lavie tidhar – Michele Lee

HebrewPunk by Lavie Tidhar

Paperback: 978-0-9788676-4-5, $13.95

“The Heist” is an excellent theme setter for this collection. This story has an urban fantasy flavor, only instead of the default setting of the world being based in nature worship-style paganism or Christianity the magic comes from a very distinct Jewish flavor.

Jimmy the Rat (a Jewish vampire), The Tzaddick (an immortal), The Rabbi (a powerful Jewish mystic) and his wickedly constructed golem Goldie come together to take down a mysterious and magical blood bank. Along the way they encounter peculiar versions of zombies and angels and a fortress that will boggle readers with its incredible level of security. It’s the motley crew’s job to break the fortress, to take down the blood bank and of course, collect their fee.

From there HebrewPunk moves to stories focusing on the trio individually.

“Transylvania Mission” pits The Rat against a band of Nazi werewolves searching for Dracula in the hopes of enlisting his help in their war. More could be said, but that, and awesome, sums up this tale.

“Uganda” mixes the Jewish flavor with distinct African ingredients. In this tale it’s the turn of the century and The Rabbi is asked to investigate a tract of land in Eastern Africa which some people hope will become a new Jewish Homeland. Recognized as a mystic by a local tribe, he walks with them, getting a glimpse into the truth of the land, and possibly even the future. While this is a solid, interesting and richly flavored tale it feels unfinished at the end, perhaps because it’s written as if compiled by a third party from multiple sources, a style that lends better to longer works.

Finally comes The Tzaddick in “The Dope Fiend”, a 1920s set tale of voodoo and ghosts and how they surface in the Jewish mythos. Unfortunately this one is the weakest of the four. There are many major secondary characters that move in and out of the story, playing fairly important roles, but there’s a feeling to them as if the reader should know who they are. It’s not, however, guaranteed that they will.

Also a point of discontent with this story is The Tzaddick himself, who often comes off as if being a drug addict is all that he is. While there is a level of realism to this portrayal, in this story it keeps the reader from connecting with The Tzaddick as anything but a drug addict. This, and the previously mentioned crew of secondary characters, overpower the plot itself, as if Tidhar had more fun writing the characters than the story.

Altogether HebrewPunk is a collection that reveals interesting possibilities, especially for the Urban Fantasy genre who should sit up and take notice at how much space there still is in the genre outside the realm of nature based magic systems and romance melodramas.

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March 26

Murky Depths #1

For those not familiar with Murky Depths it is magazine hybrid of graphic novel and short fiction with a dark speculative slant. It features comic strips and beautifully illustrated dark stories intermingled with the occasional spice of a bit of poetry.

First up in this issue is the first episode of “Death and the Maiden” by Richard Calder. A brief slice of a graphic serial, the story presents an alter-verse reminiscent of Nancy A. Collins’ Sonja Blue books. A death-headed vigilante saves a backstreet prostitute who is so immersed in the life she begins to look like a blow up doll. The strip isn’t long enough to truly understand the premise or the world, but it is enough to set up a dark romance between the emotionally scarred and the physically scarred inhabitants of the street.

“Looking In, Looking Out” by Gareth D. Jones is the first story offering, thought it’s not in a traditional story form. Told in brief daily log style this story is about an alien reaching out to attempt first contact with the human race. The ending is somewhat expected once the reader gets the flavor of the tale, but is no less effective.

“Come to My Arms My Beamish Boy” by Douglas Warwick is the tale of a man slowly losing himself to Alzheimer’s disease that does as good of a job as “Cobwebs” by Kealan Patrick Burke (Postscripts 11). Cotton’s take on loss is more surreal, attributing Alzheimer’s to the damage done by creatures living partially outside our reality who eat away at us, feeding from our memories. Warwick does an impressive job at moving the reader through prose and plot.

Combining technology and the natural Jonathan C. Gillespie’s “Paston, Kentucky” spins a tale from a hive of robots that roam the U.S. countryside, similar to a dramatization of africanized bees, devouring metal to build hives and more of themselves. Only the small town of Paston, Ky seems to be immune so that’s where the co-creator goes, determined to get into a hive and shut down the bots, no matter how many people he has to sacrifice to do so.

“The Other Woman” by Chris Lynch continues the science fiction flavor in stand alone strip form. This one’s darkness is the sadness of loss, not the horror of violence, a feeling that builds steadily to the final reveal. As much about human nature as scientific impossibilities, this is a subtle best of show in the graphic department.

“67442” by Paul Abbamondi is short enough that the plot isn’t much more than suggested as the main character walks the reader through his world. It could be an interesting beginning to a much longer piece.

“Supply Ship” by Kate Kelly starts by setting up a very human society, abandoned on a harsh planet surface and desperate to fill needs, like sex and acceptance, as well as their bellies. But their desperate attempt at survival, hidden under the petty surface similarities between character and reader, is not entirely what it seems.

