Apex Magazine: Issue 38
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About this ebook
Apex Magazine is a monthly science fiction, fantasy, and horror magazine featuring original, mind-bending short fiction from many of the top pros of the field.
Fiction
“The Silk Merchant” by Ken Liu
“Ironheart” by Alec Austin
“Coyote Gets His Own Back” by Sarah Monette
“Wolf Trapping” by Kij Johnson
Nonfiction
“Editorial: Blood on Vellum” by Lynne M. Thomas
“What It Is We Miss When We Don’t Read Fanzines” by Christopher J. Garcia
“An Interview with Kij Johnson” by Maggie Slater
A 2012 Hugo Award nominee for Best Semiprozine!
Cover art “Blue Horizon” by Bruce Holwerda.
Apex Magazine is edited by Hugo Award-winning editor Lynne M. Thomas.
Read more from Lynne M. Thomas
Apex Magazine: Issue 37 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsApex Magazine: Issue 50 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Glitter & Mayhem Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Apex Magazine: Issue 52 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Apex Magazine: Issue 42 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsApex Magazine: Issue 49 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsApex Magazine: Issue 34 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsApex Magazine: Issue 47 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsApex Magazine: Issue 48 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsApex Magazine: Issue 31 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsApex Magazine: Issue 33 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsApex Magazine: Issue 53 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Apex Magazine: Issue 46 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsApex Magazine: Issue 55 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsApex Magazine: Issue 32 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsApex Magazine: Issue 54 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsApex Magazine: Issue 40 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsApex Magazine: Issue 30 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsApex Magazine: Issue 51 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Apex Magazine: Issue 44 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsApex Magazine: Issue 36 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsApex Magazine: Issue 35 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsApex Magazine: Issue 41 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Apex Magazine: Issue 43 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsApex Magazine: Issue 45 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsApex Magazine: Issue 39 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
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Apex Magazine - Lynne M. Thomas
Copyrights and Acknowledgments
Blood on Vellum: Notes from the Editor-in-Chief
Copyright 2012 by Lynne M. Thomas
The Silk Merchant
Copyright 2012 by Ken Liu
Ironheart
Copyright 2012 by Alec Austin
Coyote Gets His Own Back
Copyright 2012 by Sarah Monette
Wolf Trapping
Copyright 1989 by Kij Johnson (Originally appeared in The Twilight Zone Magazine, April 1989)
What It Is We Miss When We Don’t Read Fanzines
Copyright 2012 by Christopher J. Garcia
An Interview with Kij Johnson
Copyright 2012 by Maggie Slater
Publisher—Jason Sizemore
Editor-in-Chief—Lynne M. Thomas
Senior Editor—Gill Ainsworth
Managing Editor—Damian Taylor
Slush Editors—Zakaraya Anwar, Deanna Knippling, Olga Zelenova, George Galuschak, Sigrid Ellis, Andy Arnold, Travis Knight, Michael Matheson, Eileen Maksym, and Kelly Lagor
Graphic Designer—Justin Stewart
ISSN: 2157-1406
Apex Publications
PO Box 24323
Lexington, KY 40524
Please visit our website at http://www.apex-magazine.com.
Smashwords Edition
Each new issue of Apex Magazine is released the first Tuesday of the month. Single issues are available for $2.99. Subscriptions are available for twelve months and cost $19.95.
Cover Art Blue Horizon
By Bruce Holwerda
I consider myself a painter first, although I think I’ve tried most of the traditional mediums throughout my art career. Somehow, I keep returning to paint. I grew up in a rural community in western Michigan where art wasn’t even on the radar. I was very fortunate to have a supportive art teacher in high school and with his encouragement I developed a fascination with drawing and creative projects. After high school, I went to Kendall School of Design in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where I got my diploma in Illustration. I continued on to Syracuse University to complete my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. Finally out of school, I found work as an illustrator in Saginaw, Michigan and my fascination with new and exciting assignments grew. Eventually, that position was phased out and I started exhibiting work at local art festivals. Seventeen years later I am still traveling and exhibiting all over the country, while working from my home in central Alabama. I’m lucky that my working life allows me to realize the surreal fantasy subjects that I love to paint for an audience that seems to appreciate the effort.
You can see my paintings at http://www.bruceholwerda.com, in Spectrum 13, 16, and 18, also at artistaday.com, and the J2Gallery in Chicago, or you may catch me on the road in a show near you.
Table of Contents
Editorial
Blood on Vellum: Words from the Editor-in-Chief
Lynne M. Thomas
Fiction
The Silk Merchant
Ken Liu
Ironheart
Alec Austin
Coyote Gets His Own Back
Sarah Monette
Wolf Trapping
Kij Johnson
Nonfiction
What It Is Miss When We Don’t Read Fanzines
Christopher J. Garcia
An Interview with Kij Johnson
Maggie Slater
Blood on Vellum: Notes from the Editor-in-Chief
Welcome to issue 38. It is my great pleasure to bring you some stunning fiction this month.
In our three new stories, Ken Liu weaves a tragic tale of love, theft, and loss in The Silk Merchants.
Alec Austin humanizes steampunk zombies (yes, steampunk zombies) in Ironheart.
Sarah Monette brings coyote justice in Coyote Gets His Own Back.
Our classic revisited comes from Kij Johnson this month. Wolf Trapping
was originally published in Twilight Zone. Kij has a short story collection coming out from Small Beer Press this month; you can read more about it, along with her thoughts on writing, editorial process, and the teaching of writing, in her interview with Maggie Slater
Award-winning fanzine editor Christopher J. Garcia explains exactly what we’re all missing out on if we don’t read fanzines. Our cover this month is by the fantastic Bruce Holwerda.
We are very excited about going to WorldCon and the Hugo Awards Ceremony as first-time nominees for Best Semiprozine over Labor Day weekend in Chicago. We are deeply grateful for all of your support and hope to see you there!
You may see printed Apex Magazine samplers in the wild at conventions, with fiction from Elizabeth Bear and Sarah Monette, an essay from Jim C. Hines, and an interview with Maureen McHugh. If you would like a free eBook copy of the Sampler, it is available here: http://apex-magazine.com/sampler-issue. In the meantime, I hope that you enjoy this issue of Apex Magazine.
Lynne M. Thomas
Editor-in-Chief
Apex Magazine
The Silk Merchant
Ken Liu
My father lay dying on the cot, one of many in this draughty poorhouse. His lips trembled in the weak light of the distant fireplace. He was trying to speak, but the moans and groans, the uneasy snores and dream-speech, of all the other men on other cots around us drowned out his voice.
I looked at his alcohol-wasted body, angry and disgusted. This man had pawned my mother’s jewels and mortgaged our house, and put all our savings into a trading caravan to the distant island of Arecima to acquire the legendary shimmer silk, supposedly the finest silk in the world.
Only one member of the caravan returned alive, a boy. He had brought back nothing but the rags on his body and a head full of ghosts only he could see.
When he was pressed for what had happened to the others, he grew excited, laughed,