Lightspeed: Year One

Lightspeed editor Adams (Brave New Worlds) provides an outstanding print anthology of stories collected during the online SF magazine’s first year. These stories make it clear why Adams and the magazine have already separately been nominated for Hugo awards. The roster includes such longtime stars as Robert Silverberg, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Tanith Lee, as well as impressive up-and-comers like Genevieve Valentine, John R. Fultz, and Maggie Clark. The stories, though short, are hard-hitting and powerfully suggestive. Yoon Ha Lee’s “Flower, Mercy, Needle, Chain” twists time into knots. Catherynne M. Valente discusses the path to supreme leadership in “How to Become a Mars Overlord.” Joe R. Lansdale’s “Tight Little Stitches in a Dead Man’s Back” is a stunning mix of horror and SF. Years of work on F&SF and numerous lauded reprint anthologies have clearly honed Adams’s talents and prepared him to be a major force in the field. Agent: Barry Goldblatt Literary. (Feb.)