Best of Apex Magazine. Volume 1

How fun is this cover?!

Where I got the book

LibraryThing Early Reviewers, as an eBook.

Why I’m reading

I just finished For Exposure, an autobiography by Jason Sizemore, the creator and editor of Apex Magazine -- so of course I want to see what all the fuss was about.

Expectations

A collection of (hopefully high-quality) scifi short stories. I’ve got to get the taste of Joy to the Worlds out of my mouth...

How was it?

I started this months ago, but just finished the last few. I love short stories, but collections are hard to finish than novels -- there’s no ‘what happens next?!’ when you finish each story in one sitting. The whole thing blew me away, really; I really haven’t been reading enough of this sort of thing. I was expecting much more strict scifi, but these stories were a fantastic mix of scifi, fantasy, horror (Gothic, not slasher), thought experiments, and old campfire ghost stories. What struck me is that these stories all played to the strengths of the short story, tossing the reader into the middle of a world and letting them figure things out as they go. Some felt unfinished or not fully realized, which isn’t a bad thing. Weirdly enough, it’s something I see often in good fanfiction: stories that are allowed to be ephemeral and experimental rather than definitive. The stories feel shorter than Joy to the Worlds, but I can’t tell if they’re actually shorter or just less painful to read…  

Jackalope Wives // Ursula Vernon
A short, dark fantasy story about shape-changing jackalope wives, in the style of an old fairy tale -- the kind that were weird and twisted and creepy as hell.  

Going Endo // Rich Larson
This whacks you right over the head with the sort of technobabble future-speak that usually comes off trite, but this time it sets a great mood -- it sounds like natural slang, and there are no Importantly Capitalized Nouns. It’s a slice of life from some kind of militarized bio-VR company engineer… and then also sex. Cheeky!

 Candy Girl // Chikodili Emelumadu
A quick and dirty voodoo story that's like something out of a dream - random and strange,but not terrifying. Wickedly vindictive.

 If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love // Rachel Swirsky
Starts out a bit like Neil Gaimon’s The Day the Saucers Came or If You Give a Mouse a Cookie -- mostly nonsense. Ends a bit like the song If You Could See Her from Cabaret.  

Advertising at the End of the World // Keffy R.M. Kehrli
A post-apocalyptic survivor and the hi-tech remnants of advertising culture. A little sad; probably a metaphor for old age. Strangely comfortable.  

The Performance Artist // Lettie Prell
A performance artist explores the connection between self and machines. I didn't really connect with this one, but, well... she nailed performance art. Imaginative, though.

A Matter of Shapespace // Brian Trent
All mass (humanity included) can be transmitted and manipulated electronically, through simple thought commands. A little like The Matrix, a little like I, Rowboat I like it. http://www.flurb.net/1/doctorow.htm  

Falling Leaves // Liz Argall
Two outcast teen girls connect (sort of) in a post apocalyptic society. Post apocalyptic teenage angst. Meh.  

Blood from Stone // Alethea Kontis
Summoning demons and dark, twisted love... except, yeah, I've read tons of stuff that's darker and more twisted. Your standard Gothic fare: not a bad read, but nothing special.  

Sexagesimal // Katharine E.K. Duckett
This one was weird - a trippy and very unique take on death, with an afterlife that runs on a memory-based economy.  

Multo // Samuel Marzioli
Are you afraid of the dark? A simple story that perfectly captures the old childhood fear that kept us tucked safely under our quilts at night.  

Keep Talking // Marie Vibbert
Like contact, a little bit, I guess? But with autism and interpretive dance? I wasn’t a fan of this one.  

Remembery Day // Sarah Pinsker
Another one about memory, this time focusing on memory and war. Definitely a thought exercise on the question of memory: are we better off remembering bad things (like war)? If we could forget, should we -- as an individual, and as a society?

Blood on Beacon Hill // Russell Nichols
Immortal vampires are just as messed up by family and society as mortals are.  

