Lightspeed: Edited by John Joseph Adams

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Editorial

Editorial: November 2022

Welcome to Lightspeed’s 150th issue!

For the last few years, every science fiction writer has wondered: When will it be okay to write a story about a pandemic? But I think we can all agree that disease has been with us for all of human history, and that ignoring it does nothing to make anyone feel better. So we’re kicking off this issue with Tania Fordwalker’s new short story “Beyond the Shore.” It’s certainly about a pandemic . . . but not one like any disease humanity has ever lived through.

We’re happy to welcome back Ben H. Winters, whose new SF short “Double Occupancy” is about both the dangers of time travel and not knowing yourself. Dominica Phetteplace also returns with a flash story, “Therefore What the Multiverse has Joined Together, Let No One Separate,” and we have an SF reprint by Tobias S. Buckell (“The Blindfold”).

In our fantasy offerings, Alex Irvine brings us “The Dragon’s Hand,” a tale of magic and a reluctant bond between a traveler and a dragon. Kristina Ten takes us back to the contemporary world with a story of magic and a massive music festival: “The Noon Witch Goes to Sound Planet.” We also have a flash piece (“What If the Whole Camp of Kids Learned How To Liquefy?”) from Maria Kelson. Our fantasy reprint is by Yoon Ha Lee (“The Graphology of Hemorrhage”).

Our review team has been exploring new releases for recommendations, and of course we have spotlight interviews with our authors. Our ebook readers will also enjoy an excerpt from Ocean’s Echo, the newest novel by Everina Maxwell.

John Joseph Adams

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John Joseph Adams is the series editor of Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy and the New York Times bestselling editor of more than forty anthologies, such as Wastelands, A People’s Future of the United States, and Out There Screaming (with Jordan Peele). He is also editor (and publisher) of the Hugo Award-winning magazine Lightspeed and is publisher of its sister-magazines Nightmare and Fantasy. Called “the reigning king of the anthology world” by Barnes & Noble, John is a two-time winner of the Hugo Award, a winner of the Stoker,  Locus, and ENNIE awards, and a ten-time World Fantasy Award finalist. In addition to his short fiction work, he’s the co-creator of The Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy podcast, and for five years he was the editor of the John Joseph Adams Books novel imprint for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Lately, he’s been working as an editor on various TTRPG projects for Kobold Press and Monte Cook Games and as a contributing game designer on books such as Kobold Press’s Tome of Heroes. Learn more at johnjosephadams.com.

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