by Tamsyn Muir

“The Magician’s Apprentice” was first printed in Weird Tales, Issue #358 for Winter 2012 and was reprinted in The Year’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy 2013, edited by Rich Horton and The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Five, edited by Ellen Datlow.

TAMSYN MUIR is a horror, fantasy and sci-fi author whose works have appeared in Nightmare Magazine, F&SF, Fantasy Magazine, Weird Tales and Clarkesworld. She is a graduate of Clarion 2010, and was a 2012 Shirley Jackson Award nominee this story. She is a 2015 Nebula Award nominee and 2015 Eugie Foster Memorial Award for Short Fiction for her novelette “The Deepwater Bride”. She is from Howick, New Zealand. She blogs from tumblr and Tweets from Twitter.

Your narrator – Louise Ratcliffe is a scientist, artist and stay-home Mum. She lives in New Zealand having moved there from England 12 years ago when her Maori husband brought her home. They have 3 children, 3 cats, 9 chickens, 8 ducks and a goat called Steve. She spends her time creating Art Yarn, and knitting body parts and blankets. Her work can be seen on Facebook at her Top o’ the Meadow fibre art page, or you can find her on Ravelry as Giggigoofer.

Pseudopod has launched our TEN YEAR Kickstarter! CHECK IT OUT! Please consider pledging (every little bit helps!) as we are just over halfway there!

The CAST OF WONDERS Flash Fiction Contest info can be accessed at the link.

Info on Anders Manga’s album (they do our theme music!) can be found here.

When she was thirteen, Mr. Hollis told her: “There’s never more than two, Cherry. The magician and the magician’s apprentice.”