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Apex Magazine #121
Apex Magazine Issue 121
ORIGINAL FICTION
- Root Rot by Fargo Tbakhi
- Your Own Undoing by P H Lee
- Love, That Hungry Thing by Cassandra Khaw
- Mr. Death by Alix E. Harrow
- The Niddah by Elana Gomel
- Gray Skies, Red Wings, Blue Lips, Black Hearts by Merc Fenn Wolfmoor
HOLIDAY HORRORS FLASH FICTION WINNER
- All I Want for Christmas by Charles Payseur
CLASSIC FICTION
- The Ace of Knives by Tonya Liburd
- Roots on Ya by LH Moore
INTERVIEWS
- Interview with Author Fargo Tbakhi by Andrea Johnson
- Interview with Author P H Lee by Andrea Johnson
- Interview with Cover Artist Vicki Be Wicked by Russell Dickerson
NONFICTION
- Story-less: A Forethought by Usman T. Malik
- Trapped in Stories by Malka Older
- Words for Thought: Short Fiction Review by AC Wise
Cover art by Vicki Be Wicked.
- Root Rot by Fargo Tbakhi
- Your Own Undoing by P H Lee
- Love, That Hungry Thing by Cassandra Khaw
- Mr. Death by Alix E. Harrow
- The Niddah by Elana Gomel
- Gray Skies, Red Wings, Blue Lips, Black Hearts by Merc Fenn Wolfmoor
HOLIDAY HORRORS FLASH FICTION WINNER
- All I Want for Christmas by Charles Payseur
CLASSIC FICTION
- The Ace of Knives by Tonya Liburd
- Roots on Ya by LH Moore
INTERVIEWS
- Interview with Author Fargo Tbakhi by Andrea Johnson
- Interview with Author P H Lee by Andrea Johnson
- Interview with Cover Artist Vicki Be Wicked by Russell Dickerson
NONFICTION
- Story-less: A Forethought by Usman T. Malik
- Trapped in Stories by Malka Older
- Words for Thought: Short Fiction Review by AC Wise
Cover art by Vicki Be Wicked.
190 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 2, 2021
4 people are currently reading
550 people want to read
About the author
Jason Sizemore
120 books116 followersI was born the son of an unemployed coal miner in a tiny Kentucky Appalachian villa named Big Creek (population 400). It’s an isolated area with beautiful rolling hills, thick forests, and country folk. I lived in Big Creek until I went to college, spending my weekends cruising the Winn Dixie parking lot of ladies, partying in my cousin’s run-down three room trailer, and being a member of the bad-ass Clay County High School Academic Team.
College was quite a shock for me. Girls! Minorities! Strip clubs! And it didn’t help that I attended Transylvania University, a fairly snotty (but excellent) private college in Lexington, KY (on scholarship… no way my family could have sent me otherwise). I graduated in the standard four years with a degree in Computer Science.
Since 1996, I’ve worked for evil corporations (IBM), dot com dreamers (eCampus.com), The Man (both city and state government), and for The Kids (KY Dept. of Education), and assholes (lots and lots of assholes).
In 2004, I decided my life was boring, that I no longer needed disposable income, and I needed to increase my stress levels. I started Apex Publications, a small press publisher of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. At first it was just a small print zine, then a pro-level online zine, then books, and then ebooks.
I edit anthologies, mostly for Apex (because I’m a control freak). I occasionally do copy editing (when pressed) and have done plenty of acquisition editing over the years.
I also write. I don’t really write enough to leave a mark, but it seems to go well when I do put pen to paper.
Miscellaneous facts about me: left-handed, blue eyes, super geeky, hillbilly accent, near-sighted, and typically in a goofy mood.
Also, and most importantly, I’m not the drunkard all those Facebook photos makes me out to be. It just happens that cameras are always around when I… have libations. Honest!
College was quite a shock for me. Girls! Minorities! Strip clubs! And it didn’t help that I attended Transylvania University, a fairly snotty (but excellent) private college in Lexington, KY (on scholarship… no way my family could have sent me otherwise). I graduated in the standard four years with a degree in Computer Science.
Since 1996, I’ve worked for evil corporations (IBM), dot com dreamers (eCampus.com), The Man (both city and state government), and for The Kids (KY Dept. of Education), and assholes (lots and lots of assholes).
In 2004, I decided my life was boring, that I no longer needed disposable income, and I needed to increase my stress levels. I started Apex Publications, a small press publisher of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. At first it was just a small print zine, then a pro-level online zine, then books, and then ebooks.
I edit anthologies, mostly for Apex (because I’m a control freak). I occasionally do copy editing (when pressed) and have done plenty of acquisition editing over the years.
I also write. I don’t really write enough to leave a mark, but it seems to go well when I do put pen to paper.
Miscellaneous facts about me: left-handed, blue eyes, super geeky, hillbilly accent, near-sighted, and typically in a goofy mood.
Also, and most importantly, I’m not the drunkard all those Facebook photos makes me out to be. It just happens that cameras are always around when I… have libations. Honest!
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 179 reviews
September 18, 2022
Alix Harrow already wrote a perfect short story, and here she is delivering another lovely one.
Sam works as a Junior Reaper with the Department of Death. Just another job where you help the souls cross the River. But for a guy who years ago lost his young son, there are job assignments that may just be too much to handle.
To me, Alix Harrow’s strength is in short stories. Her longer works are not bad, but it’s in the concise short story form where she can shine.
It’s a story about grief that comes from losing a child. Pain and regret and need to fix things. It’s sad and sweet and touching. A little too neat of an ending, sure, but it doesn’t quite feel unearned, although I’m not quite sure what it says about acceptance of inevitable versus fighting the odds. Still sweet though.
(But I gotta say: I already dislike the idea of content warnings. Reading doesn’t always need to be comfortable. I can understand “big” things, but that’s what this story comes with: “CONTENT WARNING: Cancer, Death of a child, Death or dying, Tobacco Use”. Some of these things are not like the others. Spot an outlier. And perhaps if we are too emotionally fragile to handle a mention of a cigarette in a story, we need help indeed. Yeah, this content warning misses the point even more than usual.)
4 stars.
Read it here: https://apex-magazine.com/short-ficti...
——————
Also posted on my blog.
Sam works as a Junior Reaper with the Department of Death. Just another job where you help the souls cross the River. But for a guy who years ago lost his young son, there are job assignments that may just be too much to handle.
“Lawrence Harper doesn’t have a race car bed, thank God. Instead he has a twin mattress on the floor of his parents’ single-wide. He also has: a Spiderman blanket that smells like a thrift store, dusty and flowery; a plastic Buzz Lightyear clutched in one sweaty fist; reddish hair, skim milk skin; a heart that will fail in approximately eleven hours and twelve minutes; and a soul that shines like a comet streaking across the last midnight of summer.”
To me, Alix Harrow’s strength is in short stories. Her longer works are not bad, but it’s in the concise short story form where she can shine.
It’s a story about grief that comes from losing a child. Pain and regret and need to fix things. It’s sad and sweet and touching. A little too neat of an ending, sure, but it doesn’t quite feel unearned, although I’m not quite sure what it says about acceptance of inevitable versus fighting the odds. Still sweet though.
