Some of my favorites are here, however. For example, Will McIntosh's "New Spectacles," strong speculative SF about glasses with a sort of lie-detector, or emotional state detector, built in. Tony Pi's "Metamorphoses in Amber" is colorful and different, about immortal shape-changing rivals who have duelled (often as thieves) over the centuries."The Man Behind the Curtain" by Joseph Paul Haines is moving and emotionally believable, about a man trying to reconcile with his beloved older sister after their mother's death. "Hour by Hour" by Lindsey Duncan is rather original fantasy in which Priestess of the Hours (with powers involving time) investigate a royal murder -- that hasn't yet happened. Simon Kewin's "Museum Beetles" is a nicely turned parable about people who seem to live in a huge museum, content to catalogue the contents. Manek Mistry's "Stories from the Alien Invasion" mixes a story about a divorced couple adjusting to life apart with the effects of strange aliens come to Earth for inscrutable reasons. "Unicorn's Rest" by Jill Knowles is an enjoyable romantic fantasy. Tim Pratt's "The Sea a Deeper Black" is quite sweet, about a sad man given a chance to buy a god. Gods show up too in Lisa Mantchev's "Interfaith," another story about families and love -- and the Greek gods.

A strong selection of poems is also included. I have tended to quite enjoy Abyss & Apex's poetry over the years, and these are a good sampling of what they feature, sometimes lyrical, sometimes clever. Poems here by Rachel Swirsky, Yoon Ha Lee, and Christopher Vera were among my favorites.

Abyss & Apex is definitely a site worth checking out quarterly. And this book is well worth a look to see what they have done in the past.