They might not be raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens, but that doesn’t mean that we love them any less. Welcome back to My Favorite Things, the weekly column where we grab someone in speculative circles to gab about the greatest in geek. This week, we sit down with Alex Shvartsman, whose debut novel, Eridani’s Crown, comes out tomorrow, October 22nd, from UFO Publishing!
What does Alex love when he’s not writing epic fantasy about a heroine fueled by revenge? Spoiler alert: a show that The Good Place and Good Omens fans will love, a website that’s chock full of inspiration, a game that doesn’t require you to spend a lot of time or money to have fun, and a political fantasy that subverts the usual fantasy tropes. Interested? Read on to learn more!
As a true, card-carrying geek, the number of my favorite things is large enough to crash any computer and leave me sputtering nonsense as I try to whittle a mighty oak down to a toothpick. As such, my approach for this post is to pick one relatively recent thing that — perhaps — not enough of you are already familiar with, and that I think you totally should be.
Watching: Miracle Workers (TBS)
Fans of irreverent speculative comedies like The Good Place and Good Omens should check out this miniseries about a couple of low-level angels trying to forestall an apocalypse. Based on a Simon Rich novel, and starring Harry Potter’s Daniel Radcliffe and relative newcomer Geraldine Viswanathan, Miracle Workers is a tad edgier/darker than similar fare, but it’s well worth the time investment as it’s only seven episode long. Steve Buscemi is outstanding as a slacker version of God.
Clicking: MentalFloss.com
Although their excellent print magazine is no more, the website continues to provide smart content for fans of trivia that doesn’t involve the latest celebrity gossip. I’ve discovered many a story idea and cool setting while browsing their site. For more content like this, also check out AltasObscura.com.
Playing: Hearthstone
Hearthstone is currently my game of choice. Like Magic: The Gathering, it’s a meaty strategy game that can nevertheless be thoroughly enjoyed by a casual player who doesn’t spend hundreds of dollars or hundreds of hours to level up. Designers keep adding new single-player content and Tavern Brawls, neither of which require you to own cards or build a constructed deck, and that alone is enough to keep one entertained for a few hours a week.
Hearthstone is set in the universe of World of Warcraft, but no WoW-knowledge is required to enjoy the game. (I’ve never played WoW at all.)
Reading: The Dandelion Dynasty
This silkpunk series by Ken Liu is political fantasy at its finest. The story opens with The Grace of Kings, where Liu employs the technique of drawing the reader in by intentionally following some of the common fantasy trope right up until the point where he pulls the rug from under you by brilliantly subverting them. I’ve borrowed the same technique for Eridani’s Crown (though I’m sure Ken did it better!). Some of the ideas in my book are in subtle conversation with this series, as both examine the influence of power on those who wield it. The second Dandelion Dynasty book (The Wall of Storms) is out, and I have it on good authority that we should see the story’s conclusion pretty soon!
Alex Shvartsman is a writer, translator, and anthologist from Brooklyn, New York. Over 100 of his short stories have appeared in Nature, Analog, Strange Horizons, InterGalactic Medicine Show, and many other magazines and anthologies. He won the 2014 WSFA Small Press Award for Short Fiction and was a two-time finalist for the Canopus Award for Excellence in Interstellar Fiction (2015 and 2017). He is the editor of the Unidentified Funny Objects annual anthology series of humorous SF/F, and of Future Science Fiction Digest. His epic fantasy novel, Eridani’s Crown, was published in October 2019. His website is www.alexshvartsman.com.
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Clearly, as a fan of The Good Place, I’m going to have to check out Miracle Workers. Thanks for the recommendation!
I’ve read The Grace of Kings, but The Wall of Storms remains in my TBR. I did absolutely adore Liu’s short story collection, The Paper Menagerie, and I have the new one pre-ordered!