Review: Lightspeed Magazine, Issue 113, October 2019

Lightspeed Magazine, Issue 113, October 2019 by John Joseph Adams

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another great issue of Lightspeed Magazine. There was only one story I wasn’t a fan of.

Science Fiction
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The Beasts We Want to Be (Sam J. Miller) - a historical SF set in Russia after the communist revolution. The SF is almost incidental to the story, merely a way to explore the ideas behind the way humans act under different regimes and how much is conditioned vs free will.

Nesting Habits of Enceladan Jade Beetles (Eli Brown) - I wasn’t sure what kind of story this would be, given the title it has. It could be, for example, written in the style of an encyclopedia entry. I was shocked at the type of story it ended up being. Very much about human connection and relationships.

Revival (WC Dunlap) - An interesting twist on the idea of humans colonizing a supposedly uninhabited planet. I don’t know if I would enjoy a longer story, but this one definitely leaves me curious about the colony’s future.

The Death of Fire Station 10 (Ray Nayler) - I’ve read many stories exploring consciousness and AI. Or what happens when humans are uploaded. This story combines these ideas in new ways that made me see the questions and philosophy from a different angle.

Fantasy
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The Valley Of Wounded Deer (E. Lily Yu) - I had no idea how this story would go, but it surprised me more than once - hard to do in a short story.

«Légendaire.» (Kai Ashante Wilso) - not a fan of the narrative style. It was hard to follow.

Windrose in Scarlet (Isabel Yap) - I absolutely adored this story. It was evident pretty early on who the protagonists were, but that doesn’t give any clues to the ending. It was a delight to read and I recommend it to everyone.

The Words of Our Enemies, the Words of Our Hearts (Merc Fenn Wolfmoor) - absolutely beautiful story. A fantasy world in which I would live to see more stories. The cool thing about the magic system is that it revolves on words and story-telling.

An excerpt from Supernova Era - almost no one is doing hard SF in Erie the same way as Cixin Liu. The excerpt sends great even if the book may be grim.

Non-Fiction
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Book reviews (Chris Cluwe) - Lots of great books. I’ve read the Poppy Wars books. I haven’t read Wanderers, but it is on my (extremely long) TBR pile.

Media reviews (Lashawn M Wanak) - Incredibly creative review where the author watches a “Let’s Play” of Kingdom Hearts III.

Interview with Valerie Valdes - An interview mostly about Chilling Effect and its inspirations. Immediately added the book to my TBR list.

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