Lightspeed Magazine, Issue 198 (November 2026)

We have original science fiction offerings by Jenn Reese (“A Map to Sideways Places”) and Phoenix Alexander (“Repentance in Blue”). Our two science fiction flash pieces are: “The Sculpture of Civilization 18: Author’s Note” by Mary Soon Lee and “Selected Case Notes from the Judicial Oversight Council of the Gatarn Empire” by Ian Li. Our original fantasy offerings are by Tobi Ogundiran (“A Brief History of a Mad Country”) and Nibedita Sen (“The Tongue That Makes the Mountain Sing”), the latter of which we’re publishing in partnership with Dartmouth University and MIT Press. Our two fantasy flash pieces are: “Choke, Writhe Perish: Recipe for Forging a Virgin Sacrifice to Feed the Dragon” by Merc Fenn Wolfmoor and “Forbidden Blood Clans” by Sean McMullen. We will also have our usual assortment of author spotlights, along with book reviews from our review team. It’s another great issue, so be sure to check it out.

Cover art by Tithi Luadthong (aka Grandfailure)

Lightspeed Magazine, Issue 198 (November 2026)

Editorial

Editorial: November 2026

by John Joseph Adams

Be sure to check out the editorial for a rundown of this month’s content and for all of John Joseph Adams’s media and book recommendations!

Publishes Online on 11/5

Science Fiction

Selected Case Notes from the Judicial Oversight Council of the Gatarn Empire

by Ian Li

Case No. 23N-55671, Year 49

Defendant Ernine activated a trans-dimensional device to swap his body with a version of himself from a recently diverged parallel universe. Defendant, or an alternate version of Defendant, was then caught on holovideo surveillance stalking and stabbing a victim ten times on planet Jarandis. Two hours after the victim succumbed to her injuries, Defendant activated the device again, allegedly to restore the original version of himself.

Publishes Online on 11/5

Fantasy

The Oracle at Ikeja

by Tobi Ogundiran

I. The Oracle at the Ministry of Truth

Ayinla could not say when he first heard of the Oracle. Perhaps at the barbershop, where he had settled himself into a rotting and dangerously unstable barber’s chair, robe too tight around his throat, silently cursing the barber who stopped every now and then to argue with “hangers.” (There were always hangers at barbershops; jobless, often shirtless men who were as much a fixture of the shop as the harsh fluorescent lights that exposed Ayinla’s pores).

Publishes Online on 11/5

Author Spotlight

Author Spotlight: Tobi Ogundiran

by Robin Jeffrey

This story came about from the confluence of two ideas. The first is determinism—a philosophical concept I’ve always been fascinated by—which posits that every individual is apportioned a certain future, one which regardless of whatever measures we might employ to shirk or bring it to pass, will nonetheless be made manifest.

Publishes Online on 11/5

Science Fiction

Repentance in Blue

by Phoenix Alexander

The Mother

Ryan said he’d been seeing “blue” in his bedroom at night.

“Blue what?” I asked.

Light.

“Where?”

Everywhere.

Publishes Online on 11/12

Fantasy

The Tongue That Makes the Mountain Sing

by Nibedita Sen

The Dartmouth Speculative Fiction Project paired eight faculty-members at Dartmouth College with eight veteran speculative fiction authors. Through design activities, panels, symposia and a mountain lodge retreat, they collaboratively imagined worlds that interrogate the future humanity is heading towards. These stories can be found in the anthology, Android in the Archives: Research, Creative Collaboration and our […]

Publishes Online on 11/12

Author Spotlight

Author Spotlight: Phoenix Alexander

by Delia Cullity

I had recently read Ilana Masad’s Lambda Award-winning novel, Beings, which is a semi-fictionalized account of the abduction of Betty and Barney Hill, intertwined with the account of an archivist uncovering a queer, historical romance. I adored the book and knew I had to write an alien abduction story!

