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UFO #1
Unidentified Funny Objects
Unidentified Funny Objects is a collection of humorous science fiction and fantasy. Packed with laughs, it has 29 stories ranging from lighthearted whimsy to the wild and zany.
Inside you’ll find a zombear, tweeting aliens, down-on-their-luck vampires, time twisting belly dancers, moon nazis, stoned computers, omnivorous sex-maniac pandas, and a spell-casting Albert Einstein.
INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING STORIES:
“El and Al vs. Himmler’s Horrendous Horde from Hell” by Mike Resnick
“The Alchemist’s Children” by Nathaniel Lee
“Moon Landing” by Lavie Tidhar
“Fight Finale from the Near Future” by James Beamon
“Love Thy Neighbors” by Ken Liu
“The Alien Invasion As Seen In The Twitter Stream of @dweebless” by Jake Kerr
“Dreaming Harry” by Stephanie Burgis
“The Last Dragon Slayer” by Chuck Rothman
“The Real Thing” by Don Sakers
“2001 Revisited via 1969″ by Bruce Golden
“The Working Stiff” by Matt Mikalatos
“Temporal Shimmies” by Jennifer Pelland
“One-Hand Tantra” by Ferrett Steinmetz
“Of Mat and Math” by Anatoly Belilovsky
“Timber!” by Scott Almes
“Go Karts of the Gods” by Michael Kurland
“No Silver Lining” by Zach Shephard
“If You Act Now” by Sergey Lukyanenko
“My Kingdom for a Horse” by Stephen D. Rogers
“First Date” by Jamie Lackey
“All I Want for Christmas” by Siobhan Gallagher
“Venus of Willendorf” by Deborah Walker
“An Unchanted Sword” by Jeff Stehman
“The Day They Repossessed my Zombies” by K.G. Jewell
“The Fifty One Suitors of Princess Jamatpie” by Leah Cypess
“The Secret Life of Sleeping Beauty” by Charity Tahmaseb
“The Velveteen Golem” by David Sklar
“The Worm’s Eye View” by Jody Lynn Nye
“Cake from Mars” by Marko Kloos
Inside you’ll find a zombear, tweeting aliens, down-on-their-luck vampires, time twisting belly dancers, moon nazis, stoned computers, omnivorous sex-maniac pandas, and a spell-casting Albert Einstein.
INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING STORIES:
“El and Al vs. Himmler’s Horrendous Horde from Hell” by Mike Resnick
“The Alchemist’s Children” by Nathaniel Lee
“Moon Landing” by Lavie Tidhar
“Fight Finale from the Near Future” by James Beamon
“Love Thy Neighbors” by Ken Liu
“The Alien Invasion As Seen In The Twitter Stream of @dweebless” by Jake Kerr
“Dreaming Harry” by Stephanie Burgis
“The Last Dragon Slayer” by Chuck Rothman
“The Real Thing” by Don Sakers
“2001 Revisited via 1969″ by Bruce Golden
“The Working Stiff” by Matt Mikalatos
“Temporal Shimmies” by Jennifer Pelland
“One-Hand Tantra” by Ferrett Steinmetz
“Of Mat and Math” by Anatoly Belilovsky
“Timber!” by Scott Almes
“Go Karts of the Gods” by Michael Kurland
“No Silver Lining” by Zach Shephard
“If You Act Now” by Sergey Lukyanenko
“My Kingdom for a Horse” by Stephen D. Rogers
“First Date” by Jamie Lackey
“All I Want for Christmas” by Siobhan Gallagher
“Venus of Willendorf” by Deborah Walker
“An Unchanted Sword” by Jeff Stehman
“The Day They Repossessed my Zombies” by K.G. Jewell
“The Fifty One Suitors of Princess Jamatpie” by Leah Cypess
“The Secret Life of Sleeping Beauty” by Charity Tahmaseb
“The Velveteen Golem” by David Sklar
“The Worm’s Eye View” by Jody Lynn Nye
“Cake from Mars” by Marko Kloos
320 pages, Paperback
First published December 16, 2012
77 people are currently reading
1298 people want to read
About the author
Alex Shvartsman
158 books143 followersAlex Shvartsman is a writer, editor, and translator from Brooklyn, NY. He's the author of The Middling Affliction (2022) and Eridani's Crown (2019) fantasy novels. Kakistocracy, a sequel to The Middling Affliction, is forthcoming in 2023.
Over 120 of his stories have been published in Analog, Nature, Strange Horizons, and many other venues. He won the 2014 WSFA Small Press Award for Short Fiction and was a two-time finalist (2015 and 2017) for the Canopus Award for Excellence in Interstellar Fiction.
His collection, Explaining Cthulhu to Grandma and Other Stories and his steampunk humor novella H. G. Wells, Secret Agent were published in 2015. His second collection, The Golem of Deneb Seven and Other Stories followed in 2018.
Alex is the editor of over a dozen anthologies, including the Unidentified Funny Objects annual anthology series of humorous SF/F.
Over 120 of his stories have been published in Analog, Nature, Strange Horizons, and many other venues. He won the 2014 WSFA Small Press Award for Short Fiction and was a two-time finalist (2015 and 2017) for the Canopus Award for Excellence in Interstellar Fiction.
His collection, Explaining Cthulhu to Grandma and Other Stories and his steampunk humor novella H. G. Wells, Secret Agent were published in 2015. His second collection, The Golem of Deneb Seven and Other Stories followed in 2018.
Alex is the editor of over a dozen anthologies, including the Unidentified Funny Objects annual anthology series of humorous SF/F.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
December 28, 2012
It isn't often I'm able to rate an anthology with 5 stars. "Unidentified Funny Objects" edited by Alex Shvartsman is one of them.
The theme of the anthology is humorous takes on science-fiction and fantasy staples with a dash of urban fantasy. 99% of the time, when reading a collection of shorts, I find at least 2-3 works which I simply don't care for.
That was NOT the case with this clever collection. The stories range from amusing to outright hilarity. But there was not a "dog" to be found in the bunch. It seems Mr Shvartsman has done a superb job in gathering just the right material.