“Not because I’m a heartless bastard; they don’t recruit heartless bastards to comfort the dead and ferry their souls across the last river. They look for people whose hearts are vast and scarred, like old battlefields overgrown with poppies and saplings. People who know how to weep and keep working, who have lost everything except their compassion.”
(But I gotta say: I already dislike the idea of content warnings. Reading doesn’t always need to be comfortable. I can understand “big” things, but that’s what this story comes with: “CONTENT WARNING: Cancer, Death of a child, Death or dying, Tobacco Use”. Some of these things are not like the others. Spot an outlier. And perhaps if we are too emotionally fragile to handle a mention of a cigarette in a story, we need help indeed. Yeah, this content warning misses the point even more than usual.)
4 stars.
Read it here: https://apex-magazine.com/short-ficti...
——————
Also posted on my blog.
March 19, 2021
I read the short story "Mr. Death" because I’m pretty much interested in everything Alix Harrow writes. I wasn’t expecting to have to hide my face so my husband wouldn’t ask me why I was crying.
Sam Grayson, who died at age 44 from lung cancer, was offered an alternative to crossing the river of death into the great beyond. His reaper, Raz, offers him a job as a Junior Reaper with the Department of Death. It becomes Sam's job to escort the souls of people who have died across the river where they disperse and become part of the endless cosmos of love.
Though it can be a tough job, all goes well with Sam until he's given the job of overseeing the death of Lawrence Harper, who is only 2 1/2 years old, and suffers from an undiagnosed heart ailment. And Sam has never really recovered from the death of his own son Ian at a young age.
Deeply touching, and I definitely recommend it. Read it here: https://apex-magazine.com/mr-death/
Bonus: The title "Mr. Death" refers to a poem by e.e. cummings called "Buffalo Bill's":
Buffalo Bill’s
defunct
Mister Death
Content advisory: several F-bombs.
Sam Grayson, who died at age 44 from lung cancer, was offered an alternative to crossing the river of death into the great beyond. His reaper, Raz, offers him a job as a Junior Reaper with the Department of Death. It becomes Sam's job to escort the souls of people who have died across the river where they disperse and become part of the endless cosmos of love.
Though it can be a tough job, all goes well with Sam until he's given the job of overseeing the death of Lawrence Harper, who is only 2 1/2 years old, and suffers from an undiagnosed heart ailment. And Sam has never really recovered from the death of his own son Ian at a young age.
Deeply touching, and I definitely recommend it. Read it here: https://apex-magazine.com/mr-death/
Bonus: The title "Mr. Death" refers to a poem by e.e. cummings called "Buffalo Bill's":
Buffalo Bill’s
defunct
who used toand break onetwothreefourfive pigeonsjustlikethat
ride a watersmooth-silverstallion
he was a handsome manJesus
how do you like your blue-eyed boyand what i want to know is
Mister Death
Content advisory: several F-bombs.
January 1, 2022
WELCOME TO DECEMBER PROJECT!
this explanation/intro will be posted before each day’s short story. scroll down to get to the story-review.
this is the SIXTH year of me doing a short story advent calendar as my december project. for those of you new to me or this endeavor, here’s the skinny: every day in december, i will be reading a short story that is 1) available free somewhere on internet, and 2) listed on goodreads as its own discrete entity. there will be links provided for those of you who like to read (or listen to) short stories for free, and also for those of you who have wildly overestimated how many books you can read in a year and are freaking out about not meeting your 2020 reading-challenge goals. i have been gathering links all year when tasty little tales have popped into my feed, but i will also accept additional suggestions, as long as they meet my aforementioned 1), 2) standards.
GR has deleted the pages for several of the stories i've read in previous years without warning, leaving me with a bunch of missing reviews and broken links, which makes me feel shitty. i have tried to restore the ones i could, but my to-do list is already a ball of nightmares, so that's still a work-in-progress. however, because i don't have a lot of time to waste, i'm not going to bother writing much in the way of reviews for these, in case GR decides to scrap 'em again.
i am doing my best.
merry merry.
DECEMBER 2: MR. DEATH - ALIX HARROW
i have read a lot of stories about humans—either before or after their deaths—assuming the roles and functions usually attributed to supernatural entities like capital-d death (or in this case, capital-r reaper), but this one is particularly well-executed, which is unsurprising, considering my alix-harrow-shaped readerheart. i am no sentimentalist, and ordinarily this premise—a reaper struggling with the directive to ferry the soul of a two-year-old boy into the afterlife, having conflicted feels about it because of the too-early death of his own son—wouldn't be my thing, being far too intent on its ham-fisted heartstring-tugging agenda for me to respect it.
and yet.
although it didn't make me weep (or even mist up SORRY I AM ROBOT), from a purely critical standpoint, it hits all of its storytelling beats successfully (BEEP BOOP), and its ending is a perfect combo of closure and surprise.
if anyone knows if she has any more stories that qualify for this project, send 'em my way plz.
read it for free here
THE STORIES:
DECEMBER 1: NIGHT STAND - DANIEL WOODRELL
DECEMBER 3: THE FRUIT OF MY WOMAN - HAN KANG
DECEMBER 4: THE TINDER BOX - KATE ELLIOTT
DECEMBER 5: BABYCAKES - NEIL GAIMAN
DECEMBER 6: HIS MIDDLE NAME WAS NOT JESUS - NOVIOLET BULAWYO
DECEMBER 7: SING A SONG OF SIXPENCE - LILLI CARRÉ
DECEMBER 8: DARK TIDE - MARK LAWRENCE
DECEMBER 9: DARKER TIDE - MARK LAWRENCE
DECEMBER 10: BREAK - MISHELL BAKER
DECEMBER 11: A RUMOR OF ANGELS - DALE BAILEY
DECEMBER 12: THE ENGLISHMAN - DOUGLAS STUART
DECEMBER 13: IT CAME FROM CRUDEN FARM - MAX BARRY
DECEMBER 14: NO MOON AND FLAT CALM - ELIZABETH BEAR
DECEMBER 15: A STUDY IN SHADOWS - BENJAMIN PERCY
DECEMBER 16: ART APPRECIATION - FIONA MCFARLANE
DECEMBER 17: THE SOUND OF FOOTSTEPS - SILVIA MORENO-GARCIA
DECEMBER 18: WE HAVEN'T GOT THERE YET - HARRY TURTLEDOVE
DECEMBER 19: THE DUNE - STEPHEN KING
DECEMBER 20: THE WORTHINGTON - EMILY CARROLL
DECEMBER 21: SUNBLEACHED - NATHAN BALLINGRUD
DECEMBER 22: BLOOD DAUGHTER - MATTHEW LYONS
DECEMBER 23: THE LINE - AMOR TOWLES
DECEMBER 24: PIGEONS - NIBEDITA SEN
DECEMBER 25: WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED, WHAT WE WILL FORGET, WHAT WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO FORGET - EUGENE LIM
DECEMBER 26: ONE/ZERO - KATHLEEN ANN GOONAN
DECEMBER 27: MATINEE - ROBERT COOVER
DECEMBER 28: ACCESS - ANDY WEIR
DECEMBER 29: UNNECESSARY THINGS - TATYANA TOLSTAYA
DECEMBER 30: HOOK - DANIELLE MCLAUGHLIN
DECEMBER 31: HE'S VERY WELL READ - CATHERINE LACEY
previous years' advent calendars (what's left of 'em):
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
come to my blog!
this explanation/intro will be posted before each day’s short story. scroll down to get to the story-review.
this is the SIXTH year of me doing a short story advent calendar as my december project. for those of you new to me or this endeavor, here’s the skinny: every day in december, i will be reading a short story that is 1) available free somewhere on internet, and 2) listed on goodreads as its own discrete entity. there will be links provided for those of you who like to read (or listen to) short stories for free, and also for those of you who have wildly overestimated how many books you can read in a year and are freaking out about not meeting your 2020 reading-challenge goals. i have been gathering links all year when tasty little tales have popped into my feed, but i will also accept additional suggestions, as long as they meet my aforementioned 1), 2) standards.
