Apex Magazine Issue 72
By Jason Sizemore and Sigrid Ellis
()
About this ebook
Apex Magazine is a monthly science fiction, fantasy, and horror magazine featuring original, mind-bending short fiction from many of the top pros of the field. New issues are released on the first Tuesday of every month.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FICTION:
Remembery Day — Sarah Pinsker
Wildcat (from The Secret Diary of Donna Hooks) — David Bowles
A Sister's Weight in Stone — JY Yang
Toot Sweet Matricia — Suzette Mayr (eBook/Subscriber exclusive)
NONFICTION:
Words from the Editor-in-Chief — Jason Sizemore
Interview with Sarah Pinsker — Andrea Johnson
Interview with Cover Artist Beth Spencer— Russell Dickerson
Clavis Aurea: A Review of Short Fiction — Charlotte Ashley
Eye-based Paternity Testing & Other Human Genetics Myths — Dan Koboldt
POETRY:
He Dreams of Salt and Sea — S.G. Larner
If I Only Had A... — Kelly Dalton
Sidereal — A.E. Ash
The Automaton to Her Engineer — Alexandra Seidel
EXCERPTS:
The Buried Life — Carrie Patel
The Grace of Kings — Ken Liu
Cover art by Beth Spencer.
Jason Sizemore
Jason Sizemore is a writer and editor who lives in Lexington, KY. He owns Apex Publications, an SF, fantasy, and horror small press, and has twice been nominated for the Hugo Award for his editing work on Apex Magazine. Stay current with his latest news and ramblings via his Twitter feed handle @apexjason.
Read more from Jason Sizemore
Best of Apex Magazine: Volume 1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsApex Magazine Issue 73 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsApex Magazine Issue 70 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsApex Magazine 2021 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsApex Magazine Issue 69 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRobotic Ambitions Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsApex Magazine: Issue 90 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFor Exposure: The Life and TImes of a Small Press Publisher Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDo Not Go Quietly Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsApex Magazine Issue 71 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsApex Magazine Issue 98 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsApex Magazine: Issue 89 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Apex Magazine Issue 72
Related ebooks
Oscar Season Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Church Camp Conundrum Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Smell of Lilacs: A Coming of Age Story Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsD, My Name Is Danita Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The Life and Times of Little David Stone Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Farmed Out Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The Glass Castle: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Fatal Flaw Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDragon in the Clouds Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGirlhearts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Life & Times of Little David Stone: Book One - Preschool Through First Grade Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Flash of Words 2: The Games Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRed Moon: Secrets of a Sixties Schoolgirl Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThat Night Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Woke Up In Love This Morning Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Gypsy Elephant Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsExtraordinary Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Siren Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBraver: Runaway, #2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRED Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMoskovsky Station Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMagical Jewels: Book One of the Magical Jewels Series Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsYou Don't Look Fat, You Look Crazy: An Unapologetic Guide to Being Ambitchous Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Snap Shots Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSomeday I'll Find Me Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBodies Lost and Found: Mary Linn, Gravestone Hunter, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChancey: Life in Laketon, #3 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPhoenix Element Collection: Phoenix Element, #0 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEmmie of Indianapolis Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Fantasy For You
Piranesi Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The City of Dreaming Books Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Tress of the Emerald Sea: Secret Projects, #1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Priory of the Orange Tree Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Picture of Dorian Gray (The Original 1890 Uncensored Edition + The Expanded and Revised 1891 Edition) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fellowship Of The Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Stories of Ray Bradbury Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Is How You Lose the Time War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Assassin and the Desert: A Throne of Glass Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Silmarillion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Immortal Longings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Eyes of the Dragon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fairy Tale Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Assassin and the Empire: A Throne of Glass Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Assassin and the Pirate Lord: A Throne of Glass Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Assassin and the Underworld: A Throne of Glass Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wizard's First Rule Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Phantom Tollbooth Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Nettle & Bone Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of Magic: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Talisman: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sarah J. Maas: Series Reading Order - with Summaries & Checklist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Labyrinth of Dreaming Books: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Titus Groan Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Apex Magazine Issue 72
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Apex Magazine Issue 72 - Jason Sizemore
Words from the Editor–in–Chief
Jason Sizemore
Welcome to issue 72!
My first order of business is to congratulate this year’s Hugo Award nominees in the category of Best Semiprozine: Abyss & Apex, Andromeda Spaceways In-Flight Magazine, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Lightspeed Magazine, and Strange Horizons. While other Hugo Award categories have been unfortunate victims of slate block voting, Best Semiprozine is one that has maintained its dignity. All five publications are worthy nominees and I wish them the best of luck at Sasquan.
This year, Memorial Day is on May 25th. It is one of our most important holidays, the day we remember all those we have lost during their service to our country. Sometimes losing someone to their service doesn’t mean that they have died. War changes people, and the person who comes back may not be the same person who first put on that uniform. Sarah Pinsker does a beautiful job illustrating this in the tenderest way in her story Remembery Day.
Continuing with our theme of family and loss, we also have stories by JY Yang (A Sister’s Weight in Stone
) and David Bowles (Wildcat
). Each of our authors has written a story that raises the question What if we can have them back?
I think you’ll find their answers as heartbreaking and poignant as I did.
Our original fiction selections are incredibly strong this month, and we can’t wait to hear what you think of them, but the rest of the issue is just as good. Apex’s poetry editor Bianca Spriggs has selected four beautiful poems for you. Andrea Johnson has the privilege of talking with the talented Sarah Pinsker and takes the opportunity to ask her specific questions about Remembery Day
, the challenges of writing short fiction versus songs, and her secrets to being so very prolific. Russell Dickerson delves into the magic that is Beth Spencer’s artwork in our artist interview. And for our nonfiction piece, Dan Koboldt brings us back to the emphasis of family by dissecting genetics and its use in speculative fiction.
