Lightspeed Magazine, Issue 117, February 2020 by John Joseph Adams

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Science fiction

Ark of Light (Victor Lavalle) - a bit of micro-fiction about using sci-fi to escape. Political of you consider when it was written. Potentially timeless otherwise. I thought it was a great example of what you can do in just a few pages.

How We Burn (Brenda Peynado) - this short story immediately made me think of China’s One Child policy taken to the extreme. It does a great job of showing the burden of being the only child with many prior generations depending on you.

Dying Light (Maria Romasco-Moore) - I’ve read so many short stories and novels that take place on generation ships or cryo ships, but this one went to a creatively interesting place. Very good.

The Gamecocks (JT Petty) - As I’ve said so many times when reading these short stories, this one seems more relevant today than when it was written a few years ago. We seem closer than ever to automating vast swaths of the economy without a true concern for what this will do to the populace. I know humanity has survived many disruptive technologies, but that doesn’t’ mean that the interim period isn’t hard on people.

Fantasy

Noah’s Raven (Kij Johnson) - I love what Johnson does here where we get to see the Noah’s Ark story from the point of view of one of the key animals from the story. Kij does such an amazing job with their stories, especially when animals are involved. I recommend this to anyone.

A statement in the case (Theodora Goss) - I was wondering for a long time where the fantasy would come into the story. I love how things slowly unfold and the narrator doubles back on himself. It’s done so well.

Toxic Destinations (Alexander Weinstein) - This is a companion piece to one I read a while back. Both are using travel as metaphors/analogies for life and emotion. Both are written extremely well. In the author interview, the author mentions they have a many more concepts to explore along the same vein. I’ll be happy to keep reading them.

A Stranger at the Bochinche (Daniel José Older) - Lovecraft meets steampunk meets early 1900s adventure novels. It’s a ton of fun.

Non-Fiction

Excerpt: The Unspoken Name - The first chapter was included and this story intrigued me enough that I added it to my TBR list.

Book Reviews: Mazes of Power, Finna, and Parable of the Sower the Graphic Novel adaptation.

Media Review: The videogame Control

Author Spotlight: Nino Cipri (author of Finna) - Discussions of Finna, capitalism, Unions, and so forth. A good discussion.

• Science-Fiction
• Fantasy
• Short-Stories