Lightspeed Magazine, Issue 145 (June 2022)

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 145 of LIGHTSPEED! Ask any two writers or critics to nail down the difference between fantasy and science fiction, and you'll come up with two different definitions. They're sibling genres who exist on continuum of the unlikely, and sometimes they even meet up. This month, we're serializing a novelette with one foot in the domain of SF and one foot proudly in the realm of fantasy: "The Crowning of the Lord Tazenket, Vulture God of the Eye," written by S.G. Demciri. Our other stories are a little easier to define. We've got a new post-apocalyptic SF short ("Zen Solaris and the God-Child") by Arden Powell, a flash piece ("Scientists Confirm: There's a Black Hole in the Center of Your Heart") from Jo Miles, and a reprint by C.C. Finlay ("One Basket"). P H Lee returns with the latest Tale of the Great Sweet Sea: "The Turnip, or, How The Whole World Was Brought to Peace," which is just as savory as it sounds. Susan Palwick creates a kaiju tale in her new flash piece "Picnic, with Monster." And our fantasy reprint is "Broken Record," by Stephen Graham Jones. Our nonfiction team has put together the usual terrific assortment of author spotlights and book reviews. Our ebook readers will also enjoy an excerpt from IN THE SHADOW OF LIGHTNING, the latest novel from Brian McClellan.