Apex Publications will be on the road this month. You can find me at World Horror Con in Atlanta during May 7th-10th. Apex will have a table in the vendor hall. Please come by and say hello!
Finally, don’t forget that June 20th will be the big Apex Publications 10th Anniversary Celebration at Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Lexington, KY. We’re expecting over 100 attendees. There will be author and editor guests, a ‘Dinner with the Publisher’ with a specially crafted Apex-themed menu, and an afterhours soiree on the bookstore’s patio/bar. We have a Facebook event page you can follow here: www.facebook.com/events.
Until next month!
Jason Sizemore
Editor–in–Chief
Remembery Day
Sarah Pinsker
I woke at dawn on the holiday, so my grandmother put me to work polishing Mama’s army boots.
Try not to let her see them,
Nana warned me. I already knew.
I took the boots to the bathroom with an old sock and the polish kit. I had seen Nana clean them before, but this marked the first time I was allowed to do it myself. Saddle soap first, then moisturizer, then polish. I pictured Nana at the ironing board in our bedroom, pressing the proper creases into Mama’s old uniform.
The door swung open, and I realized too late that I had forgotten to lock it. Mama didn’t often wake up this early on days she didn’t have to work.
Whose are those?
my mother asked, yawning.
Uh—
I didn’t know what to say, which lie I was supposed to tell.
Nana rescued me from the situation, coming up behind Mama. Those were your father’s, Kima. I asked Clara to clean them for me.
Mama’s gaze lingered on the boots for a moment. Did she think they were the wrong size for Grandpa? Did she recognize them?
I need the bathroom,
she said after a moment. Do you mind doing that somewhere else, Clara?
I pinched the boots together and lifted them away from my body so I wouldn’t stain my clothes, gathering up the polish kit with my other hand. Mama waited until I slipped past before she wheeled in. Her indoor chair was narrow, but not narrow enough for both of us to fit in the small bathroom.
I’m sorry,
I whispered to Nana once the door closed.
No harm done,
Nana whispered back.
I finished on the kitchen floor, now that there was no reason to hide. It was almost time, anyway. The parade would start at ten by us. In some places, people had to get up in the middle of the night.
Mama came in to breakfast, and I put the boots in a corner to dry. Nana had made coffee and scrambled eggs with green chiles, but all I could smell was the saddle soap on my hands. We all ate in silence: Mama because she wasn’t a morning person, and Nana and I because we were waiting. Listening. At eight the sirens went off, just the expected short burst to warn us the Veil would be lifting.
Mama whipped her head around. What was that? Oh.
The lifting of the Veil always hit her the same. My teacher said each vet reacted in a different way, but my friends never discussed what it was like for their parents. Mama always went Oh
first, lifting her hand to her mouth. Her eyes flew open as if they were opening for the first time, and for one moment she would look at me as if I were a stranger. It upset me when I was little. I think I understand now, or anyway I’m used to it.
Oh,
she said again.
She studied her hands in her lap for a moment, and I saw they were shaking. She didn’t say anything, just wheeled herself into the bathroom. I heard the water start up, then the creak as she transferred herself to the seat in the shower. Nana came around the table to hug me. When she got up to lay Mama’s uniform on her bed, I followed with the boots I had shined. We waited in the kitchen.
Showering and dressing took her a while, as it did on any day, but when she appeared in the kitchen doorway again, she had her uniform on. It fit perfectly. Mama didn’t need to know that Nana had let it out a little. I had never seen a picture of her as a young soldier, but it wasn’t hard to imagine. I only had to strip away the chair and the burn on her face. This was the one day I looked at her that way; on all other days, those were just part of her.
Did you shine these for me?
She pointed to her boots.
I nodded.
They’re perfect. Everyone will be so impressed.
She pulled me onto her lap. I was getting too old for laps, but today she was allowed. I stayed for a minute then stood again. When she laughed it was a different laugh from the rest of the year, a little lower and softer. I’ve never been sure which is her real laugh.
At nine, we all got in the van, and Mama drove us downtown.
Mama, can I ask you a question?
Yes?
What did you do in the War?
I saw her purse her lips in the mirror. "There’s a long answer to that question, mija, and I don’t think I can answer it right this moment while I’m driving. Can we talk more in a while?"
I knew how this worked. ‘In a while’ didn’t always come. Still, this was her day. I guess.
A few minutes later Mama took an unexpected right turn and pulled the van over. How about if we skip it this year? Go get some ice cream or sit on the pier or something?
Mama, no! This is for you!
I didn’t understand why she would suggest such a thing. My horror welled up before I thought to see what Nana said first.
She turned to Nana next, but my grandmother just shrugged.
You’re right, Clara. I don’t know what I was thinking.
Mama sighed and put the van back into gear.
§
Veterans got all the good parking in the city on the holiday. Mama’s uniform got us close. The wheelchair sticker got us even closer. I didn’t understand how they all knew where to go, how to find their regiments, but they did. Nana and I stood near the staging area and watched as the veterans hugged each other and cried. Mama pointed to me and waved. I smiled and waved back.
We found seats in the grandstand, surrounded by other families like ours. I recognized a couple of the kids. We had played together beneath the stands when we were little, when we called it Remembery Day because we didn’t know better. Now that I was old enough to understand a little more, I wanted to sit with Nana. The