http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com Science Fiction & Fantasy Sun, 29 Jan 2012 19:30:22 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Science Fiction & Fantasy Lightspeed Magazine no Science Fiction & Fantasy http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/wp-content/plugins/powerpress/rss_default.jpg http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-five-elements-of-the-heart-mind/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-five-elements-of-the-heart-mind/#comments Tue, 24 Jan 2012 08:00:48 +0000 Ken Liu http://lightspeedmagazine.dreamhosters.com/?p=3931 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-five-elements-of-the-heart-mind/feed/ 4 The Dandelion lost structural integrity so quickly that I doubt the bridge even had time for a distress call, and this escape pod’s radio is only sub-light. Tyra Day 52: This is Junior Science Officer Tyra Hayes, still alive, still recording. Maybe no one will ever see these entries. But I have nothing else to do, alone in this escape pod. —I am here. Thanks, Artie. I didn’t mean to slight y... Lightspeed Magazine no Fiction, Podcast, Science Fiction, Science Fiction Podcasts http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/a-state-of-variance/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/a-state-of-variance/#comments Tue, 24 Jan 2012 08:00:47 +0000 Aimee Bender http://lightspeedmagazine.dreamhosters.com/?p=3948 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/a-state-of-variance/feed/ 1 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-aimee-bender/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-aimee-bender/#comments Tue, 24 Jan 2012 08:00:43 +0000 Wendy N. Wagner http://lightspeedmagazine.dreamhosters.com/?p=3893 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-aimee-bender/feed/ 0 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-ken-liu-2/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-ken-liu-2/#comments Tue, 24 Jan 2012 08:00:22 +0000 Christie Yant http://lightspeedmagazine.dreamhosters.com/?p=3878 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-ken-liu-2/feed/ 0 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/interview-neal-stephenson/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/interview-neal-stephenson/#comments Tue, 24 Jan 2012 08:00:04 +0000 The Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy http://lightspeedmagazine.dreamhosters.com/?p=3910 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/interview-neal-stephenson/feed/ 0 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-marissa-lingen/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-marissa-lingen/#comments Tue, 17 Jan 2012 08:00:58 +0000 Jennifer Konieczny http://lightspeedmagazine.dreamhosters.com/?p=3896 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-marissa-lingen/feed/ 0 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/always-true-to-thee-in-my-fashion/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/always-true-to-thee-in-my-fashion/#comments Tue, 17 Jan 2012 08:00:41 +0000 Nancy Kress http://lightspeedmagazine.dreamhosters.com/?p=3929 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/always-true-to-thee-in-my-fashion/feed/ 0 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/feature-interview-r-a-macavoy/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/feature-interview-r-a-macavoy/#comments Tue, 17 Jan 2012 08:00:30 +0000 Steven Gould http://lightspeedmagazine.dreamhosters.com/?p=3906 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/feature-interview-r-a-macavoy/feed/ 0 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/on-the-acquisition-of-phoenix-eggs-variant/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/on-the-acquisition-of-phoenix-eggs-variant/#comments Tue, 17 Jan 2012 08:00:23 +0000 Marissa Lingen http://lightspeedmagazine.dreamhosters.com/?p=3936 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/on-the-acquisition-of-phoenix-eggs-variant/feed/ 0 Lloyds was not willing to insure a phoenix egg, not even of the most impeccable pedigree. Hence the inspection of the purchase became a great deal more important. The geopolitical and economic effects of the fall of the Soviet Union cannot, of course, be overstated. But for collectors like myself, the greatest of them was the explosion onto the market of phoenix eggs. Even with this comparative boom in the market, we had nothing like a glut, and bidding remained fiercely competitive. I anticipated that this would be the case in the Samoilenko affair and so I arrived prepared. The usual bidders were there, of course: Dame Eleanor in her sensible pantsuit, Miss Hawes and Miss Singh in their black leather jackets, the full brocade skirts of Mrs. Perriwhite. For whatever reason, we women have always made up the majority of phoenix egg collectors, and nowadays we did not have to send male proxies to do our bidding for us; now we could cordially hate each other directly. There were other women, less serious than we five, and three men in the auction room: the auction house manager, Mr. Samoilenko himself, and John Weadsleigh. John was one of us, and we accorded him the respect of cordially hating him without regard to his gender. Even Miss Hawes, whom I suspect of hating men in general, did John the courtesy of