Lightspeed Magazine, Issue 160 (September 2023)

Name: Lightspeed Magazine, Issue 160 (September 2023)
Rating: 5 (1 reviews)
ISBN: 9798215831915

By John Joseph Adams

Publisher Description

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 160 of LIGHTSPEED! If you're ready for a little fun, don't miss "Money in the Bank," an adventure-packed story of aliens and cryptobros from SF giants John Kessel and Bruce Sterling. In "The Hole in the Garden," Gene Doucette has written a heart-tugging piece that anyone parenting in the era of climate change will appreciate. We're rounding out the SF side of the literary equation with two flash pieces: "Eve's Prayer" by Victor Forna and "Death by Water" by Maria Haskins. Jo Miles brings us a tale of dragons and knights in new fantasy story "Simmered in Their Wealth Like the Richest of Sauces." Yvette Lisa Ndlovu writes about magic and a very difficult marriage in "His Thing." If you want to cook up a cure for your broken heart, Jordan Kurella has penned just the recipe-or maybe it's a flash story!-in his piece "Instructions for the Broken Hearted." We wrap up our fantasy flash with "Remains" by N.R. Lambert. All that, and of course we also have our usual assortment of author spotlights, along with book reviews from our terrific review team. Our ebook readers will also enjoy a book excerpt from Tlotlo Tsamaase's WOMB CITY.

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Lightspeed Magazine, Issue 160 (September 2023) Reviews

5.0

Zach Laengert

Created over 2 years ago

“'His Thing' by Yvette Lisa Ndlovu (4.5 stars) The horror of women being taken from school and forced into marriage away from home gets to me every time. Ndlovu's magical additions manage to both accentuate the horror and deepen Rufaro's connection to women in similar circumstances. The hook (waffles) felt out of place at first, but it certainly drew my eye and worked well later in the story. 'Money in the Bank' by John Kessel and Bruce Sterling (5 stars) Creepy to spend most of an hour inside the head of a character like that. Story is so much fun though! The authors demonstrate the cyberpunk-like world people like this believe they live in, long before bringing in true sci-fi elements. Some great jokes sprinkled in here, and nice to have a female character's voice often present in a story where I could imagine other authors leaving it out. In its way it managed a contemporary Neuromancer story with a little political commentary, which is quite fun. 'Instructions for the Broken-Hearted' by Jordan Kurella (5 stars) Damn, can't argue with that. Moving from ostensible horror to warmly heartfelt (heh) is a very cool technique, especially in how it mirrors the process of emotional recovery. 'Eve's Prayer' by Victor Forna (4 stars) Another strong argument in favour of keeping things short. Love Eve's dilemma and the image of her deciding humanity's fate in a new Eden. Wonder if it was inspired at all by 'Raised by Wolves'! 'Simmered in Their Wealth like the Richest of Sauces' by Jo Miles (4.5 stars) So fun to bring dragons in to Eat The Rich! Love the combination of lore about hoards with the richest people in today's world. Also just great language as she narrates to her offspring! 'The Hole in the Garden' by Gene Doucette (4.5 stars) Cute take on climate change and the problems society accepts because they assume their descendants will be smarter and more responsible. I like the way Doucette writes the two layers of narrative! 'Remains' by N.R. Lambert (3.5 stars) A generalised disaster story! Took me a second, but I appreciate the idea that this can encapsulate and represent so many different possible ends/blows to our society. 'Death by Water' by Maria Haskins (4 stars) Love a good twist, especially when the author adds in tremendous visuals to help picture it. Similar to 'The Hole in the Garden', it is tough to imagine the story without the clever narrative technique which lends weight and perspective.”

About John Joseph Adams

Other books by John Joseph Adams

Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2026

John Joseph Adams & Olivie Blake

$12.99

Lightspeed Magazine, Issue 190 (March 2026)