Lightspeed: Edited by John Joseph Adams

LIGHTSPEED & NIGHTMARE Kickstarter graphic. Left side: Bright light blue background with rays (as of light) bursting out from the center. Central image is an open book with a rocket blasting up out of it. Below the book is the LIGHTSPEED magazine wordmark; the word lightspeed is rendered in a orange-to-yellow gradient, with a white outline around it and dropshadow underneath it. Right side: Bright light yellow background with rays (as of light) bursting out from the center. Central image is an open book with a haunted house emerging from it. Below the book is the NIGHTMARE magazine wordmark; the word nightmare is rendered in a dark red to lighter red gradient, with a white outline around it and dropshadow underneath it. Top: the words "LIVE on Kickstarter"

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Editorial

Editorial: July 2024

by John Joseph Adams

Published in July 2024 (Issue 170) | 310 words

Welcome to issue 170 of Lightspeed Magazine!

Both of our original short SF stories wrestle with meaning and expression. The first is Dominique Dickey’s story “The Last Lucid Day,” about a technology that gives people with dementia the capacity to know what their last lucid day will be. If you’ve had family members with this insidious condition, this story will both rip out your heart and give you a hug.

Filip Hajdar Drnovšek Zorko’s novelette “The Heist for the Soul of Humanity” pulls back its lens to focus on a humanity spread across solar systems, but still struggling to make art outside the grip of corporate giants. On top of the philosophical and sociological musings, this story offers up just what its title promises: a cunning heist adventure.

In this month’s flash fiction, we have an SF story in the guise of a writing advice column (“The Only Writing Advice You’ll Ever Need to Survive Eldritch Horrors” by Aimee Pichi) and “The Aliens Said They Want to Party,” a hilarious first contact piece by Joel W.D. Buxton. Of course we have two fantasy flash pieces, as well, including “Songs of the Sorrow of Thorns” from Amayah Perveen, and “A Guide on How to Meet the Deity of Many Faces” from Oyedotun Damilola Muees.

Our fantasy short stories include “The Red Queen’s Heart” by Vanessa Fogg, the story of a magical market and a powerful woman’s purchases. Carrie Vaughn offers us “Between Above and Below,” which puts a retired angel in the dangerous position of needing to care about a human.

All that, and of course we also have our usual assortment of author spotlights, along with book reviews from our terrific review team.

It’s another terrific issue packed with speculative goodness. Thanks for joining us at the speed of light!

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John Joseph Adams

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John Joseph Adams is the editor and publisher of the Hugo Award-winning Lightspeed and publisher of its sibling magazine, Nightmare. He’s also the editor of more than fifty anthologies, including the Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy series, Wastelands, A People’s Future of the United States, and the New York Times bestselling Out There Screaming (with Jordan Peele). John is a winner of the Hugo, Stoker, Locus, and British Fantasy awards, and is 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 ran a novel imprint for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Lately, he’s also been working as an editor and game designer on TTRPG projects for Kobold Press, Paizo, and Monte Cook Games. Learn more at johnjosephadams.com.