Author Have you read Andrew Yahodka? Is it AI slop?

[PracticingGeomancer]

I was clicking throught the "unread posts" column on the right, while I stumbled upon a book share for a book by Andrew Yahodka. I am not familiar with the author, and the book seemed interesting, but two red flags came up: the cover art is clearly AI, and the book was published recently (this/last year).

On a side note: it is sad that it has come to this, but a book being published after 2023-4~ish is now a red flag to me, as I assume AI has been used unless the contrary is proven. What a sad state of affairs, but what can one do?

Back to the topic: I searched on amazon, and this author has a lot of books published between 2025 and 2026. Like several complete series of 5-6-7 books each. I understand this author might have been creating and collecting material for decades before publishing everything at once, but to be honest I assume the books are largely written by AI.

So, to hopefully prove myself wrong, I decided to ask here: has anyone read any of Andrew's books? Am I wrong in assuming they are AI slop through and through?

 

[Morell]

AI cover doesn't automatically mean AI content, but red flag for sure. Have you tried some tool for checking the text if there is high probability to be made by AI. Is the text inconsistent?

Just opened one book randomly. Maybe AI cover, but nice one and the text seems fine. Though the book is barely over 60 pages. If all his books are so short then it makes sense that even as human author he would be able to write them fast enough.

 

[PracticingGeomancer]

AI cover doesn't automatically mean AI content

Now I literally judged a bunch of books by their covers, silly me

Have you tried some tool for checking the text if there is high probability to be made by AI

I haven't, I thought I'd rather ask people on this forum. Not sure I trust those tools' accuracy.

Though the book is barely over 60 pages

I've looked at one serie of his on amazon: 7 books, each book seems to be around ~200 pages.

I want to point out I have nothing against Andrew, I'm just a bit suspicious of the incredible amount of material published in such a short period of time. Unluckily this is to a certain degree a sign of the times, when AI can spew out large amounts of text that looks as it makes sense on the surface.

I might just invest the time to read one or two of Andrew's books and try them out in practice to see what comes out.

 

[Morell]

I might just invest the time to read one or two of Andrew's books and try them out in practice to see what comes out.

Good idea. Be sure to tell, what kind of book it turns out to be in the end. Even if it were bad book, reading bad books is an experience too, investment to master the skill to see fast which book is good or bad.

 

[Dayonisos]

Seems this text is AI. I discovered some of his books has a same names as books of Kenneth Grant and Michael Bertiaux.
Cults of Shadows
Outside Circles of Time
Vodun Gnostic workbook
Text is different, but has some references to initial author Kenneth Grant inside a books.

 

[HoldAll]

I don't think it's AI because it feels like the author gets a buzz out of half-hypnotising his readers with sentences of five words or less and making them believe they do 'black magic' now by 'embracing the darkness'. There appears to be a market for low-brow darque manuals directed towards teen self-empowerment, see those

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clowns.

A sample from "Gates of Darkness and Awakening", Book 1, Ch. 17:

You awakened your will. You entered darkness. You cleansed your mind. You unlocked breathing. You solved riddles. You created a protective circle. You channeled its energy. You strengthened it. You tested its strength. You enhanced protection. You prepared for immersion. You entered trance through breathing. You immersed into darkness. You mastered trance. You solved its riddle. You directed your will. Now you will craft a spell. This chapter will teach you to craft a spell. A spell is not just words. It is your intent. It is your path to manifestation. There is no weakness here. Only you and your might. You are here to create. You are here to master. You are the one who casts.

It must be too much fun to crank out this stuff yourself to leave cranking it out to an AI if you're cynic enough.

 

[dzb10035]

I wouldn't personally have too much of an issue if the cover art is AI. Not everyone has the graphic design skills or even the money to pay a qualified person to create a good cover. And something like the cover can have a big influence in how many people purchase the book.

The big problem is when the text itself is generated AI slop. This is then when the red flags come up for me and I would seriously doubt the author's authenticity. Stuff like Mari Silva and a whole host of possible other authors come to mind. If something has an AI cover, but has content that is on par with the greats like Crowley, Bardon, et al, then I couldn't care less because it is going to be a great work to consume.

 

[Morell]

I wouldn't personally have too much of an issue if the cover art is AI. Not everyone has the graphic design skills or even the money to pay a qualified person to create a good cover. And something like the cover can have a big influence in how many people purchase the book.

Good point, though it really seems that more and more people will turn away from cover that seems to be AI made.