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: November 2025

by John Joseph Adams

Published in Nov. 2025 (Issue 186) | 231 words

Welcome to issue 186 of Lightspeed Magazine!

Both of the SF short stories this month blend humor with sharp questions about technology. Our first short is “Elegy for Zephyr One” by Gene Doucette, in which a mega-corporation tries out a dangerous Turing test on a spaceship. Joel W.D. Buxton’s newest story, “Operation: Grapevine,” puts the world’s fate in the hands of possibly the world’s most boring man, to hilarious effect. We also have two terrific flash pieces: “How to Set Up Your Mourning Robot” from Angela Liu and “Visible Damage” by Nina Kiriki Hoffman.

Our original fantasy kicks off with a short by Lisa M. Bradley, “In the Zone,” the story of an artist with a surprising power to fight injustice—and the psychic weight of that gift. Tina S. Zhu’s new short (“How to Build a Homecoming Queen: A Guide by a Bad Asian Girl”) tells the tale of a teenage girl whose magical double proves to be the perfect daughter, sister, and robotics team captain. But what happens when creator and creation wind up having different goals?

Our fantasy flash stories include “Beneath the Umdlebe Tree; or, A Vegetable Love Story” by Modupeoluwa Shelle and “The Cold Burning Light of Her” by Sam W. Pisciotta. We also have our usual assortment of author spotlights, along with book reviews from our terrific review team.

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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.