Lightspeed Magazine, Issue 196 (September 2026‪)‬

Edited by New York Times bestselling anthologist John Joseph Adams, LIGHTSPEED is a Hugo Award-winning digital science fiction and fantasy short fiction 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 196 of LIGHTSPEED! This month's original science fiction offerings are by Alexander Weinstein ("Dreamweavers") and Sanjana Raj ("Alterverse"), the latter of which we're publishing in partnership with Dartmouth University and MIT Press. Our two science fiction flash pieces are: "The Chrysalis of Moth One" by V.M. Ayala and "Maskwork Saltman Giftbox" by Rich Larson. Our original fantasy offerings are by Anya Ow ("Long Goodbyes") and Thomas Ha ("Jempo"). Our two fantasy flash pieces are: "A Guide on How to Repay Your Vow to the Deity of Many Faces" by Oyedotun Damilola Muees and "The Dragon, the Scarab, the Wolf, the Dragon" by Rhiannon Rasmussen. We also have our usual assortment of author spotlights, along with book reviews from our review team.