Prime Codex

Prime Codex
Lawrence M. Schoen & Michael Livingston (ed).
Paper Golem LLC
ISBN: 978-0-9795349-0-4
Fiction, Science Fiction, Fantasy
Reviewed by Chris Gerrib

Codex is a writer’s group, composed of graduates of various writers’ workshops, such as Clarion, Orson Scott Card’s BootCamp, and other prestigious organizations. In an effort to promote their writers, they have released a book, Prime Codex: The Hungry Edge of Speculative Fiction.
Prime Codex is a collection of 15 short stories, all of them previously uncollected, from 15 new and emerging writers. As you would expect from such a diverse group, I found some of the stories more entertaining then others. However, overall the collection is quite worth your while. Here’s a few of my personal favorites:
Sisters of the Hedge by Jim Hines. I’ met Jim, and enjoyed his Goblin series of books. Although Sisters is definitely fantasy, it’s much darker then the Goblin books. The basic setup is that a magical, evil hedge has grown up and walled off a castle. A Christian church has been established at the hedge, serving various people who’ve attempted to penetrate the hedge but failed.
Rampion by Mary Robinette Kowal. This is an extremely short story, only a few pages, and tells the depths that a man and a woman will go to make each other happy, as well as how evil people will exploit those depths.
Button by Button, written by E. Catherine Tobler. This is an interesting SF story about first contact of a very subtle sort set in the 19th century.
Tides by Tobias Buckell. I’ve also met Tobias, and he delivers here a tale in the vein of his Caribbean-tinged novels. It’s set on a human-colonized world, where the offshore settlers are at war with the coastal peoples.
Urban Renewal by Tom Pendergrass. I read this story originally in Shimmer Magazine. Told in memo format, it’s a new take on the fairy tale about the old woman who lives in a shoe.
Overall, Prime Codex is an interesting book, and anybody who enjoys fantasy, science fiction or just good writing should own it.