GR has deleted the pages for several of the stories i've read in previous years without warning, leaving me with a bunch of missing reviews and broken links, which makes me feel shitty. i have tried to restore the ones i could, but my to-do list is already a ball of nightmares, so that's still a work-in-progress. however, because i don't have a lot of time to waste, i'm not going to bother writing much in the way of reviews for these, in case GR decides to scrap 'em again.
i am doing my best.
merry merry.
DECEMBER 2: MR. DEATH - ALIX HARROW
I’ve been seen before, but not often. For most people I’m a prickle at their hairline, a smudged not-quite-reflection in the mirror behind them, a strange and unwelcome awareness of their heartbeats in their ears. Reapers are the reason fewer people board doomed flights and good dogs sometimes bark at nothing.
i have read a lot of stories about humans—either before or after their deaths—assuming the roles and functions usually attributed to supernatural entities like capital-d death (or in this case, capital-r reaper), but this one is particularly well-executed, which is unsurprising, considering my alix-harrow-shaped readerheart. i am no sentimentalist, and ordinarily this premise—a reaper struggling with the directive to ferry the soul of a two-year-old boy into the afterlife, having conflicted feels about it because of the too-early death of his own son—wouldn't be my thing, being far too intent on its ham-fisted heartstring-tugging agenda for me to respect it.
and yet.
although it didn't make me weep (or even mist up SORRY I AM ROBOT), from a purely critical standpoint, it hits all of its storytelling beats successfully (BEEP BOOP), and its ending is a perfect combo of closure and surprise.
if anyone knows if she has any more stories that qualify for this project, send 'em my way plz.
read it for free here
THE STORIES:
DECEMBER 1: NIGHT STAND - DANIEL WOODRELL
DECEMBER 3: THE FRUIT OF MY WOMAN - HAN KANG
DECEMBER 4: THE TINDER BOX - KATE ELLIOTT
DECEMBER 5: BABYCAKES - NEIL GAIMAN
DECEMBER 6: HIS MIDDLE NAME WAS NOT JESUS - NOVIOLET BULAWYO
DECEMBER 7: SING A SONG OF SIXPENCE - LILLI CARRÉ
DECEMBER 8: DARK TIDE - MARK LAWRENCE
DECEMBER 9: DARKER TIDE - MARK LAWRENCE
DECEMBER 10: BREAK - MISHELL BAKER
DECEMBER 11: A RUMOR OF ANGELS - DALE BAILEY
DECEMBER 12: THE ENGLISHMAN - DOUGLAS STUART
DECEMBER 13: IT CAME FROM CRUDEN FARM - MAX BARRY
DECEMBER 14: NO MOON AND FLAT CALM - ELIZABETH BEAR
DECEMBER 15: A STUDY IN SHADOWS - BENJAMIN PERCY
DECEMBER 16: ART APPRECIATION - FIONA MCFARLANE
DECEMBER 17: THE SOUND OF FOOTSTEPS - SILVIA MORENO-GARCIA
DECEMBER 18: WE HAVEN'T GOT THERE YET - HARRY TURTLEDOVE
DECEMBER 19: THE DUNE - STEPHEN KING
DECEMBER 20: THE WORTHINGTON - EMILY CARROLL
DECEMBER 21: SUNBLEACHED - NATHAN BALLINGRUD
DECEMBER 22: BLOOD DAUGHTER - MATTHEW LYONS
DECEMBER 23: THE LINE - AMOR TOWLES
DECEMBER 24: PIGEONS - NIBEDITA SEN
DECEMBER 25: WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED, WHAT WE WILL FORGET, WHAT WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO FORGET - EUGENE LIM
DECEMBER 26: ONE/ZERO - KATHLEEN ANN GOONAN
DECEMBER 27: MATINEE - ROBERT COOVER
DECEMBER 28: ACCESS - ANDY WEIR
DECEMBER 29: UNNECESSARY THINGS - TATYANA TOLSTAYA
DECEMBER 30: HOOK - DANIELLE MCLAUGHLIN
DECEMBER 31: HE'S VERY WELL READ - CATHERINE LACEY
previous years' advent calendars (what's left of 'em):
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
come to my blog!
December 8, 2022
I'm just going to pick a few things out of this issue & I have started with a short story by one of my favourite short story authors, Alix E. Harrow
Mr Death
Vivid & thoughtful, I just chewed this story up! About a Reaper (an escort) for the dead, who finds one case too hard to handle. I had tears in my eyes (but also a smile on my face) at the end. This story helps prove to me that Ms Harrow is far better suited to the short story format. 5★
Love, That Hungry Thing
by Cassandra Khaw. Beautifully written & oddly touching. 5★
Gray Skies, Red Wings, Blue Lips, Black Hearts
by Merc Fenn Wolfmoor. My favourite of the three stories I have read so far - but I have already given the other two stories 5★ What's a girl (ok ancient crone!) to do. Wolfmoor's writing & breadth of imagination took me so deep into their world. Breathtaking 5★(plus)
All I Want for Christmas
by Charles Payseur Am I ever on a good run with this magazine! This is (as the magazine) says flash fiction, so very short - it took me a minute to read. Not a word was wasted. Will Robby get his Christmas wish? You decide! 5★
The Niddah
by Elana Gomel
I appreciated how topical this story is, but this was a strange one. Very imaginative though - I didn't predict the twists & turns the plot took. 4.5★
The Ace of Knives
by Tonya Liburd
Canadian - yay! After a very ordinary beginning this became beautifully twisty. I'm surprised that in such a short short story how much I came to care for The Ace of Knives. 4.5★
Your Own Undoing
by P.H. Lee
Beautifully written but very strange & masochistic. 3.5★
So I think this is as far as I will take reading this magazine. I'm not feeling a strong pull to the other titles. Unusually for me, I'm going to round up rather than down & make my rating 5★
https://wordpress.com/view/carolshess...
Mr Death
Vivid & thoughtful, I just chewed this story up! About a Reaper (an escort) for the dead, who finds one case too hard to handle. I had tears in my eyes (but also a smile on my face) at the end. This story helps prove to me that Ms Harrow is far better suited to the short story format. 5★
Love, That Hungry Thing
by Cassandra Khaw. Beautifully written & oddly touching. 5★
Gray Skies, Red Wings, Blue Lips, Black Hearts
by Merc Fenn Wolfmoor. My favourite of the three stories I have read so far - but I have already given the other two stories 5★ What's a girl (ok ancient crone!) to do. Wolfmoor's writing & breadth of imagination took me so deep into their world. Breathtaking 5★(plus)
All I Want for Christmas
by Charles Payseur Am I ever on a good run with this magazine! This is (as the magazine) says flash fiction, so very short - it took me a minute to read. Not a word was wasted. Will Robby get his Christmas wish? You decide! 5★
The Niddah
by Elana Gomel
The golden era of global health was shattered by COVID-19. There had been epidemics before, of course, but since they had all taken place in the Third World, they did not disturb the placid assumption of the developed countries that the Danse Macabre of ages past had been stopped for good.
