Lightspeed Magazine, Issue 162 (November 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 162 of LIGHTSPEED! We're starting the month with a new story from MKRNYILGLD: "The CRISPR Cookbook (Chapter Two): A Guide to Biohacking Your Own Eggs into Weapons of Destruction, to Be Forcibly Implanted into One Patriarchist at a Time"). The engineering continues! We're also delighted to welcome Regina Kanyu Wang to our pages! Her story "A Record of Lost Time"-translated by bestselling author Rebecca F. Kuang-was listed in the annual recommendation list of the Chinese Science Fiction database, and selected into two annual best anthologies by mainstream literary scholars in China. This is its first appearance in English, and we think you'll appreciate its insight into our modern crisis of constant productivity. We also have two terrific flash SF pieces: "A Review: The Reunion of the Survivors of Sigrun 7" from Lars Ahn and "Confession #443 (Comments open)" by Dominica Phetteplace. Our fantasy offerings this month include "Last Ritual of the Smoke Eaters," a new short by Osahon Ize-Iyamu about the complexity of relationships. Martin Cahill brings us a story about clairvoyance in his new short "The Moment Before the Moment." We also have a flash story ("Of Death Deserved We Will Not Die") from Bennett North, and another ("Dr. Seattle Opens His Heart") from Winston Turnage. We also have spotlight interviews with our authors and a variety of book reviews to inform your next reads. And if you're an ebook reader, you can look forward to a book excerpt from THIS DARK DESCENT by Kalyn Josephson.