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.