I appreciated how topical this story is, but this was a strange one. Very imaginative though - I didn't predict the twists & turns the plot took. 4.5★
The Ace of Knives
by Tonya Liburd
Canadian - yay! After a very ordinary beginning this became beautifully twisty. I'm surprised that in such a short short story how much I came to care for The Ace of Knives. 4.5★
Your Own Undoing
by P.H. Lee
But I do know this: You stopped and looked at him. Then he met your eyes and your whole body shuddered.
Beautifully written but very strange & masochistic. 3.5★
So I think this is as far as I will take reading this magazine. I'm not feeling a strong pull to the other titles. Unusually for me, I'm going to round up rather than down & make my rating 5★
https://wordpress.com/view/carolshess...
December 2, 2021
Lawrence Harper doesn’t have a race car bed, thank God. Instead he has a twin mattress on the floor of his parents’ single-wide. He also has: a Spiderman blanket that smells like a thrift store, dusty and flowery; a plastic Buzz Lightyear clutched in one sweaty fist; reddish hair, skim milk skin; a heart that will fail in approximately eleven hours and twelve minutes; and a soul that shines like a comet streaking across the last midnight of summer.
Alix E. Harrow has made me cry more than some of my exes. Damn but she can write! Mr Death is the kind of short story that punches way above the indication of it's word count, and is going to occupy a little glowing place in my memory. Thanks to karen for her December project that brought it across my update feed!
Read it online here: https://apex-magazine.com/mr-death/
Alix E. Harrow has made me cry more than some of my exes. Damn but she can write! Mr Death is the kind of short story that punches way above the indication of it's word count, and is going to occupy a little glowing place in my memory. Thanks to karen for her December project that brought it across my update feed!
Read it online here: https://apex-magazine.com/mr-death/
September 13, 2022
I first discovered Harrow through the charming A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies. Mr. Death, a quick little tale about a Reaper, is equally lovely, but even more moving. Five plus stars.
I am immediately promoted from boring stranger to Imaginary Friend and conscripted into a series of opaque games involving tennis balls and shrieking and running in circles around the trailer until even my death-cold skin is flushed and sweaty and my chest is aching, as if my heart is either mending or breaking.
As a side note, Harrow + short story is a win for me. Novels? Not so much.
https://apex-magazine.com/short-ficti...
Merged review:
For "Dr. Death" by Alix Harrow
I am immediately promoted from boring stranger to Imaginary Friend and conscripted into a series of opaque games involving tennis balls and shrieking and running in circles around the trailer until even my death-cold skin is flushed and sweaty and my chest is aching, as if my heart is either mending or breaking.
https://apex-magazine.com/short-ficti...
I am immediately promoted from boring stranger to Imaginary Friend and conscripted into a series of opaque games involving tennis balls and shrieking and running in circles around the trailer until even my death-cold skin is flushed and sweaty and my chest is aching, as if my heart is either mending or breaking.
As a side note, Harrow + short story is a win for me. Novels? Not so much.
https://apex-magazine.com/short-ficti...
Merged review:
For "Dr. Death" by Alix Harrow
I am immediately promoted from boring stranger to Imaginary Friend and conscripted into a series of opaque games involving tennis balls and shrieking and running in circles around the trailer until even my death-cold skin is flushed and sweaty and my chest is aching, as if my heart is either mending or breaking.
https://apex-magazine.com/short-ficti...
January 16, 2022
Imaginative; succinct but sufficient; poignant but not maudlin; powerful….or as my GR friend Fiona put it:
“Alix E. Harrow has made me cry more than some of my exes. Damn but she can write! Mr Death is the kind of short story that punches way above the indication of it's word count, and is going to occupy a little glowing place in my memory.” https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
(contains link for a free read of this story, Mr. Death)
Thank you Fi, for pointing me toward this gem.
“Alix E. Harrow has made me cry more than some of my exes. Damn but she can write! Mr Death is the kind of short story that punches way above the indication of it's word count, and is going to occupy a little glowing place in my memory.” https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
(contains link for a free read of this story, Mr. Death)
Thank you Fi, for pointing me toward this gem.
January 1, 2023
Oh, my, this story kicked my ass.
It’ll wrap you in its super-charged emotional hands and SQUEEZE.
Alix E. Harrow blows it out of the park with this one. No spoilers, but it’s totally worth it.
It’ll wrap you in its super-charged emotional hands and SQUEEZE.
Alix E. Harrow blows it out of the park with this one. No spoilers, but it’s totally worth it.
January 1, 2023
This broke me. First story in the new year and I'm sitting on my couch bawling like a little girl. Damn!
The question of what happens when we die is as old as humanity. So is people's longing for there to be something more. Some afterlife, someone to take our metaphorical hand once we leave our bodies behind.
In this story, there are indeed Reapers and they are there to comfort our souls after our deaths.
Sam is one such Reaper. But after over 200 assignments, he gets one that is just ... different.
The question is: can you break the rules? If you do it for the right reasons? And what happens then?
A wonderful, life-affirming story that appropriately deals with one of the most difficult topics. Personally, I think the dying isn't the really difficult part - it's the ones left behind that have it difficult. Also, there is no concept of right or wrong, of course. Death, like life, just is.
Nevertheless, I always liked musings on souls and reapers and an order to the universe. It makes for very nice stories. Stories that can sometimes touch your heart. Like this one.
Seriously, the writing is probably the best I've seen by this author, and I already liked her novels very much.
You can read or listen to the story for free here: https://apex-magazine.com/short-ficti...
The question of what happens when we die is as old as humanity. So is people's longing for there to be something more. Some afterlife, someone to take our metaphorical hand once we leave our bodies behind.
In this story, there are indeed Reapers and they are there to comfort our souls after our deaths.
Sam is one such Reaper. But after over 200 assignments, he gets one that is just ... different.
The question is: can you break the rules? If you do it for the right reasons? And what happens then?
A wonderful, life-affirming story that appropriately deals with one of the most difficult topics. Personally, I think the dying isn't the really difficult part - it's the ones left behind that have it difficult. Also, there is no concept of right or wrong, of course. Death, like life, just is.
Nevertheless, I always liked musings on souls and reapers and an order to the universe. It makes for very nice stories. Stories that can sometimes touch your heart. Like this one.
Seriously, the writing is probably the best I've seen by this author, and I already liked her novels very much.
You can read or listen to the story for free here: https://apex-magazine.com/short-ficti...
February 10, 2023
4 stars for Your Own Undoing and Mr. Death, 3 for Root Rot, The Niddah, All I Want for Christmas, and Gray Skies, Red Wings, Blue Lips, Black Hearts, 2 for Love, That Hungry Thing. Overall a very emotional issue and better than average.