The Green Book // Amal El-Mohtar
Epistolary. A man, his mentor, a talking book who was once a girl, a sort of shadowy religious order, and absolutely zero context. Interesting.  

L’espirit de L’escalier // Peter M. Ball
An endless stairwell three sharpies and a bottle of ashes: that’s it. I love the lack of context.  
Still Life (A Sexagesimal Fairy Tale) // Ian Tregillis
In a palace that time forgot, a clock maker - the only person who can age - falls in love and builds magical time pieces.  

Build-a-Dolly // Ken Liu
We're cruel to our toys.  

Armless Maidens of the American West // Genevieve Valentine
An armless girl (woman?) wandering the forest -- like a local ghost story, except everyone knows she's real and just doesn't pay much attention. A commentary on ignoring suffering of others simply because it's the way things are.

Pocosin // Ursula Vernon
A tired witch and a dying possum god. Very atmospheric.  

She Gave Her Heart, He Took Her Marrow // Sam Fleming
A mentally ill girl in the middle of a sort-of zombie apocalypse. Very confusing at first. Err… very confusing at the end, too. Not quite a zombie story, but I got the same sort of vibe.

Eleanor // Jason Gurley

Why I'm reading
I almost skipped over this -- it seemed like your typical tug-on-your-heartstrings mother-daughter story. Then halfway through the summary, suddenly... Scifi?

Where I got the book
Received this from LibraryThing's early reviewer program.

Expectations
The summary was strange. 99% of it reads like something from Lifetime or Oprah's book list, until I realized trite phrases like "Eleanor's painful reality begins to unravel" and "Eleanor is torn from her world" are happening literally.

So how was it?

Eleanor is the story of three generations of women... mostly making each other miserable. It spans forty years (1962-1996), with a plot that jumps between Eleanor, her daughter Agnes', her daughters Eleanor (junior) and Esmeralda, and -- ready for the Scifi? -- a mysterious rift dimension. Oh, and a series of husbands/fathers who don't really help the situation.

I've been calling this all Scifi, but it's not really Science Fiction. It has the freedom and imagination of Scifi, but there's no science involved; it's closer to mythology. I would probably call it Fantasy, but it has no relation to familiar High Fantasy exemplified by Tolkien.

Recommendation
Extremely similar to the video game Life is Strange -- love, tragedy, time travel, and relationships between women. Vaguely similar to Donnie Darko, except A) it's not super-pretentious, and B) I didn't hate it.

Feels
Deals with grief and pain between generations of women. The cosmology reminds me of Egyptian or Tolkien's mythology.

Favorites
I thought I'd hate the myriad of characters introduced, but it was satisfying once everything came together. The story didn't constantly need to ram its own mystery/suspense down the reader's throat.

Least favorites
I guess I like that it bounced around between characters/times, but it did that a little too much.

For Exposure // Jason Sizemore

Why I'm reading
It seemed interesting; I like Scifi, and I’m sort of interested in publishing. Plus the cover was pretty awesome. Ironically, a few chapters in, Sizemore mentions the cover art was fairly influential in getting people to pick up his new magazine.

Where I got the book
An eBook that I vaguely remember requesting from LibraryThing’s early reviewer giveaway.

Expectations
Well, LT early reviewers summary is what I was working with:

“In this collection of semi-true and sometimes humorous essays, Jason exposes the parties, people, and triumphs that shaped him into the Apex Overlord. He also lays bare the hardships and failures that have threatened to take it all away. Meet Thong Girl, heed the warning about the ham, receive rest stop bathroom wisdom, and visit an emergency room straight out of a horror movie in this extraordinary account of life as a publisher and editor.”

So how was it?

Okay, first of all, it took me nearly a month to finally get myself to read past the first few paragraphs. It was just… weirdly religious, out of the blue, and had nothing to do with publishing. Then I promised myself I’d sit down and read through at least a chapter, and couldn’t put it down.

