LIGHTSPEED is a digital science fiction and fantasy 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 159 of LIGHTSPEED! Scott Edelman returns to our pages with a new piece of science fiction: "The Letters They Left Behind," the story of a mother torn between her love for her daughter and her duty to her planet. Lowry Poletti writes about the complexity of relationships, human or not, in the story "In the Nest Beneath the Mountain-Tree, Your Sisters Dance." Our flash stories include "The Things You Can Maintain Yourself" by Benjamin C. Kinney and "Monopticon" from Dani Atkinson. Our original fantasy shorts include a bloodthirsty tale of dark magic in Sloane Leong's new story "The Blade and the Bloodwright." David Anaxagoras mixes faerie with prescribed burns in his short story "The Boy Who Ran from His Faerie Heart." We also have a flash story ("All the Colours of the Death Knell") from Russell Hemmell, and another ("You Will Not Live to See M/M Horrors Beyond Your Comprehension") from Isabel J. Kim. All that, and of course we also have our usual assortment of author spotlights, along with book reviews from our terrific review team. Our ebook readers will also enjoy a book excerpt from Katy Rose Pool's new novel, GARDEN OF THE CURSED.