Apex Magazine: Issue 51

By Lynne M. Thomas

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 the first Tuesday of every month.

Fiction
“Victimless Crimes” by Charlie Jane Anders
“A Matter of Shapespace” by Brian Trent
“Sister Twelve: Confessions of a Party Monster” by Christopher Barzak

Nonfiction
“Blood on Vellum: Notes from the Editor-in-Chief” by Lynne M. Thomas
“Fantasy Art, Fishnets, and Red Sonja’s Chainmail Bikini” by Tansy Rayner Roberts
“Interview with Christopher Barzak” by Maggie Slater

Issue 51 is dedicated to Will Savage, one of our submissions editors, who passed away suddenly

Cover art by Carrie Ann Baade.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Apex Book Company
• Release date: Aug 21, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301364435

Book preview

APEX MAGAZINE

ISSUE 51, AUGUST 2013

SMASHWORDS EDITION

EDITED BY LYNNE M. THOMAS

Copyrights and Acknowledgments

Blood on Vellum: Notes from the Editor–in–Chief Copyright © 2013 by Lynne M. Thomas

Victimless Crimes Copyright © 2013 by Charlie Jane Anders

A Matter of Shapespace Copyright © 2013 by Brian Trent

Sister Twelve: Confessions of a Party Monster Copyright © 2013 by Christopher Barzak (Originally published in Glitter & Mayhem, eds. John Klima, Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas, 2013)

Fantasy Art, Fishnets, and Red Sonja’s Chainmail Bikini Copyright © 2013 by Tansy Rayner Roberts

Interview with Christopher Barzak Copyright © 2013 by Maggie Slater

Publisher/Editor — Jason Sizemore

Editor–in–Chief — Lynne M. Thomas

Senior Editor — Gill Ainsworth

Managing Editor — Michael Damian Thomas

Slush Editors — Sigrid Ellis, Deanna Knippling, Kelly Lagor, Eileen Maksym, Jei D. Marcade, Michael Matheson, Fran Wilde, Emily Wagner, Will Savage, Saira Ali

Graphic Designer — Justin Stewart

Digital Formatting — Stephanie Jacob

ISSN: 2157–1406

Apex Publications

PO Box 24323

Lexington, KY 40524

Please visit our website at http://www.apex–magazine.com.

Each new issue of Apex Magazine is released the first Tuesday of the month. Single issues are available for $2.99. Subscriptions are available for twelve months and cost $19.95.

Dedication

Issue 51 is dedicated to Will Savage, one of our submissions editors, who passed away suddenly while this issue was in production.

About Our Cover Artist

Carrie was born inside a house made from a riverboat that had caught fire and was brought ashore. Moving from her early and detailed memories of magical New Orleans to rural Colorado when school began, she worked to save up money and escape the incomprehensibly boring place. She traveled the world exploring art museums and pondering ancient civilizations. Years of experimentation later, Carrie became enraged by a world where it seemed all the great paintings were painted and nothing new remained to add. Out of this egregious dissatisfaction, she attacked her library of art books, mercilessly tearing off their spines and releasing the pages from their bindings. Out of this sea of pictured paper she cut new characters for herself and stuck them on to other painting’s backgrounds, repainting these collaged articles into new masterpieces that she found far more entertaining than the old paintings from which they came.

Carrie Ann Baade was awarded the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs Individual Artist Fellowship in 2010, the Delaware Division of the Arts Fellowship for Established Artist in 2005, and was nominated for the prestigious United States Artist Fellowship in 2006 and the Joan Mitchell Grant in 2012. Her work has been exhibited in museums and galleries nationally and internationally, including recent solo exhibitions: the Museum of Contemporary Art in Jacksonville Florida, the Delaware Center for Contemporary Art, the Rosenfeld Gallery in Philadelphia, Billy Shire Fine Arts in Los Angeles, and the Ningbo Art Museum in China.

She received her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and her masters from University of Delaware. Currently, Carrie lives and works in Tallahassee where she is an Associate Professor of Art at Florida State University where she teaches the materials and techniques of the old masters.

The Involuntary Thoughts of Lady Caroline Dubois.

Table of Contents

Editorial

Blood on Vellum: Notes from the Editor–in–Chief

Lynne M. Thomas

Fiction

Victimless Crimes

Charlie Jane Anders

A Matter of Shapespace

Brian Trent

Sister Twelve: Confessions of a Party Monster

Christopher Barzak

Nonfiction

Fantasy Art, Fishnets, and Red Sonja’s Chainmail Bikini

Tansy Rayner Roberts

Interview with Christopher Barzak

Maggie Slater

Blood on Vellum: Notes from the Editor–in–Chief

Welcome to Issue 51 of Apex Magazine.

This issue has some exceptional new fiction from Charlie Jane Anders, who brings us a superhero tale from a rather different perspective, in her story Victimless Crimes. Brian Trent explores the corporatization of the virtual world and the politics of technology dependency in A Matter of Shapespace. Our reprint this month is actually a sneak peek. Christopher Barzak’s Sister Twelve: Confessions of a Party Monster is the opening story for the forthcoming anthology Glitter & Mayhem, available in early September via Apex Publications. This anthology, edited by me, John Klima, and Michael Damian Thomas, explores the dark side of party culture and nightlife, and this story is a great example of reworking a fairy tale to show the perils and pleasures of dancing until dawn.

Our podcast story this month was originally published in February. Kat Howard’s The Face of Heaven So Fine was part of our Shakespearean issue, with a riff on what happens after Juliet survives.

In nonfiction, Maggie Slater interviews Christopher Barzak about his story, his writing process, and what it’s like having one of your books made into a film. Tansy Rayner Roberts offers a robust discussion of Red Sonja and other heroines who have interesting adventures even when they aren’t always practically dressed.

Our spectacular cover art is by Carrie Ann Baade, The Involuntary Thoughts of Lady Caroline Dubois.

By the time you’re reading this issue, Hugo Award voting will have closed, and the votes are being tallied. Thank you to everyone who nominated us for Best Semiprozine. We are truly grateful to be in such excellent company among the other nominees. We’ll see you at the Hugos!

I hope that you enjoy this issue of Apex Magazine.

Lynne M. Thomas

Editor–in–Chief

Plow the Bones

Apex Voices: Book 1

Douglas F. Warrick

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Reviews for Apex Magazine

[capiam1234 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Another excellent issue. Standouts include the outstanding contributions from Greg Mellor and Nancy Kress.