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Year: 2015

Apex Magazine #77 Now on Sale

Apex Magazine #77 Now on Sale

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Apex Magazine Issue 77-smallIn his editorial this month, Jason Sizemore tells us a little about the latest issue, and dishes out some excellent Halloween advice.

This month, we offer four original short stories by D.K. Thompson, Aaron Saylor, Maurice Broaddus and Arkady Martine. These stories are nothing alike in tone, setting, style, or mood. But they all share a central theme of “protection.” If you enjoy unique explorations of a singular conceit, then we have a great issue for you. And if you want your eyebrows raised and your tropes turned upside down, then read “Super Duper Fly” by Maurice Broaddus. If this story doesn’t start a discussion, then I will be very disappointed in you!

Or if you simply like a good werewolf story, well, we have that, too. It is the Witching month, after all!…

While this issue comes out several weeks prior to Halloween, I would like to close with a word of advice. If you’re giving out candy to trick-or-treaters, remember that nobody likes candy corn. Nobody.

Here’s the complete TOC.

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Forbes on the Tragic Failure of Jem And The Holograms

Forbes on the Tragic Failure of Jem And The Holograms

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Jem And The Holograms-smallLast week Box Office Mojo reported that Guillermo del Toro’s gothic horror film Crimson Peak “crashed and burned into 2,984 theaters to the tune of an estimated $12.8 million.” So what did it make of Jem And The Holograms‘ historically bad take of one-tenth of that total this weekend, $1.3 million from 2,413 theaters? It calls it one of “the year’s biggest flops… the fourth worst opening for a film in more than 2,000 theaters.”

Jem And The Holograms was a much-loved 80s cartoon produced by Hasbro, Marvel, and Sunbow (the same team behind G.I. Joe and Transformers). Featuring the plucky Jerrica Benton, whose father left her virtually flawless hologram technology that allowed her to disguise herself as a beautiful pop singer, Jem was the brainchild of comics writer Christy Marx (Sisterhood of Steel, Conan, Red Sonja). Forbes writer Scott Mendelson sees the massive failure of the live-action version as a genuine tragedy.

The film took a source material that is over-the-top colorful and over-the-top exciting, filled with larger-than-life characters and musically-charged action sequences where Jem and her friends had to both be kick-ass rock stars and kick-ass crime fighters at the same time, and made a toned-down, muted, and overly patronizing “young girl gets in over her head due to fame and artistic success and forgets what matters” fable that basically penalized its young heroes for wanting and achieving success and power…

It was the kind of film that Josie and the Pussycats spoofed a decade ago, and basically operated as a dark-n-gritty origin story that spent the entire film building up to the possibility of maybe seeing a Jem movie that Jem fans wanted to see the first time out in a would-be sequel. Okay, so a cheap film that spit on the source material bombed, who cares right? Well, here’s the rub: The overriding message of Jem and the Holograms is that a girl-centric action cartoon from the 1980′s doesn’t deserve or justify even 5% of the resources given without a second thought to boy-centric properties cashing in on 80′s nostalgia.

Read the complete article here.

Vintage Treasures: None But Man by Gordon R. Dickson

Vintage Treasures: None But Man by Gordon R. Dickson

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None But Man Pyramid-small None But Man DAW 1977-small None But Man DAW-small

When I was young, there was a peculiar sub-genre of science fiction that many folks attributed to the influence of John W. Campbell, the legendary editor of Astounding. If you were an SF reader in the 1950s-1980s, you read a fair share of novels in which mankind began a reign of conquest in outer space, carving a glorious empire among the stars. And when we inevitably crossed paths with aliens who frustrated our boundless ambitions, we’d show those godless E.T’s in relatively short order why you don’t mess with homo sapiens.

This always seemed to me to be a uniquely American branch of SF. Growing up in Ottawa, right across the river from the province of Quebec, my natural response when I met folks from an alien culture, with their own strange language and incomprehensible customs, was not to immediately attempt to assert my superiority. Instead you tried to score some French comics, and asked if they minded if you dated their sister. And if they drove a truck, you bought poutine from them, because that stuff was frickin’ manna from heaven.

To my mind Gordon R. Dickson (who was born in Edmonton, Alberta, in 1923) was never part of the Manifest Destiny in Outer Space crowd but, like most career SF writers at the time, he tried a little bit of everything. His 1969 novel None But Man, the tale of ‘brave human frontiersmen’ who defy a peace treaty and engage in guerrilla warfare against “unhuman Aliens” rather than surrender their homes, seemed pretty firmly in the “Nobody does war the way humans do” Campbell tradition.

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The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes: Holmes, the Police & Scotland Yard

The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes: Holmes, the Police & Scotland Yard

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SY_MoranThe most common official police force encountered during Holmes’s sixty cases was Scotland Yard. One can safely say that Doyle’s portrayal of the men of the force was somewhat less than flattering. None ever outsmarted Holmes (though one came pretty close) and most of them are adrift until Holmes reveals all at the end of the story.

