In January 2010 Apex Magazine kicks the year off with a special 2012/End of the World edition. Featuring the essay “2012: The Good, the Bad, and the Apocalyptic” by Dr. Amy Sturgis and an Editorial Disposition column from Editor-in-Chief Jason Sizemore on our obsession with the end this edition offers more than just fiction for those who love speculations of the future.
The fiction offerings include; “Wondrous Days” by Genevieve Valentine, a disturbing tale about a scientifically engineered end of the world, in Mayan fashion, designed to reset things and fix the problems humans inflicted on the planet; and “White Christmas” by James F. Reilly, a story it seems we can all relate to this particular winter, where the end comes in a blanket of snow and human desperation, yet somehow fails to completely suppress the human spirit.
The February 2010 issue kicks off with “p.a. chic” by Tobias Amadon Bengelsdorf. Birthing the wisest bit of advice to come from Apex in a while, “Dystopia is best viewed from a distance.” this tale is strongly reminiscent of Matheson’s I Am Legend, without the company of mutation and monsters.
“The Lady or the Tiger” by J.M. McDermott is a science fiction farming tale, strongly familiar to the style of Rudyard Kipling, and his peers of the late 1800s era. A juxtaposition of that strong, exotic storytelling style, and a landscape of alien planets and crash landings the elements are blended well and make for a very interesting read.
“The Killing Streets” by Colin Harvey rounds out the February issue. A strongly spun tale of a future where government “precautions” (and secrecy) and bio lab mucking about have resulted in the city streets being haunted by disease and a species of mole-like animal that eats human prey. Despite the drastic (but not terribly far-fetched) world differences, Thom is facing real, modern problems; struggling to care for an aging parent, and deciding whether to live with the woman he loves, but who can’t support the family she already has, and remaining in his existing marriage with a woman he no longer loves, but who keeps him comfortably supported. The focus is on the emotional life of the story, making this tale easier to relate to than some of the other science fiction tales out there.
Apex Magazine continues to delivers fine fiction and appears to have also taken on the task of challenge itself to change its tempo and tune in its quest for excellence.
16
Feb
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The December 2009 issue of Apex starts off with “59 Beads” by Rochita Loenen-Ruiz. This tale of technology enhancing artistic ability and definition reminds me very much of Paolo Bacigalupi’s “The Fluted Girl”. Exploitation, perversity and passion fuse together in this tale of a girl willing to give everything she is up for the health of her sister.
James L. Sutter’s “Overclocking” focuses on a series of slices from the life of a drug dealer in a future where drugs are codes that can be jacked into a human brain and bad code means more than just a bug in Vista. A fast, and in ways, cold read, this is a good choice for readers who want a short, hard taste of Apex before deciding to commit.
Also short and hard, “Exit” by Jeff Carlson is a virus tale with little meat to spare. Tight and to the point it nevertheless hits hard, and will appeal to the zombie apocalypse fans out there.
The December’s issue also includes and editorial from Apex Editor-in-Chief Jason Sizemore as well as interview with Nicholas Buckman and B.J. Burrow.
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October 2009’s issue of Apex Magazine opens with Alethea Kontis’ “A Poor Man’s Roses”. On the surface this is a tale of a woman held prisoner and milked for the medical boons that her body produces. Beneath the surface it’s a tale of a woman finding her power to walk away from an abusive love, by walking away from love itself.
Peter M. Ball’s “To Dream of Stars: An Astronomer’s Lament” follows, a sad story of a man’s relationship with his dreams. John dreams of being a royal astronomer, but the cost of information of the stars is more than most people under the Queen’s rule can bear. Cruel, but tempered with a folk or fairy tale feel it’s a punishing tale.
“Yellow Warblers” by Jason Sizemore is now a thrice-published tale of the close minded habits of a rural town and how it, when combined with extraterrestrial species, leads t their own downfall.
“Ghost Technology from the Sun” by Paul Jessup, concludes this issue’s fiction section. Another mix of dark fantasy and science fiction it’s an Alice in Wonderland/Jim Jones/zombie tale of the surreal (and in this case largely imaginary) line between the dead and the living and how they feed each other. Another disturbing, but lovely tale, and another mark Apex manages to leave on the images of genre and storytelling.
Also in this issue is “Brain Matter: Must-Reads from Ekaterina Sedi”, an interview with Brandon Massey and “After, Thoughts—A Pantoum” by J.C. Hay, a poetic finishing flourish, reminding readers Apex can find pretty in gutter horror tropes as well.
