No, you're not lost...
a complete hand-curated index of my works of fiction
Greetings!
I see people keep asking “Where is the fiction?”. The simple answer is, “It’s all around”. To give a few examples:
publishes a lot of fiction and runs an annual Fiction Symposium (2023, 2022), many of the club’s members (please check out the list, I vouch for everyone there!) write fiction and share it in their own publications; the crew publishes great short stories on a weekly basis; ‘s short fiction and prose poetry magazine Dog Throat Journal has its first issue ready for you to read — all of these are a few publications sprouted from the STSC only (join, by the way), so it is not, by all means, an exhaustive list, for I can’t possibly include everyone I read in one intro paragraph (though one day I will). You can find a lot of people beyond STSC writing great fiction and not writing about writing or writing about the socio-economic role of Substack (ffs). But this post is dedicated only to one writer, whom I’m lucky to know personally and with whom I have quite intimate relationships, and that writer is me1.To help the desperate fiction seekers, I prepared this hand-curated index that aims to help you to discover the immense archives of my work without losing your way, starting with genres and themes that interest you the most.
Most of the digital versions of my work are free. Whatever is published as a physical collection is locked behind a sign up. The sign up is still free, yes, and allows you to leave comments and receive occasional updates about my work, including new stories. You can opt out from the newsletter if you wish, you’ll still be able to log in, read, and comment! Here's a button for you:
As of February 2024, the total word count of my publish fiction is about 150k words. It includes dozens of short stories, some of which not that short by modern standards, and two novellas.
I believe everyone should have a list like this one, so you if you’re a writer yourself, feel free to do the same and share the link in the comments, I’ll dig in happily.
Here's what I have published and/or have available online:
Quick start
To taste what my writing is like, I suggest these stories below.
The Blue Pill Of Atlantis (has audio!)— a nostalgic merman's tale of a fading Atlantis, where the past and present collide in a sea of forgotten wisdom.
Quantum Crush — in a world where love is ruled by the heart, Felix Futzbucker finds himself governed by the laws of physics.
Once in a birch grove, I chanced upon a cat — A short story of one mushroom hunt.
Helix — a sweet and sour tale of time, ducks, and the complexity of family reunions.
Longer works
My first ever novella, closer to a short novel in size, The Debut Project — a story about two friends trying to survive in a fantasy city full of crime. Expect two headed lizard gangsters, laser guns, bloody massacres and more. Together with 14 other short stories from this index, this novella is a part of my first short story collection. If you prefer reading actual real tangible books, here's where to buy it.
Dream — a life story of a sniper who dreams to kill the dictator of their regime. It's a part of the Deleted Scenes universe and was supposed to be another plot line in the novella.
Lingus Venus — an intoxicated night of surreal connection between two strangers exploring the paradoxes of language, risk, and the ephemeral nature of reality.
Utter Nonsense In Outer Space — a short (but not really) story about unknown cosmic entities. Space explorers make stunning discovery of colossal cosmic frog — what happens next is chilling
Elegiac Couplets, In a Way — The narrator is its life-long resident of Tulubaika who tells a story of him trying to leave the village, simultaneously recalling childhood memories, falling into fantasies, and veering off into philosophical musings.
Psychophysiological Responses to Bus Time Dilation Near Tooloobaika — Unbearably hot conditions spark combustion between innocuous travellers waiting for the only bus to the utopian village of Tooloobaika.
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Hunters — a story I wrote long ago as a screenplay for WoW machinima. This version has only homages to WoW universe but works well standalone. It's a short story where two men, alive and dead, sit, talk and drink vodka in an abandoned tavern.
The Testimony Of Sixth The Second — a kinda of a detective short story about AI, Art and Beauty, written as a court protocol of an android's testimony.
Utter Nonsense In Outer Space — Space Explorers Make Stunning Discovery of Colossal Cosmic Frog — What Happens Next Is Chilling
Anecdotic Adventures Of Khorya And Borya
This is WIP collaboration with my brother Ilia. We have two stories written but we have some ideas about the style and how it can become a novel, so whatever you see here might change quite considerably.
How Khorya And Borya Smuggled A Chort — in a world of misadventures and misfits, a bearded man, a talking chest, and a quest for elusive lucres collide in a chaotic mountain journey.
How Khorya And Borya Nicked A Domovoy — Kharitón and Borís, two rascals entangled in the dregs of freedom, find themselves in a surreal escapade.
Dark Comedy & Satire & Absurd
A Clockwork Human — a short featuring a diary of a cynocephalic dog scientist conducting weird experiments on humans.
Shiteaters — a short story on how AI made people eat their faeces.
Reasoning With The Algorithm (has audio!)— "What good is a ginormous brain if it can’t even count?" It was written for Craig Burgess to record as a short audio play.