Scotland Yard was actually the descendant of an earlier police force in London. In 1748, Henry Fielding succeeded Thomas de Veil as Court Justice for Middlesex and Westminster, with headquarters on Bow Street. Fielding hired nine men to go out and catch criminals. This was, in essence, the first police force in London.

These ‘Bow Street Runners’ wore red vests and carried pistols. For eighty years, they were the only thief takers in London. Since there were never more than fifteen at a time, they were slightly outnumbered by the criminals.

In 1829, backed by Home Secretary Robert Peel, the Metropolitan Police Improvement Bill passed, creating an Office of Police for metropolitan London. It did not, however, include the one-square mile City of London, bounded by the ancient Roman walls. ‘The City’ retained that independence, which did not prove useful during the Jack the Ripper killings.

A nightstick and a rattle for summoning help were standard issue; guns were not. They were servants of the public and their power was to be based on the respect of the people, not fear.

It’s Elementary – ‘Peelers’ and ‘bobbies’ are nicknames for the London police and come from Sir Robert Peel’s name.

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New Treasures: In the Shadow of Edgar Allan Poe, edited by Leslie S. Klinger

New Treasures: In the Shadow of Edgar Allan Poe, edited by Leslie S. Klinger

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In the Shadow of Edgar Allan Poe-smallWhen I do my Vintage Treasures posts, I usually end up lamenting the fact that the book I’m profiling is out of print. You think I’d be used to it by now. Many of the titles that were New Treasures at the beginning of the year are out of print already. Even the most popular fantasy writers in our field — Bradbury, Simak, Kuttner, Asimov, Poul Anderson, and countless others — have fewer titles in print every year. So imagine what it means for a fantasy writer to be consistently in print for the past 165 years. It means a kind of genius that transcends generations. In the Shadow of Edgar Allan Poe: Classic Tales of Horror, 1816-1914 is a new anthology that collects a century of horror from authors whose contributions have been lost in the shadow of one of the finest fantasy writers who ever lived: Edgar Allan Poe.

Edgar Allan Poe did not invent the tale of terror. There were American, English, and Continental writers who preceded Poe and influenced his work. Similarly, there were many who were in turn influenced by Poe’s genius and produced their own popular tales of supernatural literature. This collection features masterful tales of terror by authors who, by and large, are little-remembered for their writing in this genre. Even Bram Stoker, whose Dracula may be said to be the most popular horror novel of all time, is not known as a writer of short fiction.

Distinguished editor Leslie S. Klinger is a world-renowned authority on those twin icons of the Victorian age, Sherlock Holmes, and Dracula. His studies into the forefathers of those giants led him to a broader fascination with writers of supernatural literature of the nineteenth century. The stories in this collection have been selected by him for their impact. Each is preceded by a brief biography of the author and an overview of his or her literary career and is annotated to explain obscure references.

Read on, now, perhaps with a flickering candle or flashlight at hand…

In the Shadow of Edgar Allan Poe: Classic Tales of Horror, 1816-1914 contains stories by Ambrose Bierce, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, Theodor Gautier, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Arthur Conan Doyle, Lafcadio Hearn, M. R. James, Bram Stoker, and many others. It was edited by Leslie S. Klinger and published by Pegasus on October 15, 2015. It is 320 pages, priced at $24.95 in hardcover, and $20.98 for the digital edition. The cover is by Faceout Studio/Charles Brock.

Things Your Writing Teacher Never Told You: A Closer Look at Some POV Styles Commonly Used in Fantasy (Starting with Some Intriguing Uses of 2nd Person)

Things Your Writing Teacher Never Told You: A Closer Look at Some POV Styles Commonly Used in Fantasy (Starting with Some Intriguing Uses of 2nd Person)

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Castle POV

This is Part 3 in the Choosing Your Narrative POV Series.

Most English teachers will tell you there are 3 Point of View (POV) forms: 1st Person, which uses the I pronoun; 2nd Person, which uses the you pronoun; and 3rd Person, which uses the he, she or they pronouns. That’s true, as far as it goes. But like a good jazz improvisation, there are a lot of unique riffs that can be built around these three foundations, often mixing, matching, and masquerading as one of these three forms.

My friend and former co-editor Eric Cherry and I once brainstormed more than 25 POV variations, and realized we could have come up with even more. But over the course of this series of articles, I’m going to highlight and explore eight of them.

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The Charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaklava, October 25, 1854, Part II of II

The Charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaklava, October 25, 1854, Part II of II

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British Hussars attack Russian guns at Balaklava

Read Part I here.

The Charge of the Light Brigade

There were four speeds for the cavalry:

Walk: not to exceed four miles per hour
Trot: not to exceed eight and a half miles per hour
Gallop: eleven miles per hour
Charge: not to exceed the utmost speed of the slowest horse

The Light Brigade started at a walk because the horses could not maintain the charge speed for over a mile. When the first line was well clear of the second, Cardigan ordered “Trot.” The more experienced men knew at that speed it would take them about seven minutes to reach the battery. As they trotted down the valley, ten Russian guns could reach them.

