. Each comes across as fully realized people with agency and not just puppets on a stage. Readers get sufficient background on each yet end up wanting more. These characters catch the reader’s attention with their fascinating histories. While the story is tense and compelling, the characters carry the plot from start to finish.
Magic
Magic is an important part of the novel’s world, but it isn’t the beautiful, wondrous thing of, say, the Harry Potter books. In this world, magic tilts mainly towards the destructive, and because of the war, its uses have been primarily militaristic. Readers see everyday magic here and there, such as lighting a cigarette. But combat is the main use, even to the point of magicians having magical duels. Mr. Goodwater clearly gave thought to the use of magic. It’s not just a handwavium deus ex machina type magic. There’s a method and a cost to its use.
On the scale of Brandon Sanderson’s fully developed system and Jim Butcher’s more nebulous system, this system leans towards the Butcher end. Maybe the author created a more systematic version, but it didn’t come across on the page. However, Mr. Goodwater balanced it out so that magic blends into the world instead of over-powering everything else. After all, why have guns if magic can kill? The cost to use it is paid with the user’s health and possibly sanity. The system is scary and seems more of a liability to humanity than a help. Having magic as a burden, a weapon, and not a helper is a refreshing choice that makes the setting even bleaker. If there are sequels or other novels in this universe, how magic usage evolves in a post-war scenario will be incredibly interesting.
Karen
The main character is the reason the novel succeeds. Rooting for her success drives the novel. For some parts, her successes came a little too easily. To be clear, she is not a Mary Sue character. Karen is fully rounded; she makes bad decisions and has her weaknesses exploited. For a researcher, she adapts quickly to the role of operative. There’s an in-world reason why this could be true. Magic itself could be working through her. While magic in the book may not be exactly sentient, it has its own drives and needs. A sequel exploring the effects of this book would be intense. How does her relationship to magic change with what she went through? How does she – if at all – deal with the horrors she just experienced?
Conclusion
W.L. Goodwater’s Breach is an excellent, entertaining debut. Spies and magic vie to maintain peace set against the background of the Cold War. Balancing pace, character development, plot points, and information reveals, Breach delivers a hell of a read. This spy thriller crossed with a fantasy novel brings to life the tensions surrounding the Berlin Wall. It even features the fear of Soviet brainwashing. W.L. Goodwater is an author to watch. Excellent, entertaining debut. Highly recommended.