A magical girl-gone-bad and a renegade mech pilot must stay on a date forever, even if it means destroying the world. Don't you want to help them?An Independent Press Top 40 Bestseller **•**Ms. Magazine May 2026 Pick • A them Most Anticipated LGBTQ+ Book of 2026 • An Autostraddle Most Anticipated Queer Book For May • A Book Riot Most Anticipated Queer Book of 2026

LIGHTSPEED is an online science fiction and fantasy magazine. In its pages, you will find science fiction: from near-future, sociological soft SF, to far-future, star-spanning hard SF--and fantasy: from epic fantasy, sword-and-sorcery, and contemporary urban tales, to magical realism, science-fantasy, and folktales.This month's cover features artwork from Sam Schechter, illustrating a brand-new science fiction story by Violet Allen ("The Null Space Conundrum"). This story is a wild...