Lightspeed: Edited by John Joseph Adams

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Editorial

Editorial: October 2019

by John Joseph Adams

Published in Oct. 2019 (Issue 113) | 347 words

Welcome to Lightspeed’s 113th issue!

This month’s first original short story comes from E. Lily Yu—and it’s a classic tale of a naïve prince, a scheming queen, and a good-hearted cook. So where do the deer come in? You’ll have to read “The Valley of Wounded Deer” to find out. Our other original fantasy short (“Windrose in Scarlet”) is by Isabel Yap, who plaits two well-known fairy tales into a brand-new story. We also have fantasy reprints by Kai Ashante Wilson (“«Légendaire.»”) and Ken Liu (“The Hidden Girl”).

Our science fiction shorts include an original story by Eli Brown, “Nesting Habits of Enceladan Jade Beetles,” which takes us on a scientific expedition to icy Enceladus. Once you defrost from that chilly read, warm up with Ray Nayler’s new short, “The Death of Fire Station 10,” a thoughtful muse on intelligence in all its forms. We also have SF reprints by Sam J. Miller (“The Beasts We Want to Be”) and WC Dunlap (“Revival”).

Of course we also have our usual assortment of author spotlights, book and media review columns, and a feature interview with Valerie Valdes. Our ebook readers will also enjoy an excerpt from Cixin Liu’s new novel, Supernova Era.

The last line of “Sacrid’s Pod” by Adam-Troy Castro was accidentally cut from the story when it was originally published last month. We’ve now updated our website and ebook editions to reflect the correction. To avoid spoilers, we’re not going to print the last line here, in case you haven’t read the story yet, but if you download a new ebook from where you purchased it or visit our website (lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/sacrids-pod), you can see the the change. Note: If you subscribe via Kindle Periodicals, we have no way of updating that edition of the magazine, unfortunately.

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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.