Free Fantasy and SF Links

As promised earlier, a few links to some very good free fiction (both print and audio) for your use.


E-Fiction
At Strange Horizons, "The Yew's Embrace," by Francesca Forrest.
"We could still see the old king's blood in the cracks in the flagstones beneath the new king's feet when he announced to us all that this was a unification, not a conquest."

Online HERE.





At Ray Gun Revival, "Proving Ground" by Gerri Leen. "Captain Jim Rutherford walked briskly to the makeshift parade ground and barked orders to the assembled survey crew. They wearily came to attention. Most looked as if they hadn’t woken up yet. This planet—the latest of many, but the farthest out the fleet had been—had a difficult atmosphere to acclimate to. Taking pity on them, he ordered parade rest."

Online HERE.



At Fantasy Magazine, "The House that Made the Sixteen Loops of Time" by Tamsyn Muir. "14 Arden Lane suffered from bad plumbing and magical build-up. There Dr. Rosamund Tilly had raised two children, bred sixteen chinchillas, and written her thesis, and because her name was on the deed had become the medium of all the house’s whims and wishes."

Online HERE.



Issue #134 of Hub is out featuring "Progeny" by Mark Morris, as welll as reviews and an interview. "So what was he here for? What was he supposed to do? Surely not that? No, please God, he wouldn’t. He just wanted all this to end. He’d rather die before he put her through that again."
In Pdf and epub downloads HERE.



Free-Online-Novels is exactly what the title suggests. Links to free, legal, online novels in such categories as Adventure, Fantasy, Horror, science Fiction, and others.

The site is HERE [via Inner City]




At Paizo.com, Pathfinder Tales, serialized fantasy fiction set in the Pathfinder RPG world. All but the final story are complete. These look very good.



The Lost Pathfinder by Dave Gross: Chapters One, Two, Three, and Four.
"That got my attention. Both the boss and I knew there'd be repercussions from our last case. We'd gotten the job done all right, but in the process we'd busted open a bigger secret. It was the kind of thing that hurt a lot of the noble houses, the sort of people who usually hire the boss. They're also the sort of people who usually hire assassins."

The Noble Sacrifice by Richard Ford: Chapters One, Two, and Three.
"They rode their horses far from the well-trodden roads of the Conerica Straits. The ancient trade routes were no longer safe, even for seasoned warriors, and the pair stuck to the labyrinthine hill paths that intersected the foot of the Aspodells' northern peaks."

Blood Crimes by J. C. Hay: Chapters One, Two, Three, and Four.
"At that, the paladin started screaming again, the hysteria that tinged his voice doing little to convince me that his faith in his goddess's protection was entirely certain. 'Has everyone gone mad? He was a vampire!'"

Certainty by Liane Merciel: Chapters One, Two, Three, and Four.
"And evil? Evil is no easier. Most criminals are only men, and stupid and frightened ones at that. But they're the easiest to punish; they've done wrong, and know it, and will pay the price."

Swamp Warden by Amber E. Scott: Chapters One and Two.
"Every soldier leaves a part of himself behind on the battlefield. Sometimes several."

The Secret of the Rose and Glove by Kevin Andrew Murphy: Chapters One, Two, Three, and Four.

Lord of Penance by Richard Lee Byers: Chapters One, Two, Three, and Four.
"And you think the gods punished you for it by pushing Melaku off the scaffold and making you miscarry? If the world worked like that, there wouldn't be a person left alive." He put a hand on her shoulder. "You're not thinking straight, and small wonder after what you've been through. Come home for a day or two—"

Guns of Alkenstar by Ed Greenwood: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, and Six.
"'I thought you'd be eager,' Kordroun said coldly. 'You were more than a good shieldmarshal, once. You were one of the best.'"

The Ghosts of Broken Blades by Monte Cook: Chapter One, Two.
"The open field of green grass and wildflowers hid the fact that he stood upon the site of a furious battle from just a year earlier. Such battlefields covered the land of Lastwall like a pox, but it was a pox of which Roubris could make very good use with his unique talent."


Audio Fiction
At LibriVox, Short Story Collection Vol. 047 features adventure tales by Jack London, Bret Harte, Joseph Conrad, and Rudyard Kipling, but of most interest is Poul Anderson's fantasy story "The Valor of Cappen Varra" originally published in Fantastic Universe (January 1957.) "'Let little Cappen go,' they shouted. 'Maybe he can sing the trolls to sleep—'"

All are available in MP3 and ogg downloads HERE.


And Short Ghost and Horror Collection 012 featuring stories by Edgar Allen Poe, H. P. Lovecraft, H. G. Wells, and other greats. "A collection of twenty stories featuring ghoulies, ghosties, long-leggedy beasties and things that go bump in the night. Expect shivers up your spine, the stench of human flesh, and the occasional touch of wonder."

In MP3 and ogg downloads HERE.


At the Cthulhu Podcast, Episode 96, Part One of "The Spawn of Cthulhu."

In MP3 download HERE.

Another recent reading was "The Graveyard Rats"


Other Audio
At H. P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast, Episode 70 "The Mound" Part One. A look at H. P. Lovecraft's story "The Mound" with summary, discussion, and some parts read.

Streaming and in MP3 download HERE.

Other recent episodes include "The Electric Executioner" and "The Dunwich Horror" part One, Two, Three, and Four.