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Alex Shvartsman

Goodreads Author

Born

in Odessa, Ukraine

November 19, 1975

Website

http://www.alexshvartsman.com

Twitter

AShvartsman

Genre

Science Fiction, Fantasy

Member Since

April 2011

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/alexshvartsman

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Alex Shvartsman is a writer, editor, and translator from Brooklyn, NY. He's the author of The Best of All Possible Planets (2026A), Kakistocracy (2023), The Middling Affliction (2022) and Eridani's Crown (2019).

Over 120 of his stories have been published in Analog, Nature, Strange Horizons, and many other venues. He won the 2014 WSFA Small Press Award for Short Fiction and was a three-time finalist for the Canopus Award for Excellence in Interstellar Fiction and, as a translator, a three-time finalist for the BSFA Award. For a brief, glorious moment one of his short stories was in development as a live action TV series.

Alex is the editor of nearly twenty anthologies, including the long-standing Unidentified Funny Objects anthology series o ...more

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Alex Shvartsman’s books

Average rating: 3.97 · 7,219 ratings · 1,220 reviews · 160 distinct works • Similar authors

	Unidentified Funny Objects (UFO #1) by Alex Shvartsman (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Scott Almes (Goodreads Author), Sergei Lukyanenko 3.78 avg rating — 367 ratings — published 2012 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Middling Affliction (Conradverse Chronicles #1) 3.89 avg rating — 188 ratings — published 2022 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Unidentified Funny Objects 2 (UFO #2) by Alex Shvartsman (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Robert Silverberg, Mike Resnick 3.98 avg rating — 170 ratings — published 2013 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Funny Science Fiction by Alex Shvartsman (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Mike Resnick, Ken Liu (Goodreads Author) 3.73 avg rating — 181 ratings — published 2015 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Unidentified Funny Objects 3 (UFO #3) by Alex Shvartsman (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Jim C. Hines (Goodreads Author), James A. Miller 3.95 avg rating — 140 ratings — published 2014 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Funny Fantasy by Alex Shvartsman (Goodreads Author), Gail Carriger (Goodreads Author), Esther M. Friesner 3.72 avg rating — 144 ratings — published 2016 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Unidentified Funny Objects 4 (UFO #4) by Alex Shvartsman (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Neil Gaiman (Goodreads Author), Andrew Kaye 3.87 avg rating — 114 ratings — published 2015 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Explaining Cthulhu to Grandma and Other Stories by Alex Shvartsman (Goodreads Author), Ken Liu (Goodreads Author) (Introduction) 4.25 avg rating — 91 ratings — published 2015 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Unidentified Funny Objects 7 (UFO, #7) by Alex Shvartsman (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Mike Resnick, Seanan McGuire (Goodreads Author) 3.94 avg rating — 96 ratings — published 2018 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Unidentified Funny Objects 5 (UFO #5) by Alex Shvartsman (Goodreads Author) (Editor), David Gerrold (Goodreads Author), Esther M. Friesner 4.01 avg rating — 79 ratings — published 2016 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Series by Alex Shvartsman

UFO (10 books)
by

Alex Shvartsman (Goodreads Author) (Editor),

Mike Resnick,

Seanan McGuire (Goodreads Author),

Esther M. Friesner,

Gini Koch (Goodreads Author),

Laura Resnick

3.89 avg rating — 1,481 ratings

Conradverse Chronicles (2 books)
by

Alex Shvartsman (Goodreads Author)

3.99 avg rating — 232 ratings

Future Science Fiction Digest (18 books)
by

Alex Shvartsman (Goodreads Author) (Editor),

Julie Nováková (Goodreads Author),

Ken Liu (Goodreads Author),

Irene Punti,

Evgeny Lukin

3.73 avg rating — 109 ratings

Conrad Brent (2 books)
by

Alex Shvartsman (Goodreads Author)

3.72 avg rating — 18 ratings

Alex is Currently Reading

Alex Shvartsman is currently reading

The Middling Affliction (Conradverse Chronicles #1)

by Alex Shvartsman (Goodreads Author)

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Jan 27, 2022 11:50AM

Alex Shvartsman is currently reading

Eridani's Crown

by Alex Shvartsman (Goodreads Author)

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Dec 22, 2019 03:41PM

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Alex Shvartsman is now following Adam's reviews
May 01, 2026 07:45PM · like
Alex Shvartsman rated a book it was amazing The Jews: 5,000 Years and Counting by Rob Kutner (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
A highly entertaining book with just the right amount of snarky humor. The only downside? You might actually learn something.
Apr 21, 2025 10:41AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Jews by Rob Kutner. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Jews by Rob Kutner <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Alex Shvartsman wants to read Aftertaste by Daria Lavelle (Goodreads Author) Goodreads Choice Awards Nominee in Readers' Favorite Debut Novel	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Nov 03, 2024 03:46PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Aftertaste by Daria Lavelle. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Aftertaste by Daria Lavelle <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">

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Quotes by Alex Shvartsman (?)

“If you want to get anything done, you don’t go to the government.”
― Alex Shvartsman, Unidentified Funny Objects

1 likes

“Ah, yes, well that’s the problem with the English language, isn’t it? All the words mean different things.”
― Alex Shvartsman, Unidentified Funny Objects 2

1 likes

“I make a terrible first impression, and the second impression tends to be worse,” said Moira. “But in time, I grow on you. Like a fungus.”
― Alex Shvartsman, Kakistocracy

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See all Alex Shvartsman's quotes »

Polls

February 2023 BOTM: An anthology

The Best of World SF: Volume 2, edited by Lavie Tidhar

9 votes, 47.4%

Solarpunk: Ecological and Fantastical Stories in a Sustainable World, edited by Gerson Lodi-Ribeiro

6 votes, 31.6%

The Rosetta Archive: Notable Speculative Short Fiction in Translation, edited by Alex Shvartsman

4 votes, 21.1%

19 total votes

2 comments

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