Black Gate author Jeremiah Tolbert (“Groob’s Stupid Grubs”) has had a nice run of stories in Lightspeed recently, including “Taste the Singularity at the Food Truck Circus” (August 2016) and the Dungeonspace tale “The Cavern of the Screaming Eye” (October 2016). Charles Payseur at Quick Sip Reviews speaks very highly of his new story in the January issue, “The West Topeka Triangle.”

The story unfolds at a time that many would point to as the golden days of modern America. Reagan’s America. And for Jason, growing up at that time means mostly absent parents and a neighborhood and world that seems poised to swallow him up. He’s not exactly popular, and as part of his social isolation he is obsessed with a theory that his town has a triangle like the Bermuda Triangle that explains a string of disappearances. And I like how the story builds this world… It’s also a world that’s full of danger, not just because people are disappearing though that comes to dominate the story, the mystery of what’s happening. For Jason it’s a diversion, a way to escape a stifling home life that seems to defy any attempt to change it… It’s a weird but also haunting story that lingers for me, that remains like a weight on my chest.

Read Charles’ complete review of the January issue here.

This month’s Lightspeed offers original fantasy by Kat Howard and Jeremiah Tolbert, and fantasy reprints by Jeffrey Ford and Kima Jones. It also has original science fiction by Adam-Troy Castro and Molly Tanzer, along with SF reprints by James S.A. Corey and Mary Rosenblum. The non-fiction includes an editorial from John Joseph Adams, author spotlights, movie reviews by Carrie Vaughn, Book Reviews by Andrew Liptak, and an interview with Kij Johnson.

The exclusive content in the ebook version this month includes Judith Berman’s Nebula-nominated novella “Awakening,” which originally appeared in Black Gate 10. Along with the story by Jeremy Tolbert, and the reprint from BG author Jeffrey Ford (who wrote the brilliant “Exo-Skeleton Town“), it’s making me positively nostalgic.

The cover this month is by Galen Dara. Here’s the complete contents for the January issue.

Science Fiction

“Rates Of Change” by James S.A. Corey (from Meeting Infinity, 2015)
“The Whole Crew Hates Me” by Adam-Troy Castro
“Tracker” by Mary Rosenblum (from Asimov’s SF, 2004)
“Nine-Tenths of the Law” by Molly Tanzer

Fantasy

“Seven Salt Tears” by Kat Howard
“Daddy Long Legs of the Evening” by Jeffrey Ford (from Naked City: Tales of Urban Fantasy, 2011)
“The West Topeka Triangle” by Jeremiah Tolbert
“Nine” by Kima Jones (from Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History, 2014)

Nonfiction

Editorial, January 2017 by John Joseph Adams
Movie Reviews by Carrie Vaughn
Book Reviews by Andrew Liptak
Interview: Kij Johnson by The Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy

Artwork for “Awakening” by Judith Berman
(from Black Gate 10) by Denis Rodier

Exclusive Paid Content

NOVELLA: “Awakening” by Judith Berman
NOVEL EXCERPT: Beltrunner by Sean O’Brien
AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: Judith Berman by Moshe Siegel

See the complete issue here.

Lightspeed is edited by John Joseph Adams. Most of the content is available free online; individual issues are available in multiple digital formats for $3.99. 6-month subscriptions are just $17.94 ($6 off the cover price), or $35.88 for 12 months ($12 off the cover price). Purchase copies and sample free content at the website.

We last covered Lightspeed with Issue 79, December 2016.

Check out Lightspeed‘s sister magazine Nightmare, also edited by John Joseph Adams.

See our January Fantasy Magazine Rack here, and all of our recent Magazine coverage here.