Lightspeed: Edited by John Joseph Adams

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Editorial

Editorial: April 2021

Welcome to Lightspeed’s 131st issue!

This month An Owomoyela returns to our pages with a new story of advanced AI, brain adaptations, and oh, yes, dead loved ones: “The Equations of the Dead.” It’s a riveting read, and so is our other SF original, Rich Larson’s “Complete Exhaustion of the Organism,” a post-apocalyptic story of love, loss, and, well, dead loved ones. We also have SF reprints from Seanan McGuire (“Swear Not by the Moon”) and Ray Nayler (“The Ocean Between the Leaves”).

Our fantasy original is a new novelette from Ashok K. Banker: “The Giving One.” It’s an epic tale that we’ll be serializing in two parts. We also have fantasy reprints from Ann Leckie (“The Justified”) and Genevieve Valentine (“Blood, Ash, Braids”).

The book review team has been busy reading everything from a new serialized dark SF novella (Spider King, by Justin C. Key, MD) to a joyous YA novel from Lightspeed alum Charlie Jane Anders.

This issue also marks a farewell: After nine long years, Dana Watson is stepping down as our copy editor. We’ve been so lucky to work with her for so long. Her sharp eye and keen knowledge of grammar (especially all those tricky rules about commas!) has made every piece in this magazine so much easier to read. Thank you, Dana, for all your dedication and hard work. We are going to miss you so much!

John Joseph Adams

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John Joseph Adams is the series editor of Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy and the New York Times bestselling editor of more than forty anthologies, such as Wastelands, A People’s Future of the United States, and Out There Screaming (with Jordan Peele). He is also editor (and publisher) of the Hugo Award-winning magazine Lightspeed and is publisher of its sister-magazines Nightmare and Fantasy. Called “the reigning king of the anthology world” by Barnes & Noble, John is a two-time winner of the Hugo Award, a winner of the Stoker,  Locus, and ENNIE awards, and 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 was the editor of the John Joseph Adams Books novel imprint for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Lately, he’s been working as an editor on various TTRPG projects for Kobold Press and Monte Cook Games and as a contributing game designer on books such as Kobold Press’s Tome of Heroes. Learn more at johnjosephadams.com.

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