January 22, 2025
This review is only for the short story Mr. Death by Alix E. Harrow contained in this volume
For this week's story I went to the latest volume of Apex Magazine since it has been on a short term hiatus. I noticed that Alix E. Harrow had written an original story contained in it and I was all like
Having recently found and purchased BOTH Harrow's The Ten Thousand Doors of January and The Once and Future Witches, I really wanted to read this story since EVERYONE and I mean EVERYONE seems to have jumped on the Harrow train before me, and I wanted a little taste of what's to come. Well, if this shortie is any kind of indication of the beauty in her full length novels, I will be bumping both of them on the list because this short story was just
Not only was this IMMACULATELY written, but I felt like it was so much more than a measly 5125 words. Holy shit. This woman can fucking WRITE.
It is from the point of view of Sam, one of the employees of the Department of Death, one of the many who have found an after death purpose in helping other souls cross that River of Death so they can become one with the Universe or something like that. And Sam has successfully helped 221 souls cross that river.
It reminded me very vaguely of this awful movie from my childhood
And despite the movie being reallyreallybad, there has always been something beautiful about it to me. The idea of guardian angels that help souls cross over, making the idea of death a little less scary and a little more loving. And that is where this story lives. Sam gets his 222nd case and has a major crisis of conscience. And I felt every single emotion that a human can feel along the way. It was truly truly beautiful.
The characters are richly portrayed and I found myself right there along with Sam, urging him to toss his job aside to do what his (long dead) heart was telling him.
Harrow got so many things right in this very short story. The complicated feelings that death can evoke, from those who are ready to those who are taken way too soon. Even the background characters felt like real people. I will admit I got choked up by this one, but death is still a fresh topic for me, and usually stories of this kind do still get my shriveled up black heart. And the ending was something I did not really see coming, and it was just perfect.
All the stars that I can possibly throw at this thing. PLEASE do yourselves a favor and read this one HERE for FREE:
https://apex-magazine.com/mr-death/
For this week's story I went to the latest volume of Apex Magazine since it has been on a short term hiatus. I noticed that Alix E. Harrow had written an original story contained in it and I was all like
Having recently found and purchased BOTH Harrow's The Ten Thousand Doors of January and The Once and Future Witches, I really wanted to read this story since EVERYONE and I mean EVERYONE seems to have jumped on the Harrow train before me, and I wanted a little taste of what's to come. Well, if this shortie is any kind of indication of the beauty in her full length novels, I will be bumping both of them on the list because this short story was just
Not only was this IMMACULATELY written, but I felt like it was so much more than a measly 5125 words. Holy shit. This woman can fucking WRITE.
It is from the point of view of Sam, one of the employees of the Department of Death, one of the many who have found an after death purpose in helping other souls cross that River of Death so they can become one with the Universe or something like that. And Sam has successfully helped 221 souls cross that river.
I’ve ferried two hundred and twenty-one souls across the river of death, and I can already tell my two-hundred-and-twenty-second is going to be a real shitkicker.
It reminded me very vaguely of this awful movie from my childhood
And despite the movie being reallyreallybad, there has always been something beautiful about it to me. The idea of guardian angels that help souls cross over, making the idea of death a little less scary and a little more loving. And that is where this story lives. Sam gets his 222nd case and has a major crisis of conscience. And I felt every single emotion that a human can feel along the way. It was truly truly beautiful.
The characters are richly portrayed and I found myself right there along with Sam, urging him to toss his job aside to do what his (long dead) heart was telling him.
Harrow got so many things right in this very short story. The complicated feelings that death can evoke, from those who are ready to those who are taken way too soon. Even the background characters felt like real people. I will admit I got choked up by this one, but death is still a fresh topic for me, and usually stories of this kind do still get my shriveled up black heart. And the ending was something I did not really see coming, and it was just perfect.
All the stars that I can possibly throw at this thing. PLEASE do yourselves a favor and read this one HERE for FREE:
https://apex-magazine.com/mr-death/
February 8, 2021
Sam Grayson has been a reaper for three years, ferrying souls across the river of death when their time is up and their name appears in a manila envelope given to him. When he fails to reap his two hundred and twenty second soul, his own reaper from the Department of Death steps in with firm kindness ...and a test.
This is a fantastic short story that I could continue to re-read for the creativity and interesting perspective. Harrow is quickly becoming a new favorite author for me!
Read Mr. Death here: https://apex-magazine.com/mr-death/
For more reviews, visit www.rootsandreads.wordpress.com
This is a fantastic short story that I could continue to re-read for the creativity and interesting perspective. Harrow is quickly becoming a new favorite author for me!
Read Mr. Death here: https://apex-magazine.com/mr-death/
For more reviews, visit www.rootsandreads.wordpress.com
May 3, 2021
From the award-winning and best-selling author of The Ten Thousand Doors of January comes a powerful short story called Mr. Death, published in January 2021 by Apex Magazine.
In just over five thousand words, Alix E. Harrow explored the everyday existence of a reaper named Sam Grayson, as he's tasked to making the transition from life to a death a little easier, via the ferrying of souls. What I found most fascinating about Harrow's narrative was the creativity and uniqueness of our reaper's quest, which belied the typical death reaper scenario. For one, Sam actually cared about those on the cusp of death; they weren't simply another number. That was so refreshing. By the end, I had a sense of who he was in life, the suffering he endured, but most of all, he had a lot of regret. It was through all that insight that his caring nature made perfect sense. Nothing felt contrived or idealistic.
Harrow's worldbuilding was wonderfully crafted and well-thought-out. The mythology surrounding reapers was really cool and mesmerizing. She created many memorable scenes around Sam, Lawrence and his family, and they really buffeted my heart as well as my mind in unpredictable ways. Even the minor characters had distinct rolls to play, and I doubt that was an easy feat. Nothing was overdone.
The one area the author excelled in was, by far, her ability to dive deep into these gut-wrenching scenarios and deliver (time and again,) authentic and relatable emotions. In fact, I cannot remember the last time an author moved me to this extreme, and depicted such a firm grasp on the realities of death. Instead, the prose was clean, thorough and profound, and you rarely find that level of intentional stimuli (not masterfully executed, at least,) in an urban fantasy setting.
Gosh, I miss this world and these characters already.
If I had to give one critique, I'd say that the ending felt a little abrupt, but completely earned, and so I can't really fault it. A short paragraph or two would have been nice, but Sam's character arc was wonderful. The highest recommendation.
***
And although it's available to read for free online, I'd glad pay the $4.99 price of admission:
https://www.amazon.com/Apex-Magazine-...
https://apex-magazine.com/mr-death/
In just over five thousand words, Alix E. Harrow explored the everyday existence of a reaper named Sam Grayson, as he's tasked to making the transition from life to a death a little easier, via the ferrying of souls. What I found most fascinating about Harrow's narrative was the creativity and uniqueness of our reaper's quest, which belied the typical death reaper scenario. For one, Sam actually cared about those on the cusp of death; they weren't simply another number. That was so refreshing. By the end, I had a sense of who he was in life, the suffering he endured, but most of all, he had a lot of regret. It was through all that insight that his caring nature made perfect sense. Nothing felt contrived or idealistic.
