The Short Version: Imagine someone dumps an encyclopedia of magical creatures into the typical hard nosed detective story then laces it with the driest humor on the market and that’s Breaking The Lore.

The Long Version: I got to listen to an Audiobook ARC of this title thanks to NetGalley and Saga Egmont Audio.

To preface this review I have to note, that directly before reading this I read House in The Cerulean Sea, an excellent novel which also happens to be jam-packed with magical creatures. On some level I suspect my listening experience was hindered because this came directly after that title, and House In The Cerulean Sea is just so exquisitely done. To that end, I was a little disappointed in this title. I selected it because I like fantasy and the concept of a logical detective having to reckon with the existence of things he thought were make believe seemed like an interesting concept. Throw in that it had a sarcastic main character (usually a hook I can’t get enough of) and I was all in to listen.

The problem here is execution. Instead of having Detective Paris gradually discover that magic might be real, the premise is just plopped down in the first chapter, and really can’t be argued with. In the next handful of chapters, there’s a parade of different magical creatures introduced at a breakneck pace. All of this created a few drawbacks. First, I didn’t really get to know the inspector because I was busy trying to keep all the backstories straight and it obliterated the character development that could have been presented as Detective Paris has to grapple with what’s in front of him and what he believes to be true in regards to the existence of magic.

Additionally, the humor here was extra dry, and didn’t flow naturally. For example, I only caught on to the pun in the title while writing this review (Breaking the law, but said with an English accent). The jokes in the book are very similar, forced at times, and amusing more than truly funny.

The shame of this is that a lot of the story construction is on point. There a complex narrative and the pacing fails to drag even a little, I just felt bombarded by magical creatures and failed to get invested in any character long enough to root for them,

The brightest spot in the audiobook was the narrator’s performance as he did a very nice job keeping a diverse and sizable cast separated and unique.

Overall a 2.5 out of 5 rounded up because of a strong narrator. It’s not a bad title, but I couldn’t latch onto anything that made it stand out or made me want to recommend it more highly. If you love magical creatures and extremely dry humor then this one is up your alley, but otherwise, this one is a bit of a lull.

Component Ratings
Concept/Idea: 3.5 out of 5
Protagonist: 2 out of 5
Antagonist: 3 out of 5
Supporting Characters: 2 out of 5
Character Development: 2.5 out of 5
Plot: 3 out of 5
Pacing: 4 out of 5
Dialogue: 2.5 out of 5
Narrator’s Performance: 4 out of 5
Ending: 3 out of 5

I received this audiobook from the publishers via Netgalley for a review. What a wonderful wacky read, had me laughing throughout and the narrator just added to the enjoyment of this book.

His book reminded me of Good Omens soooo much. It was okay, I guess, but it wasn't really my thing. I expected something a bit different

Breaking the Lore is the first book in a new urban fantasy cozy mystery series by Andy Redsmith. Released 15th April 2019 from Canelo, it's 321 pages and available in ebook format.

This is an urban fantasy police procedural by a new-to-me author and it's a good one. The book literally grabbed me by the hair from the first line and didn't let go. Check out the first two lines:

Discovering fairies at the bottom of the garden is supposed to be good luck. Except when the fairy has been crucified.

The book opens with Paris standing over the corpse of the aforementioned fairy. He's surprised as anyone to find out that fairies and other supernatural beings (dwarves, trolls, demons, etc) are real, and potentially much more genetically similar to humans than anyone thought.

The plotting is taut but not too fast and the dramatic tension is perfectly tuned throughout. There is little actual gore and the language is mild (a few bloody hells, and that's about it). I have to say a bit about the author's command of dialogue driven plot. The dialogue is bloody brilliant. The characters live and breathe and I was not yanked out of the story one single time by any of the characters delivering a clunky bit of dialogue. There were several encounters which actually really made me laugh.

I can certainly understand the comparisons to Aaronovitch's Rivers of London though to me they're very different books. I would say Kadrey's Sandman Slim series would be a nearer comparison, though I think if this series lives up to its potential, it'll edge Sandman Slim out of my top 5 urban fantasy favourite series. (and Kadrey's books have a lot more gore). It's probably worth noting for readers from North America, the slang and spelling and idiom are British English. It shouldn't be a problem, just remember fag = cigarette, torch = flashlight and you're good to go.

I am ashamed to admit that I missed the publication date on this book (I try very very hard not to do that) and it languished in my TBR/review pile for a lot longer than it should have. The only upside is that now I hopefully have a shorter wait to queue up for the next books in the series.

The audiobook version has a run time of 10 hours 31 minutes. The narration is brilliantly and expertly rendered by John Last. The book contains a number of distinct local accents (Cockney, Manchester, and several others) and the narrator manages them superbly. Quite apart from the very entertaining and engaging read itself; I spent a fair bit of time being amazed by the narrator's impressive talent doing the dialogue and keeping the accents straight.

Five stars. Really well done.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

The concept of this book was so intriguing - Paris, a copper from Manchester, unwittingly stumbling across the mythical and supernatural world and getting pulled into all the drama that ensued, fighting creatures and beings in fairytales. Fairies, talking crows, elves and dwarves, I mean, what more could you want?!

I really enjoyed listening to this. The audiobook was great and I loved how the author wrote this. It was witty, funny, light hearted and very entertaining. A great book to curl up with in the evening, with a cup of tea and a plate of biscuits. It was really enjoyable and the hours flew by listening to it!

It was a definite laugh out loud read, with plenty to keep you listening (or reading). The plot kept you engaged and intrigued to find out how it would all conclude and how it would end. I had no idea what was going to happen and it was great to navigate this world with Paris and all the mystical world and creatures had to offer.

It’s one of those books that you can’t fall out with and I can’t wait for more in this series in the future!

This book is a fun combination of Police Procedural and Urban Fantasy. If you enjoy both (think Rivers of London or Dresden Files), you need to read this book.

The narrator does a fine job of delineating the various characters and keeping the story moving along while keeping interest.

This is the first of a series and I am looking forward to more!

The synopsis on this book sounds astounding and I was very grateful to be given an audio copy to listen to courtesy of Netgalley (thank you) the started off exactly as I hoped and I thought I was going to be missing work to listen to this, sadly for me but not my employer the book started to lose me as a reader/listener, I felt some the choices the author chose for his characters were not to my liking, I am sure there are many listeners that will get more pleasure from this book than I and I am confident the author will continue writing books worth reading

“How do you kill something that doesn’t exist?” -From Breaking the Lore

3 stars

I loved the start of this book. It followed one of my favorite tropes: an ordinary person discovers the magical world. I loved the talking crow and was totally here for where the plot would go. Only to watch the remnants of a good story fall through my hands like grains of sand. The level of alcoholism exhibited by Nick Paris in an attempt of comedy was really cringeworthy. What was funny comedic lines became forced. And that end?! I was robbed.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for an unbiased review.