Lightspeed: Edited by John Joseph Adams

LIGHTSPEED & NIGHTMARE Kickstarter graphic. Left side: Bright light blue background with rays (as of light) bursting out from the center. Central image is an open book with a rocket blasting up out of it. Below the book is the LIGHTSPEED magazine wordmark; the word lightspeed is rendered in a orange-to-yellow gradient, with a white outline around it and dropshadow underneath it. Right side: Bright light yellow background with rays (as of light) bursting out from the center. Central image is an open book with a haunted house emerging from it. Below the book is the NIGHTMARE magazine wordmark; the word nightmare is rendered in a dark red to lighter red gradient, with a white outline around it and dropshadow underneath it. Top: the words "LIVE on Kickstarter"

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Editorial

Editorial, May 2024

by John Joseph Adams

Published in May 2024 (Issue 168) | 240 words

Welcome to issue 168 of Lightspeed Magazine!

One of the things speculative fiction does best is exploring different kinds of minds via the use of unusual story structures. Well, we’re kicking off this issue with a powerful story that nearly breaks the very nature of reading! “We Will Teach You How To Read | We Will Teach You How To Read” by Caroline M. Yoachim tells the story of an alien culture in a fresh, exciting format. Luckily for you, we’ve included instructions to help you understand every fantastic page.

We also have a new original science fiction story by Nisi Shawl: “Over a Long Time Ago,” a dark tale of unhappy relationships and space exploration. Stephen Geigen-Miller also delves into space exploration in his flash piece “The Last Thing They See Is Laika.” Ash Howell’s story of gene manipulation “Chaos Theory” joins our flash SF.

Ben Peek returns to the Ministry of Saturn in his dark fantasy story “Exit Interview.” P H Lee explores the nature of tricksters in their alternate history tale “Richard Nixon and the Princess of Crows.” We also have a flash story (“Done Deal”) from Rory Harper, and another (“And the Dreams That You Dare to Dream”) from Marissa Lingen.

In nonfiction, we have a terrific array of book reviews, and of course, our spotlight interviewers have sat down with our authors to get more insight into their stories.

Thanks for reading!

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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.