Lightspeed: Edited by John Joseph Adams

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Best of the Year

Science Fiction

Flower, Mercy, Needle, Chain

by Yoon Ha Lee

Author spotlight

The usual fallacy is that, in every universe, many futures splay outward from any given moment. But in some universes, determinism runs backwards: given a universe’s state s at some time t, there are multiple previous states that may have resulted in s. In some universes, all possible pasts funnel toward a single fixed ending, Ω. If you are of millenarian bent, you might call Ω Armageddon. If you are of grammatical bent, you might call it punctuation on a cosmological scale. If you are a philosopher in such a universe, you might call Ω inevitable.

In Sep. 2010 (Issue 4)

Science Fiction

Arvies

by Adam-Troy Castro

Author spotlight

STATEMENT OF INTENT: This is the story of a mother, and a daughter, and the right to life, and the dignity of all living things, and of some souls granted great destinies at the moment of their conception, and of others damned to remain society’s useful idiots.

In Aug. 2010 (Issue 3)

Science Fiction

How to Become a Mars Overlord

by Catherynne M. Valente

Author spotlight

Welcome, Aspiring Potentates! We are tremendously gratified at your interest in our little red project, and pleased that you recognize the potential growth opportunities inherent in whole-planet domination. Of course we remain humble in the face of such august and powerful interests, and seek only to showcase the unique and challenging career paths currently available on the highly desirable, iconic, and oxygen-rich landscape of Mars.

In Aug. 2010 (Issue 3)

Science Fiction

The Zeppelin Conductors’ Society Annual Gentlemen’s Ball

by Genevieve Valentine

Author spotlight

The balloon of a Phoenix-class airship is better than any view from its cabin windows; half a mile of silk pulled taut across three hundred metal ribs and a hundred gleaming spines is a beautiful thing. If your mask filter is dirty you get lightheaded and your sight goes reddish, so it looks as though the balloon is falling in love with you.

In July 2010 (Issue 2)

Science Fiction

No Time Like the Present

by Carol Emshwiller

A lot of new rich people have moved into the best houses in town—those big ones up on the hill that overlook the lake. What with the depression, some of those houses have been on the market for a long time. They’d gotten pretty run down, but the new people all seem to have plenty of money and fixed them up right away. Added docks and decks and tall fences. It was our fathers, mine included, who did all the work for them. I asked my dad what their houses were like and he said, “Just like ours only richer.”

In July 2010 (Issue 2)

Science Fiction

Amaryllis

by Carrie Vaughn

Author spotlight

I never knew my mother, and I never understood why she did what she did. I ought to be grateful that she was crazy enough to cut out her implant so she could get pregnant. But it also meant she was crazy enough to hide the pregnancy until termination wasn’t an option, knowing the whole time that she’d never get to keep the baby. That she’d lose everything. That her household would lose everything because of her.

In June 2010 (Issue 1)

Science Fiction

The Cassandra Project

by Jack McDevitt

Author spotlight

It’s an odd fact that the biggest science story of the twenty-first century—probably the biggest ever—broke in that tabloid of tabloids, The National Bedrock.

In June 2010 (Issue 1)