Alexander Boldizar is the Slovak-Canadian author of The Man Who Saw Seconds (winner of the 2025 Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel), the satirical novel The Ugly (2016), and the crime novel Ride or Die Girl (Simon Maverick, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, January 19, 2027). This page collects reviews, interviews, podcasts, award coverage and essays, by and about him, with links to the original sources.
An essay on how growing up under Czechoslovak communism, "the totality," and Ivan Illich's idea of institutional counterproductivity shaped The Man Who Saw Seconds and its anarchist law professor, Fish.
“Every institution ends up working against the purpose for which it was created.” — Fish, as quoted in the essay
Locus's cover interview with Boldizar after The Man Who Saw Seconds won the 2025 Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel — on writing, invisible people, and the award.
A North Vancouver profile on the release of The Man Who Saw Seconds, from defecting from Czechoslovakia to Harvard Law School to writing a thriller about a man who sees five seconds ahead.
A long Q&A on why Preble Jefferson sees five seconds rather than five minutes, why The Man Who Saw Seconds is science fiction, and its debts to Philip K. Dick and Cormac McCarthy's The Road.
The Man Who Saw Seconds (CLASH Books, 2024) won the 2025 Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel. Reviews, in roughly descending order of reach:
Locus's review of The Man Who Saw Seconds, which predicted the book would be claimed by both thriller and science fiction readers.
“The pacing is perfect, and the stakes ratchet up in a horrifying, relentless, and seemingly inevitable progression … I hope this can be genre-spanning, and that it gets the attention it deserves from every awards list, science fiction and not.” — Alexandra Pierce, Locus
A newspaper review of The Man Who Saw Seconds that reads it as a collage of thriller, novel of ideas, anarchism, philosophy and quantum theory.
“… a book of cinematic velocity and frequent, dark satiric impact. Think of it as a brilliant exercise in multi genre collage, a mash-up of some of the best elements of the thriller, the novel of ideas, anarchism, philosophy and quantum theory. Highly recommended.” — Tom Sandborn, Vancouver Sun
Five Books' pick of the year's award-winning science fiction opens with The Man Who Saw Seconds; the book also appears on the site's Best Books of 2025 page.
“This is such a clever book … So begins a convincing parable about the relationship between fear and evil, as the conflict shapes Preble more and more into exactly the terror that they were trying to prevent, and the stakes rise and rise.” — Sylvia Bishop, Five Books
A crime-fiction column that pairs The Man Who Saw Seconds with new books by Kate Atkinson and Marie Tierney.
“What I admire about the narrative is how, within this SciFi premise, Boldizar raises questions about the rights of the individual and the citizen, when up against the system, or the perception of the State.” — Manila Bulletin
The crime novelist Rob Hart recommends The Man Who Saw Seconds in his newsletter alongside Dune.
“This book rocked my socks … The Man Who Saw Seconds is everything I want in a book. I absolutely loved it, and you need to read this.” — Rob Hart
A review of The Man Who Saw Seconds from a Zimbabwe-based books blog.
“A super fun, fast-paced read with a warm heart: Preble's love for and protection of his son … one of my favorite reads of the year.” — Harare Review of Books
An English-language review of The Man Who Saw Seconds from a German book blog, singling out the father-son story and the character of Fish.
“Not only is there much suspense in the novel (there are times, where I just could not put it away), it also has great emotional moments, especially when it's about Preble and his son, Kaspar.” — Yvonne Tunnat, Rezensionsnerdista
A five-star review of The Man Who Saw Seconds.
“Alexander Boldizar uses a genetic anomaly to craft an extraordinary thriller.” — Jill Rey, Reader Views
A review that reads The Man Who Saw Seconds alongside Zamyatin's We as a novel about surveillance and the reach of government.
“The fast pace of the book's action and the sarcastic, anarchist comments from Fish keep the novel fun, even while darker themes and questions power the story.” — The Fiction Addiction
A review of The Man Who Saw Seconds as political thriller, spy novel, science fiction and police satire at once.
“The first hundred pages read like the single, continuous long shot opening of a Jason Bourne film.” — So Misguided
A review of The Man Who Saw Seconds as thriller, satire and philosophical inquiry.
“The rare science fiction novel that works simultaneously as a thriller, a satire, and a philosophical inquiry.” — Marcus Webb, Writers Review
A 2026 reader's essay on The Man Who Saw Seconds as a father-and-son story set against a technocratic State, with a special fondness for the anarchist lawyer Fish.
“This desperation of a caregiver to ensure their child is safe is the book’s motive force, as well as emotive core. And even if brief, the small situations that sketch the bond between Preble and the little one are done with such depth that you see an oil painting instead.” — Sruthi
Locus's spotlight on The Man Who Saw Seconds from its 2024 Recommended Reading List, collecting review excerpts from Locus, Hidden Sci-Fi, the Vancouver Sun, Writers at Work, Writer's Bone and The Curious Man's Podcast.
