Welcome to Apex Magazine issue 148!
I can’t believe we’re already living in 2025. Where has the time gone? As you probably know, Apex is going to be a little different this year. We were only able to fund four issues through our last Kickstarter, and while I am incredibly sad about that, I’m also determined to make those four issues amazing! I already have fantastic fiction scheduled for the second and fourth issues, and the third issue (releasing in July) will feature all previously unpublished authors. But before we look too far into the future, let’s focus on the issue you’re currently reading.
I never set out to publish an issue with an agenda … but fiction, especially speculative fiction, is inherently political. It is a reflection and a reaction to the world around us, and anyone who tries to shame an author or publication for being too “political” is missing the point. I’m not saying that running to fiction to give yourself a small reprieve from reality is a bad thing—I do it all the time—but even those momentary escapes are wrapped in the authors’ reactions to the world around them.
For many of us in the United States, we are entering a year fraught with uncertainty. The political environment is hostile to the very idea of who we are, and at this point, we aren’t sure if we’re safe, if our neighbors would stand up for us, or if there is a system that can protect us. A lot of Americans are afraid, if not for themselves, then for someone they love, because while we don’t know exactly what will happen over the next four years, we do know that personal choice and self-actualization is being stripped away. In their own way, every story in this issue reflects this.
We open the issue with Lindz McLeod’s “One by One.” Lindz is quickly becoming one of my favorite writers. From her first Apex appearance with “The Immortal Game,” to her novella Sunbathers, to this story, she continually impresses me. Set in the 90s, “One by One” opens with Evie realizing that her best friend Jamie has disappeared. Not only has Jamie disappeared, but no one except Evie seems to remember that Jamie ever existed. As the story unfolds and more people disappear, Evie grapples with the grief of losing her best friend and the dawning realization that she may also disappear. This story is terrifying and heartbreaking as the reader comes to realize who is disappearing. Being wiped from the Earth, not only physically but also from the minds of everyone who cared about you, not for something that you did or for something that you can change, but because of who you are is truly unsettling. This story is breathtaking and has made me tear up every time I’ve read it.
“Jackie and Xīng Forever,” by Wil Magness, takes place in a middleworld only inhabited by the two title characters. They come from very different realities, but a technology called Access Points allows them to enter into an alternate dimension with bright green grass, rolling hills, and a small farmhouse. Jackie is from a reality that resembles our own—economic hardships, capitalism, wars. In comparison, Xīng’s world seems like a utopia. He works only 90 minutes a day, has a waterfall in his office, and there is a drink he can take to keep himself from aging. Though they come from completely different realities, the two grow close as they spend time together in their middleworld. But being close to someone doesn’t mean you know what they need or want, and one grand gesture turns this sci-fi story into a horror.
Allison Thai’s story “A Ten Thousand Year Survey into Seven Stomachs of an Ishta” has an absolutely massive scope. Between creating a new world, alien lifeforms, a mercenary with a rich backstory, and a mission that takes our main character, Ronit Weiss, literally inside a giant lifeform, it’s hard to believe that you’re reading a story less than 6,000 words long rather than a novel. With the help of a worm living inside her head, Ronit delves into the digestive tract of an Ishta, a creature that lives incredibly long lives. Little is known about them because anyone who gets close enough to study the Ishta get swallowed. This story is part sci-fi exploration of lifeforms on alien planets and part internal exploration of what drives a person to put themselves in dangerous situations over and over again. In the end, the risks that Ronit takes may become insurmountable.
Finally we have “I found an old god in the woods” by Monte Lin. As with the other original fiction pieces in this issue, this beautiful flash piece deals with a fundamental change in the narrator’s life, but unlike the other stories, this is a chosen change. This story gives back the agency that is stripped from the characters in the other stories featured in this issue. It is told in a lyrical voice that feels like poetry and is a lovely way to close out the original fiction this issue.
Our flash fiction this month is about family, grief, and loss. For our liminality theme, Colton Kekoa Neves brings us “Halfway Alive, Halfway Living,” a heart-wrenching story about a mother who is literally falling apart, and the burden that places on her child. For our vacuum cleaner theme, Abigail Kemske’s “Someone to Feed You” is also about motherhood and the struggle to adapt to the loss of a child.
Our nonfiction selections are by Zin E. Rocklyn and Rob Cameron. Zin’s piece is a raw and emotional look at her own pregnancy loss and her difficult relationship with her mother. It isn’t an easy read, but it’s one I believe is incredibly important. In Rob’s essay, he lays out the differences between solarpunk and cyberpunk, and why solarpunk—with its inherently hopeful attitude—can help buoy the spirit and keep us moving forward.
Marissa van Uden interviews Lindz McLeod and Allison Thai, delving into the nitty gritty of their stories, their writing habits, and good causes they choose to support. Bradley Powers interviews our cover artist Vibhav Singh. A.C. Wise is back with her short fiction review column Words for Thought, and Leah Ning and I reviewed books by Roanne Lau and Sam Asher.
The reprints in this issue are by Russell Nichols and Amal Singh. Back in 2019, Jason Sizemore and I co-edited an anthology of resistance and defiance called Do Not Go Quietly. Russell Nichols’s story “Rage Against the Venting Machine” was originally published in that anthology and it felt right to reprint that story now. If you want more stories about fighting back, be sure to check out the entire collection. I’m incredibly proud of the book Jason and I put together. I queried Amal about a reprint after scheduling our cover art. Artist Vibhav Singh is Amal’s brother, and I couldn’t pass up having two such talented siblings together in one issue. I hope you enjoy his story “Notes from a Pyre.”
Over the next few months you may notice me asking for direct subscribers a bit more than usual. As I mentioned at the beginning of this editorial, there will only four issues of Apex Magazine in 2025. Yes, we’re planning to run another Kickstarter, but my hope is to build up our subscriber base so that we don’t need to ask for as much during our Kickstarter to fund six issues for 2026. If you enjoy Apex Magazine and believe that we add value to the speculative fiction publishing field, then please consider picking up a subscription. Every subscriber helps us keep going.
Until next time,
Lesley Conner
Editor-in-Chief
Apex Magazine
