New Apex Issue

I’ve been slack on my ‘zine reading for the last year or so, but I noticed that the new issue of Apex Magazine is out.  I’ve enjoyed Apex for several years now.  They’ve been big supporters of Jennifer Pelland and had a Mary Robinette Kowal issue not too long ago and have also published Cherie Priest.  The newest issue is the first under the helm of the new fiction editor, Catherynne Valente. 

What does Valente have for us? 

 

Original fiction from Theodora Goss and Nick Mamatas, as well as the reprint of Jeff VanderMeer’s “Secret Life”

Not bad at all. 

Mary Robinette Kowal issue over at Apex Online

(via Mary Robinette Kowal)


The latest issue of Apex Online is a Mary Robinette Kowal issue. Y’all know how I feel about Mary’s work, right?

There are two new stories and two stories from the vault.

The New
"The Bride Replete"
"Beyond the Garden Close"

The Less New
"Scenting the Dark"
"Horizontal Rain"

“Horizontal Rain” is one of the first of Mary’s stories I read and I’m a big fan of that one. Dude, it has trolls and it's set in Iceland. What more do you need?

So – here’s your chance to catch two stories you may have missed the first time and also to read two brand spankin’ new stories from Campbell Award winning author Mary Robinette Kowal.

Go now.

Jennifer Pelland: Confessions of a Serial Short Story Writer

Over at Apex there is an article up from Jennifer Pelland where she writes about why she hasn't / won't return to any of the worlds created in her short stories.

I find an idea, woo it, play with it until it bores me, and then move on to the next idea that entices me with a flash of comely ankle. The thought of expanding “Captive Girl” into a novel fills me with horror. How could I possibly lengthen that story without ruining it? Suggestions that I use the world of “Brushstrokes” as the setting for a novel leave me boggled. That world was created strictly to prop up that one story–surely no other story will fit into it.

Other than than the fact that I wouldn't mind more from the worlds of "Captive Girl" and "Mercytanks", I do get it. The stories were great and they were complete, but because the stories were great I want more story.

Pelland writes later:

what’s the point in going back to see how Big Sister is getting along in “Big Sister/Little Sister,” or seeing how well Marika and Alice’s relationship is going in “Captive Girl?” Maybe if I didn’t put my characters through such massive trauma over the course of their stories, I’d have something to revisit. But what’s the appeal in that?

My answer to that would be that Marika and Alice don't have to be the focus of the new story, but there is so much going on that we never see that I have to believe that there are more stories to tell. Not that I want Pelland (or anyone) to write stories they're not fully behind because then the story would suffer.

It's that natural inclination, though, to wonder what happens next or what is happening over there where the camera isn't pointing.

"Cerbo en Vitra ujo", by Mary Robinette Kowal

In honor of Mary Robinette Kowal's Campbell win, I wanted to write a little bit about one of her stories I've meant to read for the last year or so but for some reason never got around to: "Cerbo en Vitra ujo".

The story was originally published in the Summer 2006 issue of Apex Digest.

Sometimes when you read a story you should really take note of what the cover of the magazine says. See, right above the big word "Apex" are four smaller words: "Science Fiction and Horror". Somehow having those four words on the cover of Apex Digest simply did not register and I was not prepared for "Cerbo en Vitra ujo". The story is science fiction and it is horror.

Grete is about to lose her boyfriend / brother / lover. The story is not clear as to what exactly Kaj is to Grete. Kaj is an illegitimate child and in this science fiction setting, illigits have to struggle to earn scholarships to go to school. Kaj was fortunate enough to win one and Grete will miss Kaj deeply. My initial thought was brother, but I think the story intends boyfriend / lover.
There is mention early on about body harvesting, but that Grete's Station doesn't have truck with that, so we briefly put it out of mind.

Kaj never contacts Grete after leaving for school so Grete attempts to find him without letting her mother know, as Grete's mother does not support Grete's relationship with Kaj. This is where the story turns dark.

"Cerbo en Vitra ujo" turns downright disturbing and nasty and it doesn't get better (better in terms of good things happening, not in terms of quality). Yet, the more disturbing the story gets, the more impressive it is. Kowal does the horror of "Cerbo en Vitra ujo" quite well. Yes, once the body harvesting is introduced we have a good idea where the story is going but it doesn't matter. Kowal is good enough to take the expectation of what Grete will find, deliver it, and have it not matter.

Disturbing story.

Good story.

My reviews of other Kowal stories:
"The Bound Man"
"Horizontal Rain"
"Rampion" (well, just a brief line or two as part of the Prime Codex anthology)
"The Clockwork Chickadee"

To read some of Kowal's stories, go here. Kowal has made quite a few available.

This Just In: Apex Digest #6

Thanks to Jim over at Shamus Writes I won a copy of Issue #6 of Apex Digest. This issue features stories by Ben Bova, Christopher Rowe, and, the reason I entered the contest in the first place - Mary Robinette Kowal.

I like receiving books and magazines and stuff in the mail. Makes me happy.

Horizontal Rain, by Mary Robinette Kowal

Horizontal Rain
Mary Robinette Kowal
Apex Online

Maxwell Sanders pressed the phone closer to his ear as if that would somehow bring comprehension. "Did you say trolls?"

"Yes, Max." With her words, he could picture Amalia's rigid posture.

He ran a hand over his scalp. "I can't redo the aluminum plant blueprints because your foreman believes in fairytales."

A man is called from his office in New York to go to a construction site in Iceland because the local construction crew believes there are trolls on the premises and are too frightened to work. It's a great opening and when Max arrives in Iceland and gets to the site we get to see what the fuss is all about.

Horizontal Rain is a reasonably short short-story, fewer than 2700 words, but Mary Robinette Kowal packs a good deal of story into those 2700 words. Confusion, fear, fairy tales, trolls, death, driving, construction, meetings, phone calls, and a general sense of unease as the harsh Icelandic wind blows the rain sideways.

Recommended. Give it a shot.