hating him individually, as a competitor for phoenix eggs rather than as a man, which may be the most generous thing I have ever known her to do. This was not a situation that encouraged generosity. Mr. Samoilenko had not, it appeared, resigned himself to the idea that, one way or another, the egg would not belong to him at the end of the afternoon. He fussed over it in a way that might well have made it uncomfortable: Phoenixes are not chickens. They do not brood, and they have sensibility. I know how it can be to attach to one’s eggs—naturally I would—but displaying that tendency at auction seemed to me to be of questionable taste. Still, what he had forgotten, I would not: The egg was no longer his. Lloyds was not willing to insure a phoenix egg, not even of the most impeccable pedigree. Hence the inspection of the purchase became a great deal more important. In this case, each would-be bidder had a chance to bring in one expert. Those of us who have been serious collectors have become our own experts; it saves trouble and affords many opportunities in circumstances less comfortable than a London auction house. Besides which, the scopes and lenses used by the amateurs’ supposed experts are of little to no use in determining the status of the phoenix inside. “Dearest Louisa,” purred Dame Eleanor at my elbow. “Darling El,” I said, offering air kisses for each of her lean cheeks. “We should have spoken before we came here. Surely we could have come to an arrangement.” “I’m still amenable, if you have something worth my time.” I spoke only the truth: Of my fellow collectors, Dame Eleanor was the one who was the most likely to compete with me not just on a financial level but on a magical level as well. For a seller would have to be a fool to offer up a phoenix egg for only earthly riches. No, the spell component had to be something truly original, something truly spectacular, to even come close to the loss of a phoenix egg. Occasionally a rich dilettante without connections will attempt to make a monetary bid large enough to obviate the need for a magical component, but this only works at the lowest levels, the cheapest and most common of eggs. The level of magical artifact needed to bid on a phoenix egg is almost always bartered or obtained through a dodgy bargain like a wish exchange. This is why ours was not a pastime for the poor or dilettante: One or two adventurers in a generation may, through their luck and skill with wish exchanges and other shifty behaviors, obtain the necessary stakes through means other than their own labors. We lost the most recent of these, a Miss Foss, in a tragic crossroads accident in the autumn of last year. The rest of us made these talismans ourselves—and, for balance, Lightspeed Magazine no Fantasy, Fantasy Podcasts, Fiction, Podcast http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-nancy-kress-3/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-nancy-kress-3/#comments Tue, 17 Jan 2012 08:00:17 +0000 John Nakamura Remy http://lightspeedmagazine.dreamhosters.com/?p=3888 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-nancy-kress-3/feed/ 0 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/artist-showcase/artist-showcase-alexey-zaryuta/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/artist-showcase/artist-showcase-alexey-zaryuta/#comments Tue, 10 Jan 2012 08:03:28 +0000 J. T. Glover http://lightspeedmagazine.dreamhosters.com/?p=4522 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/artist-showcase/artist-showcase-alexey-zaryuta/feed/ 0 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-m-rickert/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-m-rickert/#comments Tue, 10 Jan 2012 08:02:08 +0000 T.J. McIntyre http://lightspeedmagazine.dreamhosters.com/?p=3881 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-m-rickert/feed/ 0 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-paul-mcauley/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-paul-mcauley/#comments Tue, 10 Jan 2012 08:01:43 +0000 Andrew Liptak http://lightspeedmagazine.dreamhosters.com/?p=3874 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-paul-mcauley/feed/ 0 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/you-have-never-been-here/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/you-have-never-been-here/#comments Tue, 10 Jan 2012 08:00:10 +0000 M. Rickert http://lightspeedmagazine.dreamhosters.com/?p=3938 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/you-have-never-been-here/feed/ 1 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/gene-wars/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/gene-wars/#comments Tue, 10 Jan 2012 08:00:05 +0000 Paul McAuley http://lightspeedmagazine.dreamhosters.com/?p=3926 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/gene-wars/feed/ 1 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/editorial-january-2012/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/editorial-january-2012/#comments Tue, 03 Jan 2012 08:03:50 +0000 John Joseph Adams http://lightspeedmagazine.dreamhosters.com/?p=3898 Lightspeed, and some major changes have taken place. You'll have noticed by now our slightly different site design; read the editorial for more information about all of the changes, and to find out what we have in store for you this month.]]