Lightspeed Magazine, Issue 157 (June 2023)

LIGHTSPEED is a digital science fiction and fantasy magazine. In its pages, you will find science fiction: from near-future, sociological soft SF, to far-future, star-spanning hard SF-and fantasy: from epic fantasy, sword-and-sorcery, and contemporary urban tales, to magical realism, science-fantasy, and folktales.

Welcome to issue 157 of LIGHTSPEED! While we at LIGHTSPEED are totally committed to careful driving and pedestrian safety, you might not know it from two of our science fiction titles! "Spaceship Joyride," a new short story by Dominique Dickey about two teens "borrowing" a spaceship, is just as much fun as the title warns you it will be. But Elad Habers flash piece, "Jaywalk the Stars," is packed with desperate consequences. Our other science fiction short, "Queen of the Andes" by Ruth Joffre, also explores the painful consequences of space travel-in contrast to the terrible consequences of staying on our own climate-ravaged planet. We also have a new flash piece from Rich Larson: "Always Personal." Sarah Grey brings us a charming fantasy short, "And All the Fields Below," that will give your heartstrings an enormous yank. Deborah L. Davitt takes a more classical approach in her poignant story "Philoctetes in Kabul"-where by "classical," were talking about ancient Greece. We also have two flash stories: "The Bone-Gatherers Lament" from Wendy Nikel and "Bestiary viventem" from Kyle E Miller. In nonfiction, our spotlight editor, Laurel Amberdine, sits down with our short fiction authors to bring you more insight on their work. The book review team offers an assortment of delightful reads, and of course, our ebook readers also enjoy two book excerpts.