Lightspeed: Edited by John Joseph Adams

Slide 1: in a fun, witchy font: Magic & Mystery, Amazon Original Stories; Slide 2-5: Fantasy Authors Turn to Crime, Curated by John Joseph Adams: Lists authors Travis Baldree, Sarah Beth Durst, Heather Fawcett, Scott Lynch, Tananarive Due, J.M. Miro, and Robert Jackson Bennet. Slide 6: Small renderings of all seven book covers; Slide 7: a magical cat face with paw prints to the left and right, with the words "The Game is Afoot / July 28".

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Editorial

Editorial: May 2022

by John Joseph Adams

Published in May 2022 (Issue 144) | 232 words

Welcome to Lightspeed’s 144th issue!

This month we kick off our SF shorts with a story (“Nobody Ever Goes Home to Zhenzhu”) by Grace Chan that proves that family is important—but crew more so. Tobias S. Buckell will make you do a better job sorting your recyclables and composting in his new short, “The Plastic People.” It’s a grim warning about our future that will tweak your darkest funny bone. We also have a flash piece (“It Came Gently”) from Aigner Loren Wilson, along with an SF reprint by Peter Watts (“Test 4 Echo”).

What if fairies were real and worried about both climate change and how to pay the rent? Andi C. Buchanan’s new fantasy story “If We Do Not Fly at Sunset” sprinkles magic on the mundane, with poignant results. Lina Rather blends cottagecore with epic fantasy in her dark story “The Cheesemaker and the Undying King,” which will have you rethinking everything you thought you knew about medieval-inspired fantasy. We also have a flash piece (“Magical Girl Burnout Bingo”) from Lauren Ring. Our fantasy reprint is by Jonathan Maberry (“The Hammer of God”).

All that, and of course we also have our usual assortment of author spotlights, along with book reviews from our terrific review team. Our ebook readers will also enjoy an excerpt from T. Kingfisher’s new novel Nettle and Bone.

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John Joseph Adams

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John Joseph Adams is the editor and publisher of the Hugo Award-winning Lightspeed and publisher of its sibling magazine, Nightmare. He’s also the editor of more than fifty anthologies, including the Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy series, Wastelands, A People’s Future of the United States, and the New York Times bestselling Out There Screaming (with Jordan Peele). John is a winner of the Hugo, Stoker, Locus, and British Fantasy awards, and is 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 ran a novel imprint for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Lately, he’s also been working as an editor and game designer on TTRPG projects for Kobold Press, Paizo, and Monte Cook Games. Learn more at johnjosephadams.com.