> http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/editorial-january-2012/feed/ 2 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-sarah-monette/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-sarah-monette/#comments Tue, 03 Jan 2012 08:02:22 +0000 Theodore Quester http://lightspeedmagazine.dreamhosters.com/?p=3890 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-sarah-monette/feed/ 0 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/blue-lace-agate/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/blue-lace-agate/#comments Tue, 03 Jan 2012 08:01:24 +0000 Sarah Monette http://lightspeedmagazine.dreamhosters.com/?p=3945 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/blue-lace-agate/feed/ 2 Jamie Keller and his partner hadn’t found the shoggoth larva smugglers yet, but his boss, the head of the Bureau of Paranormal Investigation’s southeast hub, had other things on his mind. Jamie Keller and his partner hadn’t found the shoggoth larva smugglers yet, but his boss, the head of the Bureau of Paranormal Investigation’s southeast hub, had other things on his mind: “And, ah, how are you and Sharpton doing, Keller?” It was a l... Lightspeed Magazine no Fantasy, Fantasy Podcasts, Fiction, Podcast http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-megan-arkenberg/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-megan-arkenberg/#comments Tue, 03 Jan 2012 08:01:15 +0000 Robyn Lupo http://lightspeedmagazine.dreamhosters.com/?p=3868 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-megan-arkenberg/feed/ 0 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/how-many-miles-to-babylon/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/how-many-miles-to-babylon/#comments Tue, 03 Jan 2012 08:00:28 +0000 Megan Arkenberg http://lightspeedmagazine.dreamhosters.com/?p=3918 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/how-many-miles-to-babylon/feed/ 3 It’s getting harder and harder to pretend we aren’t racing along the edge of a knife, one box of flashlights and a fistful of batteries away from the mercy of the things in the darkness. And he cried out in a mighty voice: Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She had become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and hateful beast. —Revelation 18:2 *** The Goliath halogen died today. We hoped at first that it was only the battery, that if we changed it out and cursed and tapped it hard against our thighs we could get it flickering again, then shining steadily. We went through half our stock of batteries before we admitted that the light itself was shot. “Fuck,” I said. “Fucking mother of a goddamn fuck.” I was holding the battery case. I shook out the pack of double-As we had stuffed inside and flung the worthless chunk of plastic into the trees. David didn’t say anything. He went around to the back of the truck and found a pair of xenon flashlights, thin and red, behind the box of canned soup. They take half the batteries, but aren’t a third as bright as the Goliath. It’s getting harder and harder to pretend we aren’t racing along the edge of a knife, one box of flashlights and a fistful of batteries away from the mercy of the things in the darkness. Beyond the reach of our headlights, the highway and the undergrowth are both as black as the empty sky. We know all too well what’s hiding there, both the things that came from the stars, and the things that waited countless centuries in caves and cellars and tangled forests for the Darkening to claim the Earth. I sit on the roof of the truck, a flashlight in each hand. It’s my turn for the watch, but I know David isn’t sleeping. I can hear the fizz and crackle of static as he flips through dead radio stations, looking for guidance. Looking for Babylon. But the city has fallen silent tonight. We can only hope it hasn’t fallen dark. *** Today, tonight—David has convinced himself that these words have lost any meaning, that the changing numbers on his wristwatch are as arbitrary as the patterns the intermittent rain traces on our windshield. I’m not so sure. I half believe that the sun and the moon and the stars are still there, making unfathomed cycles behind the veil that fell with the Darkening. Wouldn’t it be colder, if the sun were dead? I am beginning to hate the trees. They grew up—overnight, I would say, and David would object—they grew up too quickly in the first hours of the Darkening, closing in the roads, smelling like earthworms and rot. It’s been months since I’ve seen an empty field. The branches that I break down for our fires are leafless, their bark sloughing off in my hands, strangely and unpleasantly damp. Still, we need the firelight, and so we need the trees. The end of the world has a funny way of teaching you about necessity. *** David shakes me awake near three in the morning. I can see the fluorescent numerals blinking on his wrist, illuminated but not illuminating. His face is as unfathomable as always in the firelight, planes and angles and shadows like a patchwork of misery. “Listen,” he says. The radio reception flickers and burbles, nearly incomprehensible, but we’ve been listening so hard for this that I could repeat the words in my sleep. The message is the same every time. Hello? Hello? A high-pitched voice, a young woman or child. This is Babylon. We have light. We have— Static, like a purring