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, we have original science fiction by Mercurio D. Rivera ("Those Brighter Stars") and Jeremiah Tolbert ("Taste the Singularity at the Food Truck Circus"), along with SF reprints by Kameron Hurley ("The War of Heroes") and Maureen F. McHugh ("Laika Comes Back Safe"). Plus, we have original fantasy by Adam-Troy Castro ("The Assassin's Secret") and Tristina Wright ("The Siren Son"), and fantasy reprints by duo Kevin J. Anderson and Sherrilyn Kenyon ("Trip Trap") and Delia Sherman ("The Red Piano"). All that, and of course we also have our usual assortment of author spotlights, along with our book and media review columns. For our ebook readers, we also have an ebook-exclusive reprint of the novella "The Bone Swans of Amandale," by C. S. E. Cooney. For our book excerpt this month, we're pleased to feature the introduction to The Big Book of Science Fiction, edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer, out this month from Vintage Books.