Harrow's worldbuilding was wonderfully crafted and well-thought-out. The mythology surrounding reapers was really cool and mesmerizing. She created many memorable scenes around Sam, Lawrence and his family, and they really buffeted my heart as well as my mind in unpredictable ways. Even the minor characters had distinct rolls to play, and I doubt that was an easy feat. Nothing was overdone.
The one area the author excelled in was, by far, her ability to dive deep into these gut-wrenching scenarios and deliver (time and again,) authentic and relatable emotions. In fact, I cannot remember the last time an author moved me to this extreme, and depicted such a firm grasp on the realities of death. Instead, the prose was clean, thorough and profound, and you rarely find that level of intentional stimuli (not masterfully executed, at least,) in an urban fantasy setting.
Gosh, I miss this world and these characters already.
If I had to give one critique, I'd say that the ending felt a little abrupt, but completely earned, and so I can't really fault it. A short paragraph or two would have been nice, but Sam's character arc was wonderful. The highest recommendation.
***
And although it's available to read for free online, I'd glad pay the $4.99 price of admission:
https://www.amazon.com/Apex-Magazine-...
https://apex-magazine.com/mr-death/
March 10, 2022
I have one child, one child that I carried, all 12 pounds of her, and had her pulled from me, squalling into this awe-inspiring and cruel world. All of my love, hopes, and dreams for the future lay upon her tiny shoulders. As the saying goes, "my heart lives outside my chest." This is why Mr. Death by the always incredible Alix E. Harrow smacked me around a bit emotionally. I empathized with both the reaper and the parents. Two sides of the same coin, and in the middle is a little boy, age two, whose soul shines like the sun.
You know from the first line of the story, "I've ferried two hundred and twenty-one souls across the river of death, and I can already tell my two-hundred-and-twenty-second is going to be a real shitkicker." Mr. Death is about a reaper who gently ferries souls from their bodies to the river and the after. Sam Grayson, the reaper in question and the main protagonist of the story, is a father grieving the loss of his own son years before when he is taken by lung cancer. While waiting in the breakroom for his next assignment, He is handed a manilla envelope. Thin, to thin, with this information printed on it:
Name: Lawrence Harper
Address: 186 Grist Mill Road, Lisle NY, 13797
Time: Sunday, July 14th 2020, 2:08AM, EST
Cause: Cardiac arrest resulting from undiagnosed long QT syndrome
Age: 30 months
As a reader, his response and mine are the same, "Jesus Christ on his sacred red bicycle. He's two." Sam visits the child, supposedly invisible, but for some reason, Lawrence can see him. Sam's heart aches in solidarity for the upcoming earth-shattering pain he will have to inflict upon these loving parents and the pain of his own loss. But all bodies will eventually die, and when it is your time, that is an unassailable fact. Or is it?
Harrow has pulled just enough of the raging thunderstorm of grief into this story to make you empathize and believe the situation. Instead of maudlin, it is heartfelt. It is a lovely read and pretty obvious why it is now nominated for a Nebula. Awards seem to stick to Harrow like magnets these days, and rightly so. Check it out.
You know from the first line of the story, "I've ferried two hundred and twenty-one souls across the river of death, and I can already tell my two-hundred-and-twenty-second is going to be a real shitkicker." Mr. Death is about a reaper who gently ferries souls from their bodies to the river and the after. Sam Grayson, the reaper in question and the main protagonist of the story, is a father grieving the loss of his own son years before when he is taken by lung cancer. While waiting in the breakroom for his next assignment, He is handed a manilla envelope. Thin, to thin, with this information printed on it:
Name: Lawrence Harper
Address: 186 Grist Mill Road, Lisle NY, 13797
Time: Sunday, July 14th 2020, 2:08AM, EST
Cause: Cardiac arrest resulting from undiagnosed long QT syndrome
Age: 30 months
As a reader, his response and mine are the same, "Jesus Christ on his sacred red bicycle. He's two." Sam visits the child, supposedly invisible, but for some reason, Lawrence can see him. Sam's heart aches in solidarity for the upcoming earth-shattering pain he will have to inflict upon these loving parents and the pain of his own loss. But all bodies will eventually die, and when it is your time, that is an unassailable fact. Or is it?
Harrow has pulled just enough of the raging thunderstorm of grief into this story to make you empathize and believe the situation. Instead of maudlin, it is heartfelt. It is a lovely read and pretty obvious why it is now nominated for a Nebula. Awards seem to stick to Harrow like magnets these days, and rightly so. Check it out.
September 17, 2022
I loved this story. It's sad but hopeful and poignant in its own, understated way. It's a story of healing and love and coming to terms with loss... and of breaking the rules and risking yourself to save someone else.
Merged review:
This was a very touching short story that really tugged at my heartstrings. I also loved the ending.
Merged review:
This was a very touching short story that really tugged at my heartstrings. I also loved the ending.
January 2, 2023
This short story was a great starting point for 2023 :)
February 21, 2021
Well, Alix Harrow seems to be joining the list of authors that regularly make me cry and feel grateful for it at the same time; I should really keep a lid on that sort of thing. I love this story.
And goddamn, Harrow crafts sentences that strike me as just perfect:
"They look for people whose hearts are vast and scarred, like old battlefields overgrown with poppies and saplings. People who know how to weep and keep working, who have lost everything except their compassion.
CW:
Merged review:
I read four of the stories from this issue:
Root Rot by Fargo Tbakhi was an incredible story, heartrending and brutal. Themes include the impacts of occupation on the occupied and the way national/cultural losses and personal losses are nigh-impossible to separate. I look forward to reading more by this Palestinian writer. CW:
I utterly, wholly loved Alix Harrow's Mr. Death.
I really liked Cassandra Khaw's Love, That Hungry Thing, even though I'm certain I didn't understand a substantial portion of it.
Gray Skies, Red Wings, Blue Lips, Black Heart by Merc Fenn Wolfmoor was intriguing, but I didn't get sucked into it as thoroughly, and I can't put my finger on why.
And goddamn, Harrow crafts sentences that strike me as just perfect:
"They look for people whose hearts are vast and scarred, like old battlefields overgrown with poppies and saplings. People who know how to weep and keep working, who have lost everything except their compassion.
CW:
Merged review:
I read four of the stories from this issue:
Root Rot by Fargo Tbakhi was an incredible story, heartrending and brutal. Themes include the impacts of occupation on the occupied and the way national/cultural losses and personal losses are nigh-impossible to separate. I look forward to reading more by this Palestinian writer. CW:
I utterly, wholly loved Alix Harrow's Mr. Death.
I really liked Cassandra Khaw's Love, That Hungry Thing, even though I'm certain I didn't understand a substantial portion of it.
Gray Skies, Red Wings, Blue Lips, Black Heart by Merc Fenn Wolfmoor was intriguing, but I didn't get sucked into it as thoroughly, and I can't put my finger on why.
June 26, 2023
Review of Alix E Harrow's Mr Death: Beautiful.
January 11, 2023
That was not what I expected.
March 9, 2023
Edit - I have now read two stories of this magazine:
February 1st 2022 - Alix Harrow short story, Mr Death, available here on the magazine's site https://apex-magazine.com/short-ficti... .If I read more of this issue I will edit and note down my thoughts.