beast, and then, Hello? Is anybody there? Hello? “Coordinates?” I murmur, groping on the truck floor for my jacket. “Location, anything?” “FM waves. We’ve gotta be within thirty miles.” “We’ve been within thirty miles for weeks. It’s like searching for a needle in a haystack.” He shrugs, a motion I hear rather than see. Crinkling of his windbreaker, dull creak of the tired bones in his shoulders. “Then we keep looking,” he says. The static crackles, and though we strain our ears listening, we hear no more from Babylon. *** We haven’t seen a town in months. I think the trees consumed them, swallowed them up. I’m not sure how literally I mean that. Lightspeed Magazine no Fiction, Science Fiction, Science Fiction Podcasts http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/armageddon-rock/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/armageddon-rock/#comments Sun, 04 Dec 2011 08:03:05 +0000 Alan Smale http://lightspeedmagazine.dreamhosters.com/?p=4500 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/armageddon-rock/feed/ 1 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-hammer-of-god/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-hammer-of-god/#comments Sun, 04 Dec 2011 08:01:52 +0000 Sir Arthur C. Clarke http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/?p=3705 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-hammer-of-god/feed/ 2 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/cyborg-vs-cyborg-by-nigel-watson/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/cyborg-vs-cyborg-by-nigel-watson/#comments Sat, 03 Dec 2011 08:03:27 +0000 Nigel Watson http://lightspeedmagazine.dreamhosters.com/?p=4496 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/cyborg-vs-cyborg-by-nigel-watson/feed/ 0 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/default/author-spotlight-andrew-penn-romine/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/default/author-spotlight-andrew-penn-romine/#comments Sat, 03 Dec 2011 08:02:37 +0000 John Nakamura Remy http://lightspeedmagazine.dreamhosters.com/?p=4491 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/default/author-spotlight-andrew-penn-romine/feed/ 0 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-parting-glass/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-parting-glass/#comments Sat, 03 Dec 2011 08:01:05 +0000 Andrew Penn Romine http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/?p=3702 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-parting-glass/feed/ 2 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/science-and-swindlers-can-read-your-mind/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/science-and-swindlers-can-read-your-mind/#comments Fri, 02 Dec 2011 08:03:14 +0000 Jeff Lester http://lightspeedmagazine.dreamhosters.com/?p=4481 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/science-and-swindlers-can-read-your-mind/feed/ 0 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-pat-cadigan/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-pat-cadigan/#comments Fri, 02 Dec 2011 08:02:23 +0000 Erin Stocks http://lightspeedmagazine.dreamhosters.com/?p=4478 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-pat-cadigan/feed/ 0 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/after-the-days-of-dead-eye-dee/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/after-the-days-of-dead-eye-dee/#comments Fri, 02 Dec 2011 08:01:39 +0000 Pat Cadigan http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/?p=3699 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/after-the-days-of-dead-eye-dee/feed/ 0 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/interview-richard-dawkins/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/interview-richard-dawkins/#comments Thu, 01 Dec 2011 08:03:37 +0000 The Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy http://lightspeedmagazine.dreamhosters.com/?p=4475 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/interview-richard-dawkins/feed/ 1 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-vylar-kaftan-2/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-vylar-kaftan-2/#comments Thu, 01 Dec 2011 08:02:33 +0000 Christie Yant http://lightspeedmagazine.dreamhosters.com/?p=4164 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-vylar-kaftan-2/feed/ 0 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/editorial-december-2011/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/editorial-december-2011/#comments Thu, 01 Dec 2011 08:01:44 +0000 John Joseph Adams http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/?p=3692 Lightspeed! Here's what we've got on tap this month ... Fiction: "The Sighted Watchmaker" by Vylar Kaftan, "After the Days of Dead-eye 'Dee" by Pat Cadigan, "The Parting Glass" by Andrew Penn Romine,"The Hammer of God" by Arthur C. Clarke. Nonfiction: "Feature Interview: Richard Dawkins," “Science (and Swindlers) Can Read Your Mind" by Jeff Lester, “Cyborg vs. Cyborg” by Nigel Wilson, “Armageddon Rock” by Alan Smale.]]