“State Your Name” by Jon Courtenay Grimwood is the most complex of this issue’s tales. The drive to get off planet is pushing much of the story’s society, with strict rules on weight limits and social status dictating who can and can’t escape. But Piertro has contingency plan and robbing a bank is the first step to setting himself free.

“Empathy” by Luke Cooper is the last strip on this issue, a chiaroscuro testament to the down side of psychic powers.

A bit of poetry, every bit as graphic as the previous tales, “Snowblind” by Marcy Lynn Tentchoff is a tale of a romantic downfall told in words as pictorial as the drawings that accompany it.

“Cyberevenge Inc.” by Eugie Foster has a comic book feel, telling the story of a writer, career and reputation ruined by a vicious, almost meaningless stalker. She stumbles upon a help site through an online support group that offers her not only the information and ability to shut her attacker down but an opportunity for cyber-revenge. Foster weaves in a stomach-twisting amount of tension before offering an out to her character that feels far less dangerous than the present situation.

“Today is Not” by Michael Sellars is the first stray from this issue’s science fiction theme. Instead it steps into New Weird, telling the tale of Abigail, a woman haunted by witnessing the strange deaths of her husband and daughter. Now she’ll go to any means to find the surreal creatures who might be able to bring her loved ones back, disregarding the fact that they, too, might be mortal. The story is comparable to the tales in Brett Alexander Savory’s No Further Messages, with the prose a short step below Savory’s.

“I Bleed Light” by Edward R. Norden is an electric blend of long poetry and mad graphics, a perfect example of what this magazine is meant to be. It meshes with the surreal style of the story behind it, twisting words and pictures together around the reader.

“The Quality of Mercy” by Ron Shiflet is another commentary on psychics. This one is a surprisingly dark tale of a young man who just knows on sight the deaths and darkness of other people’s souls. He feels a soul draining pull to save the people he meets that threatens to tear his mind away. But his nature demands that some sort of mercy be shown to the suffering, even if it doesn’t dictate what mercy is.

“Naught But Ash” by Anne Stringer is of a similar vein as issue two’s Yellow Warbler by Jason Sizemore. Set in a small town after the world has been ravaged by “lights from above” the tale is tinged with mystery, after the fact, as the hanging of the killer of a peaceful family only brings more questions rather than answers.

Finally comes Lavie Tidhar’s “The Pattern Makers of Zanzibar”. In a way this tale brings the issue back to the beginning, echoing the structure of “Looking In, Looking Out” in a series of one sided letters. Historical and science fiction simultaneously, this story tells of an 1800s newspaper reporter who stumbles upon a mass of Ickeian-style reptilian creatures who secretly control the patterns of our reality.

Issue #1 of Murky Depths presents a nice start, proving Murky Depths can easily make itself a staple of both speculative fiction and art genres.

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March 25

Apex Digest #9

Apex Digest Issue 9 promises to be moody and discomforting from the first glance at its stormy cover, strongly reminiscent of Van Gogh’s Starry Night. It’s a bit of a new taste from the last few issues, a departing from a mild science fantasy trend toward a sort of mental sci-fi.

First up is The Sum of His Parts by Kevin J. Anderson. Not only is this story about a familiar patchwork man it also is patchwork in its structure. It works very well. The minimal interludes serve perfectly as a break between point of view changes and a hint of what will happen next. They serve as threads, weaving a series of seeming coincidences together. The story doesn’t end there. Also hidden inside is a spiral of related stories, to which the true extent only becomes clear as the reader grows closer to the end. Not only did I enjoy the story in this story, I also truly enjoyed seeing the structure and tales within tales aspects being played with and pulled off so successfully.

The End of Crazy by Katherine Sparrow is the height of the mental science fiction slant in this issue. The story follows a couple, “cured” of their mental disabilities by a miracle treatment but faced with a future that requires them to sacrifice the treatment, and possibly their sanity, for a better life. They learn very quickly that moving past their mental limitations takes effort and willpower, not just the latest quick fix. I enjoy the conflict between “is it real or is it in your head” and this story is all about that. It also has moments both of fearing falling into a mental skew and moments of wondering what’s so good about normal after all.

The Gunslinger of Chelem by Lavie Tidhar is a great follow up to The End of Crazy. The focus changes to dreams becoming real rather than the paranoid delusions of insanity becoming real. Then it moves outside of chaos and into lucidity, rules that must be figured out and conquered to end a sort of ruthless REM pit. Plus I got a kick out of scifi with a classic western theme. Sort of like Back to the Future 3, only better.

Locked In by Mary Robinette Kowal is a nasty bit of text wedged into this issue. The other stories were safe, but this one is downright dangerous. The hazard comes, not from technology spinning out of control, but people’s faith in technology being far misplaced. The true evil is in the people, not the tool. The darkness in this piece snuck up on me. This one is a powerful, short piece, not to be missed.

