Alex Shvartsman is a writer, translator, game designer, and anthologist. His adventures so far have included traveling to over 30 countries, playing a card game for a living, and building a successful business. Over 120 of his short stories have appeared in Analog, Nature, Strange Horizons, Fireside, Weird Tales, Galaxy's Edge, and many other venues. He won the WSFA Small Press Award for Short Fiction in 2014 and was a two-time finalist (2015 & 2017) for the Canopus Award for Excellence in Interstellar Fiction. His political fantasy novel Eridani's Crown was published in 2019. Alex's translations from Russian have appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Clarkesworld, Asimov's, Apex, Strange Horizons, and other venues. He's the editor of the Unidentified Funny Objects series of humorous SF/F, as well as a variety of other anthologies, including The Cackle of Cthulhu (Baen), Humanity 2.0 (Arc Manor), and Funny Science Fiction (UFO). He's the editor and publisher of Future Science Fiction Digest, a magazine that focuses on international fiction. His website is www.alexshvartsman.com and his Twitter handle is @AShvartsman. Alex has resided in Brooklyn, NY for over 30 years and draws on his experience as a New Yorker in writing The Middling Affliction where Brooklyn is more than merely a background.
This book never goes where I expect it to, and that's a good thing. It is utterly charming, which I mean in several ways. --Steven Brust New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Jhereg and Dzur. In a magical world of demons and wizards, only the Watch exists to make sure that everyone plays nice. But our hero is the only member of the team with no magical abilities; just guns and tricks and an endless supply of nerve and bluff. The Middling Affliction is a fine mixture of magic and mayhem, topped up with enough movement to keep the plot boiling. It's always a pleasure to find a fantasy that hasn't forgotten how to have fun, while still employing bad guys ready to play for all the marbles, and a hero who knows how to be the real thing when the chips are down. --Simon R. Green, New York Times bestselling author of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves There's nothing middling about The Middling Affliction. Shvartsman delivers real magic, action and surprise twists, nicely seasoned with laughs. You're going to want more. --Esther Friesner, Nebula-award winner and bestselling author of Warchild.