Strange. Beautiful. Shocking. Surreal. International futurists edition! Guest-edited by Francesco Verso. APEX MAGAZINE is a digital dark science fiction and fantasy genre zine that features award-winning short fiction, essays, and interviews. Established in 2009, our fiction has won several Hugo and Nebula Awards. We publish every other month. Issue 128 contains the following short stories, essays, reviews, and interviews. EDITORIAL From the Sense of Wonder to the Sense of Wander by Francesco Verso ORIGINAL FICTION Soil of Our Home, Storm of Our Lives by Renan Bernardo Robin's Last Song by Nina Munteanu Godmother by Cheryl S. Ntumy The synchronism of touch by Gabriela Damián Miravete Dreamports by Tlotlo Tsamaase Samsāra in a Teacup by Lavanya Lakshminarayan CLASSIC FICTION Aethra by Michalis Manolios Francine (draft for the September lecture) by Maria Antònia Martí Escayol NONFICTION Highlighting Trends in Indian SF in the Twenty-first Century by Tarun K. Saint REVIEWS Words for Thought: Short Fiction Review by A.C. Wise INTERVIEWS An Interview with Author Renan Bernardo by Marissa van Uden An Interview with Author Nina Munteanu by Rebecca E. Treasure An Interview with Artist Chiara Topo by Jason Sizemore

Our largest book to date! With stories by Alix E. Harrow, Sam J. Miller, Sheree Renée Thomas, Cassandra Khaw, and many more, Apex Magazine 2021 is a collection of darkly beautiful tales appearing originally in Apex Magazine January-December 2021. From a spaceship in the far-flung reaches of space to a cozy living room where a detective interviews a killer, this anthology explores the good and the ugly. It dissects what makes us human versus what makes us monsters. Within these pages, you will meet a golem that doesn’t know how to save its family, a group of robots debating whether they are alive, and a woman striving for that social media-perfect life. From parasitic twins to a hospital dreamscape, to a town full of people wearing masks, this anthology will take you on journeys you never could have expected. Come with us and discover the 48 surreal, strange, shocking, and beautiful stories in Apex Magazine 2021. Table of Contents “Root Rot” — Fargo Tbakhi “Your Own Undoing” — P H Lee “Love, That Hungry Thing” — Cassandra Khaw “Mr. Death” — Alix E. Harrow “The Niddah” — Elana Gomel “All I Want for Christmas” — Charles Payseur “Gray Skies, Red Wings, Blue Lips, Black Hearts” — Merc Fenn Wolfmoor “Barefoot and Midnight” — Sheree Renée Thomas “The Amazing Exploding Women of the Early Twentieth Century” — A.C. Wise “Black Box of the Terraworms” — Barton Aikman “If Those Ragged Feet Won’t Run” — Annie Neugebauer “A Love That Burns Hot Enough to Last: Deleted Scenes From a Documentary” — Sam J. Miller “The Life and Death of Mia Fremont: An Interview with a Killer” — A.K. Hudson “This Is the Moment, Or One of Them” — Mari Ness “Throw Rug” — Aurelius Raines II “Mishpokhe and Ash” — Sydney Rossman-Reich “All This Darkness” — Jennifer R. Donohue “DEMON FIGHTER SUCKS” — Katherine Crighton “Eilam Is Forever” — Beth Dawkins “Without Wishes to Bind You” — E. Catherine Tobler “How to be Good” — R. Gatwood “Osu” — Kingsley Okpii “Survival, After” — Nicole J. LeBoeuf “What Sisters Take” — Kelly Sandoval “Cottonmouth” — Joelle Wellington “Next to Cleanliness” — Rose Keating “Discontinuity” — Jared Millet “Candyland” — Maggie Slater “Gift for the Cutter Man” — D. Thomas Minton “Wake Up, I Miss You” — Rachel Swirsky “Security Breach at Sugar Pine Suites” — Pamela Rentz “Happy Trails” — Theodore C. Van Alst, Jr. “Marked by Bears” — Jessie Loyer “Spirits of the Broken Lands” — Kevin Wabaunsee “When Evening Arrives” — Tiffany Morris “An Incident at Hellpoint Prime” — Norris Black “To Seek Himself Again” — Marie Croke “This Shattered Vessel, Which Holds Only Grief” — Izzy Wasserstein “In Haskins” — Carson Winter “Whose Mortal Taste” — Erin K. Wagner “Hank in the South Dakota Sun” — Stephanie Kraner “I Call Upon the Night as Witness” — Zahra Mukhi “Soil of Our Home, Storm of Our Lives” — Renan Bernardo “Robin’s Last Song” — Nina Munteanu “Godmother” — Cheryl S. Ntumy “The synchronism of touch” — Gabriela Damián Miravete “Dreamports” — Tlotlo Tsamaase “Samsāra in a Teacup” — Lavanya Lakshminarayan

