Lightspeed Magazine, Issue 107 (April 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.

Ever wonder what it would be like if archaeology could skip digging in the dirt and just go straight to excavating time? Caroline M. Yoachim explores just this idea in her new short story "The Archronology of Love." Our cover art this month, from Reiko Murakami, illustrates this story. Our other original SF short is by Matthew Corradi ("Gundark Island, or Tars Tarkas Needs Your Help"), taking us adventuring with a group of boys and their very interesting companion. You can also enjoy SF reprints by Cory Doctorow ("To Market, To Market: The Branding of Billy Bailey") and Michael Swanwick ("The She-Wolf's Hidden Grin"). Ashok K. Banker's Legends of the Burnt Empire series comes to an explosive conclusion in "The Seeds of War," a new story about Vrath and the terrible repercussions of his vows. Shweta Adhyam takes a look at the pros and cons of prophecy in her new story "A Conch-Shell's Notes." We also have fantasy reprints by Carmen Maria Machado ("Blur") and Carrie Vaughn ("The Lady of Shalott"). All that, and of course we also have our usual assortment of author spotlights, along with our book and media review columns. We also have an interview with Rebecca Roanhorse. For our ebook readers, we also have a reprint of the novella "The Speed of Belief," by Robert Reed. You can also enjoy an excerpt from the novel UPON A BURNING THRONE, by Ashok K. Banker.