Alex Shvartsman's Speculative Fiction

Two Live Events This Week

August 17, 2026

Come hang out with me and some amazing authors at two live events this week!

On Tuesday I will be at the Brooklyn Books and Booze event at the Barrow’s Intense bar in Industry City.

The event is free (other than all the books and all the booze you buy!) And speaking of booze, they will serve The Best of All Possible Drinks, inspired by my book! I can’t wait to try it.

Then this Saturday, meet a trio of humor authors at the Paramus Barnes & Noble. Are you even a real fan of humorous SF/F if you can’t name this band?

Leave a Comment » | Event Appearances | Tagged: Barnes & Noble, Brooklyn Books & Booze, Meet the authors | Permalink
Posted by Alex Shvartsman

Black Hole Heart is a World Fantasy Award Finalist

August 10, 2026

I should have posted about this last week, but it took me a while to process. Even after nearly a week I am rather speechless that Black Hole Heart and Other Stories is a World Fantasy Award finalist in the Collection category! Huge congratulations to the brilliant K.A. Teryna, to our publisher Patrick Swenson of Fairwood Press, and also to Anatoly Belilovsky who loaned us his translation of one of the stories (the rest were translated by me.)

It’s surreal to be up for the same award as Salman Rushdie, not to mention all the other awesome people in our category and on the ballot in general.

If you haven’t read this collection yet, you really should. Grab it here.

Leave a Comment » | Acceptances & Publications | Tagged: Fairwoood Press, K.A. Teryna, translation, World Fantasy Award | Permalink
Posted by Alex Shvartsman

Planets Publication Day!

July 28, 2026

Planets is officially out today! If you haven’t preordered a copy for some strange reason, go get it now! It’s available most places, though a couple of audiobook vendors are still behind in making the files available.

If you DID preorder it and you read it, would you please take a moment to review it, especially on Amazon and Goodreads? The number of reviews is a significant factor people who are not already familiar with the work or the author take into account when choosing to buy.

Order direct: [Ebook] [Mass Market Paperback] [Premium Hardcover]

[Amazon] [Bookshop.org] [Barnes & Noble] [Apple] [Google] [Kobo]

[Audible] [Spotify] [Chirp] [Audiobooks.com]

You can also read me talk about the big idea behind this book on John Scalzi’s Whatever blog:

The Big Idea: Alex Shvartsman

Leave a Comment » | Acceptances & Publications | Tagged: futurama, hitchhker's guide to the galaxy, space opera comedy, The Best of All Possible Planets, voltaire | Permalink
Posted by Alex Shvartsman

Obligatory Book Promo Stuff

July 27, 2026

Ahead of the book launch tomorrow, I am doing loads of cool media stuff. Two podcasts dropped between Friday and today where you can listen to me talk about writing humor, Voltaire, and other fun things:

Writers of the Future Podcast:

Episode 390

Amusing Jews Podcast:

Enjoy and don’t forget to snag a copy of Planets if you haven’t already. But, more on that tomorrow!

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Posted by Alex Shvartsman

The Seriously Funny Bundle

June 22, 2026

I am curating a humor Storybundle! It features funny books from some of my favorite authors, and you can get the entire bundle for as little as $30! That’s just $2 per book, or the price of a cup of coffee (in 2019). Seriously you can get all of these for the price of like three Starbucks drinks.

There are several anthologies, but also novels (and one novella) that range from cozy to urban fantasy to military fantasy to space opera … There’s something for every taste here. And on top of that, some of the proceeds will be donated to a non-profit Deep Vellum (they do fantastic work publishing translations, both SF/F and literary, and deserve support!)

Please check out the bundle at the link below:

https://www.storybundle.com/humor

Leave a Comment » | Publishing | Tagged: humor, sale, Storybundle | Permalink
Posted by Alex Shvartsman

Unidentified Funny Objects 10 is published!

May 27, 2026

Happy book birthday to Unidentified Funny Objects 10! With nearly 1000 copies preordered via Kickstarter, our own website, Amazon, and book stores, this may be the strongest launch in the series yet.

The ebook is presently live on all of the platforms below (and I will edit the post as more platforms approve it). The paperback can be ordered directly from us and will go live on Amazon and elsewhere in a few days.

Paperback – Direct order:
https://www.kingsgames.com/online-store/Unidentified-Funny-Objects-10-TPB-p811124853

Ebook – Direct order:
https://www.kingsgames.com/online-store/Unidentified-Funny-Objects-10-e-book-p811098249

Amazon:
https://amzn.to/4uxADYi

Google Play:
https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=kBLdEQAAQBAJ&pli=1

B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/unidentified-funny-objects-10-alex-shvartsman/1150260175?ean=2940185207871

Apple:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/unidentified-funny-objects-10/id6773780858

Bookshop.org:
https://bookshop.org/p/books/unidentified-funny-objects-10-unidentified-funny-objects-10-alan-dean-foster/436c44b4eb4e5fbe?ean=9798233591518&next=t&digital=t

Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/unidentified-funny-objects-10

Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/249030983-unidentified-funny-objects-10

Leave a Comment » | Publishing | Tagged: UFO10, Unidentified Funny Objects | Permalink
Posted by Alex Shvartsman

Event Appearance: Literary Festival in Ruse, Bulgaria

May 19, 2026

I will be a guest at the literary festival in Ruse this coming weekend, where I will participate on panels, do a reading and a kaffeeklatch. If you happen to be in that part of Europe, I hope you will consider attending!

https://fantasyriver.libruse.bg

Comments Off on Event Appearance: Literary Festival in Ruse, Bulgaria | Event Appearances | Tagged: Bulgaria, Romania, Ruse Literary Festival | Permalink
Posted by Alex Shvartsman

New publication: “Origin Story” in Nature Futures

May 6, 2026

I have a new story out at Nature today. It’s about AI, unhinged billionaires, and goldfish. You know; science fiction.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-01077-8

ETA: Use the link below to read the story for free, without a subscription:

https://rdcu.be/fimZC

Comments Off on New publication: “Origin Story” in Nature Futures | Acceptances & Publications | Tagged: AI, flash fictionm, nature, science fiction | Permalink
Posted by Alex Shvartsman

The Digital Aesthete published in China

April 5, 2026

The Digital Aesthete, an anthology about the intersection of AI and art (written by humans!) is now available in China from the Shanghai Translation Publishing House and in collaboration with the Future Affairs Administration.

The Mandarin Chinese edition of the book is called AI Masters and here’s the cover:

If, for some reason, you cannot read this version of the book, this is a good time to grab yourself an English language copy!

Direct from UFO Publishing – Print – $19.99
Direct from UFO Publishing – E-book – $5.99
Amazon / B&N / Kobo / Apple / Google / Audible

Comments Off on The Digital Aesthete published in China | Acceptances & Publications | Tagged: AI, anthology, the digital aesthete, translation | Permalink
Posted by Alex Shvartsman

Last Chance – Planets

March 25, 2026

The Kickstarter ends tomorrow (Thursday) evening, so this is your last chance to get on board. Backers will receive the ebooks significantly ahead of the release date, with print and audio books to follow as they are completed. Don’t miss out on the rewards (and the opportunity to support me as the author as well as the artists and narrators involved) without giving away a huge percentage to an equally huge third-party company.