Lightspeed: Edited by John Joseph Adams

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Illustrated Stories

Science Fiction

The Smog Society

by Chen Qiufan
Translated by Ken Liu and Carmen Yiling Yan

Author spotlight

Lao Sun lived on the seventeenth floor facing the open street, nothing between him and the sky. If he woke in the morning to darkness, it was the smog’s doing for sure. Through the murky air outside the window, he had to squint to see the tall buildings silhouetted against the yellow-gray background like a sandy-colored relief print. The cars on the road all had their highbeams on and their horns blaring, crammed one against the other at the intersection into one big mess.

In Aug. 2015 (Issue 63)

Science Fiction

Crazy Rhythm

by Carrie Vaughn

Author spotlight

George was about to declare his undying love for Annabell when the front of the train station fell over. Ross, the actor playing George, yelped and dashed away, his army cap flying off. Arlene — Annabell — merely put her hands on her hips and glared at the offending backdrop, a piece of dressed-up plywood that looked very much like the front of a train station, until it collapsed and revealed the braces behind it.

In Jul. 2015 (Issue 62)

Science Fiction

Red Run

by AMJ Hudson

Author spotlight

Hinahon didn’t belong in that hotel. On that Monday, she should have been at her apartment on East Bradford Street preparing to meet Natalie at a cozy restaurant downtown. It was their two year anniversary, and she was expected in a few hours.

In June 2015 (Issue 61)

Science Fiction

Madeleine

by Amal El-Mohtar

Author spotlight

Madeleine remembers being a different person. It strikes her when she’s driving, threading her way through farmland, homesteads, facing down the mountains around which the road winds. She remembers being thrilled at the thought of travel, of the self she would discover over the hills and far away. She remembers laughing with friends, looking forward to things, to a future.

In June 2015 (Issue 61)

Science Fiction

Nothing is Pixels Here

by K.M. Szpara

Author spotlight

“System Error ahead. Please turn around,” the Concierge’s voice speaks over the metallic growl of my dirt bike. I rev the throttle and lean into the warm wind. My seat bounces as mud ricochets up around me. Ahead, knobby limbs and crisp leaves dissolve into broken pixels. The SimGrid mutes as the soft voice fills the space between my ears, again. “System Error ahead. Please turn around.”

In June 2015 (Issue 61)

Science Fiction

Melioration

by E. Saxey

Gramophone music crackles out over the quad. “Read that last part again, Jay,” Professor Norris says. I raise my voice. “‘They’ has been used as a singular pronoun since Chaucer: whoso fyndeth hym —” A champagne cork pops, the drinkers cheer. I can’t compete. “Oh, for goodness’ sake.” “You don’t approve?” asks the Prof. “This college isn’t a theme park.”

In June 2015 (Issue 61)

Science Fiction

勢孤取和 (Influence Isolated, Make Peace)

by John Chu

Author spotlight

Jake acquired his target as soon as he stepped into the cafeteria. For the good of the war, he had passed without a trace through forests and mountains to reconnoiter and assassinate. For the good of the subsequent peace, Jake now needed to have lunch with a random stranger and emulate a human being.

In June 2015 (Issue 61)

Science Fiction

Emergency Repair

by Kate M. Galey

Author spotlight

I work the tip of a flathead screwdriver into the barely visible notch along the sternum and pry up the aluminum polymer casing covering the android’s chest. My fingers burn when they make contact with the exposed skeletal components — no time to let it cool down.

In June 2015 (Issue 61)

Science Fiction

Time Bomb Time

by C.C. Finlay

Author spotlight

-pop- The sharp scent of ozone — sudden like heartbreak, raw as a panic attack — filled Hannah’s dorm room, from the paper-swamped desk across her rumpled bed to the window overlooking the quad. The lights flickered. Her heart skipped a beat. “God damn it.” She prodded Nolon’s foot with the toe of her shoe. She wanted […]

In May 2015 (Issue 60)

Science Fiction

The Universe, Sung in Stars

by Kat Howard

Author spotlight

There is music in the stars. The stars, the planets, the asteroids, the galaxies. Everything that is flung, whirling in orbit through space and time. We dwell inside an enormous, ever-changing symphony, and each of the many universes sings a song of its own. I replicate them.

In Apr. 2015 (Issue 59)