Assaph Mehr's Blog, page 20

Book Review: Add a Cup of Chaos, by Stephanie Barr

This is my first foray into Barr’s works, after reading the prequel short story Demon Spawn. Chaos is just about right!

What to Expect

A zany adventure mixing science and fantasy, demons and space aliens, dragons and laser beams. What starts off as a disgruntled, subversive, sorceress using-but-not-happy-about-it demon magic quickly evolves into an imminent alien invasion and interplanar travel between Earth, Demon realms, and outer space.

What I liked

Charact...

Serena Mendez (of Serpent Rising, by Victor Acquista)

Dear readers, tonight we conduct our interview in a hogan (a traditional Navajo dwelling) on the Navajo reservation in Arizona. We’re talking to a previously unemployed, pill-popping twenty-one year old who suffered from nightmares and PTSD, whose quest to sort out her life leads her to ancient conflict between the Illuminati and a Luminarian sect with origins to Atlantis.

It sounds as though your childhood was pretty messed up. If it’s not too painful, can you tell us abo...

Book Review: Peace Talks, by Jim Butcher

I enjoyed the Dresden Files in the past, so was looking forward to the new installment after a few years’ gap. If you’ve never read them before this is not the place to start, but if you are a fan then this book delivers.

What to Expect

Peace Talks picks up where the series previously finished (some 6 years ago), and continues on the main story arc. Harry had been fighting the Fomor, which came to power after his war on the Red Vampire Court. Getting into this book is like ...

Jactatio Dolor (of Add a Cup of Chaos, by Stephanie Barr)

Dear readers, tonight with us is a demon – a denizen of another realm. Rather than the devilish connotation you might have been led to believe, they are peace-seeking beings. He’s here to tell us about magic, cats, dragons, space aliens, and love.

Tell us a little about where you grew up. What was it like there?

Well, I was born on Mundus which would be a lot like Earth except the technology ran on magic and it was full of demons like me. Like most demons with a hum...

Book Review: Mad House, by Ellis L. Knox

I love Knox’s mix of history and fantasy, so was happy to find this novelette.

What to Expect

A quick read about a roguish sprite, a loyal ogre, and a house made of magic.
This story is mostly atmospheric, but serves as an excellent intro or sample of Knox’s longer works.

What I liked

I liked the characters, with their foibles and growth even in such a short span. I loved the premise of the story and the final resolution.

What to be aware of

It’s ...

Splice (of SPLICE: HIT BIT TECHNOLOGY, by Bill McCormick)

Dear readers, tonight with us is  a criminal mastermind with unlimited resources, cunning, and guile. He’s here to tell us about being a supervillain and cyber-terrorist.

Tell us a little about where you grew up. What was it like there?

I was beaten and abandoned in Omaha when I was ten. My dad, good Christian that he was, gave me fifty bucks before leaving me on a deserted highway in the rain. Omaha wasn’t bad. Nobody paid any attention to a little black kid. The f...

Writing Update

Yeah, about that…

When you start an “update” blog-post with the image on the left, there’s only one place it can go, right?

Well, now. Let’s take it as an exercise in finding the optimism in everything. It wasn’t all a total wash.

The pandemic has indeed put a damper on my writing. I used to write on the train commute to work (which added up to a few uninterrupted hours a week) but this whole working from home living in the office took that away (though losing a hobb...

Miss Gladys Dunchurch and the Hon. Edward ‘Charlie’ Decharles (of Champagne Charlie and the Amazing Gladys, by B.G. Hilton)

Dear readers, tonight with us are two people from a steam-powered London. They are here to tell us about dead-eyed assassins, murderous pirates, wingless flying machines, and perhaps even creatures from beyond this Earth.

Tell us a little about your early life.

Charlie: I was born in at the family estate in Lincolnshire, but we don’t go there very often. We mostly live at our townhouse in Pimlico. I went to Harrow School and Oxford, though they are both beastly insi...

Book Review: All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1), by Martha Wells

The Murderbot Diaries won both Hugo and Nebula, and with good reason.

What to Expect

A novella told from the point of view of an android assigned as a security unit to a team of scientists exploring a new planet. action is packed in this very short novel (or lengthy novella), but more importantly there’s an impressive character arc.

What I liked

Excellent story and world-building in such a short scope, with Wells doing an amazing job of depicting the point-of-...

Anna Belko (of Wrong Place, Right Time, by E.B. Roshan)

Dear readers, tonight we listen in while the protagonist – Anna, a young factory worker – is  having tea with her husband’s aunt, Oxsana. All she wanted was a quiet cup of tea, but an unexpected encounter blooms into new-found love that changes her life.

OXSANA: (sitting down opposite Anna and pouring a cup of tea.) Oh, Anna—I’ve been wanting to do this ever since Boris first told me you were the one for him. I feel that I don’t know you at all, really. Could you tell me a...