The collection of stories “Hostage Exchange” is the debut book of the young writer Ivan Naumov. The author is the winner of numerous online competitions specializing in short form, a participant in inter-author collections of stories published in the largest publishing houses in Russia, his stories were published in the magazines “If” and "The reality of fiction." However, this book is the first. In his stories, tough, but with a pronounced humanitarian message, Naumov continues the traditions of Russian science fiction, which has shown itself magnificently in the form of a short novella. You won't find dragons, goblins or other fantasy trappings here; Naumov's heroes live, struggle and try to solve insoluble problems in the conditions of a technogenic civilization, which is not always favorable to the fate of each individual person or representative of another civilization.