Lightspeed Magazine, November 2013

by John Joseph Adams (Editor), Ryan North, Martha Wells (Contributor)

Lightspeed Magazine, November 2013 #42
Edited by John Joseph Adams
Cover Art (and Artist Spotlight) Marius “Noistromo” Siergiejew

Novella (eBook exclusive)
"Holy Places" by Martha Wells (reprint, 2007)

Short Stories - Science Fiction
“Death and the Hobbyist” by Sean Williams
"The Battle of York" by James Stoddard
"The Turing Test" by Beth Revis
"And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill’s Side" by James Tiptree, Jr. (reprint)

Short Stories - Fantasy
"Bit-U-Men” by Maria Dahvana Headley (fantasy)
"The Insect and the Astronomer: A Love Story" by Kelly Barnhill (fantasy)
"Tonight We Fly" by Ian McDonald (fantasy)
“Sleeper" by Matthew Hughes (fantasy)

Novel Excerpts (eBook Exclusives)
"Ancillary Justice" by Ann Leckie
"Starhawk" by Jack McDevitt
"SEAL Team 13" by by Evan Currie

Horror (eBook Bonus)
"The Beasts of the Earth, the Madness of Men" by Brooke Bolander (from Nightmare magazine)

Genres: Short Stories, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Young Adult, Anthologies, Dystopia, Novella

272 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 20, 2013

About the author

John Joseph Adams is the series editor of BEST AMERICAN SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY. He is also the bestselling editor of many other anthologies, such as ROBOT UPRISINGS, DEAD MAN'S HAND, BRAVE NEW WORLDS,WASTELANDS, and THE LIVING DEAD. Recent and forthcoming books include WHAT THE #@&% IS THAT?, OPERATION ARCANA, PRESS START TO PLAY, LOOSED UPON THE WORLD, and THE APOCALYPSE TRIPTYCH (consisting of THE END IS NIGH, THE END IS NOW, and THE END HAS COME). Called “the reigning king of the anthology world” by Barnes & Noble, John is a two-time winner of the Hugo Award (for which he has been nominated nine times), is a seven-time World Fantasy Award finalist, and served as a judge for the 2015 National Book Award. John is also the editor and publisher of the digital magazines LIGHTSPEED and NIGHTMARE, and is a producer for Wired's THE GEEK'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY podcast. You can find him online at www.johnjosephadams.com and on Twitter @JohnJosephAdams.

Reviews

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Turing Test
by BETH REVIS

Can you discern between truth and lie? Are you sure? Well, you might wanna think again…
Especially when the other is convinced of something.

Here it is: http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fic...

[Jules · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Forgive me father for I have sinned.'
'Senhor, I'm not your father.'
'I need to confess my sins, father.'
'I am just your rabbit Steve, not a priest.'
'Yes, you are my rabi. I've been greatly tormented lately, father.'
'Stop calling me-'
'It was a devil. A bluish deliciously peachy book demon. Every time I was in deep prayer and meditation the devil was passing me devilish books to read. The sinful kind of books.'
'Non-fiction books?'
'Even worse. Science fiction books...'
'Oh, my son, your poor suffering soul! Tell me at least they were some mainstream SciFi books that might absolve you for being a trend following lamb.'
'My father, they were the kind of books that makes you question your existence!'
'How could you!? You know well we were all created to read fictional books, but not the wrong kind of fiction.'
'I know father, I am ashamed, but if you could just read a bit of it and see how tempting it is...'
'Leave, Satan, this just body of Senhor and go back to your real world hell. We dont need you to tempt us to read sinful books. I will hit you now in the head with this thick heavy hard Holy Super Magical Fiction Book and you'll be banished out of this world.'
'Damn it, Steve, that hurts. Don't be an arse hole now.'
'I've learned from the best of them.'
'You're not even real.'
'Are you?'

[Sassy Sarah Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Turing Test by Beth Revis

5 stars

Elektra Shepherd takes the Turing test to determine if the subjects, Blue or Red, are human or robot. I personally think that if Revis wrote as entertainingly as she did with this short story, I would've immensely enjoyed Across the Universe. My problem with Across the Universe was predictability and Revis's writing lacked in capturing my attention, but this short story is absolutely stunning. It's probably one of the best short stories I've ever read. It's brief, but thought-out and thought provoking. Questions are asked repeatedly throughout the test that pose interesting possibilities and I loved the ending! I wish the other Revis book was this good, but since I haven't read the other two in the trilogy I have hope that her writing is this entrancing and heart pounding.

Whimsical Writing Scale: 4.5

Plotastic Scale: 5

Character Scale: 4.5

[Peter Tillman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brief review of "The Turing Test" by Beth Revis. Which everyone seems to agree is the standout original in this issue. Clever and worth reading, 3.6 stars. http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fic...

And one of the Tiptree greats, a reprint of ""And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill’s Side." A 5-star story, which if you haven't read, well, you should. A bit more here, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

"Sleeper" by Matthew Hughes. Second in the The Kaslo Chronicles. Eh, 2.5 stars.

[Miranda Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Woah, that was super creepy!

I've never even read anything by this author before, but when I saw that she had a short story available to read for free online, I jumped on it because — why not? Now I'm definitely interested in reading more by her! I'm not really a science fiction person, but this story had me hooked, and the ending really surprised me. I thought I had the twist totally figured out, but then I was completely wrong...I love it when that happens.

Can't wait to get to her Across the Universe series now!

[Tez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my second time reading this short story, and I enjoyed it just as much as the first time. An excellent, self-contained science fiction short that I highly recommend.

