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Allan’s Year In Books

Allan’s 2025 Year in Books

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Allan Dyen-Shapiro

Goodreads Author

Born

in Cleveland, The United States

Website

http://www.allandyenshapiro.com

Twitter

Allan_author_SF

Genre

Science Fiction

Influences

Kim Stanley Robinson, Neal Stephenson, Paolo Bacigalupi, William Gibso ...more

Member Since

January 2012

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/allandyen-shapiro

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Allan Dyen-Shapiro is a Ph.D. biochemist whose non-linear career has taken him through the worlds of science and education and left him with many stories to tell.

Here are some of them (for a complete list of 28 stories he's sold, go to his website):

"Scam Likely and the Future Desperados," the adventures of a time traveling heavy metal band, will run in the next issue of Translunar Traveler's Lounge.

"Magic Notwithstanding, The Family Lawyer Does as Instructed" ran in the Summer 2023 volume of the Dragon Gems anthology series, published by Water Dragon Publishing. Elizabeth has almost emerged from her father's shadow. His legal practice serviced the wealthy; hers will be exclusively civil rights once she attends to the one last legacy clien Allan Dyen-Shapiro is a Ph.D. biochemist whose non-linear career has taken him through the worlds of science and education and left him with many stories to tell.

Here are some of them (for a complete list of 28 stories he's sold, go to his website):

"Scam Likely and the Future Desperados," the adventures of a time traveling heavy metal band, will run in the next issue of Translunar Traveler's Lounge.

"Magic Notwithstanding, The Family Lawyer Does as Instructed" ran in the Summer 2023 volume of the Dragon Gems anthology series, published by Water Dragon Publishing. Elizabeth has almost emerged from her father's shadow. His legal practice serviced the wealthy; hers will be exclusively civil rights once she attends to the one last legacy client from her Dad. The client died. The assets from his will must be distributed. One of the assets is the family genie.

"Side Effects" appeared in the March/April 2023 issue of Dark Matter Magazine (Issue 14). This is a hard science fiction story about side effects of medication, masquerading as a soft science fiction story about quantum mechanics and serving as a comment on the Israel/Palestine conflict.

"Kaddish for Stalin" was published in the anthology Other Covenants: Alternate Histories of the Jewish People in December 2022. Set in a Jewish Autonomous Oblast where Stalin's premature death has made the always-proclaimed goal of a center for Yiddish culture and Jewish civilization a reality, in the near-future of climate change and China's emergence as the regional power, a Beijing-based entrepreneur returns home to confront his estranged, staunchly Stalinist father.

"Crazy Horse's Prodigal Granddaughter" appeared in the January 2020 issue (#87) of Grantville Gazette. This is an alternate history piece where the point of historical divergence is that Crazy Horse isn't murdered, and the protagonist is one of his present-day descendants. The imperial power trying to take over the Lakota Democratic Republic is not the US, but China. To fight this economic imperialism, Ptaysanwee War Eagle, a Ph.D. chemist and biofuels entrepreneur, learns to value her father's traditional ways and the wisdom of her ancestors.

"Like Him with Friends Possess'd" appeared in the December 2019 issue of Flash Fiction Online. I got the idea for software that operates on social media that turns posts into iambic pentameter, and I couldn't stop laughing about it, so I wrote a story. This is my first story to make any "list"--it hit Tangent Online's 2019 Recommended Reading List. I'm super-proud of that. This one is free online.

"Crossing the Boundaries of Virtual Jerusalem" was published in the anthology HOLY COW: SF Stories from the Center of the World, edited by D. Avraham, in July 2019. After buying my story, the editor tabbed me to help with some of the duties involved in getting this out the door, so my name appears on the cover as co-editor. Young people are disappearing from both the Palestinian and Jewish sectors of Virtual Jerusalem. One of them is Commissioner ibn Ali's son. To get to the bottom of this, he'll need to run a spy, and Yossi is the best, but can he pull off the required deception? And what is his motive?

"I'm Proud of You, Mum" was published in Volume 1 of the anthology series Mind Candy, edited by Alvin Mullen, in February 2018. When Nigel is working late, optimizing the design of a robot that can transcribe human thought into text typed on a keyboard, he receives a mysterious message. Is it really from the future? And can he patch things up with his former employer, a virology professor at Cambridge University, who recently fired him and walked away from their marriage? ...more

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Allan Dyen-Shapiro’s books

Average rating: 4.39 · 95 ratings · 30 reviews · 18 distinct works

	Other Covenants: Alternate Histories of the Jewish People by Andrea D. Lobel (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Mark Shainblum (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Robert Silverberg really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 34 ratings — published 2020 — 6 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
	Dread Mondays by Steve Capone Jr. (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Xochilt Avila, Robert Bagnall (Goodreads Author) 4.62 avg rating — 21 ratings — 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
	Southern Truths by Jim Wright, K.G. Anderson (editor), Bob Brown (editor) 4.45 avg rating — 11 ratings — 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
	Nebula Rift Vol. 03 No. 08 by Allan Dyen-Shapiro (Goodreads Author), Mark Farley (Goodreads Author) 4.50 avg rating — 8 ratings — 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
	From Florida with Love, Sunrise and Stormy Skies by Sarah Andre (Goodreads Author), Karen Dean Benson (Goodreads Author), Patricia Campbell 4.50 avg rating — 6 ratings — 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
	Eric Flint's Grantville Gazette Volume 87 by Walt Boyes (Editor), Bjorn Hasseler (Editor), Allan Dyen-Shapiro (Goodreads Author) (Contributor) 4.33 avg rating — 6 ratings — published 2020	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
	Mind Candy by Patrick S. Baker (Editor), Patrick S. Baker, Conor Power-Smith 4.20 avg rating — 5 ratings — 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
	Stupefying Stories 26 by Jamie Lackey (Goodreads Author), Jorge Salgado-Reyes (Goodreads Author), Beth Cato (Goodreads Author) it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 3 ratings	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
	Holy C.O.W. Anthology Volume One: SF Stories from the Center Of the World by D. Avraham (Goodreads Author), Mike Resnick, Jack Dann (Goodreads Author) 4.33 avg rating — 3 ratings	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 Day We Said Goodbye to the Birds 4.50 avg rating — 2 ratings — 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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Allan Dyen-Shapiro is currently reading

