The Dishevelled Goblin, the youtube agent of Chaos that is Daniel Greene. I first came across his work on Youtube during the madness of the pandemic as it began to unfold. I'd say that was fortuitous timing, or merely happenstance. Either way, it led me to one of the most entertaining Book Tubers on the platform. Daniel has a unique sense of humour and a genuine love of the fantasy genre, both come through in his videos and make him such a standout amongst the many reviewers now on Youtube. His skits alone are worthy of seeking out, especially the Brandon Sanderson writing one. His latest 'interview' with 'Disney' is an amusing parody that had me chuckling hours later. Throughout this journey, Daniel had expressed his desire to write a number of Novellas before moving forward with his own full-length novels. This was to be the first in a trio but Daniel's second outing has now blossomed into a full novel. I'll discuss that later, for now, I'll concentrate on his first outing as a published author.
The story begins with a murder, a rather grisly one in fact. Now, this has been highlighted in certain reviews but I found it no worse than many of the scenes in any modern horror book. This murder is of an important family, people of worth within the Empire. Here we are brought into contact with Khlid, one of the investigators, as she starts to look into the killings. Khlid is one of three investigators in this murder case, Samuel, her husband, and Chapman being the other two. It is clear from the outset that Chapman is not well-liked, there is an arrogance to the man that instantly makes him hard to deal with but that arrogance is partially earned. He is intelligent, markedly so, and able to make quick deductions with a deep insight but his people skills are rather lacking. Khlid and Samuel have something of a reluctance to working with him but they do so regardless, this case is far too important not to. Now I don't want to give too much away as this is primarily a detective novel, to state too much would give away elements of the mystery of the book. I will say that the story unfolds well, with some twists and turns some will see coming but they are executed well enough that it will do little to spoil your enjoyment of the book.
For a first outing, this is a solid offering. Daniel's writing hints at a much bigger world than we are exposed to and there is more than enough here to entice the reader back to see how the story will progress. I enjoyed his character work and the hints of what goes on behind the scenes of this new and dark world he is presenting to us. Sure it is not perfect but for a first published Novella, it is a damn good introduction. I am looking forward to what his next offering will bring, and with it now being a full-length novel I am more enthused than I was initially at the idea of the second Novella. I hope Daniel continues to unfold this world to us, I, for one will be eager to read more. Give it a go and see what this interesting young talent has to offer.
I'd rate it 3.5 out of 5. A good first published book with tons of potential moving forward, can't wait to see what he has in store. Let me know what you think in the comments and give Daniel's Youtube channel a look if you enjoy good reviews of the fantasy genre.
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