> http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/editorial-december-2011/feed/ 0 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/artist-showcase/artist-spotlight-angel-alonso/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/artist-showcase/artist-spotlight-angel-alonso/#comments Thu, 01 Dec 2011 08:01:39 +0000 Caleb Jordan Schulz http://lightspeedmagazine.dreamhosters.com/?p=4155 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/artist-showcase/artist-spotlight-angel-alonso/feed/ 0 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-sighted-watchmaker/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-sighted-watchmaker/#comments Thu, 01 Dec 2011 08:01:22 +0000 Vylar Kaftan http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/?p=3695 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-sighted-watchmaker/feed/ 1 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/keeping-the-dead-among-the-living/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/keeping-the-dead-among-the-living/#comments Tue, 22 Nov 2011 08:03:13 +0000 Graeme McMillan http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/?p=3573 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/keeping-the-dead-among-the-living/feed/ 0 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-john-crowley/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-john-crowley/#comments Tue, 22 Nov 2011 08:02:00 +0000 Robyn Lupo http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/?p=3560 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-john-crowley/feed/ 0 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/snow/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/snow/#comments Tue, 22 Nov 2011 08:01:55 +0000 John Crowley http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/?p=3523 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/snow/feed/ 0 Georgie got rid of most of what she'd inherited from him, liquidated it. It was cash that she had liked best about that marriage anyway; but the Wasp couldn't really be got rid of. Georgie ignored it. I don't think Georgie would ever have got one for herself: She was at once unsentimental and a little in awe of death. No, it was her first husband—an immensely rich and (from Georgie's description) a strangely weepy guy, who had got it for her. Or for himself, actually, of course. He was to be the beneficiary. Only he died himself shortly after it was installed. If installed is the right word. After he died, Georgie got rid of most of what she'd inherited from him, liquidated it. It was cash that she had liked best about that marriage anyway; but the Wasp couldn't really be got rid of. Georgie ignored it. In fact the thing really was about the size of a wasp of the largest kind, and it had the same lazy and mindless fight. And of course it really was a bug, not of the insect kind but of the surveillance kind. And so its name fit all around: One of those bits of accidental poetry the world generates without thinking. O Death, where is thy sting? Georgie ignored it, but it was hard to avoid; you had to be a little careful around it; it followed Georgie at a variable distance, depending on her motions and the numbers of other people around her, the level of light, and the tone of her voice. And there was always the danger you might shut it in a door or knock it down with a tennis racket. It cost a fortune (if you count the access and the perpetual care contract, all prepaid), and though it wasn't really fragile, it made you nervous. It wasn't recording all the time. There had to be a certain amount of light, though not much. Darkness shut it off. And then sometimes it would get lost. Once when we hadn't seen it hovering around for a time, I opened a closet door, and it flew out, unchanged. It went off looking for her, humming softly. It must have been shut in there for days. Eventually it ran out, or down. A lot could go wrong, I suppose, with circuits that small, controlling that many functions. It ended up spending a lot of time bumping gently against the bedroom ceiling, over and over, like a winter fly. Then one day the maids swept it out from under the bureau, a husk. By that time it had transmitted at least eight thousand hours (eight thousand was the minimum guarantee) of Georgie: of her days and hours, her comings in and her goings out, her speech and motion, her living self—all on file, taking up next to no room, at The Park. And then, when the time came, you could go there, to The Park, say on a Sunday afternoon; and in quiet landscaped surroundings (as The Park described it) you would find her personal resting chamber, and there, in privacy, through the miracle of modern information storage and retrieval systems, you could access her, her alive, her as she was in every way, never changing or growing any older, fresher (as The Park's brochure said) than in memory ever green. *** I married Georgie for her money, the same reason she married her first, the one who took out The Park's contract for her. She married me, I think, for my looks; she always had a taste for looks in men. I wanted to write. I made a calculation that more women than men make, and decided that to be supported and paid for by a rich wife would give me freedom to do so, to "develop." The calculation worked out no better for me than it does for most women who make it. I carried a typewriter and a case of miscellaneous paper from Ibiza to Gstaad to Bial to London, and typed on beaches, and learned to ski. Georgie liked me in ski clothes. Now that those looks are all but gone, I can look back on myself as a young hunk and see that I was in a way a rarity, a type