“A wildly ambitious masterpiece of speculative fiction that fires on all cylinders.” — Hidden Sci-Fi, as quoted by Locus
Jim Fusilli, the Wall Street Journal's longtime music critic and a crime novelist, interviews Boldizar about The Man Who Saw Seconds.
“One of the most dazzling and inventive [books] I've read in a very long time—a novel I continue to describe as indescribable.” — Jim Fusilli
An author interview about The Man Who Saw Seconds.
“This book has stuck to my ribs in a way I almost can't explain.” — Daniel Ford
A book-club discussion of The Man Who Saw Seconds, then the most recent Locus Award winner, by the Hugo-focused podcast's host and two readers from the Nebulugo Book Club — recorded after the host recommended the novel to his guests, without the author taking part.
A publication-day interview about The Man Who Saw Seconds — the gray areas of morality, the vulnerabilities of government structures, and what people will do for the people they love.
Part one of a two-part conversation about The Man Who Saw Seconds: power, moral lines, family, and the practical limits of five seconds of foresight.
Part two: omniscience, the unexpected variant that destabilizes a society, and the trolley problem as a foil to limited foresight in The Man Who Saw Seconds.
Bookwild's Kate Hergott picks The Man Who Saw Seconds as one of her five mind-bending speculative thrillers.
The Man Who Saw Seconds won the 2025 Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel, announced June 21, 2025, in a category whose finalists included James S. A. Corey, Jeff VanderMeer and Cory Doctorow.
CBC Books on the two Canadian winners at the 2025 Locus Awards, including The Man Who Saw Seconds.
Book Riot's round-up of the 2025 Locus Award winners, listing The Man Who Saw Seconds for Science Fiction Novel.
“I later bought the e-book and found myself racing through it.” — The Steampunk Explorer
The Man Who Saw Seconds is on Locus's 2024 Recommended Reading List under Novels — Science Fiction.
Tim Pratt names The Man Who Saw Seconds among his favourite books of 2024.
“One of the more audacious and emotionally brutal thrillers I've ever read.” — Tim Pratt, Locus
The Man Who Saw Seconds was a finalist for the 2024 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award in Thriller & Suspense.
The Man Who Saw Seconds was a finalist for the 2025 Eric Hoffer Book Award.
The Ugly (Brooklyn Arts Press, 2016) is Boldizar's debut, a satire about a 300-pound boulder-throwing Siberian mountain man sent to Harvard Law School to learn how to throw words.
“A bizarre but delightful sendup of illogical arguments.” — Kirkus Reviews
“[A] muscular critique of conflicts both intellectual and physical. A surprising treat.” — Publishers Weekly
“Alexander Boldizar's The Ugly is a globe-trotting tour de force that examines the complex relationship between words and actions.” — Meagan Logsdon, Foreword Reviews
“Like a boisterous Borges ignoring the delete key or an angry Celine forced to write in a language he hates, Alexander Boldizar plays with our minds by mixing fact with fiction in The Ugly.” — William L. Morris, The Buffalo News
“Muzhduk is the three-hundred-pound blond-bearded protagonist that propels Alexander Boldizar's oddly unforgettable debut novel, The Ugly, to its fairytale end.” — Ray Barker, Heavy Feather Review
An interview about The Ugly, absurdity and institutions, which places the novel in the company of Catch-22 and Henderson the Rain King.
“The Ugly is often laugh-out-loud funny … I definitely recommend The Ugly for fans of insightful law school satire.” — Harry Graff, Above the Law
Harvard Law School's alumni-authors round-up on The Ugly.
Boldizar's playlist for The Ugly in the long-running Book Notes series.
“A bold and hilarious satire, a stunning debut.” — Largehearted Boy
“The best, most colorful, and most accurate depiction of what cultural confusion feels like that I have ever read.” — Sarah Hinlicky Wilson
“This eccentrically irreverent work, absurd in the very best sense of the word, will amuse and enlighten.” — Chanti Reviews
A North Shore profile on the publication of The Ugly.
Ride or Die Girl, a crime novel, will be published by Simon Maverick, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, on January 19, 2027, in hardcover, ebook and audio. Reviews and interviews will be added here as they appear. Pre-order and details: /works/ride-or-die-girl
Publishers Weekly's Book Deals column reports the acquisition of Alexander Boldizar's crime novel Ride or Die Girl by Simon Maverick, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.
Locus's monthly industry roundup notes the sale of Ride or Die Girl by Alexander Boldizar to Simon Maverick.
I'll be on a panel at Bouchercon in Calgary this October. More details to come.