In addition the sheer value and volume of works in the anthology is pretty amazing. The collection is an excellent value for the discerning spender. While all of the works were strong, a few truly stood out for me;
El and Al vs. Himmler's Horrendous Horde from Hell by Mike Resnick
Worm's Eye View by Jody Lynn Nye
An Unchanted Sword by Jeff Stehman
The Alien Invasion as Seen in the Twitter Stream of @dweebless by Jake Kerr
Love Thy Neighbor by Ken Liu
Fight Finale from the Near Future by James Beamon
If you're a fan of virtually ANY speculative fiction genre, you'll find something to laugh out loud over in this anthology. Do yourself a favor and check it out.
The theme of the anthology is humorous takes on science-fiction and fantasy staples with a dash of urban fantasy. 99% of the time, when reading a collection of shorts, I find at least 2-3 works which I simply don't care for.
That was NOT the case with this clever collection. The stories range from amusing to outright hilarity. But there was not a "dog" to be found in the bunch. It seems Mr Shvartsman has done a superb job in gathering just the right material.
In addition the sheer value and volume of works in the anthology is pretty amazing. The collection is an excellent value for the discerning spender. While all of the works were strong, a few truly stood out for me;
El and Al vs. Himmler's Horrendous Horde from Hell by Mike Resnick
Worm's Eye View by Jody Lynn Nye
An Unchanted Sword by Jeff Stehman
The Alien Invasion as Seen in the Twitter Stream of @dweebless by Jake Kerr
Love Thy Neighbor by Ken Liu
Fight Finale from the Near Future by James Beamon
If you're a fan of virtually ANY speculative fiction genre, you'll find something to laugh out loud over in this anthology. Do yourself a favor and check it out.
February 23, 2015
One of my goals for 2013 is to read more short fiction. This collection definitely fit the bill. I love short fiction, and I love well-done humor. This anthology is nicely balanced. The humor ranges from puns with elaborate set-ups that are a great deal of fun to more subtle humor that doesn't make you laugh out loud, but may make you chuckle. Evilly, even.
I think there's definitely something in this collection for everyone, no matter what your sense of humor. The comics are a nice addition I wasn't expecting, although my one complaint is that they're awfully hard to read on the Kindle edition. Luckily, I have a print edition, as well, so I can see them there.
I was just looking at the table of contents to see if I could pick a favorite. Harder than I thought.
"El and Al vs. Himmler's Horrendous Horde from Hell" by Mike Resnick is definitely in the top few. Resnick is one of the masters of short fiction, and this story kept me giggling throughout. Just imagine Albert Einstein as a wizard fighting Himmler...and you still don't really come close. You need to read it.
I also really enjoyed "The Alien Invasion As Seen In The Twitter Stream of @dweebless" by Jake Kerr. If you're on Twitter, you'll doubly appreciate the humor.
"The Velveteen Golem" by David Sklar also satisfied by providing an entirely hilarious story that surprised me at the end with a deplorable (meaning really good, in this case) word pun, that I should have seen coming but didn't.
I think of all of them, Jody Lynn Nye's "The Worm's Eye View" and Ferrett Steinmetz's "One-Hand Tantra" were my favorites. Nye's story is a good hard sci-fi story that manages to weave humor into it in a way that doesn't detract from the science fiction. Kudos to her for that.
Steinmetz's story...ah, what I can say about this that won't get me banned from Goodreads? :) "Hilarious!" That works. I mean, who knew masturbation could be a magical power?
You'll definitely find something here to tickle your funny bone.
I think there's definitely something in this collection for everyone, no matter what your sense of humor. The comics are a nice addition I wasn't expecting, although my one complaint is that they're awfully hard to read on the Kindle edition. Luckily, I have a print edition, as well, so I can see them there.
I was just looking at the table of contents to see if I could pick a favorite. Harder than I thought.
"El and Al vs. Himmler's Horrendous Horde from Hell" by Mike Resnick is definitely in the top few. Resnick is one of the masters of short fiction, and this story kept me giggling throughout. Just imagine Albert Einstein as a wizard fighting Himmler...and you still don't really come close. You need to read it.
I also really enjoyed "The Alien Invasion As Seen In The Twitter Stream of @dweebless" by Jake Kerr. If you're on Twitter, you'll doubly appreciate the humor.
"The Velveteen Golem" by David Sklar also satisfied by providing an entirely hilarious story that surprised me at the end with a deplorable (meaning really good, in this case) word pun, that I should have seen coming but didn't.
I think of all of them, Jody Lynn Nye's "The Worm's Eye View" and Ferrett Steinmetz's "One-Hand Tantra" were my favorites. Nye's story is a good hard sci-fi story that manages to weave humor into it in a way that doesn't detract from the science fiction. Kudos to her for that.
Steinmetz's story...ah, what I can say about this that won't get me banned from Goodreads? :) "Hilarious!" That works. I mean, who knew masturbation could be a magical power?
You'll definitely find something here to tickle your funny bone.
June 11, 2016
First this last night when I should have been sleeping. Very fun book of funny SF/Horror/Fantasy short stories. Stories ranged from chuckle and groan worthy to very funny and very interesting.
“The Worm’s Eye View” by Jody Lynn Nye an alien and a police detective working together to solve the mystery of it's hosts death since the alien was basically an intelligent tape worm. Fun characters. “An Unchanted Sword” by Jeff Stehman and “The Day They Repossessed my Zombies” by K.G. Jewell were two others that stood out. I will be continuing this series.
“The Worm’s Eye View” by Jody Lynn Nye an alien and a police detective working together to solve the mystery of it's hosts death since the alien was basically an intelligent tape worm. Fun characters. “An Unchanted Sword” by Jeff Stehman and “The Day They Repossessed my Zombies” by K.G. Jewell were two others that stood out. I will be continuing this series.
December 26, 2012
Nice stories ranging between goofy and intelligent. A good read, I enjoyed it. Excellent cartoons by Mike Jacobsen.
March 28, 2017
This is a one-star book for me. I hated almost every story in it. However, it gets an extra star because I liked the Lukyanenko story so much. That story was satisfying in ever so many ways.
