Alex Shvartsman – författare

Fantastic Stories of the Imagination, edited by Hugo and Wold Fantasy Award nominated editor Warren Lapine, brings you the very best in science fiction and fantasy. Join us as we explore strange new worlds. Original Short Story: Heartless by Krystal Claxton A woman of power ministers to a broken heart, risking her own in the process. Original Short Story: Underworld by Katherine Mankiller A teen grapples with dark forces to save the only family he’s ever known. Short Story: Backlash by Nancy Fulda Eugene Gutierrez has flashbacks from the war, but the real danger is what he doesn’t remember. Flash Fiction: Corner Sofa by Sarena Ulibarri Sometimes it takes stepping into someone else’s story to more clearly see your own. Flash Fiction: The Miracle on Tau Prime by Alex Shvartsman Can an alien be touched by God? REVIEWS & COMMENTARY Reviews: The Fan: by Carole McDonnell Reviews: The Magic Lantern: by Adam-Troy Castro Reviews: Area 51 1/2 by Steven Sawicki Reviews: New & Noteworthy Short Genre Fiction: by Gillian Daniels Make sure you go to www.fantasticstoriesoftheimagination.com every months for lots of great, free content.

GUARD BROOKLYN, FIGHT MONSTERS, TAUNT BAD GUYS"With the fast-paced first Conradverse urban fantasy, Shvartsman (Eridani’s Crown) delivers a laugh-out-loud, snarky adventure, throwing out pop culture references and wry observations with dizzying frequency....His supernatural New York City is vibrant and authentic, and Conrad fits right in with wisecracking fan favorite heroes like Harry Dresden and Simon Canderous. The result is a thoroughly satisfying romp."—Publishers WeeklyWhat would you do if you lost everything that mattered toyou, as well as all means to protect yourself and others, but still had to savethe day? Conrad Brent is about to find out.Conrad Brent protects the people of Brooklyn from monstersand magical threats. The snarky, wisecracking guardian also has a dangeroussecret: he’s one in a million – literally. Magical ability comes to about one in every 30,000 and canmanifest at any age. Conrad is rarer than this, however. He’s a middling, oneof the half-gifted and totally despised. Most of the gifted community feelsthat middlings should be instantly killed. The few who don’t flat out hate themstill aren’t excited to be around middlings. Meaning Conrad can’t tell anyone,not even his best friends, what he really is.Conrad hides in plain sight by being apart of the volunteer Watch, those magically gifted who protect their citiesfrom dangerous, arcane threats. And, to pay the bills, Conrad moonlights as aprivate detective and monster hunter for the gifted community. Which helps himkeep up his personal fiction – that he’s a magical version of Batman. Conraddoes both jobs thanks to charms, artifacts, and his wits, along with copiousamounts of coffee. But little does he know that events are about to change hislife…forever.When Conrad discovers the TravelingFair auction house has another middling who’s just manifested her so-calledpowers on the auction block, he’s determined to save her, regardless of risk.But what he finds out while doing so is even worse – the winning bidder worksfor a company that’s just created the most dangerous chemical weapon to everhit the magical community.Before Conrad can convince anyone atthe Watch of the danger, he’s exposed for what he really is. Now, stripped ofrank, magical objects, friends and allies, Conrad has to try to save the worldwith only his wits. Thankfully though, no one’s taken away his coffee."Shvartsman delivers real magic action and surprise twists...You're going to want more."—Esther M. Fiesner, Nebula-award winning author of the national bestseller, Warchild.

If you do it well, lying is every bit as effective as magic.Conrad Brent has no innate magic, so he bluffs a lot and uses a myriad of magical items to protect Brooklyn from monsters and arcane threats. As a member of the Watch, the group that protects the mundane humans from such dangers, he risks his life on a regular basis. Sometimes twice before lunch. Sometimes during lunch, when he dares order his food from a street cart. After regaining his position in the Watch which he’d temporarily lost due to the machinations of a variety of evil-doers, Conrad doesn’t want to take any risks he doesn’t have to. But now his boss is missing, there’s a totalitarian new regime in City Hall oppressing all magic users, and the mayor has aligned himself with a diabolical villain.In order to save the day, Conrad must team up with a recovering necromancer to mediate a dispute between two ancient enemy factions, solve a mystery of a warded house adjacent to a cemetery, and stand with his friends against tyranny.That is, if the interdimensional fae assassins don’t get him first.

If you do it well, lying is every bit as effective as magic.

Conrad Brent has no innate magic, so he bluffs a lot and uses a myriad of magical items to protect Brooklyn from monsters and arcane threats. As a member of the Watch, the group that protects the mundane humans from such dangers, he risks his life on a regular basis. Sometimes twice before lunch. Sometimes during lunch, when he dares order his food from a street cart.

After regaining his position in the Watch which he’d temporarily lost due to the machinations of a variety of evil-doers, Conrad doesn’t want to take any risks he doesn’t have to. But now his boss is missing, there’s a totalitarian new regime in City Hall oppressing all magic users, and the mayor has aligned himself with a diabolical villain.

In order to save the day, Conrad must team up with a recovering necromancer to mediate a dispute between two ancient enemy factions, solve a mystery of a warded house adjacent to a cemetery, and stand with his friends against tyranny.

That is, if the interdimensional fae assassins don’t get him first.

An impressive joint project, this outstanding new anthology brings the best of Chinese and English-language science fiction in a mediation on the theme of Exploration in Space. New, emerging, established and much-lauded writers from both cultures are brought together to demonstrate that technology and humanity when they work together bring challenges, joy and benefits to all of humankind. From Bao Shu comes 'A Trip to the End', from Allen Stroud 'The First', from He Xi 'Never Meet Again in Life', from Amdi Silvestri 'A Minuet of Corpses' and under the guiding eye of Patrick Parrinder (President of the H.G. Wells society) and Yao Haijun (celebrated editor of Science Fiction World in China) thirteen authors create a series of worlds which will enthral and entertain.