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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Series Archive: Dungeonspace

In Braxis City, teens have a unique after-school job opportunity: traveling into dungeonspace anomalies and defeating the traps and monsters within to capture the powerful artifacts at their hearts.

Only teenagers have the unique neurochemistry that allows them to interface and travel through the anomalies into dungeonspace. The anomalies must be closed, or they threaten the very fabric of reality within Braxis City. In the decades since the coming of the anomalies and the great Cataclysm that followed, an entire shadow economy has sprung up around “d-space” and servicing the young crawler teams that aim to protect their city and possibly find fame and fortune along the way.

 

Fantasy

The Cavern of the Screaming Eye

by Jeremiah Tolbert

Author spotlight

“Is that the collapsible, carbon fiber ten-foot pole from TrunchCo—” I slammed my locker door and spun the combo lock, but it was too late; the fanboy already seen my gear. I didn’t know what his interest was, but I didn’t want to encourage him. I said nothing. He continued: “I’ve got the one from a couple of years ago that folds up. It sucks.”

In Oct. 2016 (Issue 77)

Fantasy

The Dragon of Dread Peak [Part 1]

by Jeremiah Tolbert

Author spotlight

When I made the decision to take up an after-school job closing trans-dimensional portals into pocket-worlds full of dangerous monsters and traps, I thought it would be easier—or at least more fun—than working the counter at a fried cockatrice joint or selling newssheets on a street corner at the crack of dawn. My team’s first outing into dungeonspace—when we defeated The Cavern of the Screaming Eye on our first try—had gone pretty good. Since then, we’d been running low threat level, poorly synced dungeons as practice, the kind that don’t actually kill you if you take damage inside them.

In Oct. 2017 (Issue 89)

Fantasy

The Dragon of Dread Peak [Part 2]

by Jeremiah Tolbert

Author spotlight

Back in originspace, Basher sobbed in Doom Maiden’s arms. Sparks stared at the ground. I didn’t know what to do with my hands. I wanted to punch something. Mostly I wanted to punch myself. Or maybe Domino. If only he had listened to me! Why did I ever think I could be a leader? Not even my best friend listened to me when it counted. How could I have been so stupid? How could he? “We’ll get him back,” Basher said. She was frantic. “He’s still alive. Right, Sparks? He’s still alive.”

In Oct. 2017 (Issue 89)