September 24, 2025
Loved this book! The stories are pretty much ridiculous and tons of fun! None of these stories take themselves seriously in any way and that makes them even more giggle worthy. Entertaining and silly and creative….One of my top anthologies of the year and if you are just looking for something that will simply make you smile-this is the book for you! I plan to hunt down the other “Unidentified Funny Objects” books in the series:)
From the book blurb: “Unidentified Funny Objects is a collection of humorous science fiction and fantasy. Packed with laughs, it has 29 stories ranging from lighthearted whimsy to the wild and zany.
Inside you’ll find a zombear, tweeting aliens, down-on-their-luck vampires, time twisting belly dancers, moon nazis, stoned computers, omnivorous sex-maniac pandas, and a spell-casting Albert Einstein.”
From the book blurb: “Unidentified Funny Objects is a collection of humorous science fiction and fantasy. Packed with laughs, it has 29 stories ranging from lighthearted whimsy to the wild and zany.
Inside you’ll find a zombear, tweeting aliens, down-on-their-luck vampires, time twisting belly dancers, moon nazis, stoned computers, omnivorous sex-maniac pandas, and a spell-casting Albert Einstein.”
February 8, 2013
Unidentified Funny Objects editor Alex Shvartsman got in touch with me after I reviewed
IN SITU
edited by Carrie Cuinn, in which his story The Field Trip was one of my favourites. He asked whether I'd be interested in reviewing his anthology of humorous SFF short stories. This gave me a bit of pause; humour is very much subjective and thus I find it hard to judge stories on whether they are funny when they are meant to be. This is different from a work that is published as SFF and as additional fact is funny, because that work doesn't need to be funny. The only out-and-out humorous SFF I'd ever read was Terry Pratchett, so humorous SFF was a bit of an unexplored reading direction for me. I have to say, though, on the whole it was a good experience. Of course as with any collection of short fiction there are works that worked less well for me, but there were also definitely ones that tickled my funny bone.
To start off with the stories I didn't really like: James Beamon's Fight Finale from the Near Future and Michael Kurland's Go Karts of the Gods. The former, a satire on superhero comics, just felt too over the top and in your face, even if I can appreciate the point it makes about gender and sexism. The latter spoofs these cult-like lifestyle cons that promise the moon and the stars but in reality are nothing but a money scam. It shows us the patter of someone trying to 'convert' people to the cause, but I just didn't find it funny. It was chaotic and all over the place and it drew more annoyance than laughs. Stephen D. Rogers' My Kingdom for a Horse has a far funnier take on the sales patter, having what in our world would have been a used-car salesman try and sell a horse to a king. I think what both of the stories had in common – and what put me off – is that they really go over the top in their commitment to their spoofing and overshot their mark, in my opinion.
Three stories that did hit the spot were: K.G. Jewell's The Day They Repossessed My Zombies, Leah Cypress' The Fifty-One Suitors of Princess Jamatpie, and Mike Resnick's El and Al vs. Himmler's Horrendous Horde from Hell. Jewell's story is one of the few zombie stories I've actually enjoyed. It was terribly fun, with a great resolution and main character. Besides, zombie slaves kept occupied by watching Teletubbies. . . Somehow that doesn't surprise me. Cypress' story about a princess overwhelmed by her suitors' attempts to gain her favour and how she tricks them to get out of it was very cool. It might have had extra resonance for me as Emma is going through her princess phase and I've been watching Disney Princess films far too often the past few weeks! Mike Resnick is always a solid bet and this story was no different. I'm mostly familiar with his work through Escape Pod and PodCastle, where his work often brings a tear, but here he went for the laughs and got them. I loved El, short for Eleanor Roosevelt, and Al, short for Albert Einstein. The writing is vivid and it read like a comic in prose form.
There were two stories that I liked so much, that I would love to see more work set in those universes. The first is Jamie Lackey's First Date, which was very sweet and a little Buffy in its playful tone. Josh and Leanne were very likeable protagonists and I would love to see more of them. The second was Jody Lynn Nye's Worm's eye View. I found it very funny and in addition it was a police story, so I was bound to enjoy it. However, I really liked the idea Nye worked out in the host/guest link between the humans and the Salosians and the ways they communicated. I'd love to see a more-realised universe around this concept and see what kind of consequences and effects such a bond would have on both the individuals involved and their loved ones.
Overall, I had a good time with Unidentified Funny Objects, but then again with names such as Mike Resnick, Jody Lynn Nye, Ken Liu, Sergey Lukyanenko, and Stephanie Burgis among others I hadn't expected less. Shvartsman delivers a wonderful anthology and if you want to broaden your humorous SFF reading, Unidentified Funny Objects is a great place to start.
This book was provided for review by the editor.
To start off with the stories I didn't really like: James Beamon's Fight Finale from the Near Future and Michael Kurland's Go Karts of the Gods. The former, a satire on superhero comics, just felt too over the top and in your face, even if I can appreciate the point it makes about gender and sexism. The latter spoofs these cult-like lifestyle cons that promise the moon and the stars but in reality are nothing but a money scam. It shows us the patter of someone trying to 'convert' people to the cause, but I just didn't find it funny. It was chaotic and all over the place and it drew more annoyance than laughs. Stephen D. Rogers' My Kingdom for a Horse has a far funnier take on the sales patter, having what in our world would have been a used-car salesman try and sell a horse to a king. I think what both of the stories had in common – and what put me off – is that they really go over the top in their commitment to their spoofing and overshot their mark, in my opinion.
Three stories that did hit the spot were: K.G. Jewell's The Day They Repossessed My Zombies, Leah Cypress' The Fifty-One Suitors of Princess Jamatpie, and Mike Resnick's El and Al vs. Himmler's Horrendous Horde from Hell. Jewell's story is one of the few zombie stories I've actually enjoyed. It was terribly fun, with a great resolution and main character. Besides, zombie slaves kept occupied by watching Teletubbies. . . Somehow that doesn't surprise me. Cypress' story about a princess overwhelmed by her suitors' attempts to gain her favour and how she tricks them to get out of it was very cool. It might have had extra resonance for me as Emma is going through her princess phase and I've been watching Disney Princess films far too often the past few weeks! Mike Resnick is always a solid bet and this story was no different. I'm mostly familiar with his work through Escape Pod and PodCastle, where his work often brings a tear, but here he went for the laughs and got them. I loved El, short for Eleanor Roosevelt, and Al, short for Albert Einstein. The writing is vivid and it read like a comic in prose form.
