Jason Sanford

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.

Plague Birds

S. Qiouyi Lu

Alexander Weinstein

David Erik Nelson

Sarah Pinsker

E. Lily Yu

Nino Cipri

Kelly Robson

Darcie Little Badger

Suzanne Palmer

Jamie Wahls

Samantha Mills

Amman Sabet

Vin Jie-Min Prasad

What would you do if your tiny collective of bots suddenly mutinied? Would you find bioprinted meat delicious, even after it was signed by the artist? Is an eleven second attention-span enough to bond with a cryogenically-revived tourist? Would you sell your native language just to send your daughter to college? The avant garde of science fiction has appeared, arriving via time machines and portals that may or may not work properly. In this space-age sequel to award-winning anthology, The New Voices of Fantasy, The New Voices of Science Fiction has launched the rising stars of the last five years of science fiction, including Rebecca Roanhorse, Amal El-Mohtar, Alice Sola Kim, Sam J. Miller, E. Lily Yu, Rich Larson, Vina Jie-Min Prasad, Sarah Pinsker, Darcie Little Badger, S. Qiouyi Lu, Kelly Robson, Suzanne Palmer, Nino Cipri, and more. Their wide-ranging tales were hand-selected by cutting-edge author Hannu Rajaniemi (The Quantum Thief) and genre expert Jacob Weisman (Invaders). So go ahead, join the interstellar revolution. The new kids hotwired the AI.

The New Voices of Science Fiction

Lucy A. Snyder

Jaymee Goh

Kate Sheeran Swed

Regina N. Bradley

Michelle Mellon

Alisa Alering

Em Liu

Danian Darrell Jerry

M. R. Herbert

Fireside Quarterly Autumn 2020

Sam J. Miller

Rich Larson

Vina Jie-Min Prasad

In this daring anthology of cutting-edge short stories, new science fiction luminaries including Rebecca Roanhorse, Amal El-Mohtar, and Sam J. Miller, are showcased with the rising stars that are transforming their genre. Discover exciting writers who are already out of this world, in this space-age sequel to the 2018 World Fantasy Award-winning anthology, The New Voices of Fantasy. [STARRED REVIEW] “Superlative.” —Publishers Weekly Your future is bright! After all, your mother is a robot, your father has joined the alien hive-mind, and your dinner will be counterfeit 3D-printed steak. Even though your worker bots have staged a mutiny, and your tour guide speaks only in memes, you can always sell your native language if you need some extra cash. In The New Voices of Science Fiction, you’ll find the rising stars of the last five years: Rebecca Roanhorse, Amal El-Mohtar, Alice Sola Kim, E. Lily Yu, Rich Larson, Vina Jie-Min Prasad, Sarah Pinsker, Darcie Little Badger, Nino Cipri, S. Qiouyi Lu, Kelly Robson, and more. These extraordinary stories have been hand-selected by cutting-edge and award-winning author Hannu Rajaniemi (The Quantum Thief, Summerland) and genre expert, World Fantasy Award winner, Jacob Weisman (Invaders, The Sword & Sorcery Anthology). So go ahead, join the interstellar revolution. The new kids already hacked the AI. “These authors show us the new new things, from global cataclysms to personal transformations that get us lost in entirely unprecedented landscapes. They are here to wake us, by giving us new waking dreams. Read them, and be changed.” —Hannu Rajaniemi, editor

Christina Henry

Stephen Graham Jones

Peter Tieryas

Nisi Shawl

Kelley Armstrong

Kaaron Warren

Nicholas Kaufmann

Hillary Monahan

Lee Murray

Kenesha Williams

Linda D Addison

LEANNA RENEE HIEBER

Errick Nunnally

Angela Yuriko Smith

DANA CAMERON

What if a young girl had the power to stop her tyrannical father from battering her mother ever again?What if a student had a secret weapon to end sexual assault by her predatory professor permanently?What if a housewife had unusual means to get back at her controlling husband and walk away from her marriage alive?In Giving the Devil His Due, the Pixel Project's first charity anthology, sixteen acclaimed fantasy, science fiction, and horror authors take readers on an unforgettable journey to alternative worlds where men who abuse and murder women and girls meet their comeuppance in uncanny ways.Featuring stories from Stephen Graham Jones, Christina Henry, Peter Tieryas, Kelley Armstrong, Linda D. Addison, Hillary Monahan, and more, Giving the Devil His Due presents sixteen stories that will make you think about the importance of justice for the victims of gender-based violence, how rare this justice is in our own world, and why we need to end violence against women once and for all.

Giving the Devil His Due: Special Edition

Tenea D. Johnson

Rachel Swirsky

Ken MacGregor

Joelle Wellington

Rose Keating

Maggie Slater

D. Thomas Minton

Jared Millet

Yohanca Delgado

Maria Dong

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

Apex Magazine Issue 125

Jason Sanford

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