It has taken me a while, but I've finally finished Apex 9. At first, I was pacing myself, trying hard not to run out of reading material and making sure I studied before diving into anything else. Afterwards, shit happened. I got a bad neck-ache which made a weird tingling sensation tickle down my arms and fingers. I knew this happened, but I never thought the feeling was quite this impressive. I discovered sitting at the computer worsened it, so I stayed off the keyboard (and off my pdf issue of Apex) until it went away. That's when the internet went to hell.
Anyway, I've finished Apex issue 9 and wanted to share some of my findings.
Pyramus and Thisbe by Jeremy Adam Smith is the kind of story that stays with you. I'm not entirely sure if this is all good, a big part of it is the "what the fu..?" feeling. Pyramous is a robot, Thisbe is human, everything else reads like a Reinascence alternative history or fantasy. The language is beautiful and anyone who mixes SF and Fantasy gets extra credit in my book. It is certainly a memorable story, however unclear and the ending is chilling.
Sufficiently Advanced by Bev Vincent started off with an interesting premise: an astronaut is ship-wrecked in a planet where primitive natives teleport without thinking about it twice. It goes downhill from there, however, playing off the theme that "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic". The story is ok, but I feel a bit let down because the beginning was so cleverly drawn.
Rob D. Smith's Don't Show Your Teeth is about people who take their collections too seriously. Seriously too seriously. Like that guy we all know who hits on you with a phrase from Star Trek. Ok, that's not so bad. But you get me.
The story is straight funny horror and it does its job. There's not much here to distinguish it from other horror pieces, but it's competently written and entertaining. And yes, a good hint to send to that friend who splurges his salary on comic books and Dracula teeth replicas.
Cain XP11: The Voice of Thy Brother's Blood by Geoffrey Girard. The first part of this story appears in Apex 9, but since the rest is due in later issues, I'll save my critique until I read the whole story. So far it looks very good.
Poppet's Left Impression is a poem by Brandy Shawn. I don't usually dig poetry unless it's by Lorca and this is no exception, but, of course, that's not saying much, is it? I'll simply refrain from critting poetry from now on.
Apex Parting Shot is Sonorus by Paul Abbamondi. The second person POV works well in this simple horror story about you when you find a musical instrument in the woods.
All in all, issue 9 surprises and delivers. My nightmares are a lot more interesting since I started reading Apex. I never suscribe to anything (because I can't commit to mags), but issue 9 was the last push I needed and I have now, for the first time ever, declared my fidelity (at least for a year) to Apex Digest
domingo, 24 de junio de 2007
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4 comentarios:
ah, you started doing reviews too? excellent! heh, maybe I shouldn't stop doing full reviews then.
I'm thinking about an Apex subscription too, seems like a solid mag.
Anway, main reason I'm here is that I read your comment and replied. Blogger doesn't seem to let people know when a comment you leave on someone else's blog gets replied to (at least I haven't figured it out).
Thanks for leaving a comment, appreciate it
Hi David,
I wouldn't call what I do "writing reviews". I've written one and I only plan to write reviews of stuff that tickles me, either in a good way or in a shit-this-is-boring way. There's too much tepid stuff out there for me to waste my time reviewing.
But that's just like me. I totally admire people who do review (or slush, or other stuff that helps writers and readers but which I would never bother with) and I do wish you'd keep up the reviews.
hmm, I'll think about it. If I do decide to keep doing full reviews, I'll make you a deal:
if I end up pissing off half the publishing world, and you stay clean and quiet and become rich and famous, you'll have to support me with a couple of handouts now and then. Deal?
Hmm, support you?
Well, the Hipoccratic oath, which I'm supposed to swear in September, talks about supporting your teacher in his old age. Unfortunately for you, it means Medical teacher and I doubt it applies to other disciplines.
Besides, it also forbids stuff like using surgery to extract stones from the bladder, or seducing someone's wife or daughter under the cover of being their doctor. So, the Hipoccratic oath, as far as I'm concerned, is no fun, misogynist and anti-surgery (and three hundred years old, for crissake), and I plan to swear it with my fingers crossed (if at all)
I doubt doing reviews will hurt your career, but I'd be the last person to advise you to do something you don't feel like doing. You could let authors know that you won't review them if they don't want to (that goes for the good reviews too, no cheating!) and you can ignore those poor wankers and stick to the rest.
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