The November issue, a special international issue, opens with Aliette de Bodard’s “After the Fire”. Set in a reoccurring Bodard world it perhaps has more value to those who have had the pleasure of reading more of Bodard’s work. Newcomers will find a sad story of a ship, one of the last fleeing from the destroyed Earth, weighed down with survivors judged important, and the ghosts of those who were left behind. It makes one want to read more, and perhaps to someday have the opportunity to read more of Bodard’s bits of vision in one collection.
“Benjamin Schneider’s Little Greys” by Nir Yaniv is the tale of a hypochondriac to ends up with a real, big problem after a visit to his trusty doctor. It’s an interesting idea, but wasn’t developed enough for my tastes. I would have gladly read more, and wanted a larger understanding of the “disease” creeping through Benjamin.
“An Evening in the City Coffeehouse, With Lydia on My Mind” by Alexsandar Žiljak is the last fiction tale of this issue, a back and forth story of aliens, spyware and porn. Engaging and quick moving it’s a fun must read for SF fans.
Summing up this issue is the editorial, “A Celebration of World SF” by this issue’s editor Lavie Tidhar and an interview with Tunku Halim.
Apex Magazine, August 2009
The August issue of Apex Magazine starts with “Kenny 149” by Brad Becraft, a fairly quick, definitely science fiction tale of war and humanity. It’s a solid Apex tale, of a soldier battling against an overwhelming number of alien invaders without straying into heavier territory.
“Pimp My Airship” by Maurice Broaddus decides to tackle all black-American issues at once by taking them to, not quite an extreme, but an advanced state (we hope). In Broaddus’s story the whole of America is enslaved by an alien race and blacks have been forced underground, literally, and are encouraged and able to dope themselves into passivity. In this world Knowledge Allah tries, with much scorn and difficulty, to get Sleepy, the lead character, to step up and stand up for himself, his race and the world. The language used to tell this potentially coarse and inflaming tale, is high brow and heavier than needed, which serves to make a point about Sleepy, the Every-black-man of the tale.
Eugie Foster’s novelette “Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest;Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast” rounds out the August issue. A gorgeous, dark and unexpectedly creepy story, Foster spins a world where everyone plays certain roles, enforced physically by the daily donning of masks. With this tale Foster questions not just societal roles, but those of relationships, gender and caste as well. A highly recommended read.
This issue also features essays and columns from Jason Sizemore and Monica Valetinelli, as well as an interview with Gene O’Neill.
Apex Magazine, September 2009
“Fungal Gardens” by Ekaterina Sedia is the first story in the September issue of Apex Magazine. This tale is ripped straight out of an issue of Discovery, with creepy, insect “bad guys” with a very real origin. This tale is really a scientific mystery story, but makes for an interesting SF tale nonetheless.
“Advertising at the End of the World” by Keffy R.M. Kehrli is a metaphorical zombie tale, featuring a woman who might be the last survivor the human race living in a secluded cabin in the woods until a flock of mindless, shuffling creatures show up and mess things up. Only these critters aren’t the traditional undead. They are machines created by companies, technologically advanced door-to-door salesmen, more annoying and sad than fearsome. Kehrli’s story is subtle, creepy and sad, and a great read.
Last of the fiction features is “The Girl in the Basement” by Matthew Kressel, a tale that amps up the creepiness in the previous tale, and poses more questions than answers as it tells a story of the kind of marks abuse leaves on a child’s soul.
All together the September issue is stellar. Also included is an interview with Elizabeth Engstrom and essays by Monica Valentinelli and Jeff VanderMeer.
14
Aug
_The renewal of Apex Magazine begins with “She Called Me Sweetie” by Glen Lewis Gillette. Here Gillette spins a wicked tale of clones and loneliness, all from a perfectly-toned child point of view. Readers can suspect what G might find when he jealously creeps into Mommy’s bedroom, but the story will hold their attention to the bitter end.
“…That Has Such People in It” by Jennifer Pelland can be summed up with the phrase “And the meek shall inherit the earth”. In this utopian appearing dystopia, humanity locks away its homeless and its violent in order to make things appear pretty for aliens visiting from a distant land. As the above-grounders flourish those below ground are healed, made sane and forced through starvation into behaving. While heavier-handed than many of Pelland’s stories it ends with an almost trademark finish which readers will find to be a bit of bitter justice.
Jeff Carlson’s “The Frozen Sky” is a halting tale of hard science fiction that pits Vonnie, a woman exploring for Earth, against Europa’s native insect/amphibian things. The tale is long and paralleled with what happened to cause Vonnie to be the Earth last survivor on the planet trying to face down the native species with her attempts at survival. This story will appeal to hard SF lovers, but it didn’t work as well for me, as I felt too distracted by other elements to get properly wrapped up in the dynamics of Vonnie’s fight for her life. This story is a classic example of a story that could be adventure with strong SF elements, or SF with some adventure elements with execution making all the difference between the two.