There were two stories that I liked so much, that I would love to see more work set in those universes. The first is Jamie Lackey's First Date, which was very sweet and a little Buffy in its playful tone. Josh and Leanne were very likeable protagonists and I would love to see more of them. The second was Jody Lynn Nye's Worm's eye View. I found it very funny and in addition it was a police story, so I was bound to enjoy it. However, I really liked the idea Nye worked out in the host/guest link between the humans and the Salosians and the ways they communicated. I'd love to see a more-realised universe around this concept and see what kind of consequences and effects such a bond would have on both the individuals involved and their loved ones.
Overall, I had a good time with Unidentified Funny Objects, but then again with names such as Mike Resnick, Jody Lynn Nye, Ken Liu, Sergey Lukyanenko, and Stephanie Burgis among others I hadn't expected less. Shvartsman delivers a wonderful anthology and if you want to broaden your humorous SFF reading, Unidentified Funny Objects is a great place to start.
This book was provided for review by the editor.
July 1, 2013
Look, humor is so completely subjective that I'm not really going to try to write an individual review for each story. Instead, think of the ratings I assign each story as a scale where 5 is "made me fall out of my chair laughing" and 0 is "I forgot it the moment I finished it." Your mileage may vary.
Timber! by Scott Almes - 3/5
The Alien Invasion as Seen in the Twitter Stream of @dweebless by Jake Kerr - 5/5 - Honestly laugh out loud funny.
Dreaming Harry by Stephanie Burgis - 4/5 - A little creepy.
Fight Finale from the Near Future by James Beamon - 1/5
Temporal Shimmies by Jennifer Pelland - 3/5
The Day They Repossessed My Zombie by K.G. Jewell - 2/5
Moon Landing by Lavie Tidhar - 3/5
The Last Dragon Slayer by Chuck Rothman - 4/5
The Venus of Willendorf by Deborah Walker - 5/5 - Genuinely original.
Love Thy Neighbors by Ken Liu - 3/5
The Alchemist's Children by Nathaniel Lee 5/5 - This is one I wish I had written.
The Fifty-One Suitors of Princess Jamatpie by Leah Cypess - 4/5 - This one too.
If You Act Now by Sergey Lukyanenko - 5/5 - You can see the end coming, but it's a fun trip.
No Silver Lining by Zach Shephard - 3/5
Go Karts of the Gods by Michael Kurland - 2/5
My Kingdom for a Horse by Stephen D. Rodgers - 3/5
Cake from Mars by Marko Kloos - 5/5 - Space hookers and outlaw sugar, what more could you ask for?
An Unchanted Sword by Jeff Stehman - 4/5
The Real Thing by Don Sakers - 5/5 - This was a fun take on the alien invasion trope with a good punchline.
2001 Revisited via 1969 by Bruce Golden - 3/5 - Clever
First Date by Jamie Lackey - 4/5 - I really liked this but it felt like it petered out just before it could get really interesting.
One-Hand Tantra by Ferrett Steinmentz - 2/5
Of Mat and Math by Anatoly Belilovsky - 5/5 - Russian puns about mathematics and a man who can only solve them through swearing. Brilliant.
All I Want for Christmas by Siobhan Gallagher - 5/5 - I want to see more Santa vs. the zombies fiction now.
The Velveteen Golem by David Sklar - 5/5 - What a difference a single letter can make. Fun take on a classic.
The Working Stiff by Matt Mikalatos - 5/5 - It's so hard to find good help these days. Especially when you're a vampire 'vampire hunter' hunter.
Worm's Eye View by Jody Lynn Nye - 5/5 - Cute. Cleans up a little too nicely at the end, but fun. Reminds me of the Jadzia Dax story lines from Star Trek DS9.
The Secret Life of Sleeping Beauty by Charity Tahmaseb -3/5 - Nice gender flip on a classic.
El and Al vs. Himmler's Horrendous Horde from Hell by Mike Resnick - 3/5 - Standard Resnick; good but a little forced.
December 6, 2014
I'm sad it took me so long to get to this. I supported the original Kickstarter, so I've had electronic and print copies waiting to be read for some time. While on a long drive home for Thanksgiving, I finished a dark fantasy novel and really wanted to switch to something light. The UFO anthology fit my mood perfectly.
Anthologies can be hit or miss for me. This one is consistently good, though only a few really made me laugh out loud. My favorite by far was "The Alien Invasion" by Jake Kerr. I use Twitter, so this tale of an alien invasion told through tweets struck me as hilarious with an underlying sense of truth. I was also surprised by how much I enjoyed the final and longest story in the book, "El and Al Vs. Himmler's Horrendous Horde from Hell" by Mike Resnick. I mean, it's a story about Eleanour Roosevelt (channeling Xena) and Albert Einstein (wizard) taking on a bunch of Aryan buffoons summoned from hell. I could picture the whole thing done by Mel Brooks.
Anthologies can be hit or miss for me. This one is consistently good, though only a few really made me laugh out loud. My favorite by far was "The Alien Invasion" by Jake Kerr. I use Twitter, so this tale of an alien invasion told through tweets struck me as hilarious with an underlying sense of truth. I was also surprised by how much I enjoyed the final and longest story in the book, "El and Al Vs. Himmler's Horrendous Horde from Hell" by Mike Resnick. I mean, it's a story about Eleanour Roosevelt (channeling Xena) and Albert Einstein (wizard) taking on a bunch of Aryan buffoons summoned from hell. I could picture the whole thing done by Mel Brooks.
February 5, 2013
I found most of the short-stories hilarious.
Honestly there wsa some of them I didn't get, but most of them was fantastic. Just the idea that a drug could make your dreams spawn, in your parents bedroom is brilliant, though slightly worrying when you grow up...
In general the quality of the stories is through the roof, but what can you expect when the anthology is handpicked from 100's of stories.
Normally I don't read short-stories, but this collection has kept me caught in its net. I really liked it, and some of the stories I think I'm going to read again really soon.
All in all a very good book.