Projector by Daniel LeMoal comes next. The dark slant here is everywhere, from the desperation and abuse of the junkies who serve as central characters, to their those abusing them, the people set up to be their victims, the drug itself and the one dangerous power that is the reason the druggies were put in their situation in the first place. There is no good escape, not for the junkies who are set up to fail, nor for their desperate target, nor for the true villain of the story, hidden until it’s far too late for anyone to break free.

I enjoyed At the 24-Hour by William F. Nolan more than his contribution to the last issue. Both are well written, but At the 24-Hour has the last minute evil, like Locked In, that I enjoy. I also think this story is a better fit for Apex.

Pyramus and Thisbe by Jeremy Adam Smith is a strange tale, a retelling of a classic Greek myth. It fits well with The Sum of His Parts, a retelling of Frankenstein. But ultimately I feel I missed something in this story. The writing is lovely, but I never quite grasped the setting, nor the relevance of the humans’ hatred of him simply for being a machine. It brings conflict, and even realistic conflict, but there was no explanation as to why the humans hated him so, nor why he appeared to spontaneously hate himself.

Sufficiently Advanced by Bev Vincent brings the issue out of the esoteric and puts the reader into a darkly ironic world where what we find unreal is mundane and what we are accustomed to put a crash survivor in terrible danger. Bev proves that just because you escape doesn’t mean you survive.

Don’t Show Your Teeth by Rob D. Smith is a neat little tale about fascination with the past in the future. I would have liked to have learned more about why Perri finds the scum covered teeth so fascinating. What is it about the story’s present that makes the era the teeth came from worth the obsession? I’m afraid ultimately I just didn’t feel the paranoia of the main character through most of the story so the end didn’t feel like a culmination of the events as much as an end.

I took a sneak peak at Cain XP11 by Geoffrey Girard, though I had planned to wait until I had all four parts before reading it. I’m not sure I’ll be able to wait now. The story appears to be a “who’s the more evil” tale of scientists who clone the world’s most know serial killers, not to settle the nature vs. nurture, but to play god with their genes, and, as always, for money. The story is told primarily from the point of view of the man charged with cleaning the mess up, figuratively not literally. The prose doesn’t jump out and beat you the way Steven Saville’s did in the first serialized work in Apex. But it’s like watching a train wreck in slow motion. Delight fun in the vein of “If only the character knew what I think I know.” I look forward to reading the rest.

The Parting Shot for Apex Digest #9 is Sonorous by Paul Abbmondi. I have to say it’s the first time I’ve been satisfied with a published piece that I’ve read in second person. I instantly thought of Gabriel’s horn, only scifi, reproduced like a clone of an artifact. The story didn’t entirely lean that way, but I enjoyed the lovely imagery that surfaces in the tale.

Issue Seven felt like it lead into Issue Eight. But this one, #9, seems to have departed for a new goal, one I’ll be glad to ride along to.

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March 25

Apex Digest #10

This issue of Apex Digest is slimmer than others, and is lacking some of the beautiful artwork normally found within. But it’s not lacking in good and unusual fiction.

First up is Bad Sushi by Cherie Priest. While not within the normal parameters of “science fiction” it is an amusing tale with an unusual hero, Baku, a veteran of World War II that can be summed up as “Cthulhu Sushi”.

Next up is Daydreams by Lavie Tidhar. Set in the same world as his previous story in Apex (The Gunslinger of Chelem, from issue #9) wherein dreams are real, solid things, Daydreams focuses less on dream logic and more on the real world implications of the phenomenon. Tidhar weaves a sort of circular dreaminess to his story which may not be agreeable with everyone. Rafael ends up facing a dreamer who can not only recraft human subjects but also might be a little closer to Rafael than her realizes.

Memories of the Knacker’s Yard by Ian Creasey goes very well with the previous Daydreams. In this story it’s not dreams that are real, but ghosts. And memories can be pulled from heads and traded or sold, which of course leads to sculpting memories for higher value and poaching. It also raises a question, if cops could buy the memories of the killer would it turn them into killers themselves? This goes very nicely with the second installment of CAIN XP11 further in the issue.

Pigs and Feaches by Patrice E. Sarath is next up and it picks up the theme of memories where the previous story left off. In this story “Fast A” is a super speed version of Alzheimer’s that is infectious as if viral. The question raised is whether the disease truly wipes the mind, or just traps it within the body.

With Temple:Incarnations I didn’t review each segment, only the whole. But with Apex Digest’s second serialized novella, CAIN XP11 I can’t resist. The first section (found in Apex Digest #9) asked questions of both nature vs. nurture and science can, but should it? This segment continues the nature vs. nurture debate as Becker, armed with files and a clone of Jeffery Dahmer, chases down clones of other famous killers created for an experiment trying to isolate the killer gene. But the scientist in charge liberated the young killers (in the first part) and set them free to play in the world, also revealing there were more clones than the ones under careful scientific study.