The Day We Said Goodbye to the Birds

by Allan Dyen-Shapiro (Goodreads Author)

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Jul 29, 2025 04:03PM

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Allan Dyen-Shapiro rated a book really liked it Shadow Ticket by Thomas Pynchon	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
I am a huge fan of Pynchon's work, and as such, anything he writes is something I'm going to read. This one has all the elements of what I enjoy in his work: blurring the borders between giant conspiracies and random coincidence, fun wordplay, silly ...more
Dec 28, 2025 08:28AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Shadow Ticket by Thomas Pynchon. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Shadow Ticket by Thomas Pynchon <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Allan Dyen-Shapiro rated a book it was amazing Libra by Don DeLillo	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
I have enjoyed everything I have read by DeLillo. I was curious to see how he would take the sort of complex world, interconnected with threads that are not quite conspiracies from novels like Underworld and apply it to the JFK assassination. I wasn' ...more
Nov 24, 2025 08:57AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Libra by Don DeLillo. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Libra by Don DeLillo <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Allan Dyen-Shapiro rated a book really liked it 120 Murders: Dark Fiction Inspired by the Alternative Era by Nick Mamatas	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
I picked this up at WorldCon, expecting that with Nick Mamatas as anthologist (I'd read a previous anthology he'd edited and thought it terrific), this would have a lot of speculative fiction. It had a little but much more of it was straightforward c ...more
Nov 07, 2025 04:25PM · like · see review
Allan Dyen-Shapiro rated a book it was amazing A Touch Of Strange by Adam-Troy Castro	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
Castro's oeuvre is expansive; it's hard to keep up with everything he writes. This new collection has some gems in it I hadn't seen previously. My favorite: the second story, "The Monkey Trap." Although the journey through this unusual bookstore from ...more
Sep 13, 2025 04:41PM · like · see review
Allan Dyen-Shapiro rated a book it was amazing Patti 209: Fifteen Tales of the Very Near Future by K.G. Anderson	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
Had I read these stories as they came out, I would have said that K.G. Anderson is dark. Few stories have anything resembling a happy ending. The two commenting on end-of-life issues in light of government/Pharma/insurance assaults on seniors focus o ...more
Aug 30, 2025 11:20AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Patti 209 by K.G. Anderson. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Patti 209 by K.G. Anderson <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Allan Dyen-Shapiro is currently reading The Day We Said Goodbye to the Birds by Allan Dyen-Shapiro (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
Jul 29, 2025 04:03PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Day We Said Goodbye to the Birds by Allan Dyen-Shapiro. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Day We Said Goodbye to the Birds by Allan Dyen-Shapiro <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Allan Dyen-Shapiro rated a book really liked it Jellyfish Dreaming by D. K. McCutchen	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 premise of this book was terrific. The world's oceans have collapsed to the point that they consist mostly of jellyfish, seaweed, and plastic. Waste including birth control pills and other sources of human hormones and compounds with hormone-like ...more
Jul 28, 2025 06:27PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Jellyfish Dreaming by D. K. McCutchen. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Jellyfish Dreaming by D. K. McCutchen <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Allan Dyen-Shapiro rated a book it was amazing Consider This: Moments in My Writing Life After Which Everything Was Different by Chuck Palahniuk (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
As a memoir from an author whose work I have very much enjoyed, this was fun. Getting to know the personal details that led to some of the stories and novels of his that I've read was enlightening. As a manual for writing, for beginners, I'd say this ...more
Jul 15, 2025 05:47AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Consider This by Chuck Palahniuk. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Consider This by Chuck Palahniuk <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Allan Dyen-Shapiro rated a book it was amazing Palestinian Identity by Rashid Khalidi	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
In this book, Khalidi uses his access to an extensive collection of newspapers and other publications from the late Ottoman period through WWII (in part through the library his family, one of the leading families among Palestinians, maintained in Jer ...more
Mar 26, 2025 01:33PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Palestinian Identity by Rashid Khalidi. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Palestinian Identity by Rashid Khalidi <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Allan Dyen-Shapiro rated a book it was amazing Alternative Liberties (Alternatives) by Bob Brown	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 latest anthology from Bob Brown's B-Cubed Press has lots of great stories, but the standouts for me were as follows: Adam-Troy Castro's "Diminished Horizons" seems to read like horror to anyone outside of Florida. The horror is making the rest of ...more
Feb 07, 2025 12:07PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Alternative Liberties by Bob Brown. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Alternative Liberties by Bob Brown <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">