Lightspeed Magazine, Issue 194 (July 2026) - Lightspeed Magazine, #194

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 194 of LIGHTSPEED! This month's fiction kicks off with "Waru Waru," an original fantasy story by Ruth Joffre about the power of memory and family. In "The Punishing Animal," B. Pladek brings the fantastic into a grim climate future. We also have a flash story ("Hungry Like The") from E. Catherine Tobler and another ("Concerto for Wartime") from Sean Williams. If you like your SF a little hard-boiled, don't miss "The Assumption of Maria," a detective story from Max Gladstone. V.M. Ayala brings us a beautiful story of love and bodily modification in "If a Discarded God Can Change, So Can I." We also have two terrific flash pieces: "You, Me, Us" from Oyedotun Damilola Muees and "FETSPACE" by Rhiannon Rasmussen. There's all that, plus our usual assortment of author spotlight interviews and our book reviews.