that you run into often among women, far less among men, the beauty unaware of his beauty, aware that he affects women profoundly and more or less instantly but doesn't know why; thinks he is being listened to and understood, that his soul is being seen, when all that's being seen is long-lashed eyes and a strong, square, tanned wrist turning in a lovely gesture, Lightspeed Magazine no Fiction, Podcast, Science Fiction, Science Fiction Podcasts http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/back-to-the-future-smart-houses-robots-and-artificial-intelligence/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/back-to-the-future-smart-houses-robots-and-artificial-intelligence/#comments Tue, 15 Nov 2011 08:03:53 +0000 Carole Moleti http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/?p=3570 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/back-to-the-future-smart-houses-robots-and-artificial-intelligence/feed/ 0 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-mark-pantoja/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-mark-pantoja/#comments Tue, 15 Nov 2011 08:02:27 +0000 Andrew Liptak http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/?p=3557 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-mark-pantoja/feed/ 0 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/houses/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/houses/#comments Tue, 15 Nov 2011 08:01:02 +0000 Mark Pantoja http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/?p=3490 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/houses/feed/ 6 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/feature-interview-china-mieville/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/feature-interview-china-mieville/#comments Tue, 08 Nov 2011 08:03:49 +0000 The Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/?p=3568 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/feature-interview-china-mieville/feed/ 1 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-maureen-f-mchugh/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-maureen-f-mchugh/#comments Tue, 08 Nov 2011 08:02:01 +0000 Erin Stocks http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/?p=3555 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-maureen-f-mchugh/feed/ 0 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-kingdom-of-the-blind/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-kingdom-of-the-blind/#comments Tue, 08 Nov 2011 08:01:06 +0000 Maureen F. McHugh http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/?p=3517 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-kingdom-of-the-blind/feed/ 0 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/planetary-alchemy/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/planetary-alchemy/#comments Tue, 01 Nov 2011 07:03:53 +0000 Alan Smale http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/?p=3566 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/planetary-alchemy/feed/ 3 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-lisa-nohealani-morton/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-lisa-nohealani-morton/#comments Tue, 01 Nov 2011 07:02:37 +0000 Erin Stocks http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/?p=3553 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-lisa-nohealani-morton/feed/ 0 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/artist-showcase/artist-spotlight-elena-bespalova/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/artist-showcase/artist-spotlight-elena-bespalova/#comments Tue, 01 Nov 2011 07:01:10 +0000 Andrew Liptak http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/?p=3593 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/artist-showcase/artist-spotlight-elena-bespalova/feed/ 0 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/editorial-november-2011/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/editorial-november-2011/#comments Tue, 01 Nov 2011 07:01:05 +0000 John Joseph Adams http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/?p=3513 Lightspeed! Here's what we've got on tap this month ... Fiction: "How Maartje and Uppinder Terraformed Mars (Marsmen Trad.)" by Lisa Nohealani Morton, "The Kingdom of the Blind" by Maureen McHugh, "Houses" by Mark Pantoja, "Snow," by John Crowley. Nonfiction: "Planetary Alchemy" by Alan Smale, "Feature Interview: China Miéville" by John Joseph Adams & David Barr Kirtley, "Back to the Future" by Carol Ann Moletti, "Keeping the Dead Among the Living" by Graeme McMillan. ]]> http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/editorial-november-2011/feed/ 0 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/how-maartje-and-uppinder-terraformed-mars-marsmen-trad/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/how-maartje-and-uppinder-terraformed-mars-marsmen-trad/#comments Tue, 01 Nov 2011 07:01:04 +0000 Lisa Nohealani Morton http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/?p=3515 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/how-maartje-and-uppinder-terraformed-mars-marsmen-trad/feed/ 1 As her breath hissed out it thickened and spread and wrapped around the planet. Before long it was pushing everything down; my mother's breath became the atmosphere of Mars. Listen up, you Marsmen! My mother's suit was holed on the way to Phobos. In