I love short stories. I rarely find the time to read short stories. This daily series of blog posts is my attempt to read and examine at least one piece of shorter fiction per day. On a similar note, I supported Apex Magazine’s 2022 Kickstarter (consider supporting this excellent magazine, please!). Since I enjoyed this first January-February 2023 issue, I figured I’d kick this series off by reviewing some of the short fiction you can find within. Where available, I’ve linked to the short story in question for your reading pleasure at the bottom of this write-up.
Framed with the language of chess, this is a story of a predator preying on predators, engaging and intelligent. An element of the monstrous hangs over the characters who engage in this chess match that never seems as innocent to the reader as it might to the unsuspecting, nameless “he” who engages with the Daisy, this short story’s fascinating figure. This is one for you to experience on your own, a story whose rhythm creates such a perfect back-and-forth as to reach its crux without the reader quite having realised it.
Of all the pieces I read in this issue, this one had the most old-school, “serial” feel to it. I wonder if author Lindz McLeod will do more with this story idea.
Read this story here.
The Grimoire Reliquary 
Leave a comment