Honestly there wsa some of them I didn't get, but most of them was fantastic. Just the idea that a drug could make your dreams spawn, in your parents bedroom is brilliant, though slightly worrying when you grow up...
In general the quality of the stories is through the roof, but what can you expect when the anthology is handpicked from 100's of stories.
Normally I don't read short-stories, but this collection has kept me caught in its net. I really liked it, and some of the stories I think I'm going to read again really soon.
All in all a very good book.
December 20, 2018
not nearly as entertaining as i expected it to be.
Read
December 25, 2012Disclaimer: I'm in this book. But it's awesome anyway!
December 30, 2018
Чувството за хумор във фентъзийно – фантастична среда винаги е било нож с две остриета – хем разведрява обстановката от твърде наситена епичност и тежък футуризъм, хем някак обижда почитателите на сериозността на жанра, дето твърде често подскачат като ощипани розовобузи девици на селска вечеринка при дори най-лекото омаловажаване на силата на фантазията. И ето ви една поредица от сборници с откачените истории от няколко вселени едновременно, създадени както от известни имена, така и от алтернативни творци на думи, които заслужават не по-малко внимание. Ако кратката форма с щипка пиперливо кикотене и самоирония ви звучи като да е вашето нещо – внимание, май сте попаднали на златна мина.
Кен Лиу, Сергей Лукяненко, Майк Резник, Естер Фрийзнър, Робърт Силвърбърг, Кевен Дж. Андерсън, Пиърс Антъни, Кат Рамбо, Джоди Лин Най – ако сте от почитателите на невъзможното и неосъществимото тези имена ще ви говорят много и практически ще гарантират качеството на една ежегодна антология от избрани истории, някои свързани, някои индивидуални. Аз лично се забавлявах много с мини поредиците, експлоатиращи едни и същи герои в среда на непрекъснато падащи наковални, преливащи океани от екскременти и чудовища, пръкващи с гейминг упорство на всеки кръгъл час. Дали ще е одисеята на вампир, станал по неволя ловец на себеподобни, зомбимечки, зомбикрави, паяци ядачи на души, шегаджии по телефона – роднини на Ктхулу и компания; или приключенията на супер герой, преквалифицирал се в психоаналитик, след като в следствие на инцидент от него остава всичко на всичко една глава в буркан, а да не забравяме и офисната сага за магьосниците на тонера, повелителите на кламерите и властелините на поничките за обяд, където се развиват най-зловещите маг-дуели от Роулинсовите изчадия насам, а също и криминалните разследвания на яка полицайка с огромен, свръхинтелигентен розов червей от планетата на Шелдън Купър, живеещ някъде около опашната ѝ кост – празно няма.
Напредничава технология с ужасно противоречащи си приципи за защита на човешкия живот и клинична депресия; съдебни процеси с орки с махмурлук за адвокати и говорящи мечове с дискриминационни проблеми за свидетели; тролване на едро от извънземни с лош темперамент; зомби плантатори, професионални девойки в беда и панди – пънкари; изключително добри измамници в дребния шрифт в търговските договори с иноземен произход, доставки по домовете на марсиански захарни торти с венериански шантонерки в тях и майстори на едноръчната себезадоволителна магия с кошмарни последици; зомби коледа, кадифен голем и нацистки богове с плочки и общ коефицент на интелигентност колкото актуална плеймейтка – това е само много, много малка част от всички щуротии, които ви очакват зад абсурдистките корици и селекция на неиндефицираните смешни обекти. Да добавим само изключително жестоката политика за уреждане на спорове в невъзможностен сайт за магически предмети, свързана с вечни писъци в мрака, обезглавяване и стриване на костите на прах за призоваване; инструкции за хранене на пирокинетични наследници тип Кари среща Роуг от хиксмените, и естествено, джинът, живеещ в матрака, зомбивеганите и вампирите – призрачни автори зад всяко велико произведение на човечеството – и ви става ясно колко бързо и накъде отиват човешките екскременти по посока на вентилатора.
Една дума – забавно. Още една – брилятно. Да добавим и изключително разнообразно, неомръзващо и разтоварващо. Истории, сякаш писани за удоволствие и с удоволствие. Уверявам ви, че ще намерите не един нов любим автор, чиито книги да потърсите с книгочервейна страст. За мен това е Джоди Лин Най , чиито Джийвс и Устър в космоса ще са ми едно от следващите задължителни четива, обещавам. Помислете си и вие, има от всичко, ама наистина всичко.
Кен Лиу, Сергей Лукяненко, Майк Резник, Естер Фрийзнър, Робърт Силвърбърг, Кевен Дж. Андерсън, Пиърс Антъни, Кат Рамбо, Джоди Лин Най – ако сте от почитателите на невъзможното и неосъществимото тези имена ще ви говорят много и практически ще гарантират качеството на една ежегодна антология от избрани истории, някои свързани, някои индивидуални. Аз лично се забавлявах много с мини поредиците, експлоатиращи едни и същи герои в среда на непрекъснато падащи наковални, преливащи океани от екскременти и чудовища, пръкващи с гейминг упорство на всеки кръгъл час. Дали ще е одисеята на вампир, станал по неволя ловец на себеподобни, зомбимечки, зомбикрави, паяци ядачи на души, шегаджии по телефона – роднини на Ктхулу и компания; или приключенията на супер герой, преквалифицирал се в психоаналитик, след като в следствие на инцидент от него остава всичко на всичко една глава в буркан, а да не забравяме и офисната сага за магьосниците на тонера, повелителите на кламерите и властелините на поничките за обяд, където се развиват най-зловещите маг-дуели от Роулинсовите изчадия насам, а също и криминалните разследвания на яка полицайка с огромен, свръхинтелигентен розов червей от планетата на Шелдън Купър, живеещ някъде около опашната ѝ кост – празно няма.