It’s more or less what LibraryThing described: humorous autobiographical essays, starting with the author’s early life -- a strange mixture of rural Baptist Christianity and Scifi/horror movies -- before moving quickly into the world of fandom and publishing. What really sets this book apart is the writing. The whole “humorous semi-autobiographical essay” genre is full of fun and engaging writing, but Sizemore is unexpectedly sharp and smart. It doesn’t feel like he’s trying too hard to be Witty and impart a Meaningful Message (or, like a lot of the humorous essays I read, a Meaningful Feeling Without Any Actual Point). Something about the writing reminds me of… well, a good Scifi author.

Also notable are the rebuttal essays, written by friends and colleagues, interspersed between chapters. While they're not the funniest part of the book, they provide a second point of view for many of the events he describes, so it feels less like a novelization.

If you’re only looking for insight into the publishing world, this probably isn’t really the book you want. It’s very specific to the world of small, independent Scifi/horror genre magazine publishing.

All 70+ issues of Apex Magazine are available in eBook format. 

Recommendation
Anyone interested in the world of Scifi, short stories, or conventions. Heck, anyone even close to interested; three chapters in, and I was ready to check out every short story collection Greenwich has (...and I cataloged most of them, so…)

Feels
Sharp, smart, blunt, with more action than navel-gazing. He explains the inspiration and creation of Apex Science Fiction and Horror Digest in just 303 words, and it’s well done. That’s the kind of thing most authors would needlessly drag out for a chapter or two.

Favorites
The writing, by far -- which means I’m tempted to just copy out all the best sections. But that would take up way too much space. Also, his early con experiences. Both exemplified in this quote:

“Don’t you want to eat something, first? The ham is delicious.”
No. I would not have any ham. The juxtaposition of human thighs and honey-baked ham made me blanch. I wrenched the door opened and rushed out of there.

Least favorites
The prologue. It's not poorly written, but it was a bit too much right off the bat.

Writing style
He’s got a big vocabulary, and knows how to use it. And no, I don’t mean the kind of author who thumbs through their thesaurus looking for fancy words. 

Lists of Note // Shaun Usher

Why I'm reading
It's a big, shiny book of random lists from throughout history... how awesome is that?

Where I got the book
I got this as a review copy for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

Expectations
Not entirely sure, since it's just so random.

So how was it?

First of all, this book is big, solid, glossy, gorgeous, and full of pictures -- exactly what you want in a coffee table book. I can't believe I got it as an early reviewer book, it's just so nice.

The content is a fun mix of all sorts of historical tidbits, from famous sources (Ben Franklin, Johnny Cash) to not-so-famous, to ancient and anonymous. Everything is transcribed, translated, and annotated as necessary, so you're not left staring blankly at 14th century vocabulary, cramped handwriting, or ancient Egyptian cursive.

It's not going to be everyone's cup of tea; I've definitely had to read through it in chunks, when I usually blow through books. But I'll take a slow read any day -- trying to force this stuff into a narrative would ruin the charm, and this book is so, so charming. It's everything it sets out to be, nothing more, nothing less.

My favorites so far, and I'm trying to limit myself... there's pretty much something for everyone in this book.

• Who killed JFK? : a handwritten list of potential JFK assassins written by his secretary of ten years, as she flew back to DC with the president's body. 
• Roget's thesaurus : handwritten!
• Heinlein's predictions : predictions from a great science fiction novelist for the year 2000; sadly, few have been realized.
• Wartime golf rules : how to handle WWII bombs and shrapnel on the golf course, in the spirit of "keep calm and carry on."
• Topics to be investigated : a list of topics that interested Leonardo da Vinci. Nothing has made me wish for a time machine more than this list. What is sneezing? What is yawning?
• .......

(Sh)It Doesn't Just Happen // Bob Mayer

Why I'm reading
Seemed kinda interesting: a Green Beret's take on some famous historical disasters. The first disaster he covers is the Titanic, and I used to be huge into the Titanic in 3rd grade... yes, right before the movie came out, and no, I was not happy to discover it was a romantic drama instead of an IMAX documentary.

Where I got the book
Another free eBook from LibraryThing Early Reviewers!

