Science Fiction & Fantasy

The Orbital Drop

Nonfiction

Author Spotlight: David Brin

The long debate over the long-range fate of the universe is still unsettled. For a while the notion of a Cyclical Cosmos reigned … that eventually the Big Bang’s expansion would peter out and gravity would pull everything back into a Big Crunch.

Vulcanize, Wookify, and Alienate Yourself

If aliens were to step off the screen and into the real world, they’d see nothing more than crude imitations: papier-mâché and facial putty. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Author Spotlight: Liz Coleman

I’m fascinated by unorthodox sexuality and the changes we put ourselves through for our loved ones. So I wanted to write about a guy dating aliens, which leads to the question, “Why would aliens want to date a human?”

Artist Spotlight: Grzegorz Rutkowski

Grzegorz Rutkowski is a Polish artist specializing in concept art. He brings his own flair for the dark and fantastic to his work, and in the following artist spotlight, explains a little about his personal taste. What do you enjoy the most about concept art? What does it achieve, where other kinds of art cannot [...]

Editorial, September 2011

Welcome to issue sixteen of Lightspeed! Here’s what we’ve got on tap this month … Fiction: “Join” by Liz Coleman, “Bubbles” by David Brin, “Thief of Futures” by D. Thomas Minton, “The Island of the Immortals” by Ursula K. Le Guin. Nonfiction: “Vulcanize, Wookify, and Alienate Yourself” by Esther Inglis-Arkell, “The Lonely Universe” by Dr. Pamela Gay, “Feature Interview: Lois McMaster Bujold” by Jeff Lester, “Immortals That Show Us That Death Is The Best Option” by Shaenon Garrity.

Interview: Simon Pegg

I really like the idea of writing myself as this incredibly self-involved bombastic superhero with a robot butler in the most florid prose possible because it’s just enormous fun to be bad on purpose.

Four Milestones In the Evolution of Artificial Intelligence

A.I. has been a very real thing in the world for more than a century. A.I.s have made for skilled chess players, therapists, and the most curiously compelling week of Jeopardy! ever broadcast.

Author Spotlight: Genevieve Valentine

My guess is that most people who have held down a day job in a corporate atmosphere will recognize something of Mori with very little trouble.

Forget Everything You’ve Ever Known About Amnesia

When we think of “amnesia,” we think of the classic soap opera example. A character endures some sort of emotionally traumatizing situation or blow to the head.

Author Spotlight: John Varley

I didn’t want to do any medical research, either, in case my idea of losing all your memories when you went to sleep turned out not to be possible. Turns out it is possible, which is a relief.