Welcome to issue 198 of Lightspeed!

This month’s original science fiction offerings are by Jenn Reese (“A Map to Sideways Places”) and Georgina Kamsika (“On the Thermodynamics of a Perfect Cup”). Our two science fiction flash pieces are: “Selected Case Notes from the Judicial Oversight Council of the Gatarn Empire” by Ian Li and “Repentance in Blue” by Phoenix Alexander.

Our original fantasy offerings are by Tobi Ogundiran (“The Oracle at Ikeja”) 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 “The Means” by Christopher Rowe.

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.

Android in the Archives

ICYMI: We’ll be featuring one story per issue from the forthcoming fiction + nonfiction anthology Android in the Archives (lightspeedmagazine.com/android), which will be published by MIT Press in 2027. Through design activities, panels, symposia and a mountain lodge retreat, the editors and authors collaboratively imagined worlds that interrogate the future humanity is heading towards. The fiction was edited by Sharang Biswas and Liz Gorinsky, which was done in collaboration with academic editor Rebecca Clark, along with project leads Solomon Diamond and Paula Olson, and contributing academic authors Jacqueline Wernimont and Eugene Korsunskiy. Stories by Max Gladstone, Brooke Bolander, Rob Cameron, and Dartmouth student Sanjana Raj have already been published; other stories are forthcoming from K. M. Szpara, Sam J. Miller, Alice Sola Kim, Andrea Kriz, and—in this issue—Nibedita Sen. To see all of the stories published thus far, visit lightspeedmagazine.com/series/android-in-the-archives.