Expectations
I didn't really go into this with a lot of expectations, but in retrospect I was expecting more thorough research.

So how was it?

This book might have turned out well -- if someone ran it through a very heavy-handed editor first. And I don't mean the kind of editor who decided you can't start a book with the word "shit," and certainly can't put it in the title. (Yeah, that little change makes the first few lines of this book relatively incoherent. Meanwhile, the word "shit" is censored to sh!t throughout the book -- was this written by a twelve year old?) I mean the kind of editor who will tell you when you haven't supported your argument or need to cut down on the lists. And fix the occasional typo.

The premise of the book -- military trained disaster expert commenting on various historical disasters -- is fairly interesting. I wouldn't think poorly of someone for enjoying it. But unfortunately, it's written and argued like a third grade persuasive essay. He actually ends his introduction by repeating what is clearly his 'thesis statement,' and follows it up with "That is the purpose of this book."

Mayer is heavy on number lists (humans love threes and sevens!). Rule of 7, seven catastrophes. Three reasons to read this book, three reasons to listen to me, three benefits of catastrophe thinking. He insists that it's always seven failures that lead to catastrophe -- never less! -- and fluffs most of his catastrophes to round out the number. He's also heavy on code words. Every single facet of an idea has its own code word, defined at the end of the chapter (the intro includes, but is not limited to: "No-do-over," "Sh!t Happens," "Cascade Event," "Final Event," "Delusion Event," "The Gift of Failure"). One code word is confusingly similar to a common cognitive bias ("Halo effect") but he's using it to mean something entirely different -- and he was a psychology major!

On top of this, he takes a lot of things on faith simply because they make sense to him. He points out that some experts think that binoculars wouldn't have made a difference in the Titanic's fate -- but dismisses it completely ("I'll go with the guy who was there.") Of course you will! If the binoculars wouldn't have made a difference, it invalidates your Rule of 7, that there are a minimum of seven "cascade events," and that stopping any one cascade event will stop the catastrophe!

There were all sorts of other things that drove me up a wall. Mayer counts Custer's failed extermination of Native Americans at Little Big Horn a "catastrophe." He doesn't understand what a Pyrrhic victory is -- I think he confused it with the word "futile." In places you can feel him bending reality to fit his own understanding of the world, like his tangent into how Custer doesn't really count as a real West Point grad (since that would upset his view of military training).

But ultimately, hey, I read the whole thing. The stories were interesting, kind of like reading a Cracked article.

Recommendation
This book would be really great for anyone in charge of disaster planning -- any sort of disaster planning, not just ships/airplanes/military/etc. But it has about as much historical worth as a Cracked article.

Feels
A little bit like an infomercial.

Favorites
I like the idea and the format. And yes, he does make some good points, mostly about disaster preparation (duh) and different ways people can mess up.

Least favorites
Honestly, it's a masterpiece in confirmation bias.

Writing style
3rd grade persuasive essay.

Severance // Chris Bucholz

Why I'm reading
I want to start reading more sci-fi, and the summary made this look fantastic. A generation ship, cliques, drugs, costumed orgies(!), meat plants, and a murder mystery.

Where I got the book
Another LibraryThing Early Reviewers ebook!

Expectations
An inventive futuristic world, a murder-mystery plot, probably some so-so YA level character development, randomly capitalized Things and Groups, and a "twist" ending about the purpose of the generation ship. A sci-fi snack.

So how was it?

Severance follows Laura Stein, a vaguely mid-level engineer on the generational ship Argos, which is headed towards a new home in another star system. One of her underlings ends up dead after a routine maintenance assignment, leading Stein to unravel a conspiracy that could rip the ship in two.

It was exactly what I expected... only a hell of a lot better than I expected. The writing was a little clunky (like a YA book) but I don't even care. The world development was fantastic -- imaginative, but still grounded, built into the plot but not harped upon, and completely plausible. The plot never felt too slow, didn't put the main character through dramatic trials just to watch her suffer, and built up foreshadowing without (gasp) being too predictable.

