Lightspeed Magazine

Lightspeed is an online magazine dedicated to science fiction and fantasy. Within its pages, readers can explore a wide range of science fiction, from sociological soft SF set in the near future to hard SF that spans far-off galaxies, as well as fantasy that includes epic tales, sword-and-sorcery adventures, contemporary urban stories, magical realism, science-fantasy, and traditional folktales. A one-year subscription to Lightspeed grants access to over 100 stories, totaling around 700,000 words of fiction. Each issue features eight short pieces, which include a blend of short stories and novelettes written by a diverse group of authors—from renowned bestsellers and award-winning writers to exciting new talents. Notable authors featured in Lightspeed include Stephen King, George R.R. Martin, Ursula K. Le Guin, Neil Gaiman, N.K. Jemisin, Ted Chiang, and Ken Liu, among others. Alongside its fiction, Lightspeed also provides a range of nonfiction content, such as in-depth interviews, behind-the-scenes Q&As with authors about their creative processes, book and media reviews, and much more.

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Editorial: April 2025

3 weeks ago | lightspeedmagazine.com | Wendy Wagner |John Joseph Adams

Welcome to issue 179 of Lightspeed Magazine!This month we’re serializing an original SF novelette by Sarah Langan: “Does Harlen Lattner Dream of Infected Sheep?” I won’t give away the plot, but go in knowing that it’s darkly critical of the current state of the world, a little bit heartfelt, and possibly contains a fun smidge of body horror. We think you’ll love it! Our other science fictional work includes two terrific flash pieces: “Meditations from the Event Horizon” from Deborah L.
Author Spotlight: Sunwoo Jeong

4 weeks ago | lightspeedmagazine.com | Wendy Wagner |Mayookh Barua

What was the inspiration for this story? This was one of those stories where the first sentence, “We called it the monster because we could,” really did come first. I kept turning it in my head, and it sort of acted as a key that opened up the rest of the world to me. The sense of place and setting were also foremost in my mind as I wrote this piece. I was looking for somewhere to escape to, and emo volant (the restaurant) felt like the perfect hole-in-the-wall I could find comfort and solace in.
Instructions for Good Boys on the Interplanetary Expedition

4 weeks ago | lightspeedmagazine.com | Wendy Wagner |Rachael Jones

Spotnik knows the humans haven’t forgotten him, because kibble still clatters into Spotnik’s bowl at six a.m. sharp. They’ve been gone long enough for all the vegetables in Hydroponics to shrivel up, limp and dead. Spotnik eats his kibble and licks up the crumbs, because he is a Good Boy, and Good Boys eat their rations. Even when the kibble goes soft and develops a white coat of mold and begins to stink so bad that he has to struggle to choke it down and fight to keep it from coming back up.
Book Review: Amplitudes: Stories of Queer and Trans Futurity, edited by Lee Mandelo

4 weeks ago | lightspeedmagazine.com | Wendy Wagner |Arley Sorg

Amplitudes:Stories of Queer and Trans FuturityEdited by Lee MandeloPaperbackISBN: 978-1645660866Erewhon, May 2025, 384 pgsSome readers may know Lee Mandelo from his recently lauded books Summer Sons (Tordotcom, September 2021), Feed Them Silence (Tordotcom, March 2023), and The Woods All Black (Tordotcom, March 2024). If you’ve had your eye on speculative magazines for a little while, you will have caught his short fiction in Apex, Uncanny, our own Nightmare, and other notable venues.
Message in a Babel

1 month ago | lightspeedmagazine.com | Wendy Wagner |Adam-Troy Castro

To: Agent W-4, Location 9Dispatch 745900044, Source 12ABCertainty Level One, Confidence Level (9zB-Warren)Encrypted Level Gamma-1WARNING: The reading of this Dispatch is prohibited for anyone but the intended recipient. There are no exceptions. If you possess the encryption key and are not the intended recipient, be apprised that the means of decoding the contents do not constitute license. Penalties for the possession of the following include life imprisonment, or immediate execution.
The Shift - Lightspeed Magazine

1 month ago | lightspeedmagazine.com | Wendy Wagner |Nina Kiriki Hoffman

Once upon a time, there was a king who married a witch. Together, they had four sons and one daughter, and they were very happy as long as the king lived. When my father the king died and my oldest brother was crowned king, life went sideways for me, my sister, and our mother. The new king, our oldest brother, decided to use our sister as coin to buy our country’s safety. He planned to marry her to the king across a perilous border to our south. When Mother protested, he locked her in her room.
Book Review: The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson

1 month ago | lightspeedmagazine.com | Wendy Wagner |Chris Kluwe

The Raven ScholarAntonia HodgsonTrade PaperbackISBN: 9780316577229Orbit, April 15 2025, 704 pagesGreetings, readers, and welcome to another book review! This month we’re going to dive into a vividly imagined world of magic, treachery, heartbreak, and hope—in The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson.
Memories of Temperance

1 month ago | lightspeedmagazine.com | Wendy Wagner |Anya Ow

Night to day. In Diyu, the Earth Prison, Chun Wei opened her eyes. “Day” in the realm of the dead registered only as a less pervasive chill to the stagnant air. Not that Chun Wei needed to breathe any longer. She unfolded from the lotus position she’d rested in, stretching and rubbing her balled fists against her lower back until her spine creaked. The dilapidated Guanyin temple had an intact roof and a semi-intact stone statue, hacked out of rock by denizens still hoping for salvation.
Author Spotlight: Oluwatomiwa Ajeigbe

1 month ago | lightspeedmagazine.com | Wendy Wagner |Mayookh Barua

Can you tell us a bit about what inspired you to write this story? I was experimenting with unusual POVs as part of a personal writing exercise. This story was one of the successful results. I tried to write a story from a sort of hive mind POV but I didn’t want to write about insects so I played with the idea of making it a fleet of abandoned ships instead. I am so fascinated with the voice of the story which is constantly teetering on being sarcastic and factual. How did you arrive at this voice?
Those Who Seek to Embrace the Sun

1 month ago | lightspeedmagazine.com | Wendy Wagner |Oluwatomiwa Ajeigbe

The humans crawl into us, carrying their instruments and consulting their manuals. Their hands run over us, searching for nuts and bolts and hidden crevices. We are big toys that they all long to play with, to tear down and study. Our origin baffles them. They express endless awe at the complexity of our systems and are always asking themselves who built us. They come up with theories that get increasingly bizarre as time passes. We could tell them, of course.