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

"26 new short stories representing the state of the art in international science fiction, selected by Lavie Tidhar. The Best of World SF draws together stories from across the spectrum of science fiction - expect robots, spaceships and time travel, as well as some really weird stuff - representing twenty-one countries and five continents."--Provided by publisher

Strange. Beautiful. Shocking. Surreal. We are pleased to present a special issue focusing on Indigenous Futurists and guest-edited by Allison Mills. 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 126 contains the following: EDITORIAL Indigenous Futurists—Editorial by Allison Mills ORIGINAL FICTION Security Breach at Sugar Pine Suites by Pamela Rentz Happy Trails by Theodore C. Van Alst, Jr. Marked by Bears by Jessie Loyer Spirits of the Broken Lands by Kevin Wabaunsee When Evening Arrives by Tiffany Morris An Incident at Hellpoint Prime by Norris Black CLASSIC FICTION A Brief Lesson in Native American Astronomy by Rebecca Roanhorse INTERVIEWS Interview with Author Pamela Rentz by Rebecca E. Treasure Interview with Author Kevin Wabaunsee by Marissa van Uden Interview with Cover Artist Megan Feheley by Jason Sizemore NONFICTION The Nature of a Natural Future by Sloane Leong REVIEWS Words for Thought: Short Fiction Reviews by A.C. Wise

Robert Repino concludes the War with No Name series in an explosive final novel. Over a decade has passed since the ant queen began her apocalyptic war with the humans. In the aftermath, she leaves behind a strange legacy: a race of uplifted animals, the queen’s conscripts in the war effort, now trying to make their way in the world they destroyed. While the conflict has left deep scars, it has also allowed both sides to demonstrate feats of courage and compassion that were never possible before. And now, after years of bloodshed, the survivors have a fleeting chance to build a lasting peace. But peace always comes with a price. The holy city of Hosanna—where animals and humans form a joint government—finds itself surrounded by wolves who are determined to retake the land. A powerful matriarch has united the rival wolf packs, using a terrible power harnessed from the Queen herself. Soon, the looming violence pulls in those who sought to escape. The war hero Mort(e) suspects a plot to destroy Hosanna from within, and recruits a team of unlikely allies to investigate. Falkirk, captain of the airship Vesuvius, must choose between treason and loyalty to save the city. And D’Arc, sailing aboard the al-Rihla, learns that the wolves may have triggered a new cycle of life for the Colony, bringing a final reckoning to animal and human alike. Once reunited, the three outcasts begin a journey into wolf territory to face the last remnant of the queen’s empire. But while destiny has drawn them together, it may destroy them as well, for even love, courage, and honor may not be enough to stop the forces of destruction set to be unleashed on the world.

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 122 contains the following: EDITORIAL Editorial by Jason Sizemore ORIGINAL FICTION Barefoot and Midnight by Sheree Renée Thomas The Amazing Exploding Women of the Early Twentieth Century by A.C. Wise Black Box of the Terraworms by Barton Aikman If Those Ragged Feet Won't Run by Annie Neugebauer A Love That Burns Hot Enough to Last: Deleted Scenes from a Documentary by Sam J. Miller Las Girlfriends Guide to Subversive Eating by Sabrina Vourvoulias REPRINTED FICTION She Searches for God in the Storm Within by Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali The Eight-Thousanders by Jason Sanford INTERVIEWS Interview with Author Sabrina Vourvoulias by Andrea Johnson Interview with Author Annie Neugebauer by Andrea Johnson Interview with Cover Artist Thomas Tan by Russell Dickerson NONFICTION Jimi Hendrix Sang It by ZZ Claybourne Telling Stories of Ghosts by Wendy N. Wagner Words for Thought: Short Fiction Reviews by A.C. Wise

