Apex Magazine May 2010 & June 2010

The May 2010 issue of Apex Magazine features two original stories, a reprint and a variety of ways to enjoy them, from free on the Apex webpage, to downloadable for ereaders and audio versions as well.

The first original fiction offering is “Last Stand of the Ant Maker” by Paul Jessup, the tale of a highly focused man and an apocalypse. Surreal and succinctly charming, but also completely unexplained readers, will either get this story, or find it pretty, but be just as confused about things when it ends.

“City of Refuge” by Jerry Gordon follows. Scoffing at the idea that Apex doesn’t do zombies, this tale is evocative of Kim Paffenroth’s style, mixing the undead and religious, with no faith, however, in the benign nature of religion. It centers on a mind reader who can communicate with the Fallen, who has hopes of a future time where the Fallen and humans can live together rather than as enemies. “City of Refuge” is, if anything, too tight and self contained, like a bite of dark chocolate when one could do with a whole bar.

Catherynne M. Valente’s “The Days of Flaming Motorcycles” also begins with zombies, but also with a lighter tone. Don’t expect it to stay that way, though, as Valente takes readers on a dark voyage about the meaning of faith and the existential truth behind the apocalypse. Not your average zombie story, Valente’s story is as beautiful, unique and dark as the rest of the issue.

The June Issue opens with “Laika’s Dream” by Holly Hight.  A broken, scattered narrative about a professor, his daughter with Down’s Syndrome and a student determined to be a genius despite being diagnosed with schizophrenia, this tale appears to be about science and creation and, of course, death. But it’s really about several characters’ quests to be worthy people, not defined by their labels or the conventions of society around them. A very interesting read, indeed.

“Sol Alseep” by Naomi Libicki (also available as an audio story ) is an odd story. It takes place on a space ship, beginning with the rape of the title character, and becoming increasingly dreamy and surreal as it moves on. As with the first tale, there isn’t a traditional story, with a beginning middle and end here, but rather Libicki captures the sad, dissociative feeling that trauma inflicts on people, space travelers or not.

Jeff Carlson’s “Long Eyes” is a reprint, lead by another character suffering from an inability to fit in with her community. Genetically bred for one job, Clara now lives in a kind of symbiosis with a ship venturing into the far reaches of space looking for potentially habitable planets for expansion. What she finds on a barely habitable planet, however, surprises and saddens her. “Long Eyes” is an excellent match for the feel of the other tales.

Finally is a piece from the archives, “The Thing in the Refrigerator That Could Stop Time” by Matthew Kressel, where you’ll find neither far off planets nor space ships, but lots of personal darkness.

Apex is available to read for free online, on Smashwords.com for whatever you want to pay for it and for the Kindle for $.99. A worthy read, for SF and dark fiction lovers, and another way to support the pro markets of the genre field.