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 187 of LIGHTSPEED! We're starting off this month's science fiction with "Reality Check," a new short story from Nancy Kress that asks whether our love affair with technology is whittling down our very humanity. For something a little more lighthearted, we're happy to bring you a new short by Oyedotun Damilola Muees: "The Hub Living Among the Stars." It's imaginative SF at its most enjoyable. We also have two terrific flash pieces: "Us, in Another Universe" from A.C. Wise and "The Space Between Us" by P.A. Cornell. Jonathan Olfert returns to our pages with a new fantasy story, "Crickets in Lost Light," which follows Ander Carmora after the...

NIGHTMARE is an online horror and dark fantasy magazine. In NIGHTMARE's pages, you will find all kinds of horror fiction, from zombie stories and haunted house tales, to visceral psychological horror.This month, Mimi Mondal plays with a classic Bengali trope about ghosts in her new short story "Malotibala Printing Press." Remember being in school and writing bibliographies for your papers? Well, Nibedita Sen spins that academic exercise into true horror in her new short "Ten Excerpts from an Annotated Bibliography on the Cannibal Women of Ratnabar Island." We also have some nightmarish reprints by Micah Dean Hick ("The Deer Boy") and Philip Fracassi ("Fail-Safe"). Writer, podcaster, and all-around geek Aaron Duran brings us the latest installment of our column on horror, "The H Word." Of course we have author spotlights with our authors, and we also have a feature interview with Gabino Iglesias. Plus, our e-book readers...

LIGHTSPEED is an online 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.This month, Matthew Baker looks beyond ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK to imagine the future of corrections. Is his idea better than our current prison system? Decide for yourself after you read "Life Sentence." If you like your science fiction with a steampunk flavor, we're happy to share "Harry and Marlowe and the Disinclined Laboratory," the latest installment in Carrie Vaughn's The Aetherian Revolution series. We also have SF reprints from Elizabeth Bear ("Okay, Glory") and Gord Sellar ("The Incursus by Asimov-NN#71"). Our fantasy selections start off with an original take on Canadian folklore from KT Bryski: "Ti-Jean's...

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 141 of LIGHTSPEED! Science fiction is one of the literature's most fun sandboxes. It's a place to write about new versions of the world, and new versions of our selves. In Isabel J. Kim's new short story "Plausible Realities, Improbable Dreams," you get both-in one multiverse-braided array of realities. There's romance and physics and coffee, and if that doesn't reel you in, well, you're heartless. For those of you with hearts, our other original SF short is going to tug at yours. In "NeuNet," Sharang Biswas gives us the story of what caring for our elders might look like in the future, and it's just as hard as it is today. To...

LIGHTSPEED is an online 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.This month, our cover art is by Reiko Murakami, illustrating new science fiction from Dale Bailey ("The Horror of Party Beach"). We also have new SF from Molly Tanzer ("The Real YouTM"), along with SF reprints by Adrienne Celt ("Big Boss Bitch") and Jack Skillingstead ("Tribute"). Our original fantasy shorts are by Cameron Van Sant ("Super-Luminous Spiral") and Mel Kassel ("Ten Deals with the Indigo Snake"). We also have fantasy reprints by Silvia Moreno-Garcia ("Kaleidoscope") and Alex Irvine ("The Dream Curator"). All that, and of course we also have our usual assortment of author...

The best science fiction and fantasy stories from 2019, guest-edited by author of the mega best-selling Outlander series, Diana Gabaldon.

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 137 of LIGHTSPEED! We're starting off the month with a memo—-a science fictional memo, and lucky for all of you, it's by the hilarious Gene Doucette. Not everyone can make an apocalypse funny, but we think "Memoranda from the End of the World" will have you chuckling to the bitter end. Our other original SF short comes from Yang-Yang Wang, whose story "Every Single Brian" digs into the painful and personal realm of human cloning. E. Catherine Tobler brings us a riveting SF flash piece in "Those Who Went." Our reprint is "Tidings" by Rich Larson, from Grist Magazine's recent Imagine 2200 climate fiction publication. On the...