There was a great amount of humor, too, from the friendly piss talk between Stein and her friend Bruce, to the hilariously stupid inhabitants of Argos. The description had me worried, with mention of groups like Breeders and Markers... factions and capitalized Proper Nouns are a big, cheesy thing in YA literature. Yeah, that's not a problem with this book. I won't spoil what the Markers are because it's too funny, but they exist in the same world as teenagers who look at the curved ship walls and spin until they puke (vomit clubs, and they've gone out of style).

N.b. I keep referring to YA books, but I'm not sure if this fits or not. Reading level and entertainment value, yes, YA. But there's a reasonable amount of casual swearing, and honestly, it avoids a lot of the annoying YA tropes.

Recommendation
Sci-fi and action/adventure fans, mystery fans.

Feels
Exciting, fun, a little gritty -- but it doesn't make a point of being gritty, if that makes sense. Dirty and a bit scruffed up. I think I could see this adapted into a movie fairly well. It has an almost comic book vibe.

Favorites
Characters, hands down. He doesn't dig too deep into any of the characters, but they're realistic and fun. The main character is relatable without being Typical Teenage Girl, competent but not especially good or bad at what she does, smart and brave but not unreasonably so, etc. etc. She's just in the right place at the right time, and does what needs to be done. Well, okay, there's one special bit about her -- she's a "canned baby" -- but it's not a big deal.

Least favorites
The writing was indeed a little clunky... I wanted to break out my red pen at points. There were also two side characters I wish had a little more "screen time," so I could appreciate their friendship. But overall, I had very little to complain about.

Writing style
Clunky, yes, but... there are little tiny hints of Douglas Adams' influence. Ramshackle technology, a silly little metaphor here and there, and a storyline that jumps around and doesn't always go where you're expecting. Not perfect, but it has its delightful moments.

Beijing Bastard // Val Wang

An early adult coming-of-age story, following a second generation Chinese American who moves to China, hoping to find a career in film and journalism.

Why I'm reading
I straight up don't remember requesting this book, but it showed up in my mailbox, and it doesn't look awful, so why not?

Where I got the book
I received an "advance uncorrected proof" copy for review, from LibraryThing Early Reviewers. AWESOME.

Expectations
From reading the back cover, I'm expecting a relaxed coming of age story, a hint of Dragon Mom, a Bostonite view of mainland China, peppered with some edgy not-quite-racist humor.

So how was it? 

For most of the book, Beijing Bastards feels like it's trying very, very hard to get to a point, when I'm not entirely sure there is one. But that's ok; I enjoyed the ride, even if there was no destination.

It's the author's memoir of her early to mid twenties, when she decided to move to Beijing - not to reconnect with her heritage, but to escape her Chinese-American parents and follow her dreams. The title comes from an artsy-edgy movie about Beijing subculture. She's looking to connect, to become part of that subculture, to discover the "real" Beijing.

I liked it. Despite repetitive focus on the author trying to figure herself out, it's really more of an exploration of her experience in China. Her ultimate goal is to film a documentary in China, and the book was written in that same spirit.

It's very much what I expected - maybe a little less humor, but that's a good thing. Sometimes the people she meets come off as caricatures, but sometimes they're surprisingly real. I'm reminded of that time we all have late in our teenage years when we realize our parents (and all adults, and other people, too) have entire lives outside of what we know of them. That goes both for the author's family and for the people she meets along the way.

Recommendation
For fans of quirky memoirs, readers looking for a quick beach read that isn't romance, and anyone interested in a Chinese-American point of view.

Feels
Introspective and colorful.

Favorites
The littlest side characters are somehow the most engaging.

Least favorites
It's a little self-indulgent, but it's aware of its self-indulgence at least.

Writing style
Fun, lots of detail and flair, a typical "memoir" voice. Who couldn't love phrases like "having robbed me of my ancestral rent-controlled birthright" ?! And OH BOY the metaphors and similes. There's at least one every two or three sentences. That usually drives me nuts, but while I was certainly aware of it, it wasn't annoying.