Напредничава технология с ужасно противоречащи си приципи за защита на човешкия живот и клинична депресия; съдебни процеси с орки с махмурлук за адвокати и говорящи мечове с дискриминационни проблеми за свидетели; тролване на едро от извънземни с лош темперамент; зомби плантатори, професионални девойки в беда и панди – пънкари; изключително добри измамници в дребния шрифт в търговските договори с иноземен произход, доставки по домовете на марсиански захарни торти с венериански шантонерки в тях и майстори на едноръчната себезадоволителна магия с кошмарни последици; зомби коледа, кадифен голем и нацистки богове с плочки и общ коефицент на интелигентност колкото актуална плеймейтка – това е само много, много малка част от всички щуротии, които ви очакват зад абсурдистките корици и селекция на неиндефицираните смешни обекти. Да добавим само изключително жестоката политика за уреждане на спорове в невъзможностен сайт за магически предмети, свързана с вечни писъци в мрака, обезглавяване и стриване на костите на прах за призоваване; инструкции за хранене на пирокинетични наследници тип Кари среща Роуг от хиксмените, и естествено, джинът, живеещ в матрака, зомбивеганите и вампирите – призрачни автори зад всяко велико произведение на човечеството – и ви става ясно колко бързо и накъде отиват човешките екскременти по посока на вентилатора.
Една дума – забавно. Още една – брилятно. Да добавим и изключително разнообразно, неомръзващо и разтоварващо. Истории, сякаш писани за удоволствие и с удоволствие. Уверявам ви, че ще намерите не един нов любим автор, чиито книги да потърсите с книгочервейна страст. За мен това е Джоди Лин Най , чиито Джийвс и Устър в космоса ще са ми едно от следващите задължителни четива, обещавам. Помислете си и вие, има от всичко, ама наистина всичко.
August 10, 2017
This is a solid collection of stories, but I'll admit some of them just didn't work for me. Humor is subjective, however, so my personal tastes probably didn't gel with those particular pieces. I tend to like stories that have an absurd premise or eccentric characters. I'm particularly fond of writers like Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams, Christopher Moore, and Jasper Fforde. That's the kind of vibe I look for in humor stories. With that in mind, my favorites in this anthology are:
"Timber" by Scott Almes - A criminal about to be executed gets summoned by a wizard who requires his help in convincing activists to allow the logging of a living forest. This is first story in the collection and remained my favorite after reading the whole book. It has absurdity in droves, from the witty dialogue to the increasingly bad situations the narrator stumbles into.
"The Last Dragon Slayer" by Chuck Rothman - An unlikely hero is forced into taking up arms to slay a dragon. I especially enjoyed this story because of how Rothman plays with various fairy tale tropes. He flips them in ways you don't expect for some hilarious results.
"The Alchemist's Children" by Nathaniel Lee - The daughter of a powerful alchemist undergoes a perilous journey to save her brother, using only reason and science to defend herself against the likes of werewolves and dragons. This is science fiction mashed up with fantasy in a way I haven't seen before, where science is used to help disprove common things that occur in fantasy stories. Most of the humor stems from the protagonist, Jen, and her nonchalant approach to dangerous situations.
"Cake from Mars" by Marko Kloos - The son of a 149-year-old-man is guilt-tripped into fulfilling his father's birthday wish to receive illegal goods from Mars but banned on Earth: namely, a giant birthday cake with a "whore" who pops out of it. I get a Douglas Adams vibe from this story, but with humor that isn't safe for the whole family.
"One-Hand Tantra" by Ferrett Steinmetz - Speaking of adult humor, this story follows a powerful wizard who practices the rare magic of "masturbancy" to help clients influence the actions of others. Yep, it's exactly what you'd expect. Lots of dirty, awkward humor.
"Worm's Eye View" by Jody Lynn Nye - A detective must host a parasite... err, "guest" alien in her body as part of the witness protection program because the alien witnessed the murder of his previous host. This was a unique mash-up of science fiction, mystery, and absurdity. Much of the humor in this piece is situational, as the protagonist, Sgt. Dena Malone, learns how to live with a talkative alien who can see and feel everything she does and but can't seem to understand the meaning of "tact."
I do own the other books in this series. I enjoyed this enough to read through the rest of the anthologies eventually.
"Timber" by Scott Almes - A criminal about to be executed gets summoned by a wizard who requires his help in convincing activists to allow the logging of a living forest. This is first story in the collection and remained my favorite after reading the whole book. It has absurdity in droves, from the witty dialogue to the increasingly bad situations the narrator stumbles into.
"The Last Dragon Slayer" by Chuck Rothman - An unlikely hero is forced into taking up arms to slay a dragon. I especially enjoyed this story because of how Rothman plays with various fairy tale tropes. He flips them in ways you don't expect for some hilarious results.
"The Alchemist's Children" by Nathaniel Lee - The daughter of a powerful alchemist undergoes a perilous journey to save her brother, using only reason and science to defend herself against the likes of werewolves and dragons. This is science fiction mashed up with fantasy in a way I haven't seen before, where science is used to help disprove common things that occur in fantasy stories. Most of the humor stems from the protagonist, Jen, and her nonchalant approach to dangerous situations.
"Cake from Mars" by Marko Kloos - The son of a 149-year-old-man is guilt-tripped into fulfilling his father's birthday wish to receive illegal goods from Mars but banned on Earth: namely, a giant birthday cake with a "whore" who pops out of it. I get a Douglas Adams vibe from this story, but with humor that isn't safe for the whole family.
"One-Hand Tantra" by Ferrett Steinmetz - Speaking of adult humor, this story follows a powerful wizard who practices the rare magic of "masturbancy" to help clients influence the actions of others. Yep, it's exactly what you'd expect. Lots of dirty, awkward humor.
"Worm's Eye View" by Jody Lynn Nye - A detective must host a parasite... err, "guest" alien in her body as part of the witness protection program because the alien witnessed the murder of his previous host. This was a unique mash-up of science fiction, mystery, and absurdity. Much of the humor in this piece is situational, as the protagonist, Sgt. Dena Malone, learns how to live with a talkative alien who can see and feel everything she does and but can't seem to understand the meaning of "tact."
I do own the other books in this series. I enjoyed this enough to read through the rest of the anthologies eventually.
