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.

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

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.

Spaceships passing through the sky like endless clouds. A woman whose skin reveals the names of sailors fated to die at sea. A world where people who touch each other turn into crystalline trees. These are only a few of the tales in Never Never Stories, the first short story collection from Nebula Award nominated author Jason Sanford. The ten stories in this collection highlight the absolute best from one of the most exciting new voices in science fiction and fantasy. As SF Signal says, "Sanford expertly blends world building and storytelling. In fact, he makes it look easy."

A monk praying over the cremation of a dead friend, who thanks to nano-technology might still live. A time angel created by humanity to preserve the memories of people from long ago. An astronaut betrayed by her best friend and stranded on a comet hurtling toward the sun. These are only three of the stories in Heaven's Touch and Other Science Fiction Dreams, the second short story collection by Nebula Award nominated author Jason Sanford. The nine stories in this collection span space and time as they explore the wonders and terrors and delights of Sanford's unique fictional vision of our universe."Jason Sanford ... has been one of the most original and adventurous writers of strange SF for the past decade." -- Rich Horton, from The Year's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy, 2017

Speculative fiction, fantasy, horror, and stories that you just wouldn't anticipate.

This is the third annual edition of the Long List Anthology. Every year, supporting members of WorldCon nominate their favorite stories first published during the previous year to determine the top five in each category for the final Hugo Award ballot. This is an anthology collecting more of the stories from that nomination list to get them to more readersThe Long List Anthology Volume 3 collects 20 science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories from that nomination list, totaling over 500 pages of fiction by writers from all corners of the world. From intelligent appliances gone feral to Lovecraftian detective noir, from tech-enhanced wilderness races to Egyptian science fantasy steampunk, from hard science fiction to fairy tale to humor and more. There is a wide variety of styles and types of stories here, and something for everyone.The stories included are:"Red in Tooth and Cog" by Cat Rambo"A Salvaging of Ghosts" by Aliette de Bodard"Welcome to the Medical Clinic at the Interplanetary Relay Station Hours Since the Last Patient Death: 0" by Caroline M. Yoachim"Razorback" by Ursula Vernon"We Have a Cultural Difference, Can I Taste You?" by Rebecca Ann Jordan"Lullaby for a Lost World" by Aliette de Bodard"Terminal" by Lavie Tidhar"Ye Highlands and Ye Lowlands" by Seanan McGuire"Things With Beards" by Sam J. Miller"The Venus Effect" by Joseph Allen Hill"The Visitor From Taured" by Ian R. MacLeod"Blood Grains Speak Through Memories" by Jason Sanford"Sooner or Later Everything Falls Into the Sea" by Sarah Pinsker"A Dead Djinn in Cairo" by P. Djèlí Clark "Red as Blood and White as Bone" by Theodora Goss"Foxfire, Foxfire" by Yoon Ha Lee"Forest of Memory" by Mary Robinette Kowal"Chimera" by Gu Shi, translated by S. Qiouyi Lu and Ken Liu"Hammers on Bone" by Cassandra Khaw"Runtime" by S.B. Divya