25
Jun
“Hideki and the Gnomes” by Mark Lee Pearson is a very short, weird tale that’s similar to previous Apex offerings such as Nathan Rosen’s “I Know an Old Lady”. This one has a definite cadence, an almost Mother Goose feel, even if its meaning is murky.
“Clockwork, Patchwork and Ravens” by Peter M. Ball is a spooky near-fairy tale set in a weird future world where a clockwork man helps save the life of a woman besieged by strange creatures. It’s like something Tim Burton would write, with a dark tempo, men that are more bird than human and an unlikely, determined hero.
This month’s classic reprint is “When Thorns Are the Tips of Trees” by Jason Sanford. Strange and sad, this is a tale of man’s hunt for immortality, that in this case, has led to humans carrying a disease that turns them into trees retaining ghosts of their memories at death, but rendering them unable to touch while alive. Like the delicate, haunted thorn trees themselves this story is at times lovely to behold, showing people treasuring their lost loved ones, and at times creepy with the objectification of the dead and the fear and repulsion of the living for each other.
“Gone Fishin’” by John R. Platt, from the Permuted Press Monstrous anthology, is a classic “big fish” story—unbelievable with a chance catch that’s destined to get away. This story doesn’t ever really throw itself into being the full yarn it could be, and it’s hard to sympathize with a lead who brought all the trouble on himself out of sheer meanness. But it has a few dark and amusing moments, nonetheless.
This Issue also features:
Beauty and Dynamite Essay:
“The Still & The Storm” by Alethea Kontis
Book Junkie Essay:
“Anthologies Like Preditors, Closing In” by Lavie Tidhar
Interrogations:
Fran Friel
T.M. Wright
15
Jun
Talebones and Lone Star Stories are both closing down. Both are good magazines with a history of good stories. Both owners site a loss of passion for the amount of work the magazines require. Talebones owner Patrick plans to continue the Talebones name as a yearly anthology in 2010.
This reflects a similar decision by Apex Publications owner/editor, Jason Sizemore, who has stated in several interviews that running the magazine, in print and digital form, has been the most time and money consuming aspect of his business and with the least return. Sizemore, showing more transparency than other places, cites the distribution system for print magazines as the main problem of running a magazine while most others on the front and back sides cite diminishing subscribers and interest in short fiction.
12
May
Click to read
Also featuring:
Editorial Dispositions from Guest Editor Michael A. Burstein
Interviews with Ekaterina Sedia and Paul Jessup
The End of the Golden Era, or, the Opposite Problem of Appropriation by Lavie Tidhar
The April 2009 issue of Apex Magazine features special guest editor, Michael A. Burstein whose collection of Hugo nominated short stories is also published by Apex.
“Hindsight, In Neon” by Jamie Todd Rubin kicks off the issue, dwelling on the value of science fiction as a whole, yet true to the genre, raising speculative questions of what humanity’s future might look like. True to Apex’s style there’s a dismal feel to this story, which doesn’t seek to answer any questions, or tell a compelling story, but suggests a haunting “what if” for readers and writers alike.
“Waiting for Jakie” by Barbara Krasnoff is a post Holocaust tale that’s brutal and dark without resorting to gruesome scenes of gore. As a survivor struggles to deal with the path her life has taken, the pain she’s suppressed to survive rends her life, like it rips through the tale, allowing her to travel through her memories trying to find a moment of happiness. It’s tragic and surreal, and uncomfortably real.
This issues’ reprint, “Love, Dad” by Jeffery D. Kooistra is just as emotional. Told via a series of letters between a father who left for a journey to another solar system and the family he left behind, the story, without directly commenting, invokes questions of loyalty and dreams and putting the potential of science and humanity above emotions and people as individuals. Never an easy choice the tale is both sad and hopeful.
This issue also features two poetic offerings. “Message in a Bottle” by Michael Ceraolo is a very short poem that nevertheless embraces a sad moment of the future. “Fallen Gardens” by Elizabeth Barette, a historical-themed poem about reoccurring dangers brought on by our time-limited view of the world’s events.
The Permuted Press Presents tale for this issue is “Savage” by E. Anderson, from their Monsters anthology. Much more Apex’s style than previous tales, in this one a woman, possibly with a destiny, must face down the creature that dominates the land where her ship crash landed. She must kill the monstrous Jessari, who killed her father, uncle and twin brother, not just so that the survivors can try to call for rescue, but for her own identity which has always depended on the snow cat that stalks them.
This issue of Apex can be read for free or purchased as a pdf for $2 by clicking the alien head above.