December 13, 2021
3/5 - Timber!, by Scott Almes
0/5 - The Alien Invasion as Seen in the Twitter Stream of @dweebless, by Jake Kerr
1/5 - Dreaming Harry, by Stephanie Burgis
1/5 - Fight Finale From the Near Future!, by James Beamon
1/5 - Temporal Shimmies, by Jennifer Pelland
2/5 - The Day they Repossessed my Zombies, by K.G. Jewell
0/5 - Moon Landing, by Lavie Tidhar
3/5 - The Last Dragon Slayer, by Chuck Rothman
2/5 - The Venus of Willendorf, by Deborah Walker
2/5 - Love Thy Neighbors, by Ken Liu
2/5 - The Alchemist's Children, by Nathaniel Lee
3/5 - The Fifty-One Suitors of Princess Jamatpie, by Leah Cypress
2/5 - If You Act Now, by Sergey Lukyanenko
2/5 - No Silver Lining, by Zach Shephard
1/5 - Go Karts of the Gods, by Michael Kurland
1/5 - My Kingdom for a Horse, by Stephen D. Rogers
0/5 - Cake From Mars, by Marko Kloos
3/5 - An Unchanted Sword, by Jeff Stehman
3/5 - The Real Thing, by Don Sakers
2/5 - 2001 Revisited via 1969, by Bruce Golden
2/5 - First Date, by Jamie Lackey
0/5 - One-Hand Tantra, by Ferrett Steinmetz
1/5 - Of Mat and Math, by Anatoly Belilovsky
2/5 - All I Want for Christmas, by Siobhan Gallagher
3/5 - The Velveteen Golem, by David Sklar
2/5 - The Working Stiff, by Matt Mikalatos
1/5 - Worm's Eye View, by Jody Lynn Nye
1/5 - The Secret Life of Sleeping Beauty, by Charity Tahmaseb
1/5 - El and Al vs Himmler's Horrendous Horde From Hell, by Mike Resnick
0/5 - The Alien Invasion as Seen in the Twitter Stream of @dweebless, by Jake Kerr
1/5 - Dreaming Harry, by Stephanie Burgis
1/5 - Fight Finale From the Near Future!, by James Beamon
1/5 - Temporal Shimmies, by Jennifer Pelland
2/5 - The Day they Repossessed my Zombies, by K.G. Jewell
0/5 - Moon Landing, by Lavie Tidhar
3/5 - The Last Dragon Slayer, by Chuck Rothman
2/5 - The Venus of Willendorf, by Deborah Walker
2/5 - Love Thy Neighbors, by Ken Liu
2/5 - The Alchemist's Children, by Nathaniel Lee
3/5 - The Fifty-One Suitors of Princess Jamatpie, by Leah Cypress
2/5 - If You Act Now, by Sergey Lukyanenko
2/5 - No Silver Lining, by Zach Shephard
1/5 - Go Karts of the Gods, by Michael Kurland
1/5 - My Kingdom for a Horse, by Stephen D. Rogers
0/5 - Cake From Mars, by Marko Kloos
3/5 - An Unchanted Sword, by Jeff Stehman
3/5 - The Real Thing, by Don Sakers
2/5 - 2001 Revisited via 1969, by Bruce Golden
2/5 - First Date, by Jamie Lackey
0/5 - One-Hand Tantra, by Ferrett Steinmetz
1/5 - Of Mat and Math, by Anatoly Belilovsky
2/5 - All I Want for Christmas, by Siobhan Gallagher
3/5 - The Velveteen Golem, by David Sklar
2/5 - The Working Stiff, by Matt Mikalatos
1/5 - Worm's Eye View, by Jody Lynn Nye
1/5 - The Secret Life of Sleeping Beauty, by Charity Tahmaseb
1/5 - El and Al vs Himmler's Horrendous Horde From Hell, by Mike Resnick
November 7, 2022
If you are looking for an eclectic collection of humorous short stories, you stopped by the right anthology. Mind you, these are not laugh out load or roll on the floor laughing, but more a fun chuckle. I enjoyed "Dreaming Harry," "The Last Dragon Slayer," "The Alchemist's Children," and "Of Mat and Math" the best while "El and Al vs Himmler's Horrendous Horde From Hell" was pretty good as well. But be warned, you laugh meter will vary. Enjoy reading!
October 31, 2017
This book is a collection of 29 humorous science fiction and fantasy stories. There were about 3 stories I didn't much like, but the rest were amusing and perfect for those between book moments or when you just want something short, amusing and frivolous to read before going to bed.
May 17, 2021
I enjoyed these stories and to cap it off with Mike Resnick fantasy with Einstein and Eleanor fighting nazis made it a great time.
In the middle of the book there was a ton of solid stories which was great because a lot of the time editors pack the beginning and end with the best stories.
In the middle of the book there was a ton of solid stories which was great because a lot of the time editors pack the beginning and end with the best stories.
September 14, 2024
Subjective
Humor is subjective. The same goes with these stories. While some were enjoyable, others were not. Honestly, I didn't find most of them funny. At least not with belly laughs. Overall though I enjoyed the book.
Humor is subjective. The same goes with these stories. While some were enjoyable, others were not. Honestly, I didn't find most of them funny. At least not with belly laughs. Overall though I enjoyed the book.
October 20, 2024
A couple of the short stores were funny. Most were just dumb by excessive exaggeration meant to be ludicrous, apparently. One was mostly profane Russian vocabulary, accompanied by purported dictionary definitions. Now who wouldn't find a story filled with dictionary entries hilarious? (Sarcasm)
June 18, 2017
This was a great collection of short funny stories. I enjoyed most of them.
April 25, 2020
An anthology of the improbable, the impossible made possible and more fun than you can imagine.
December 28, 2022
Very entertaining. All the stories were at least amusing, several gave me smiles, and a couple actually made me laugh (or groan) out loud!
Well worth reading!
Well worth reading!
April 7, 2023
Perfectly silly funny sci-fi and fantasy. A good chuckle in each story.
May 9, 2024
Like any anthology, there are some good ones, and not so good ones (in my humble opinion). But, overall, this is a very good book full of laughs.
September 30, 2020
Stories range from silly to really funny to what the heck did I just read?
