Quick Sips - Apex Magazine Promo 2020

Art by Justin Stewart

Apex is back! And okay, you probably already knew that. And yes, the actual launch date for the revamped Apex Magazine is actually in January. That doesn’t mean, though, that the editors could hold back, and so we get a special bonus sneak peek issue as an added gift this holiday season. It’s filled with heartwarming and--wait a second, I think I must have forgotten Apex’s specialty. It’s filled with two difficult and unsettling stories that look at the messy ways people live, love, and hurt each other. The stories reveal worlds that are reflections of our own, and the sights are rather grim. But grim stories can show us how to approach hard times, given the world we’re living in, perhaps we should take whatever instruction we can get. To the reviews!

Quick Sips - Apex #116

Art by Tangmo Cecchini

January might not bring a fan-appreciation issue like in the last few years, but it doesn't mean that there isn't a lot to read, with three short stories and a novelette that definitely bring the strange and luminous to Apex Magazine's usual run of dark SFF. The pieces all deal with memories, and with something strange and almost magical brushing against the more "mundane" realities of the worlds they reveal. Our world, in some cases, but not always. And it's certainly a mix of interesting and delicately-imagined settings, ripe with injustice, hurt, and longing, and before I spoil too much, let's get right to the reviews!