Status Updates From Lightspeed Magazine, Issue ...

A Good Home 4.5 stars
Depot 256 4.5 stars
Salto Mortal 5 stars
Digital Medicine 4 stars
The Red Thread 5 stars
Wilson's Singularity 4.5 stars
Fifty Shades of Grays 5+ stars, unbelievable. Love it!

This special "People of Colo(u)r Destroy Science Fiction" issue is available for free from Lightspeed!

"Empire Star" by Samuel R. Delany — Well, that was sheer perfection.

"1965" by Edmée Pardo — I'm not entirely sure on this one, though since it's a science fiction story, I guess I'm meant to infer a SF ending, even if the main character is herself completely unsure. It's wonderfully told, though.

"Delhi" by Vandana Singh — Oh wow, that was both lovely and moving, and the mix of hope and hopelessness was really, really finely balanced.

"The Evening and the Morning and the Night" by Octavia E. Butler — Holy flying crap that was pure magic. Seriously. Wow. A disease of self-destruction, the cultural world-building, the reaction of the world... I just... Wow. So good.

"A Handful Of Dal" by Naru Dames Sundar — Is it just me, or are so many of these stories at their absolute best when they use food as their narrative framework? The notion of this generational ship and the passing on of a recipe, seeds, and a collapse (and reform) of society might seem too large for a flash fic, but the focus on the recipe works to anchor it. So good.

"Four And Twenty Blackbirds" by JY Yang — An odd disease/infection/invasion, a community terrified and paranoid, a woman among the most vulnerable... Gah. So good.

"Chocolate Milkshake Number 314" by Caroline M. Yoachim — Y'know, there's just *something* about an excellently done romance-and-doom admixture. The fact this is done with milkshakes is just... *air-kiss*