Science Fiction & Fantasy

The Orbital Drop

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Nonfiction

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.

Five Ways to End an Alien Invasion

After all, they come to us. We barely have the means to leave low-Earth orbit, but these would-be conquerors have traveled light years with the express purpose of pressing us into human-flavored cider.

Author Spotlight: Will McIntosh

I envisioned this newly formed species standing around, not knowing what to value, how to go about creating their own culture and norms after their mission was complete.

Artist Spotlight: Tim Warnock

The vehicles in particular were just an exercise in form and surface exploration. Much of the buildings were sourced from photography I had taken that day. The people were a mix of painting and photography.