Publishes Online on 11/12

Author Spotlight

Author Spotlight: Nibedita Sen

by Phoebe Barton

As I’m sure you know, this story was written as part of a Dartmouth University project where speculative fiction authors were paired with Dartmouth faculty and asked to write something inspired by their faculty partner’s research. I was lucky enough to be paired with Jane Henderson, whose work focuses on the concept of “human geography.”

Publishes Online on 11/12

Nonfiction

Book Review: Chimera Skin by Johnny Compton

by Melissa A Watkins

Melissa A. Watkins recommends Chimera Skin for fans of I Am Legend or Slaughterhouse-Five.

Publishes Online on 11/12

Science Fiction

A Map to Sideways Places

by Jenn Reese

The moment you set foot on Hades IV, you’re lost. The part of your brain that knows where you are in space—which way is left or right or up or down—gets all scrambled. Take just ten steps across the bruised purple soil from the shuttle ramp and good luck finding your way back. Not even our fancy tech can figure it out. The scientists tried.

Publishes Online on 11/19

Author Spotlight

Author Spotlight: Jenn Reese

by A Humphrey Lanham

There was a draft with more explicit references to Vee’s past but I removed them. I wanted her to live fully in the moment of the story, to have as small a world as possible. I wanted the story itself to feel claustrophobic; reminders of the outside world would work against that.

Publishes Online on 11/19

Fantasy

Choke, Writhe Perish: A Recipe for Forging a Virgin Sacrifice to Feed the Dragon

by Merc Fenn Wolfmoor

Ingredients: one part fury.

First, take the finest, softest leather and bleach it purest white. This is the skin-shroud, and you need to fool the cowardly officials who oversee the sacrifice as well as the dragon itself. What better than lamb-white, innocent flesh untouched by greedy hands?

Publishes Online on 11/19

Nonfiction

Book Review: It Looks like You in the Dark by Mathilda Zeller

by Arley Sorg

Arley Sorg recommends It Looks like You in the Dark for readers who are looking for a well-paced, multifaceted Indigenous debut horror novel.

Publishes Online on 11/19

Science Fiction

On the Thermodynamics of a Perfect Cup

by Georgina Kamsika

The hum of the generation ship Vikram Sarabhai was a constant, deep-boned heartbeat. After forty years aboard, Dr. Nasima Choudhury barely noticed the vibration. In her small workshop adjacent to the Mass-Lite Drive control room, the only sound she heard was the gentle hiss of her kettle. It was the one place where the ship’s sterile, recycled air was cut with the spicy, earthy scent of home.

Publishes Online on 11/26

Fantasy

The Means

by Christopher Rowe

One morning, everyone in the world—everyone except you—woke from where they had lain sleeping to find ineffaceable stains of blood at their wrists and ankles, with weeping wounds in their sides.

This took a bit of play with time on the part of the motive, but time was the first thing the motive breathed out. It will be the last thing the motive breathes in, some other distant dawn. The word “play” is an approximation. Play can be exultant. Play can be perverse.

Publishes Online on 11/26

Author Spotlight

Author Spotlight: Georgina Kamsika

by Phoebe Barton

I was first inspired from a discussion about tea, and how different it can be across cultures. A while ago, a poet friend of mine was visiting from Korea, and I took her out for a British style afternoon tea. We talked about how different it was from the meals we’d shared together in South Korea. She brought up darye (다례), tea etiquette, and we discussed how different the rituals were in England, India, and Korea.

Publishes Online on 11/26

Author Spotlight

Author Spotlight: Christopher Rowe

by Phoebe Barton

Back in January, I was sitting at my desk with my feet up when an email came through from John soliciting a story. From where I was sitting, I could just barely stretch my hand out and reach a pen and an envelope. I did this, thought for a moment, and wrote what appears on the attached photo (it goes on a bit on the back). One of those “make it up as you go along” experiences.

Publishes Online on 11/26

Nonfiction

Book Review: The Years of Apocalypse: A Progression Fantasy Epic (Book 1) by Uranium Phoenix

by Chris Kluwe

Time-loops, magic schools, and philosophical quandaries! Chris Kluwe recommends The Years of Apocalypse for readers looking for a series they can sink their teeth into.

Publishes Online on 11/26