Assaph Mehr's Blog

I came across the introductory novella on StoryOrigin, and it looked like fun – a humorous take on urban fantasy. I’ve read that story, and proceeded to the novels.

Amusing modern urban-fantasy where the protagonist is a vet for magical creatures and has loose attitudes towards law and order. Together with rescuing magical animals, she also helps those in need by bending the rules (not to say outright breaking and entering). It’s got all the tropes (like the obligatory ...

I mentioned The Rest Is History previously (being responsible to my ever-growing TBR list, where A Natural History of Ghosts and An Instance of the Fingerpost have made it to reviews here). Considering all the hours I’ve spent listening to the podcast, and now finally getting to the book, I figured it’s time for a review.

It started when someone pointed me at a series they done on Roman emperors. You know, a subj...

To all my long-time fans – or rather, long-time fans of Felix and new fans of Jack – I have an important announcement!

The books, while immensely fun to write and receiving critical success, haven’t exactly been commercial best-sellers. Not the path to happy retirement I was planning on.

Accordingly, I am taking a new direction with my writing, based on the best ‘wisdom of crowds’ advices sourced on the interwebs, will immediately commence to write to market. I have been relentlessly hitti...

This was a Ned Kelly award winner for 2025, always a good sign for an aussie-based thriller.

A woman wakes up in a hospital after an accident, with no memories of the few months leading to it. Her husband died in the accident, and when the police questions her she can’t figure out why. AS she tries to piece her life back together again, physically and emotionally, she starts to learn that things weren’t as they seem, as she remembers.

The story is told in first-perso...

Something a bit different than the usual topics of this blog, but I feel it’s an important read for everyday people.

Kohler is a well-respected Aussie journo (=journalist here in Australia), usually covering economics. This books is about the myriad ways businesses rig life so yopu end up paying more than you should – often for stuff you don’t need. Though based in Australia, I do feel this will make sense – and provide valuable insights – to people world-wide.

Kohler has a flowing st...

Since I deal with Responsible AI as part of my day job — the kind of technology that is meant to improve human lives, and not do harm — I also read about the instances of when it goes wrong. Most of the dangers aren’t “the Singularity” type of thing, it’s not the Rise of Skynet, or HAL, or anything like that. It’s about humans misusing technology to degrade and immiserate others. It’s the relentless chase of profits over everything else, certainly over the health of the planet and societies.

As regular readers know, I try to review the lesser known but awesome Aussie crime dramas on TV. I do this as comparative storytelling and as research into Tassie Outback Noir. Today I present you with a twist! There’s the usual crime dramas, but also a non-fiction criminology/stand-up combo Sounds weird, but it’s awesome! something every mystery and detective aficionado should watch.

Read on, and discover some truly phenomenal shows.

I’ve loved the first se...

The premise of a detective dealing with the boundary between tech billionaires and the occult covers a couple of areas I knew I’d be interested in.

An interesting case that starts with bodies mutilated with arcane symbol, a former-police-currently-private detective with a shady past, tech moguls with Rampant AI, ancient demons, and the inevitable shenanigans at the intersection of them all.

The story is told from multiple viewpoints, mostly Sarah but many others too,...

Amazon just made purchased ebooks downloadable as ebook and PDF, and I’ve been hearing a lot of concerns. Here’s why you shouldn’t worry.

The two key concepts you have to understand are that:

I think the second point is pretty clear. While Amazon has a “customer focus” that applies to the one with the wallet, ie the reader. Small publishers (indies and others) are conside...

As usual, here are my reflections on the year just gone. The short version is that I have made progress in writing (multiple shorts), though everything else… leaves a lot to be desired.

Let’s start with the yuck, to get it out of the way. On the work front I am yet again in the hunt for a new role, after providing shareholder value by being disposable. Three times in four years is about enough to fray even my already non-existent belief in capitalism. Oh well, new opportunities and all that. ...