Lightspeed Magazine, Issue 105 (February 2019)

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 Last Adventure, as Told to Raccoon," a tale of trickster versus trickster. The saga of Vrath and Sha'ant continues in the newest installment of Ashok K. Banker's Legends of the Burnt Empire, "The Terrible Oath." We also have fantasy reprints by Crystal Koo ("The Perpetual Day") and Dennis Danvers ("Healing Benjamin"). Our nonfiction lovers will enjoy our usual assortment of author spotlights, along with our book and media review columns. We also have an interview with author Lilliam Rivera. For our ebook readers, we have an ebook-exclusive reprint of Kat Howard's novella "Hath No Fury." Our book excerpt is from Micah Dean Hicks' new novel, BREAK THE BODIES, HAUNT THE BONES.