Review: Lightspeed Magazine, Issue 110, July 2019

Lightspeed Magazine, Issue 110, July 2019 by John Joseph Adams

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was wondering what happened to the novellas in the newer issues - editorial in this issue answers the question - they were taking longer short stories and felt the novella section was redundant.

Science Fiction
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The Null Space conundrum (Violet Allen) - reminds me a lot of the type of story that Charlie Jane Anders would write. Somewhat nonsensical with an irreverent narrator.

The Mysteries (Karen Lord) - A flash fiction that is a really neat combination of science and religion in a way that completely makes sense for a future tech world.

Miles and Miles and Miles (Andrew Romine) - I’ve read (and seen) many non-linear stories, but this one uses the story-telling style to full effect. I can’t say much more without spoiling the story, but it is heavy.

The Moon is Not a Battlefield (Indrapramit Das) - I don’t know if it’s just a universal thing (all countries/cultures) to use up your soldiers and then not properly care for them afterwards, but that’s essentially the lesson of this story set just a bit in the future.

Fantasy
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Song beneath the city (Micah Dean Hicks) - this story has a fairy tale/parable quality to it. It’s very short, but it’s almost perfect.

Sand castles (Adam Troy Castro) - this story, with it’s Fantastical element that reminds me of a certain story that would be a spoiler to mention, has a surprising ending.

Mother Carey’s Table (J Anderson Coates) - A neat pirate story. I had no idea where it was goin going to go or whether it would have a happy or sad ending. I thought it worked very well in short form.

Ahura Yazda, the Great Extraordinary (Sanaa Ahmad) - didn’t really get it. Not sure if I would have liked it more if I was more familiar with the mythology.

Excerpt of Magic for Liars (Sarah Gailey) - I already had this book on my To-read list from descriptions I’d read of it and from Gailey’s appearances on the Failure to Adapt podcast, but after reading this excerpt, I definitely want to read.

Non-Fiction
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Book Reviews (Chris Kluwe) - books about family

Media Review (Carrie Vaughn) - how a movie about JRR Tolkien falls short

Evan Winter Interview (Christian A Coleman) - a fantasy series that takes place on an African-like continent. Explores how the author wrote what he wished existed when he was young so that his son can have it to read.

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