Strange. Beautiful. Shocking. Surreal. APEX MAGAZINE is a digital dark science fiction and fantasy genre zine that features award-winning short fiction, essays, and interviews. Established in 2009, our fiction has won several Hugo and Nebula Awards. We publish every other month. Issue 129 contains the following short stories, essays, reviews, and interviews. EDITORIAL Editorial by Jason Sizemore ORIGINAL FICTION It Happened in 'Loontown by Lavie Tidhar City Lights by Yilun Fan (translated by S. Qiouyi Lu) Sheri, At This Very Moment by Bianca Sayan What Una Loves by Rich Larson Lamia by Cristina Jurado (translated by Monica Louzon) The Cure for Loneliness by M. Shaw CLASSIC FICTION O2 Arena by Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki That Rough-Hewn Sun by Benjanun Sriduangkaew NONFICTION Tie Me to the Mast (Metaphorically Speaking): Social Writing in the Age of the Pandemic by C.S.E. Cooney The Importance of Presenting Disabilities in Literature by Mercedes M. Yardley REVIEWS Words for Thought: Short Fiction Review by A.C. Wise Book Review: Black Chain by Dominic Martell (reviewed by Keturah Barchers) Book Review: Flowers for the Sea by Zin E. Rocklyn (reviewed by Tracy Robinson) INTERVIEWS Interview with Author M. Shaw by Marissa van Uden Interview with Author Bianca Sayan by Rebecca E. Treasure Interview with Cover Artist Luka Brico by Russell Dickerson

Strange. Beautiful. Shocking. Surreal. APEX MAGAZINE is a digital dark science fiction and fantasy genre zine that features award-winning short fiction, essays, and interviews. Established in 2009, our fiction has won several Hugo and Nebula Awards. We publish every other month. Issue 125 contains the following: EDITORIAL Editorial by Jason Sizemore Words from the Honorary Special Editor by Jeffery Reynolds ORIGINAL FICTION COTTONMOUTH by Joelle Wellington Next to Cleanliness by Rose Keating Discontinuity by Jared Millet Candyland by Maggie Slater Gift for the Cutter Man by D. Thomas Minton Wake Up, I Miss You by Rachel Swirsky CLASSIC FICTION Deep Night by Tenea D. Johnson The Ever-Dreaming Verdict of Plagues by Jason Sanford The Rat by Yohanca Delgado INTERVIEWS Interview with Author Joelle Wellington by Andrea Johnson Interview with Author Rose Keating by Andrea Johnson Interview with Cover Artist Marcela Bolívar by Russell Dickerson NONFICTION Alone? Or, How a Survivalist Reality TV Show Defangs Publishing's Narrow Definition of Agency by Maria Dong Flesh Eggs by Ken MacGregor REVIEWS Review of Grave Reservations by Cherie Priest Review of Malefactor by Robert Repino Words for Thought: Short Fiction Reviews by A.C. Wise

The third annual instalment to the 'excellent, lovingly curated' (Financial Times) The Best of World SF series The Best of World SF series is a fixture on the global science fiction scene. If you want to find the most exciting SF authors writing today, look no further. In this third instalment, you'll discover alien artists, rioting dinosaurs, shape-shifting rabbits, heartbreak-harvesting cafes and one robot on a quest for meaning. You will be transported to the stars and back down to Earth and sideways, with the order of the world turned upside down. Featuring authors from Austria, Bulgaria, China, Finland, Ghana, Greece, India, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine, the Philippines, Portugal, Russia, Singapore and South Africa, this collection's stories have been selected by award-winning writer, editor and World SF expert Lavie Tidhar. The most exciting science fiction on the planet comes from all corners of the globe. And it's all in the Best of World SF series.

A remote village is determined to keep their robot teacher from being fired. A poetry-loving AI controls the wastewater treatment facility, but a series of malfunctions are beginning to cause concern. The biggest pop idol of the twenty-second century is trapped on Enceladus, and deeply alone. Latchko can talk to the banned AIs and now that his secret is out things are about to get complicated. A former child soldier is raised by a plant-like species but struggles to understand them. Ice fishing on Europa just keeps turning up rocks and things just got worse ... something is changing the world, making it better, but for whom? Short fiction is the heart of science fiction, introducing new voices, experimenting with ideas and technique, and paving the way for the future of the field. Thousands of stories are published every year in the many genre magazines, anthologies, collections, podcasts, and websites, as well as other less common venues. Each year, Hugo and World Fantasy Award-winning editor Neil Clarke sifts through the myriad of offerings to select works that represent the best and the brightest, report on the state of the field, and recommend additional stories for further reading. In this volume, covering 2021, you'll find works by Aliette de Bodard, Meg Elison, Rich Larson, Ken Liu, Ray Nayler, Suzanne Palmer, Hannu Rajaniemi, Robert Reed, Karl Schroeder, Vandana Singh, Tade Thompson, and many more.

"Shifting supernatural borderlands inspire awe and ancient gods mirror very human desires in a fear fable that balances complex philosophy with relentless, image-packed action. Tobler creates a fluid, transformative universe that’s equal parts exhilaration and terror." — Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) Fifteen-year-old Jackson is different from the other children at the foundling hospital. Scales sometimes cover his arms. Tentacles coil just below his skin. Despite this Jackson tries to fit in with the other children. He tries to be normal for Sister Jerome Grace and the priests. But when a woman asks for a boy like him, all that changes. His name is pinned to his jacket and an orphan train whisks him across the country to Macquarie’s. At Macquarie’s, Jackson finds a home unlike any he could have imagined. The bronze lions outside the doors eat whomever they deem unfit to enter, the hallways and rooms shift and change at will, and Cressida — the woman who adopted him — assures him he no longer has to hide what he is. But new freedoms hide dark secrets. There are territories, allegiances, and a kraken in the basement that eats shadows. As Jackson learns more about the new world he’s living in and about who he is, he has to decide who he will stand with: Cressida, the woman who gave him a home and a purpose, or Mae, the black-eyed lion tamer with a past as enigmatic as his own. The Kraken Sea is a fast paced adventure full of mystery, Fates, and writhing tentacles just below the surface, and in the middle of it all is a boy searching for himself.