The Protagonist

Felix, with his colourful past, finds himself running errands and solving mysteries for all those upright citizens who would rather keep appearing as such – and not expose their shady dealings to prying official eyes.

He knows a bit about this and something about that, stuff that is on the borders of legality; but mostly he knows how to make problems go away. Discreetly.

In his own words,

I forged my own path as a Fox, though often a ferret would have been a more accurate name. Purloined jewellery, missing persons, cheating spouses are what paid for my bread and fish sauce. The occasional debunking of charlatans, confirmation of ancient scrolls, and even, rarely, a real magical ring are what would one day fill my memoirs. But this? Definitely out of my way. If I should live to see the end of this, it would make the shining pinnacle of light in my memoirs. Who knows, perhaps I could even sell them!

Felix has taken a life of his own, and has been giving interviews. First was the one on The Protagonist Speaks. Recently, Felix and Assaph have given a joint interview! This one has to be read to be believed.

The World

The city of Egretia borrows elements from a thousand years of ancient Roman culture, from the founding of Rome to the late empire, mixed with a judicious amount of magic. Expect meticulously researched and exquisitely detailed accounts of daily life (from fish sauce to naval tactics) combined with the ultimate “what if” – how would Ancient Rome be like, if magic was real?

While daily and political life is decidedly Roman, some aspects are Alexandrian (the Pharos lighthouse, and the museon-like Collegium Incantatorum), and others Carthaginian (the love of maritime culture).

As one reader said about In Numina:

Once I started, I couldn’t put it down. Knew it’d happen, so waited till I had time. Once finished I suffered from serious ‘book hangover’ – you know, when part of you is still in the book’s world and yearns to go back. See what you’ve done?

The Author

Assaph has had his nose in a book since he was five and had to yell at the librarian that he can read already so he should get his own card. With a rather diverse taste in reading – from fantasy to philosophy, from ancient times to the far future – his first novel Murder In Absentia is an “historically-themed urban high-fantasy hardboiled murder mystery, with just a dash of horror”.

After years of reading and only dreaming of seeing his name in print, he suddenly started writing in 2015. He owes this to his wife, who complained that there was nothing good left to read. Once the challenge was accepted and Murder In Absentia was born, Assaph just kept on writing – short stories, flash fiction, and now a second full length novel.

When he’s not busy mashing up genres or interviewing other author’s characters on TheProtagonistSpeaks.com, this ex-Israeli-turned-Aussie enjoys – in no particular order – his wife, kids, cats, and even his day job. He hopes that his thirty years of martial arts make his fight scenes realistic, and that his love of history shines through his work.