[Alina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short story grabbed my interest and kept me on my toes, also making me wonder on various themes.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

For "The Turing Test" by Beth Revis - excellent
"And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill’s Side" by James Tiptree, Jr. - a bit more disturbing than I was looking for just then, but good
"Bit-U-Men” by Maria Dahvana Headley (fantasy) - poetic and deeply weird, but I really like it
"The Insect and the Astronomer: A Love Story" by Kelly Barnhill (fantasy) - I listened to this on the podcast and was doing other things at the time, which may have impacted my reception of it. It's a strange one, and in an issue with Headley, that's saying something.

[Denisse · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can read her spectacular short story for free here:

http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fic...

I'm not kidding, Beth Revis is one of my fav YA authors right now, her stories (even the short ones) are THE BEST!


Acabo de releer esta historia porque viene en mi copia de The Body Electric y fue la que inspiro ese libro. Es muy buena, les dejo el link por si quieren leerla online :)

Muy buen sci-fi el que escribe Beth!

[Trisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

"that’s the line between A.I. and human, isn’t it? A soul. Not intelligence. Soul.

I love this little addition. I read it at the end of The Body Electric. I love how it ties together and was her inspiration.

[Laura Guilbault · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. That was a really good story. A little confusing, but an amazing ending with a killer twist.

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay that was...strange and fascinating.
Beth Revis has always been one of my favorite authors in the sci-fi genre so once I heard there was a free-short story from her, I instantly pounced into it. I read it in less than a hour and it left me wanting more and being satisfied at the same time. Have you ever experience that feeling of extreme hunger yet shallowness in your stomach? Well, I have and this short yet thrilling story did it to me. Revis leads us to the inquisitive shadows of science as the boundaries from human and machine are proven out.

[Mikayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

UH
TWIST

[Vivien · Rating 5 out of 5]

Woah, short and impactful. Kind of creepy too.

[Mia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very intriguing and engaging short story. This should be turned into a proper book.

[Jules · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice short story, but predictable ending.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, solid issue, as always.
Original science fiction:
"Death and the Hobbyist" by Sean Williams - nice story about people dealing with technological advances and wanting to do stuff the old-fashioned way (in this case, travel).
"The Turing Test" by Beth Revis - interesting take on the test for how well AI can simulate human behavior.
Original fantasy:
"The Insect and the Astronomer: A Love Story" by Kelly Barnhill - I thought this story sounded like a riff on Oz and indeed it was originally written for an anthology of stories set in Oz. Very weird but satisfying.
"Sleeper" by Matthew Hughes - strange space opera with magical elements. Intriguing. The author has more stories set in this universe. Yes, please.

Also, all the author spotlights (nice to hear the background on the writers and their stories) and interviews with Chris Kluwe (NFL player who wrote Beautifully Unique Sparkleponies) and Dinosaur Comics artist Ryan North. Never heard of North before, but Kluwe's book is on my to-read list.

[Joti · Rating 4 out of 5]

WOAHHH WTFF - ELEKTRA SHEPHERD BELIEVES she's gone in for a Turing Test where 2 subjects - red & blue will speak to her through computers - & one of them is human and the other is A.I. & she has to identify which is which & she comes to the conclusion that blue is the A.I. & red is the human but it's actually the other way around when the POV changes - the doctor comes back & asks Elektra to look at the wall, turning her back to him & she does & everything goes black - switch to the POV of Rory, who played subject blue & dr. phillip & andy - subject red- come in & discuss Elektra as the first sentient A.I. they've created & how she'll create reasons for why she's wherever she is - SO ELEKTRA'S ACTUALLY A ROBOT WITH FEELINGS!?!??! THIS NEW SERIES IS GONNA BE COOL!!!

[Vanellope · Rating 5 out of 5]

Update: Review is only of "The Turing Test" by Beth Revis. I didn't read the rest of the magazine. This link was just for that story when I wrote the review.

That was creepy and cool and funny and made me rethink my entire existence for a second there. Plus, it's free and short. Thumbs up!

[Mars]

I haven't read Beth Revis's other short stories, but I've read her three novels, so I know her style. She likes her twists. So of course, I expected one here and guessed it right.

Hope her other works aren't as predictable.

[Shawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent issue, no stand outs really except The Battle of York was interesting. The Sean Williams addition from his new Twinmaker series was just flat. I'm about to start the novel so I'm hoping my thoughts will change afterward.

[Christen Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW! this was a nifty little short story by an author that I really like, and this doesn't disappoint. Can this be a full length book please? My fave books are ones that have a little mind-frigging twist at the end :P

[Jesus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es Una historia muy interesante con un concepto diferente. Basicamente se trata de que hay una prueba en la que debes elegir de entre dos opciones cual es humana y cual es la inteligencia artificial aunque quizá pueda haber sorpresas.

Me gusto mucho esta historia corta y el final es lo mejor.

[Jacob Fulton · Rating 5 out of 5]

woah. just woah. Beth Revis has taken the popular beliefs of science fiction and turned them on their head. In such a short period of time, she has managed to confuse me completely, and I loved it. Beth, kudos to you.

[Galy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great short story. It really makes you think during the whole story. I read another book by Beth Revis and when I saw that she had some short stories I was curious and this title was familiar to me so I read it. I really recommend it.

[Nancy The book junkie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 3.5/5

Review coming soon!

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow... that was very, very interesting.

[J.N. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesante, pero predecible.

[Vanya · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't particularly enjoy short stories, but this was one of the best I've ever read.
Can't wait to read more by the author. Ordering "Across the Universe" on Amazon now..

[Lynnette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun little short story that makes you think. Available free online.