But in addition to killer genes and carefully sculpted abuse on the part of the scientists part two also begins to ask “I’m genetically predisposed and nurtured to kill… what’s your excuse?”

This is one of the most thematically similar issues of Apex I’ve seen. It flows together like a fine meal, each side complimenting another.

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March 25

Apex Digest #8

Alas, the blogs are all touting the availability and greatness of Apex Digest Issue 9 and I expect it to stare up at me from my mail box, horrified that it’s been stuck with me, as early as, well any day now. So I figure it’s about time I do my review of Issue 8.

First, I have to say this grinning, empty-eyed cover depicting Jennifer Pelland’s Blood Baby is my favorite so far. The evil-yet fun expression on the little beasts face makes me grin every time I see it.

This Issue starts out with a big gun, Tom Piccirilli’s Madness Blows the Winds of History. I have to say that it took me two tries to get into this one. Even once the story swept me in this story feels hardwired to a place that feels alien to me. It’s on a different wavelength than any of the stories I’ve read. Madness Blows the Winds of History is a dark weaving of future worlds and infinite time lines. The possibilities in this tale are dizzying. The tragedy that manipulates Tolbalt Tre, sending him into endless worlds to punish the people responsible for his pain. Ultimately this a story about heartache driving men, and aliens, to blindness.

The infamous Blood Baby, by Jennifer Pelland, is next up. Just as it took me two tries to get close to Piccirilli’s wavelength it took me two more to adjust to the urban fantasy tale of which I’d heard so much. More than just enjoying the actual tale in this case, I also enjoyed the spirit behind it. Pelland touches on one of the few remaining taboos left in modern horror. She also viciously shows us readers the true meaning of sacrifice, forgotten in much of today’s fantasy, and the corruption of fantasy by modern mores.

Matt Wallace’s A Place of the Snow Angels comes next, returning the issue back to threads of science fiction. This story sets up religion and science in the race for a messiah, hoping he can save the world from advancing winter. Who’s the real savior doesn’t matter, not to the story and not in the story, as both camps forget about a little thing called free will. This is a beautiful tale not of who’s write or wrong, but about who is determined.

Genesis Six by Shane Jiraiya Cummings is an excellent follow up, capturing both the religious threads and the beautiful language of the previous story and softening it with more fantasy than technology. The true darkness of this story comes not from the fact that it opens at the end of the world, but rather from the loss the characters suffer after the end and the who and why behind the destruction of the world.

The Death Singer by John B. Rosenman brings the issue back toward scifi with another lovely tale of inequality. This story proves that “even” isn’t always “fair”. The idea of someone who can translate one’s life and soul into a song really brought me into this story. Rosenman enchanted me as I read before giving me that smack of darkness at the end. I rather like stories where the end colors the whole tale in reflection.

Mommy, Daddy, and Mollie by William F. Nolan is a straight horror piece. It meshes well with the earlier Blood Baby in the theme of evil kids. While pleasingly creepy, I can’t say this was my favorite piece of the issue.

Last Chance Morning by Timothy Waldron Semple was a bit of a disappointment because I began to look forward to seeing someone smished. The story is a sneaky little thing though, because it’s not really about “humane execution” at all. Though I wondered how Semple’s chilly con ended up in the pen to begin with after taking in the whole story I have some pretty nasty theories.

Babble by M.M. Buckner was also a sneaky story, not fully coming together until the end. But when all the cards are shown I ended up feeling like I’d been hit in the head with a hammer (or perhaps a broke bottle). In all genres paranormal plots are typically my favorites so I really enjoyed the building, almost voyeuristic (or more accurately audio-voyeurism) feel to the story, only to have it twist out of my greedy little grasp and land a good blow to my noggin.

Temporal Spider, Spatial Webs by Lavie Tidhar bleeds back toward the way the issues started, with Tom Piccirilli’s Madness Blows the Winds of History. Including this harder scifi piece gives the whole issue a circular feel. I liked this piece, but it felt too short to me. It seems that this story screams to be spoken not just text. Like Piccirilli’s story this, too, seems to be coming from a completely alien point of view, a space spider attracted to the web of communication as we pidly humans stretch across the known universe.

As far as parting shots go the typical Apex Digest wrap up has always been sadly ironic, or potently depressed. Worlds by Aaron Gudmunson is almost vicious. It does a fine job, leaving me with a feeling of being slashed at.

I also want to add a kudos to the artists behind this issue. I love the layout, and the visuals in this issue. I always talk about the stories, but this time around I’m sending out a resounding “horah!” to the artist as well.

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