…has some fantastic things to say about Apex #69! Charles Payseur cuts right to the chase, offering concise and insightful reviews of most of the pieces in this issue — he covers quite a lot of territory in these quick sips! Here’s what he has to say about my story, ‘Heirloom Pieces’: A woman must face the end of her life as she gives her body away to her ill daughter in this story. The woman, Cat, knows what is coming, but there is some question as to whether or not she really wants it. I mean, obviously she doesn’t, because it means dying. The law requires she to undergo the operation that will give her body most of Cat’s body, though, and allow her to live a normal life at the cost of Cat’s. For all that it is required, Cat also loves her daughter. I didn’t get the sense, though, that she wanted to go. She wasn’t expecting to have to make that sacrifice. Like many things with being a parent, she had hoped it would go well. And it hadn’t. There was risk, and she was unlucky. She still goes through with it, still makes sure to do the best she can, but there is still an unfairness to it, a tragedy about what she has to do. I wanted there to be a better way, because it seems so unfair. It’s a well constructed story, and Cat has a nice voice, a bit unreasonable, a bit cutting, but real and human. What happens to her is no less tragic because she can be angry, mean, perhaps slightly shallow. She still deserves to live. It’s a rather unsettling story, and done well with a great deal of complexity. Many thanks, Charles! Read the whole review here.
