Alex Shvartsman's Speculative Fiction

I’ll be attending Philcon this coming weekend and participating on a small handful of panels. Here’s where you can find me:

https://schedule.philcon.org/people/22369

I am reserving most of my convention time to socialize with people; if you want to chat any time between Friday afternoon and Sunday morning (I am leaving right after my Sunday panel) please feel free to reach out!

Over the past several years I was able to share some insights and opinions about Slavic mythology with L. D. Colter as she was writing her modern fantasy novel steeped in this mythology and Russian folklore. Earlier this year I was privileged to write the introduction to her book! The book comes out on November 20th from Rebellion Publishing and I figured I’d recommend it here to my readers as well as share the intro that I wrote.

Read on to discover the true origin of the hut on chicken Legs!

I rejoice any time a writer—let alone an excellent wordsmith like L. D. Colter—chooses to incorporate Slavic folklore into their fiction. These characters are seldom seen in Western literature, and when we do encounter them, they’re often depicted with all the accuracy and authenticity of Ivan Drago in Rocky, a Russian boxer portrayed by a Swedish chemical engineer.

There is good reason for this, however. There are heaps of material on Greek and Roman and Egyptian pantheons, but few reliable records about the Slavic deities. Any writer who undertakes the task of telling their stories must labor without a safety net.

Just how scarce are the records? We know that Perun was the equivalent of Zeus or Jupiter, a mighty thunder god at the top of the food chain. By comparison, we don’t know much about Stribog at all. It’s not even certain that the two were parts of the same pantheon.

These gods were worshiped by the Slavic tribes before the Varangians—Vikings—conquered the region and established city-states that eventually consolidated into Kievan Rus. No significant written records have survived, and much of what we know about the history of Kievan Rus comes from the Primary Chronicle, the manuscript written several centuries later. It was authored by a monk named Nestor, whose principal goal appeared to be lionizing Christianity and its early adopters rather than accuracy.

Thus, our glimpse into Slavic religions and mythology comes from oral storytelling, where old tales and rituals survived and changed over the centuries in an uneasy balance with Christianity. Many of the spirits the Slavs used to worship became known as devils, others were relegated to fairy-tale characters. As for the pagan gods? Those were not tolerated by the Church and therefore sent to the dustbin of history.

Like all verbal stories, Slavic folk tales shifted and changed with every telling. The versions of Kaschei the Deathless and other mythological staples as we know them today are largely from the 17^th and 18^th centuries.

Consider Baba Yaga. She is an old character, likely as old as Perun. But would a 7^th century Slav recognize her modern depiction? Baba Yaga is often—but not always—described as a hideous old woman with features such as a bony leg or iron teeth. She’s simultaneously an evil witch to be defeated, and a guardian of the forest and of the old ways, to be placated. At times she serves as a guide to the underworld. That’s a lot of jobs for one senior citizen! Colter chose to base her on a possible pre-Christian portrayal as someone who acted as a guide or teacher of young children, though not a particularly benevolent one.

Today the most recognized attribute of Baba Yaga is her home: She lives in a hut on chicken legs. Or does she?

The idea of this hut is almost certainly more recent than Baba Yaga herself. Most experts agree that the “legs” are wooden stilts. The structures raised on one or more stilts in swampland were common among people in Finland, Karelia, and Siberia. They were built that way to reduce dampness and avoid rot. But when did the Slavs come into contact with this technology? Was it brought by the Vikings, too?

The hut legs may have nothing to do with chickens, either. The Russian term “курьи ножки” sure does sound like “chicken legs,” but the word “куръ” means both “rooster” and “hut rafters” or “hut stilts.” (Dal’s Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language, 2^nd edition, 1881.) Don’t worry—everyone gets it wrong. There’s a “no harm, no fowl” joke in there, somewhere.

So you see, depicting these characters well is difficult work, and may require an entire wall of cute kitten motivational posters that say, Hang in there! (Well, the cute kitten posters can’t hurt, anyway.)

But, as common wisdom goes, every challenge is an opportunity. Such ambiguity is license for a writer to add to the canon, to fill in the blank spots in the most interesting way possible. In this book, Colter resurrects the old gods in her own unique manner that still feels respectful of the lore. Let her be your guide into the deep dark forest of Slavic folk tales. You are certain to enjoy the tour!

Preorder the book here.

I’m so happy to share the cover reveal for K.A. Teryna’s English language short story collection! I’ve been a huge fan of KA Teryna’s writing for many years and have been privileged to translate many of her stories into English. They’ve appeared in great venues such as Reactor, F&SF, Asimov’s, Strange Horizons, and more.

So it was only natural to gather all of these great stories into a book. Except, it’s difficult to sell a short story collection by any writer. Let alone a writer who doesn’t also have novels published. Let alone a writer who is from outside the Anglosphere.

Fortunately, Patrick Swenson of Fairwood Press recognizes great stories when he sees them. After all, he’s published short story collections by Caroline Yoachim, Tina Connolly, Greg Frost, and many other amazing writers. He was willing to take a chance on the translated collection.

He also allowed K.A. Teryna (who is an award-winning artist) to create the cover for the book, on a perfectly reasonable assumption that no one will work harder to make the cover awesome than the book’s author. I think you might agree it worked out nicely.

Please consider preordering this book directly from Fairwood Press. Not only will you be helping out Patrick, Katerina, and me, but you’ll also be helping to prove that translated collections can sell well enough to invest into them and increasing the chances of more such gems appearing from quality smaller presses down the line.

Preorders are live now at the link below, and the book will be published in October.

https://fairwoodpress.com/store/p188/BLACK_HOLE_HEART_AND_OTHER_STORIES.html

My latest story is at Futures: Science Fiction in Nature and it’s a must-read if you love (or especially if you hate) Black Friday!

Please note that the story will only be free for 30 days and then it goes behind a paywall, so don’t wait too long to read it!

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-03787-3?utm

THE MIDDLING AFFLICTION audio book is only $2.99 at Chirp. That’s cheaper than an ebook or a cup of java!

https://www.chirpbooks.com/audiobooks/the-middling-affliction-by-alex-shvartsman

Happy National Read a Book Day!

I’m on radio 1540 WADK, Talk of the Town with Bruce Newbury this morning. You can listen at the link below and the interview will also play in again on his weekend show in the NY/VT area.

At 8:15 am Pacific Time I will be live on the CW affiliate KRCW-TV in Portland OR as well.

https://wadk.com/personalities/bruce-newbury

I’ll be returning to Dragoncon for the first time in nearly 30 years! My last visit was as a fan, and I spent a glorious weekend there, having just discovered LARPing. This time, I’ll be attending as a professional and participating on a bunch of panels and book-related things.

Here’s my schedule!

Fantasy Gather
Friday, 8pm
Hanover C–E (Hyatt)

I’ll be attending the festival in Milford PA this coming weekend, with loads of events on Saturday, alongside Randee Dawn, C.S.E. Cooney, and Nicholas Kaufmann.

Here’s where you can find us:

Sci Fi Choose Your Reality Panel – 11am-12pm – 608 Broad St., Foundation Room

Book Signing – 2pm – 4pm – 307 Broad St., Golden Fish Gallery

Author Reception – 5pm – 7pm – Parish Hall, St. Patrick’s Church

Books and Brews – 7pm+ – 608 Broad St., Foundation Room
(includes a reading at 8pm)