space, you cannot hear a thing because your helmets are in the way. I didn't hear her breath rushing out. It made a gray streak in the air, like my breath in the evenings when I collected the water from our stills. That was something for children to do, back when Mars was cold and dry and thin. I used to count my breaths while I did my chores: Out as you step through the airlock, head down to check your seals, in as you step over to the first still, the water bag flopping empty at your side. Fill the bag, out and in, and move on to the next still, quick as you can. The cold bites through your suit and even in your helmet you can see the plumes of your breath, rushing out and sucking back in. I counted my mother's breaths as we went up, but I got stuck on out. She exhaled and exhaled through the hole in her suit as we went up and up in our tiny rocketship. As her breath hissed out it thickened and spread and wrapped around the planet. Before long it was pushing everything down; my mother's breath became the atmosphere of Mars. *** My mother's name was Maartje. She was from Amsterdam on old Earth; she was a civil engineer. She smelled like flowers, and she taught the robots to make chicken soup when I was sick. My father's name is Uppinder. He is from Amsterdam also, but he was a bureaucrat in the government old Earth had put on Mars. He is the reason we had to flee when the rebellion came. My name is Raveena. I was born on Mars. Most of the government got away on the last big shuttle to old Earth. My family lived far away from the main domes, on the very southern edge of Tharsis, and we couldn't make it in time. We took my father's old rocketship instead. My mother packed our things in boxes. I helped my father load the ship with the robots in their plastic jugs. The rocketship was very small, and very old, and didn't hold the air the way it should anymore. My mother helped me on with my suit. She kissed the tip of her finger before she closed the last seal. "Be a brave girl," she said. I made a face at her. The ship rattled and shook as we lifted. My mother held my hand and we were pressed back into our seats. I tried to call out for my father when I saw my mother exhaling, but I couldn't make the sound come out. Back on Mars, all of the Marsmen had run outside. They were dancing in the dust, laughing and pointing at how it made clouds and dust devils in my mother's gently swirling breath. The most foolish of the Marsmen smashed up their domes. "What are you doing?" the others cried. "Look," said the foolish Marsmen. "The air is thick! It is not as thick as old Earth, but it will do for Marsmen. We can breathe, we are free!" The other Marsmen laughed at the foolish ones, because they knew it was still too cold and dry. Sure enough, the Sun went down and the foolish Marsmen froze stiff where they stood. The dust blew over them and turned them red, and there they can still be seen today, on the slopes of Pavonis Mons. Visitors from old Earth call them statues. But Marsmen know better. *** When we landed on Phobos and my father opened the back of the rocketship, he was full of plans. "Maartje, Raveena," he said. "Bring the pressure-tent, and the jugs of robots. Old Earth will rescue us soon." Then he saw my mother. At first he did not believe it. "Maartje," he said again, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her. "Maartje, wake up." He shook her until her helmet knocked into his, and then he did believe it. Tears streamed down his face. "Raveena, why didn't you call out?" "I tried, Papaji," I said, "but I couldn't make a sound." My father was undone. He sat on the ground, in the dust and rocks, and he cried. He cried until his tears filled up his helmet, and his suit had to suck them away. He went on crying, until his suit couldn't hold all the water. It vented into space. Lightspeed Magazine no Fiction, Podcast, Science Fiction, Science Fiction Podcasts http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/editorial-mid-november-2011/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/editorial-mid-november-2011/#comments Tue, 01 Nov 2011 04:01:22 +0000 John Joseph Adams http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/?p=3679 here. To thank our readers for taking the time to fill out our survey, one respondent (chosen at random) will win a free one-year subscription to Lightspeed or Fantasy from Weightless Books. The survey ends December 15, 2011. We look forward to hearing from you!]]> http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/editorial-mid-november-2011/feed/ 0 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/feature-interview-beth-revis/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/feature-interview-beth-revis/#comments Tue, 25 Oct 2011 07:03:24 +0000 Gwenda Bond http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/?p=3458 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/feature-interview-beth-revis/feed/ 0 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-cassandra-clare/ http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-cassandra-clare/#comments Tue, 25 Oct 2011 07:02:10 +0000 Erin Stocks http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/?p=3454 http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-cassandra-clare/feed/ 0 Lightspeed MagazinenonadultScience Fiction & Fantasy