Lightspeed Magazine Issue #1

I’ve been inclined toward keeping up with Lightspeed since it was announced last fall. There aren’t a lot of magazines focused specifically on science fiction. Speculative fiction in general and fantasy get lots of coverage, but there’s not much geared toward the branch of speculative fiction I like the most. Science fiction isn’t really the red-headed stepchild, but it’s not the favorite kid either. Anyhow, Lightspeed is Prime Books counterpart to their current Fantasy Magazine.

This past weekend I attended a launch event for the magazine at WisCon 34. Editor John Joseph Adams had four authors who will be appearing in upcoming issues read their stories: Vylar Kaftan, Cat Rambo, Genevieve Valentine, and Alice Sola Kim. That was enough for me to try out the first issue.

Lightspeed will deliver their stories in a few ways: weekly releases via their web site for free, monthly issues (at the start of the month) in ebook format for a few bucks, podcast for free, and an annual anthology. I believe Kindle and iBook have Lightspeed available through their stores. Barnes & Noble’s Nook doesn’t have it available in the online store. It would be nice if there was an actual subscription option through the store for this, so I won’t have to remember to buy a copy every month. My only complaint about the format is that the cover image is much smaller than the capabilities of the Nook, so the image looks very blocky.

Overall, I’m impressed with the stories, but disappointed with the non-fiction pieces. The non-fiction had nothing I couldn’t get on a jillion blogs. There didn’t really seem to be a theme or any focus to the fiction, though a couple of the stories did feature post-apocalyptic settings. And I loves me the post-apocalypse!

I’m Alive, I Love You, I’ll See You in Reno by Vylar Kaftan

Love story about two people who spend time on near light speed ships, but separate. Thus they age at different rates. Vylar read this at WisCon 34, and I really liked listening to it. Reading it in print didn’t have quite the same emotional oomph that hearing it did though. A solid story.

Is There Anyone Out There Who Wants To Go Fast? by Mike Brotherton

I’ve liked Mike Brotherton’s blog, but this piece is pure fluff that any science fiction fan worth his or her salt will already know. Basically, he recites off a few numbers to give the scale of speed involved in various modes of transportation, and a brief bit on how time would work at near light speed. This may be more the editor’s request than Brotherton’s desire but I have no way of apportioning blame. Skip this.

The Cassandra Project by Jack McDevitt

This is an old school science fiction story, dressed up with some of today’s technology. The Russians release pictures of the moon taken in the 1960s that show an artificial dome. A P.R. flack for N.A.S.A. investigates, despite pressure to do otherwise, what it all means. This is basically a one sentence premise surrounded by pages of by-the-numbers plotting.

The High Untresspassed Sanctity of Space: Seven True Stories about Eugene Cernan by Genevieve Valentine

Eugene Cernan is the last person to set foot on the moon. Interesting tid-bits, but not very meaty. The best of the non-fiction pieces in this issue, by far.

Cats in Victory by David Barr Kirtley

This was an awesome post-apocalyptic story. On a future Earth, the catmen are pretty much the only people left. They haven’t retained any history of their origins as genetic experiments. Instead, they believe the great Cat created the world and designated catmen to purge it of dogmen, birdmen, and monkeymen. All sorts of cliches about cats twisted through centuries of decline. Clever and interesting.

Top Ten Reasons Why Uplifted Animals Don’t Make Good Pets by Carol Pinchefsky

Humor piece that contains no humor.

Amaryllis by Carrie Vaughn

Another really good post-apocalypse story, except Vaughn’s world is a positive post-apocalypse. In other words, rather than the calamity which leaves humanity worse off, we’re in not so bad a position. Knowledge was preserved. People aren’t warring bands of nihilistic degenerates. No warlords or totalitarian governments. Basically, after whatever bad happened, people decided to live much more sustainably. Here it’s a fishing captain who has been somewhat ostracized because her mother had a baby (her) without the consent of the community where she lived. Not only is it post-apocalyptic, but it’s kind of a slice-of-life story that tells a lot about the world it describes through the lens of one person’s activities. Well done.

Every Step We Take by Amanda Rose Levy

A polemic in favor of sustainable living. I’m all in favor of sustainable living, but some of the positions in Levy’s tract are a bit iffy. In particular, her exhortation to eat local is somewhat simplistic. It goes along the lines of there’s less transportation involved in eating locally grown foods so that’s less fossil fuel burned so it’s better. But that argument doesn’t allow for economies of scale. In other words, that produce had to be driven to the farmer’s market in a small truck which is less efficient than other modes of transportation. Unsold merchandise had to be trucked back to the source. And while fresh food may taste better, cooking individually is less efficient than mass-produced food. I’m not a proponent of mass-produced food from far away places, but the energy efficiency of eating locally isn’t quite so clear cut as Levy would have it be. Rather than a polemic, I would rather have had Lightspeed include a more in-depth article examining current knowledge of the sustainability of these views. With facts.

Title: Lightspeed Magazine
Issue: June 2010 (#1)
Editor: John Joseph Adams (fiction) / Andrea Kail (non-fiction)
Publication date: June 2010