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 163 of LIGHTSPEED! 2023 has been a tough year for short fiction magazines, especially with the demise of the Kindle Periodicals program, where many readers sourced their subscriptions. We're so grateful to every reader who has changed their subscription over to Weightless or our storefront! Wonderful readers like you all are the reason we keep doing this work. We're starting this month off with "Carbon Zero" by D. Thomas Minton, a new story of a terrifying near-future where greenhouse gas emissions are as rigorously regulated-or more rigorously regulated-as Schedule I drugs. Adam-Troy Castro returns to our pages with his latest story,...

LIGHTSPEED is an online 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.Ever wonder what it would be like if archaeology could skip digging in the dirt and just go straight to excavating time? Caroline M. Yoachim explores just this idea in her new short story "The Archronology of Love." Our cover art this month, from Reiko Murakami, illustrates this story. Our other original SF short is by Matthew Corradi ("Gundark Island, or Tars Tarkas Needs Your Help"), taking us adventuring with a group of boys and their very interesting companion. You can also enjoy SF reprints by Cory Doctorow ("To Market, To Market: The Branding of Billy Bailey") and Michael Swanwick ("The She-Wolf's Hidden Grin")....

LIGHTSPEED is an online 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.This month Deji Bryce Olukotun serves up a complicated story of morality, justice and interstellar cannibalism in "Between the Dark and the Dark." In her new SF tale "The Harvest of a Half-Known Life", G.V. Anderson creates a post-apocalyptic world where knowledge is precious, but so is your hair and skin. We also have SF reprints by Ken Liu ("An Advanced Reader's Picture Book of Comparative Cognition") and Yoon Ha Lee ("Warhosts").Isabel Cañas knits fantasy and romance in "The Weight of a Thousand Needles," and Caspian Gray's "Unpublished Gay Cancer Survivor Memoir" adds magic to an...

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 140 of LIGHTSPEED! We're flying into the new year with a piece of fantasy fiction from Maria Dong called, appropriately enough, "In the Beginning of Me I Was a Bird." It's a fascinating meditation on self, personality, and our relationships with animals and each other. Vanessa Fogg brings us a beautiful tale of magic in her new short story "An Address to the Newest Disciples of the Lost Words," and our flash story, "In the Cold, Dark Sea," is a sea-flavored tale of vengeance from Jenny Rae Rappaport. We also have a reprint of "Give Me Cornbread or Give Me Death," by the one and only N.K. Jemisin. If you're hungry for some science...

LIGHTSPEED is an online 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 LIGHTSPEED's 120th issue. This month's cover is from Galen Dara, illustrating a new science fiction short by Adam-Troy Castro. If you've ever wondered how a time traveler would see your personal problems, be sure to read Castro's new "The Time Traveler's Advice to the Lovelorn." Ada Hoffmann has created a future where AIs are gods and angels are cyborgs in "Melting Like Metal." We also have SF reprints by Alex Irvine ("One Hundred Sentences About the City of the Future") and Charlie Jane Anders ("Rager in Space"). Millie Ho spins a story of fire, rebirth, and love in her new fantasy short "The Fenghuang." Alexander Weinstein also...

LIGHTSPEED is an online 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 LIGHTSPEED's 118th issue! This month's cover is by Elizabeth Leggett, and illustrates a new original short by Russell Nichols called "Giant Steps." It's a thought-provoking story of a woman wrestling with life, motherhood, and space exploration. We also have a new short from Adam-Troy Castro ("Many Happy Returns"), which follows an inter-galactic adventurer bent on escaping life's responsibilities. We also have SF reprints by A.M. Dellamonica ("Living the Quiet Life") and Charlie Jane Anders ("Reliable People"). Our original fantasy shorts include a story with a surprising botanical twist: "Tend to Me," by Kristina Ten. Tahmeed Shafiq brings us...

LIGHTSPEED is an online 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 LIGHTSPEED's 119th issue. We're really excited to share "The Least of These," a brand-new short by Veronica Roth! We also have a snapshot of what creativity will look like in the future in Andrew Dana Hudson's new short, "Voice of Their Generation." Our SF reprints are by Yoon Ha Lee ("Always the Harvest") and Vandana Singh ("A Subtle Web"). Our new fantasy short by Celeste Rita Baker ("Glass Bottle Dancer") might make you appreciate the insects in your world just a little bit more. Rati Mehrotra writes about love, loss, and witchcraft in a new short called "The Witch Speaks." We also have fantasy reprints by Caleb Wilson ("Bow Down...