Thursday Free Fiction

Another collection of great free fiction.









@Baen: "Murder at Ford’s Theater" by Bob Conroy.

"What if Booth’s murder of Abraham Lincoln had taken a much different course–and produced a surprisingly changed America as a result? Alternate history master and the author of upcoming Himmler’s War Robert Conroy posits a fascinating new and terrible destiny for a nation split asunder."

@Beneath Ceaseless Skies: "The Red Cord" by Wren Wallis.

"Ordinary catastrophe. Is there such a creature? All catastrophe feels extraordinary to the one caught in its tide. It is no comfort to the ones whose fortunes I read, to say to them, This thing is ordinary, this thing that will happen to you."

@Tor.com: "Ghost Hedgehog" by Nina Kiriki Hoffman.

"Three shades lingered in our classroom, but they were really old and faded and easy to ignore. Better than my kindergarten classroom had been, where a kid had died from a fall the year before."

Serial Fiction
@Beneath Ceaseless Skies: "Hence the King from Kagehana, Pt. II" by Michael Anthony Ashley.

"They all had to die. That was the right thing, Saga knew for certain, so he buried his fingers into the mound and found the fuse. He yanked it free, unraveling hand over hand, clearing it of fetid earth and inspecting it for rot and wear as he went. When he held a full thirty sticks’ worth, he laid straight the line and prepared the flint and replotted his escape route, upwind so the little things couldn’t smell him when they came."

@Paizo: "Blood and Money - Chapter Four: Death in the Family" by Steven Savile.

"Blind optimism wasn’t a particularly useful trait for an assassin. Isra was neither blind nor optimistic. He knew full well that Faris could not be trusted, no matter how generous an offer his own skin was."

Audio Fiction
@Beneath Ceaseless Skies: "To the Gods of Time and Engines, a Gift" by Dean Wells.

"The silent commands were with her all the time now, haunting and familiar."

@Dunesteef: "Beachcombing" by Ray Cluley.

"When Tommy touches an object, he gets an impression from whoever has touched it before. He wanders the beach each day, combing it for discarded items that may in fact be lost treasures."

@19 Nocturne Boulevard: "Loup Noir" by Julie Hoverson, performed by full cast.

"When a drifter wanders into a small town - things may get a little... hairy."

@StarShipSofa: "Softlight Sins" by Peter F. Hamilton.

"Ghosts drifted through Douglas McEwan's mind as he drove down the long road towards the execution. There were four spectres, the family of Adrian Reynolds, his mother, his abominable father, and his two lovely young sisters. The forensic team's in situ video had shown them in their beds, captured in a frozen pose that feigned sleep: eyes closed, lips relaxed, fingers splayed like albino starfish. In each case their throats had been slit open, black yawning gashes that had sprayed thick jets of blood across the sheets."