And oh wow, what a story it was. It made me cry (and I do not cry that easily, usually) but not a bad thing at all. My third short story of hers, and I have said from the previously read one, that they were perfect, well this one also, maybe even deeper. For me it was devastatingly good: the characters, the pace, the feeling, the way the story works for this length and in classic short story style.
The content warnings for this story are "Content Warning(s): Cancer, Death or dying, Tobacco Use" which OK, conceivably yeah, but kind of misses the point, the much more emotionally charged topic (and the point of the story) it is about children dying and that grief.
(Edit on September, the above was in January and they seemed to have changed the content warnings since then. I guess more people complained. Now it reads "Cancer, Death of a child, Death or dying, Tobacco Use", specifically naming "death of a child" but hey, below in importance, second to generic "cancer" which is about the off-screen before the short story starts death of an adult. Priorities, I guess. This is really stupid. And the story is called Mr. Death, yes it will be about death.)
I am reading as many of Alix E. Harrow short stories as I can find (all but one seem to be available on magazine sites, very very highly recommended so far ), but I am rationing those, at least one other story by somebody else in between. This might be totally unfair to the authors of things I read in between, though. Incidentally the only longer piece of hers I read so far which was A Spindle Splintered I found underwhelming, but I am definitely reading The Ten Thousand Doors of January soon (edit: I did and meh). When I run out of her short stories.
Merged review:
This has its own listing now, not sure which will survive, if this or the listing for Apex Magazine 121. (It is hard to keep track of short stories on goodreads!) Reposting link for the other Apex Magazine Issue 121 listing.
Absolutely devastating story, but in a good way, one of the most moving short stories I have read in recent years.
--
March, 8th, 2023 - I have now read also "Your Own Undoing" by P.H. Lee - an accidental (no kidding, I used a digital random selection on my list of short stories I mean to read), but very appropriate read for International Women's Day - even if we are not really sure what gender the "you" being addressed is (master, but nightgown. Both could be a man or woman, neither conclusive), the situation is one which is very relevant to women in general. Lyrical, fairy-tale ish second person narrative, mixing technology metaphors (coding) with a fairy tale narrative and it goes all meta with it. Very interesting use of second person narrative (it works better on shorter fiction...). Very good and definitely interesting!
February 1st 2022 - Alix Harrow short story, Mr Death, available here on the magazine's site https://apex-magazine.com/short-ficti... .
And oh wow, what a story it was. It made me cry (and I do not cry that easily, usually) but not a bad thing at all. My third short story of hers, and I have said from the previously read one, that they were perfect, well this one also, maybe even deeper. For me it was devastatingly good: the characters, the pace, the feeling, the way the story works for this length and in classic short story style.
The content warnings for this story are "Content Warning(s): Cancer, Death or dying, Tobacco Use" which OK, conceivably yeah, but kind of misses the point, the much more emotionally charged topic (and the point of the story) it is about children dying and that grief.
(Edit on September, the above was in January and they seemed to have changed the content warnings since then. I guess more people complained. Now it reads "Cancer, Death of a child, Death or dying, Tobacco Use", specifically naming "death of a child" but hey, below in importance, second to generic "cancer" which is about the off-screen before the short story starts death of an adult. Priorities, I guess. This is really stupid. And the story is called Mr. Death, yes it will be about death.)
I am reading as many of Alix E. Harrow short stories as I can find (all but one seem to be available on magazine sites, very very highly recommended so far ), but I am rationing those, at least one other story by somebody else in between. This might be totally unfair to the authors of things I read in between, though. Incidentally the only longer piece of hers I read so far which was A Spindle Splintered I found underwhelming, but I am definitely reading The Ten Thousand Doors of January soon (edit: I did and meh). When I run out of her short stories.
Merged review:
This has its own listing now, not sure which will survive, if this or the listing for Apex Magazine 121. (It is hard to keep track of short stories on goodreads!) Reposting link for the other Apex Magazine Issue 121 listing.
Absolutely devastating story, but in a good way, one of the most moving short stories I have read in recent years.
--
March, 8th, 2023 - I have now read also "Your Own Undoing" by P.H. Lee - an accidental (no kidding, I used a digital random selection on my list of short stories I mean to read), but very appropriate read for International Women's Day - even if we are not really sure what gender the "you" being addressed is (master, but nightgown. Both could be a man or woman, neither conclusive), the situation is one which is very relevant to women in general. Lyrical, fairy-tale ish second person narrative, mixing technology metaphors (coding) with a fairy tale narrative and it goes all meta with it. Very interesting use of second person narrative (it works better on shorter fiction...). Very good and definitely interesting!
July 25, 2025
Compassionate psychopomps
What is a pscychopomp, I hear you ask?
And that, really, is all I can reveal without spoiling. It's a beautiful story and will take you only ten minutes to read. You should do that!
Mr. Death is a short story by Alix E. Harrow, and can be read for free here.
Blog review.
Merged review:
Compassionate psychopomps
What is a pscychopomp, I hear you ask?
And that, really, is all I can reveal without spoiling. It's a beautiful story and will take you only ten minutes to read. You should do that!
Mr. Death is a short story by Alix E. Harrow, and can be read for free here.
Blog review.
What is a pscychopomp, I hear you ask?
pscychopomp -- A spirit, deity, person, etc., who guides the souls of the dead to the afterlifeAlso, it's what Sam and his boss Raz are. I'm not going to count that as a spoiler, since you learn as much in the first paragraph of Mr. Death. In fact, there is not much I can tell you that would not be a spoiler. The name "Mr Death" comes from the poem Buffalo Bill's by EE Cummings.
And that, really, is all I can reveal without spoiling. It's a beautiful story and will take you only ten minutes to read. You should do that!
Mr. Death is a short story by Alix E. Harrow, and can be read for free here.
Blog review.
Merged review:
Compassionate psychopomps
What is a pscychopomp, I hear you ask?
pscychopomp -- A spirit, deity, person, etc., who guides the souls of the dead to the afterlifeAlso, it's what Sam and his boss Raz are. I'm not going to count that as a spoiler, since you learn as much in the first paragraph of Mr. Death. In fact, there is not much I can tell you that would not be a spoiler. The name "Mr Death" comes from the poem Buffalo Bill's by EE Cummings.
And that, really, is all I can reveal without spoiling. It's a beautiful story and will take you only ten minutes to read. You should do that!
Mr. Death is a short story by Alix E. Harrow, and can be read for free here.
Blog review.
June 19, 2022
2022 Nebula Award Short Fiction
2022 Hugo Award Short Stories nominee
This is such a beautiful soulful story of a reaper turned guardian. Reaper’s job is to help the dead rejoining the limitless love of the universe and without them souls would wander alone into the darkness on the wrong side of the river and wisp away into nothing instead of everything.
I never saw it through Mr. Death’s eyes and how it feels to reap souls. But this magical and creative description by Harrow makes it absolutely touching and beautiful.
5 Stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
2022 Hugo Award Short Stories nominee
This is such a beautiful soulful story of a reaper turned guardian. Reaper’s job is to help the dead rejoining the limitless love of the universe and without them souls would wander alone into the darkness on the wrong side of the river and wisp away into nothing instead of everything.
I never saw it through Mr. Death’s eyes and how it feels to reap souls. But this magical and creative description by Harrow makes it absolutely touching and beautiful.
