Welcome to issue twenty-three of Lightspeed!

This month, we have original fantasy by Half-Life creator Marc Laidlaw (“Forget You”) and Eric Gregory (“The Sympathy”), along with fantasy reprints by Caitlín R. Kiernan (“The Steam Dancer (1896)”) and M. K. Hobson (“Domovoi”).

For our original science fiction offerings, we’ll have Vandana Singh’s “Ruminations in an Alien Tongue” and Caroline M. Yoachim’s “Mother Ship,” and our SF reprints will include “Our Town” by bestselling, award-winning author Kim Stanley Robinson and, from my new anthology Armored, “Nomad” by Karin Lowachee.

All that plus our artist showcase, our usual assortment of author spotlights, and feature interviews with bestselling authors William Gibson and Robin Hobb.

And for our ebook exclusives this month, we’re pleased to present the award-nominated novella “The Political Officer” by C. C. Finlay, along with excerpts from Nancy Kress’s, After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall, her new novel coming out this month from Tachyon, and from Holly Black’s Black Heart, the new novel forthcoming from Simon & Schuster.

Our issue this month is again sponsored by our friends at Orbit Books. This month, look for The Killing Moon, the first installment in a new epic fantasy series by critically-acclaimed author N. K. Jemisin. You can find more from Orbit—including digital short fiction and monthly ebook deals—at www.orbitbooks.net.

It’s another great issue, so be sure to check it out. And remember, there are several ways you can sign up to be notified of new Lightspeed content:

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Well, that’s all there is to report this month. Thanks for reading!