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World Building 101: The Village

World Building 101: The Village

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Terra Incognito A Guide to Building the Worlds of Your Imagination-small

The heroes paraded back into the village, leading their mules laden with treasure liberated from a nearby dungeon. As they entered the small village in the middle of nowhere, they soon split up to take care of their spoils. Three of them met with the local jeweler, presenting him with the choicest gems and fine jewelry they’d acquired on their adventure. The others descended on the local merchants to sell off the more mundane treasures while the sorcerer carried the magic items the party did not need to the convenient wizard’s tower, turning them into useful gold coins. The rogue slipped away to meet with the local guildmaster to make his abeyance and provide him with a cut of the treasure. The guildmaster smiled at the bounty and passed on a list to the rogue for items to search for in his further adventures.

That evening, the sounds of merriment filled the air of the village. A crowd had gathered at the local tavern and the barmaids whirled away from those patrons who became too “inquisitive” as they delivered the mugs of ale and heaping piles of food to those assembled. The female barbarian noted with approval the new bartender was a strapping young man who was returning her admiring looks. Only the poor watchman was left out, standing his lonely guard as he patrolled the streets of the village, staring out into the darkness that hid who knows what.

If you’re like me, that scene sounds awfully familiar. It’s appeared too often in bad fantasy stories, bad fantasy movies, and WAY too many role playing games. “But Rich,” you say, “the party has to have somewhere to spend their treasure. Otherwise, there’s no point in giving it out?”

And my response is, “You’re absolutely right, but for the wrong reasons.” Let me explain what I mean. (Good, otherwise this would be a darn short blog entry – Editor).

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Future Treasures: Weighing Shadows by Lisa Goldstein

Future Treasures: Weighing Shadows by Lisa Goldstein

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Weighing Shadows-smallLisa Goldstein has had a stellar career. Her work has been nominated for the Nebula, Hugo, and World Fantasy Awards, and her first novel, The Red Magician (1982), won the National Book Award. Under her own name she has produced over a dozen books, including The Dream Years (1985), Strange Devices of the Sun and Moon (1993), and Summer King, Winter Fool (1994), and under the name Isabel Glass she’s written two high fantasy novels, Daughter of Exile (2004) and The Divided Crown (2005). Her latest novel, Weighing Shadows, is a time-traveling fantasy that arrives in early November.

Ann Decker fixes computers for a living, and in the evenings she passes the time sharpening her hacking skills. It’s not a very interesting life, but she gets by — until one day she’s contacted with a job offer for a company called Transformations Incorporated. None of her coworkers have ever heard of it before, and when Ann is finally told what the company does, she can hardly believe it: TI has invented technology to travel in time.

Soon Ann is visiting a matriarchy in ancient Crete, and then a woman mathematician at the Library of Alexandria. But Transformations Incorporated remains shrouded in mystery, and when Ann finally catches her breath, there are too many troubling questions still unanswered. Who are Transformations Incorporated, and what will they use this technology to gain? What ill effects might going back in time have on the present day? Is it really as harmless as TI says?

When a coworker turns up dead, Ann’s superiors warn her about a covert group called Core out to sabotage the company. Something just isn’t right, but before she has time to investigate, Ann is sent to a castle in the south of France, nearly a thousand years in the past. As the armies of the Crusade arrive to lay siege, and intrigue grows among the viscount’s family, Ann will discover the startling truth — not just about the company that sent her there, but also about her own past.

Weighing Shadows will be published by Night Shade Books on November 3, 2015. It is 318 pages, priced at $15.99 in both trade paperback and digital formats. The cover is by Cortney Skinner.

October 2015 Nightmare Special Issue: Queers Destroy Horror! Now on Sale

October 2015 Nightmare Special Issue: Queers Destroy Horror! Now on Sale

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Nightmare Magazine Queers Destroy Horror-smallThe October issue of online magazine Nightmare, issue 37, is now available.

This month is a massive special issue, Queers Destroy Horror!, containing far more content than regular issues, but the digital edition is still available for the same low price ($2.99). The issue was funded as a stretch goal of the incredibly successful Queers Destroy Science Fiction! Kickstarter campaign for Lightspeed magazine, which was released in June.

Nightmare 37 an all-horror extravaganza entirely written and edited by queer creators. Guest editor Wendy N. Wagner has assembled new horror from Chuck Palahniuk, Matthew Bright, Sunny Moraine, Alyssa Wong, and Lee Thomas, and reprints by Kelley Eskridge, Caitlin R. Kiernan, and Poppy Z. Brite. There’s also a generous assortment of nonfiction articles edited by Megan Arkenberg, and written by Lucy A. Snyder, Sigrid Ellis, Catherine Lundoff, Michael Matheson, Evan J. Peterson, and Cory Skerry, that take a hard look at queer achievements and challenges in the horror genre. Plus there’s a selection of queer poetry selected by Robyn A. Lupo, and an original cover by AJ Jones.

Like the supermassive Women Destroy Science Fiction! issue of Lightspeed,, the Queers Destroy Science Fiction! special issue of Nightmare is also available in print — as a 198-page trade paperback for $12.99.

Here’s the complete Table of Contents, including the free content on the website, as well as the exclusive paid content available online in the print and ebook editions.

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