I was going to give it four stars because a few of the stories weren't my cup of tea, but that was stated up front. Because of the wide range of humor that was covered, it's bound to happen that there would be a head-scratcher in the bunch. I enjoyed the rest of them, and despite the common theme, they weren't repetitive. With many anthologies, I find myself taking a break in the middle until I'm in the mood again. That wasn't a problem here. Made my subway rides that much more pleasant
I was going to give it four stars because a few of the stories weren't my cup of tea, but that was stated up front. Because of the wide range of humor that was covered, it's bound to happen that there would be a head-scratcher in the bunch. I enjoyed the rest of them, and despite the common theme, they weren't repetitive. With many anthologies, I find myself taking a break in the middle until I'm in the mood again. That wasn't a problem here. Made my subway rides that much more pleasant
March 1, 2017
When there is talk of humour in Science Fiction, the first name that springs to mind is Slartibartfast. The second name is Douglas Adams. Hitchhiker’s Guide had other memorable characters like Zaphod Beeblebrox, Eccentrica Gallumbits – the triple-breasted whore from Eroticon VI and Marvin the Paranoid Android. No one in recorded history has ever recovered from a hangover brought on after indulging in a couple of Pan-galactic gargle blasters.
On a less flippant note, Terry Pratchett, Piers Anthony (Up Schist Creek, Mini’s Crew with hilarious scatological and erotic content) are other SF writers with funny bone(r)s.
This collection of stories doesn’t achieve the risible levels of the above-mentioned exponents of SF humour but is still worth reading. The novella that turns Einstein and Himmler into magicians in a whimsical alternate universe is the only sour note – it is puerile, to say the least.
Snigger-inducing are the cartoons and the retelling of fairy tales - Sleeping Beauty, for example, is more concerned with her morning breath than Prince Charming’s kiss that will purportedly break her narcotic spell. Santa Claus prefers to give practical instead of childish toys to children 'who have been good'.
OK for an otiose afternoon.
On a less flippant note, Terry Pratchett, Piers Anthony (Up Schist Creek, Mini’s Crew with hilarious scatological and erotic content) are other SF writers with funny bone(r)s.
This collection of stories doesn’t achieve the risible levels of the above-mentioned exponents of SF humour but is still worth reading. The novella that turns Einstein and Himmler into magicians in a whimsical alternate universe is the only sour note – it is puerile, to say the least.
Snigger-inducing are the cartoons and the retelling of fairy tales - Sleeping Beauty, for example, is more concerned with her morning breath than Prince Charming’s kiss that will purportedly break her narcotic spell. Santa Claus prefers to give practical instead of childish toys to children 'who have been good'.
OK for an otiose afternoon.
June 11, 2023
Variety. Funny. Series to enjoy.
April 21, 2014
Shvartsman's introduction lamented that there were too few avenues for good humorists to be seen in the sci-fi/fantasy world, and so he decided to help out by pulling this book together. I'm quite pleased with the results. UFOs has everything from short cartoons to almost novella-length stories about all range of subjects from time travel to sentient symbiotic worms. And this book is dense, too. I feel like I got more than the expected amount of brain-food packed into this box.
The stories in this book range from an alien invasion of planet Earth as seen on Twitter (complete with a call-out to John Scalzi) to a rebellious 150-year old nursing home patient going for a joyride down the highway on his souped-up hospital bed, hired whore beside him. There are intellect-required stories about Russian wordplay and not-so-intellect-required stories about Eleanor Roosevelt ("Big El") defeating Hitler's wizard's horde from hell.
Very little of this was laugh-out-loud funny, but a lot of it made me smile. There were a few old tropes like the summoning wizard getting the wrong person/being/summoning due to some kind of switcheroo or mispronunciation. There were the old con games of hiring someone and not telling the whole story of why. The science fiction parts were mostly near-space sci-fi. There were only a few aliens, and I would have happily had more.
I picked this book up because I like humor in my science fiction, and I have been wanting cheerful things to read lately. I recommend this book to fans of Asprin and Heinlin more than Anthony.
The stories in this book range from an alien invasion of planet Earth as seen on Twitter (complete with a call-out to John Scalzi) to a rebellious 150-year old nursing home patient going for a joyride down the highway on his souped-up hospital bed, hired whore beside him. There are intellect-required stories about Russian wordplay and not-so-intellect-required stories about Eleanor Roosevelt ("Big El") defeating Hitler's wizard's horde from hell.
Very little of this was laugh-out-loud funny, but a lot of it made me smile. There were a few old tropes like the summoning wizard getting the wrong person/being/summoning due to some kind of switcheroo or mispronunciation. There were the old con games of hiring someone and not telling the whole story of why. The science fiction parts were mostly near-space sci-fi. There were only a few aliens, and I would have happily had more.
I picked this book up because I like humor in my science fiction, and I have been wanting cheerful things to read lately. I recommend this book to fans of Asprin and Heinlin more than Anthony.
March 29, 2015
This was an interesting collection I picked-up because I like the idea of humorous sci-fi (and a few fantasy) stories. Some of them were quite good, a couple were funny, however a few of them I felt were so weak compared to the others that I was surprised by their inclusion in this collection. As others have said, the comics inset between some of the stories were the parts closest to laugh-out-loud funny.
Easily my favorite two stories were the invasion of earth as told on Twitter and the Last Dragonslayer. The first because I liked the unusual method of presentation, the idea of how an invasion would appear on Twitter was both amusing and amusingly realistic. The second because I enjoyed the characters. Additionally, The world building in The Alchemist's Children and The Day They Repossessed My Zombies was especially good.
On the bad side, unfortunately, was the last story, "El and Al Vs...". The reason I didn't like it, I believe, is that it had so much promise early on but became just a vehicle for bad jokes about famous people with little to redeem it in the eventual climax and conclusion.
Easily my favorite two stories were the invasion of earth as told on Twitter and the Last Dragonslayer. The first because I liked the unusual method of presentation, the idea of how an invasion would appear on Twitter was both amusing and amusingly realistic. The second because I enjoyed the characters. Additionally, The world building in The Alchemist's Children and The Day They Repossessed My Zombies was especially good.
On the bad side, unfortunately, was the last story, "El and Al Vs...". The reason I didn't like it, I believe, is that it had so much promise early on but became just a vehicle for bad jokes about famous people with little to redeem it in the eventual climax and conclusion.
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