5 Stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 2, 2023
Generally, I’m not a fan of short stories. I always want more. But here, author Alix E Harrow has manages to pack so much in, making this reader feel that I really knew protagonist Sam Grayson, understood his motivations and rooted for him as he struggled with the choices he made. The story was gut wrenching and brought me to tears more than once. An impressive feat in a short story.
February 1, 2021
This issue marks the return of Apex Magazine after an extended hiatus due to the editor Jason Sizemore's illness. He mentions in the editorial that he had his doubts if he or the magazine would ever return. With a comeback issue this strong, I'm very glad he and the magazine are back.
"Root Rot," Fargo Tbakhi
This seems to be replaying the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on Mars. I don't know enough about that to comment on it, and as a result I couldn't really get into this story or character. The prose style is jittery, with long run on sentences, which is admittedly appropriate for a main character who's given up and is drinking himself to death. Still, I didn't like this very much.
Grade: D
"Your Own Undoing," P H Lee
This is good. It's a fantasy of a master sorcerer overcome, twisted and enslaved by her own student. But it's also a story about stories, the power a good story has over us, and how to both use the story and escape from its trap--by writing your own ending.
Grade: A
"Love, That Hungry Thing," Cassandra Khaw
I'm not sure if this is SF, horror, or both, and either way I didn't care for it. It seems to be a fragment that is so caught up in its sense of creepy atmosphere that it forgot it also needs to be a story. The end dribbles away into nothing and the worldbuilding makes no sense. It's well written and the prose is sharp and lovely, but it ends up being an empty shell, for me.
Grade: D-
"Mr. Death," Alix E. Harrow
Alix E. Harrow is one of my favorite authors, and she knocks it out of the park here, with this beautiful story of a soul reaper who meets the one soul he can't bear to ferry across the river. This story alone is worth the price of the magazine.
Grade: A+
"The Niddah," Elana Gomal
This is a post-pandemic horror story that could have only been written in the wake of Covid-19, and in fact references it. It's a reminder that pandemics are jump-starters for mass societal change....or in this case, regression. But the ending makes up for it--a sharp stinger that promises revenge.
Grade: B
"Gray Skies, Red Wings, Blue Lips, Black Hearts," Merc Finn Wolfmoor
I don't often say that short stories need to be longer, but this one does. The worldbuilding is subtle and without info-dumping, adequate for its 5300 words, but there's a universe here I would love to revisit. This tale of a former City guard who goes hunting for a girl's lost soul seems like it's just crying out to be expanded into a book.
Grade: B+
"Root Rot," Fargo Tbakhi
This seems to be replaying the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on Mars. I don't know enough about that to comment on it, and as a result I couldn't really get into this story or character. The prose style is jittery, with long run on sentences, which is admittedly appropriate for a main character who's given up and is drinking himself to death. Still, I didn't like this very much.
Grade: D
"Your Own Undoing," P H Lee
This is good. It's a fantasy of a master sorcerer overcome, twisted and enslaved by her own student. But it's also a story about stories, the power a good story has over us, and how to both use the story and escape from its trap--by writing your own ending.
Grade: A
"Love, That Hungry Thing," Cassandra Khaw
I'm not sure if this is SF, horror, or both, and either way I didn't care for it. It seems to be a fragment that is so caught up in its sense of creepy atmosphere that it forgot it also needs to be a story. The end dribbles away into nothing and the worldbuilding makes no sense. It's well written and the prose is sharp and lovely, but it ends up being an empty shell, for me.
Grade: D-
"Mr. Death," Alix E. Harrow
Alix E. Harrow is one of my favorite authors, and she knocks it out of the park here, with this beautiful story of a soul reaper who meets the one soul he can't bear to ferry across the river. This story alone is worth the price of the magazine.
Grade: A+
"The Niddah," Elana Gomal
This is a post-pandemic horror story that could have only been written in the wake of Covid-19, and in fact references it. It's a reminder that pandemics are jump-starters for mass societal change....or in this case, regression. But the ending makes up for it--a sharp stinger that promises revenge.
Grade: B
"Gray Skies, Red Wings, Blue Lips, Black Hearts," Merc Finn Wolfmoor
I don't often say that short stories need to be longer, but this one does. The worldbuilding is subtle and without info-dumping, adequate for its 5300 words, but there's a universe here I would love to revisit. This tale of a former City guard who goes hunting for a girl's lost soul seems like it's just crying out to be expanded into a book.
Grade: B+
April 28, 2022
Cuando empecé la lectura de relatos nominados a los Hugo dejé esta para el final sospechando que iba a ser mi favorita. Sin embargo, después de leer 'Unknown Number', no estaba segura de que pudiese superar la apreciación que tengo por el trato de Blue Neustifter del dolor a través de la dulzura.
Pues no. Me han gustado lo mismo. Ambas se leen sin despegar los ojos de la pantalla, ambas son una mezcla de sentimientos, de puñetazos y de abrazos. Lo que pasa es que creo que 'Mr. Death' a la larga, por historia personal, a mí me va a dejar mucho más poso. Creo que este es uno de esos relatos que te persiguen siempre, a los que tu cerebro vuelve cuando piensas en una buena historia.
Tengo que leer más a Harrow.
Pues no. Me han gustado lo mismo. Ambas se leen sin despegar los ojos de la pantalla, ambas son una mezcla de sentimientos, de puñetazos y de abrazos. Lo que pasa es que creo que 'Mr. Death' a la larga, por historia personal, a mí me va a dejar mucho más poso. Creo que este es uno de esos relatos que te persiguen siempre, a los que tu cerebro vuelve cuando piensas en una buena historia.
Tengo que leer más a Harrow.
July 16, 2022
https://apex-magazine.com/short-ficti...
A sad little tale about a man who works as a grim reaper type, guiding newly dead souls into the great beyond. It explores his own past losses and how that connects to his current mission . The end was a little too pit-pat and the whole story felt intentionally crafted for maximum sad and aww, but I still enjoyed reading it. Would pick up more by this author.
Hugo Award 2022 Short Story Finalist
A sad little tale about a man who works as a grim reaper type, guiding newly dead souls into the great beyond. It explores his own past losses and how that connects to his current mission . The end was a little too pit-pat and the whole story felt intentionally crafted for maximum sad and aww, but I still enjoyed reading it. Would pick up more by this author.
Hugo Award 2022 Short Story Finalist
April 17, 2022
This is the first of the stories I am reading because they got a nomination for the 2022 Hugos.
This is a short and sweet story about the celestial bureaucracy of Death and grim reapers from the point-of-view of a junior reaper dealing with a hard case: a 2 year old boy. Very enjoyable; I can see why it got the nomination.
This is a short and sweet story about the celestial bureaucracy of Death and grim reapers from the point-of-view of a junior reaper dealing with a hard case: a 2 year old boy. Very enjoyable; I can see why it got the nomination.
February 23, 2021
Well damn, what a powerful story. This got me right in the feels. An absolutely perfect short story. Loved everything about it!
February 5, 2022
read Harrow's Mr. Death based on Hirondelle's recommendation (thank you, thank you) and loved it. definitely recommend it.
August 6, 2022
I’d be surprised if this didn’t win the Hugo this year. I think The Sin of America is a more important story but this is typical “pull the heart strings” Harrow that I love.
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