Assaph Mehr's Blog, page 23

Book Review: Thraxas, by Martin Scott

I’m not sure which is cheesier — the classic covers or the self-published chainmail-bikini — but they both suit the series!

I can’t recall who recommended Thraxas to me, but the interest overlap was obvious: private detective in a fantasy world with a nod to Roman culture. I put it high on my TBR.

What to Expect

As it says on the cover, a hard-boiled-style story of a down-on-his-luck, drunken private investigator with magical education and chequered past. As in most such tal...

Jaimie Stadler (of All the Beautiful Liars, by Sylvia Petter)

Dear readers, tonight with us is a man living in a unique kind of prison. Acting against the protagonist, he is here to tell us about his observations of life from his unique perspective.

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

I am Jaimie. I was born in the war years and went to school in Vienna. We lived in a posh district and when the war was over and Vienna cut up into four like the rest of Austria, my family was luckily in the British ...

Book Review: A Natural History of Dragons, by Marie Brennan

Multiple people (whose tastes I trust) have repeatedly recommended me the Memoirs of Lady Trent, and I finally got to reading it. I can see what the fuss was about, as it is certainly a unique work in the realms of fantasy.

What to Expect

Written in first person as a memoir (an old lady telling of her youthful adventures), Brennan’s novel captures the feeling of Jane Austen with a judicious amount of dragons.

The story starts when the protagonist – Isabella – was a l...

Elias Wilder (of Half a Soul, by Olivia Atwater)

Dear readers, tonight with me is the Lord Sorcier of Regency England. Most people find him handsome, strange, and utterly uncouth—but gossip says that he regularly performs three impossible things before breakfast. We’re here to find out the truth.

“Lord Sorcier” is a French title, isn’t it? How does one go about becoming the Lord Sorcier of England ?

It wasn’t my choice, thank you very much. The Prince Regent suggested it, for some mad reason. He thought it was fitt...

Roman Links: from military to sorcery

Welcome to our regularly scheduled survey of ancient news, from archaeological discoveries to experimental archaeology. This time we cover anything from shipwrecks to deliberate wrecking equipment, from war to medicine.

Let us start with your classical bit of archaeology. This is an amazing find from the Danube: Probable Roman shipwrecks unearthed at a Serbian coal mine

A couple of points in regards to this. First, is that this was an accidental discovery, when mining equip...

Thal Lesky (of Werewolves in the Renaissance, by Tracy Falbe)

Dear readers, tonight with us is a werewolf, stalking the streets of 16th century Prague. He is here to tell us about witches and sorcerers, and about a world that denies its pagan roots.

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

My youth, or my first life as I like to think of it, is not easily recalled. I have flashes of memory since I emerged from the forest. The potions and spells that gave me the wolf life in the forest wiped away my cle...

Book Review: Draka Raid, by Nils Nisse Visser

I love historical-fantasy blends (no surprises), and the promise of a realistic depiction of the dark ages caught my attention.

What to expect

A novella based on Anglo-Saxon England in the 9th century. A village in Sussex is facing a Danish raid, with the chief and warriors away and his daughter ruling in his stead. With the aid of the forest witch, she rallies the young and old to fight back in their own way.

What I liked

I loved the attention to historical d...

Lucia Rhodanus Fortem (of The Last Gladiator: prequel to the Steam Empire series, by Daniel Ottalini)

Dear readers, we all love to see blood spilled for our entertainment, cheer for the brave gladiators as they fight in the arena. Tonight we have a unique chance to hear from a woman who dedicated her life to this amazing sport, so beloved by our empire’s citizens.

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

Neapolis: A shining city on the coast. Number two city in the empire, or so I like to think. You may have heard of Mt. Vesuvius? That’s our...

Dressmaking for Werewolves

Betty!

This was a response from a writing prompt, that caught me in the mood. The original prompt was for up to 3 paragraphs on

Small village dressmaker bit by werewolf

Here’s my micro-fiction submission:

Having been bitten by a werewolf, Betty found that her dressmaking skills were challenged to the extreme. In the first month, she found out that not even a whalebone corset holds against the supernatural transformation. When the full moon rose, her husband had time t...

Jo Wiley (of the Voices of the Dead series, by Victoria Raschke)

Dear readers, tonight with us is a woman who speaks to the dead and dates gods out of slavic myths. She’s here to tell us about her unique gifts, about saving the world, and about tea.

Thanks for taking the time to talk with us. Its pretty hard for zines on this side of the Veil to get interviews. You werent born in Ljubljana. Where are you from originally and do you go home often?

It was the accent that gave it away wasnt it? Ive never been able to banish that little bit of Southern...