Before the Big Bang — uncovering evidence of ancient Titans who once ruled their world
DaaS — When immortality loses its luster.
Psychophysiological Responses to Bus Time Dilation Near Tooloobaika — Unbearably hot conditions spark combustion between innocuous travellers waiting for the only bus to the utopian village of Tooloobaika.
Larik & Vitya Series
This series features various dialogues between Vitya and Illarion Illarionovich, two filmmakers, connoisseur's of high art. Some of them have audio!
Reviews (has audio!) — Larik and Vitya reading reviews on their first feature film.
Look at The Horizon (has audio!)— an encounter at the beach where the search for inspiration takes an unexpected turn.
Beelzebufo, The Annihilator Of Dinosaurs — When art meets prehistory: two filmmakers, one dinosaur, endless possibilities.
The Void Travellers — Alien philosophy over a couple of pints.
Surrealism & Magic Realism
Bewildering Wilderness — in the heart of a storm, one man's quest for spirits becomes a battle with his own. It's a fine example of proesia (prose poetry), my attempts to make prose more poetic, lyrical, and weird.
For Whom The Universe Caws — a story of a vagabond who made friends with a raven. Another example of proesia.
Lingus Venus — an intoxicated night of surreal connection between two strangers exploring the paradoxes of language, risk, and the ephemeral nature of reality.
Once in a birch grove, I chanced upon a cat — A short story of one mushroom hunt.
Brainlephant — a story considered to be my first short story, a tale about a guy obsessed with elephants and fortune cookies
The Mysterious Trip of Mark Markethrudder — a story about a man travelling down to hell to learn secrets of marketing.
Elegiac Couplets, In a Way — The narrator is its life-long resident of Tulubaika who tells a story of him trying to leave the village, simultaneously recalling childhood memories, falling into fantasies, and veering off into philosophical musings.
Romance
Words Unspoken (has audio!) — just a romantic bar scene between two individuals.
Quantum Crush — In a world where love is ruled by the heart, Felix Futzbucker finds himself governed by the laws of physics.
Lingus Venus — an intoxicated night of surreal connection between two strangers exploring the paradoxes of language, risk, and the ephemeral nature of reality.
Unidentifiable
Most of my stories are hard to put into a single category, but this one is reserved for my stories with no category at all.
The Blue Pill Of Atlantis (has audio!)— a nostalgic merman's tale of a fading Atlantis, where the past and present collide in a sea of forgotten wisdom.
The Unremitting Moneday — virtual gems, real dilemmas: a journey through the moral maze of digital entertainment.
Transcendental Memes — honestly, it wasn't even a story, for it was intended as an essay in which I wanted to introduce a famous Russian meme, "One Who Walks Towards The River" to English-speaking audience. I tried to do my best translating it and wrapping into a weird narrative. Now, as of Nov 2023, here's apparently AI translation of a fragment from the original video!
Another Stitch On The Wall — how I went vegan for one evening in Amsterdam.
Helix — a sweet and sour tale of time, ducks, and the complexity of family reunions.
A Room with a Mew — an elderly woman named Nellie sits by her window observing life in her village when a local drunkard named Leo tries to sell her a kitten.
Felixverse
There are many versions of Felix Futzbucker, but the ones below are sketches from the life of more "modern" versions of him, who could've been our contemporaries.
Futzbuckers Forthcoming — a story of Felix Futzbucker's birth.
Maytroshka Theory — a story of Felix's obsession with the infinity and matryoshkas.
Quantum Crush — In a world where love is ruled by the heart, Felix Futzbucker finds himself governed by the laws of physics.
Brainlephant — a story considered to be my first short story, a tale about a guy obsessed with elephants and fortune cookies
Tulubaikaporia
A series of village stories revolving one way or another around the village of Tulubaika.
Elegiac Couplets, In a Way — The narrator is its life-long resident of Tulubaika who tells a story of him trying to leave the village, simultaneously recalling childhood memories, falling into fantasies, and veering off into philosophical musings.
Once in a birch grove, I chanced upon a cat — A short story of one mushroom hunt.
A Room with a Mew — an elderly woman named Nellie sits by her window observing life in her village when a local drunkard named Leo tries to sell her a kitten.
Psychophysiological Responses to Bus Time Dilation Near Tooloobaika — Unbearably hot conditions spark combustion between innocuous travellers waiting for the only bus to the utopian village of Tooloobaika.
MORE TO COME...
Surprise
Felix Futzbucker is one of the all time great Substack fictional characters.
Like going to an ice cream store. Let’s see, I want Romance, no make that Surrealism and Magic Realism, no, no Felixverse. Wait! I’ll take them all!