Fiction

Science Fiction

It’s all over for humanity, and I’m heading east. On the seat beside me are an M1 carbine and a Thompson submachine gun. There’s a special reason for the Thompson. I traded an M16 and 200 rounds of ammo for it to a guy in Barstow.

In Jul. 2014 (Issue 50)

Fantasy

Cimmeria: From the Journal of Imaginary Anthropology

by Theodora Goss

Author spotlight

Remembering Cimmeria: I walk through the bazaar, between the stalls of the spice sellers, smelling turmeric and cloves, hearing the clash of bronze from the sellers of cooking pots, the bleat of goats from the butcher’s alley. Rugs hang from wooden racks, scarlet and indigo. In the corners of the alleys, men without legs perch on wooden carts, telling their stories to a crowd of ragged children, making coins disappear into the air.

Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2015

In Jul. 2014 (Issue 50)

Science Fiction

The Panda Coin

by Jo Walton

Author spotlight

Karol hung in the lock and yawned, which he’d have told anyone was his way of readjusting to the air pressure inside Hengist. Many around him were yawning too. All outworkers knew that a pressure yawn had nothing to do with tiredness.

In Jul. 2014 (Issue 50)

Fantasy

Help Me Follow My Sister into the Land of the Dead

by Carmen Maria Machado

Author spotlight

This is the thing about my sister and I: we’ve never gotten along, even when we’ve gotten along. This is what happens when you have parents who fetishize family, and the viscosity of their blood relative to water: you resent the force with which they push you together with this person who is, genetics aside, a stranger. And that’s what my sister is: a stranger.

In Jul. 2014 (Issue 50)

Science Fiction

The New Provisions

by Adam-Troy Castro

Author spotlight

Phil called the toll-free number he’d been given, and after the usual twenty-minute hold time, reached a human being who explained that the tow truck driver really did have the right to haul away his car. It didn’t matter that the car had been parked in his driveway or that it had been completely paid for, and it certainly didn’t matter that it was the only form of transportation he and his wife had for getting back and forth from work.

Illustrated by Elizabeth Leggett

In Jul. 2014 (Issue 50)

Science Fiction

Like Daughter

by Tananarive Due

Author spotlight

I got the call in the middle of the week, when I came wheezing home from my uphill late-afternoon run. I didn’t recognize the voice on my computer’s answer-phone at first, although I thought it sounded like my best friend, Denise. There was no video feed, only the recording, and the words were so improbable they only confused me more.

Illustrated by Elizabeth Leggett

In June 2014 (Issue 49)

Science Fiction

Cuts Both Ways

by Heather Clitheroe

Author spotlight

The kids know he’s coming to visit. They’ve been texting him to tell him about the snow and how cold it is, and they helpfully send links to their Amazon wish lists with pages of moon-eyed dolls and odd sets of dueling robots and creatures sold according to series. The things they like are incomprehensible to him, but they know he’s good for it.

Illustrated by Elizabeth Leggett

In June 2014 (Issue 49)

Science Fiction

The Case of the Passionless Bees

by Rhonda Eikamp

Author spotlight

Of all the strange sights I had been privy to during my acquaintanceship with that illustrious detective, none was as disturbing as seeing my old friend covered in bees. Naturally I was not concerned; his manaccanite skin was impervious to harm and I myself was at a safe distance, ensconced behind the clerestory window at Shading Coil Cottage.

Illustrated by Christine Mitzuk

In June 2014 (Issue 49)

Science Fiction

Women Destroy Flash Fiction!

by Robyn Lupo

As part of our Women Destroy Science Fiction! special issue, we opened up Lightspeed to flash fiction for the first time. The flash fiction section was guest-edited by our long-time assistant editor, Robyn Lupo. Half of the flash selections are available online, while the other half are exclusive to the print/ebook edition.

In Women Destroy Flash Fiction!

Science Fiction

The Hymn of Ordeal, No. 23

by Rhiannon Rasmussen

Your brother’s bones, suspended in mineral fluids, turn as smoothly and shine as brightly as the oil-coated joints of the mechanism they guide. When you touch the heavy plastic that separates you from his body, it is cold. The iron plate that serves to cover what is left of his face turns towards the tapping, and nausea wells deep in your throat.

In June 2014 (Issue 49)