Lightspeed Magazine, Issue 198 (November 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 198 of LIGHTSPEED! This month's original science fiction offerings are by Jenn Reese ("A Map to Sideways Places") and Georgina Kamsika ("On the Thermodynamics of a Perfect Cup"). Our two science fiction flash pieces are: "Selected Case Notes from the Judicial Oversight Council of the Gatarn Empire" by Ian Li and "Repentance in Blue" by Phoenix Alexander. Our original fantasy offerings are by Tobi Ogundiran ("The Oracle at Ikeja") and Nibedita Sen ("The Tongue That Makes the Mountain Sing"), the latter of which we're publishing in partnership with Dartmouth University and MIT Press. Our two fantasy flash pieces are: "Choke, Writhe Perish: Recipe for Forging a Virgin Sacrifice to Feed the Dragon" by Merc Fenn Wolfmoor and "The Means" by Christopher Rowe.