Glowing red lines split their faces. Shock-red hair and clothes warn people to flee their approach. They are plague birds, the powerful merging of humans and artificial intelligences who serve as judges and executioners after the collapse of civilization. And the plague birds’ judgment is swift and deadly, as Crista discovered as a child when she watched one kill her mother. In a world of gene-modded humans constantly watched over by benevolent AIs, everyone hates and fears the plague birds. But to save her father and home village, Crista becomes the very creature she fears the most. And her first task as a plague bird is hunting down an ancient group of murderers wielding magic-like powers. As Crista and her AI symbiote travel farther from home than she ever imagined, they are plunged into a strange world where she judges wrongdoers, befriends other outcasts, and uncovers an extremely personal conspiracy that threatens the lives of millions. Plague Birds is a genre-bending mix of science fiction and dark fantasy and the epic story of a young woman who becomes one of the future’s most hated creatures, with a killer AI bonded to her very blood.

Apex Magazine is an online short fiction zine of fantastical literature. TABLE OF CONTENTS Editorial by Jason Sizemore ORIGINAL FICTION Root Rot by Fargo Tbakhi Your Own Undoing by P H Lee Love, That Hungry Thing by Cassandra Khaw Mr. Death by Alix E. Harrow The Niddah by Elana Gomel Gray Skies, Red Wings, Blue Lips, Black Hearts by Merc Fenn Wolfmoor HOLIDAY HORRORS FLASH FICTION WINNER All I Want for Christmas by Charles Payseur CLASSIC FICTION The Ace of Knives by Tonya Liburd Roots on Ya by LH Moore INTERVIEWS Interview with Author Fargo Tbakhi by Andrea Johnson Interview with Author P H Lee by Andrea Johnson Interview with Cover Artist Vicki Be Wicked by Russell Dickerson NONFICTION Story-less: A Forethought by Usman T. Malik Trapped in Stories by Malka Older Words for Thought: Short Fiction Review by AC Wise

The Muungano empire strived and struggled to form a utopia when they split away from old earth. Freeing themselves from the endless wars and oppression of their home planet in order to shape their own futures and create a far-reaching coalition of city-states that stretched from Earth and Mars to Titan. With the wisdom of their ancestors, the leadership of their elders, the power and vision of their scientists and warriors they charted a course to a better future. But the old powers could not allow them to thrive and have now set in motion new plots to destroy all that they've built. In the fire to come they will face down their greatest struggle yet.

Gilles de Rais has control over every aspect of his life: the servants he employs, the village he lords over, the carefully crafted visage he shows to the world. He dictates where his subjects live, what they eat, if they live or die. He has ultimate power and wields it with a flourish to conceal the dark desires that lurk behind his smile and the despair within his castle in Machecoul. When a wizard tasked with raising a demon loses control of the beast, Gilles's tight grasp on his world begins to slip. His cook plans to flee, taking her son away from the dangers of the castle. His guard wants to claim Gilles's lifestyle as his own. His wizard frantically searches for a way to survive both his lord and the demon he has called into the world. And the villagers - like Jeanetta and her family -move through life in Machecoul too consumed with the task of surviving day to day, and oblivious to the turmoil building within the castle that is threatening to break out and consume them all.

Apex Magazine is a digital zine of dark short fiction. TABLE OF CONTENTS ORIGINAL SHORT FICTION "A Monster in the Shape of a Boy" by Hannah Yang "Shevitsa" by Koji A. Dae "Americana!" by Sam Asher The Fruit of the Princess Tree" by Sage Tyrtle "Hoodie" by Tonya Liburd "In the Monster's Mouth" by Tim Waggoner CLASSIC FICTION "Simbiyu and the Nameless" by Eugen Bacon "As the Sun Dies" by Jaym Gates NONFICTION "You in Your Headmeats" by Errick Nunnally "Mysterious Island" by Jeffrey Ford Book Review: Wendy, Darling by AC Wise (reviewed by Marie Croke) Book Review: Inheriting Her Ghosts by SH Cooper (reviewed by Tracy Robinson) INTERVIEWS Interview with Author Hannah Yang by Andrea Johnson Interview with Author Sam Asher by Andrea Johnson Interview with Cover Artist Reza Afshar by Bradley Powers