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 187 of LIGHTSPEED! We're starting off this month's science fiction with "Reality Check," a new short story from Nancy Kress that asks whether our love affair with technology is whittling down our very humanity. For something a little more lighthearted, we're happy to bring you a new short by Oyedotun Damilola Muees: "The Hub Living Among the Stars." It's imaginative SF at its most enjoyable. We also have two terrific flash pieces: "Us, in Another Universe" from A.C. Wise and "The Space Between Us" by P.A. Cornell.

Jonathan Olfert returns to our pages with a new fantasy story, "Crickets in Lost Light," which follows Ander Carmora after the events of "Ninnagan Says Remember" (from our March 2025 issue). Things have only gotten more complicated for our hero, but he keeps learning and growing. Our second fantasy short is the slightly darker "Memories of the MindMine" by David Marino. We also have a flash story ("You Always Told Her You'd Give Her the World") from Aimee Ogden, and another ("HagioClass") from Jose Pablo Iriarte.