Lightspeed Magazine, Issue 196 (September 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 196 of LIGHTSPEED! This month's original science fiction offerings are by Alexander Weinstein ("e;Dreamweavers"e;) and Sanjana Raj ("e;Alterverse"e;), the latter of which we're publishing in partnership with Dartmouth University and MIT Press. Our two science fiction flash pieces are: "e;The Chrysalis of Moth One"e; by V.M. Ayala and "e;Maskwork Saltman Giftbox"e; by Rich Larson. Our original fantasy offerings are by Anya Ow ("e;Long Goodbyes"e;) and Thomas Ha ("e;Jempo"e;). Our two fantasy flash pieces are: "e;A Guide on How to Repay Your Vow to the Deity of Many Faces"e; by Oyedotun Damilola Muees and "e;The Dragon, the Scarab, the Wolf, the Dragon"e; by Rhiannon Rasmussen. We also have our usual assortment of author spotlights, along with book reviews from our review team.