Monday Freebies

 Another great day of free fiction. And don't forget to check out SF Signal, BestScienceFictionStories.com,Variety SF, and Free SF Reader for more free fiction pointers.



[Art for Invaders From The Infinite - linked in audio below]







Fiction
• At Cosmos: "Any Face You Like" by Gregg Jansen. Science Fiction.
      "Clovitt the Maintenance Robot positioned Normby in the immobilisation cradle and clamped Normby’s metal arms, legs, torso, and head into place. Then the maintenance robot elevated and rotated the cradle until Normby lay on his back."

• At L5R:"City of Smoke & Ash" by Shawn Carman & Robert Denton. Fantasy.
     "Bayushi Dijuro exploded into a flurry of motion, drawing his blade in a blinding flash and cutting a nage-yari from the air only seconds before it would have impaled one of his men. The two fragments were sent into a spin, and the haft of one cracked the man across the forehead instead. Dijuro felt this was a suitable punishment for his lapse of vigilance." 

• At Strange Horizons: "I Have Placed My Sickness Upon You" by Karin Tidbeck.

      "This is your new treatment," said Dr. Andersson. "It's the latest in experimental therapy."

Now Posted: Nightblade Issue 23 Blodeuwedd.

" Infectious" by Lilah Wild     "No ambulance appeared, no uniformed professionals to take charge of the situation. Of course not. The electric eyes in the Last Districts only reported infractions. They’d never been programmed to summon help."
"Locket" by Kristi DeMeester     "You both cried. Then you locked her up in gold. Tiny pieces of her. Just enough to remember. Small bits of her bones, and blood, and teeth poured into something pretty."
"For the Dead Travel Fast" by Ramón Paso     "Death is fascinating, but only if it is somebody else’s. I stood with my last bit of strength and ran as fast as a man like me can: a man who eats whatever he wants, a man who wouldn’t find the door of the gym not even if he could win one million dollars, and who never says “no” to another beer, but who doesn’t wanna die."
"The Whipping Tree" by Pete Aldin     "A smaller number of people whispered that the Tree was a gift from a merciful god, its roots lapping up the blood to hold the spirits for blessed release into another brighter Age."
"Letting Go of the Children and Moving On" by kaolin fire     "First one, then another, reached for the sky, wings twitching then flowing, finding the currents, testing their newly-formed muscles. They cried out, harsh, piercing."

 Flash Fiction and Poetry

• At Daily Science Fiction: "Living With Trees" by Geetanjali Dighe, Science Fiction. 
• At Flashes in the Dark: "Twenty Mile Chances" by A.W. Mason. Horror.
• At Silver Blade: "Alien Interrogation" by Marge Simon. Science Fiction. 
• At 365 Tomorrows: "Marauder" by Jae Miles. Science Fiction.
• At Nightblade: 

before by Lynn Hardaker
Destination by Ken Poyner
Gathered Augury by S. Brackett Robertson
The Storm Rises by Dan Campbell
Blodeuwedd by Virginia M. Mohlere 

Audio Fiction
• At Author's Site: "The MVP Episode #21" by Scott Sigler. Science Fiction. Football.
     "As the season collapses and the Krakens face relegation, Quentin refuses to compromise and stands by the players that he brought in. Does Quentin overplay his hand when he tries to trade Don Pine for a former Kraken?"

• At LibriVox: Invaders from the Infinite by John W. Campbell Jr.  Science Fiction.
     "The famous scientific trio of Arcot, Wade and Morey, challenged by the most ruthless aliens in all the universes, blasted off on an intergalactic search for defenses against the invaders of Earth and all her allies. World after world was visited, secret after secret unleashed, and turned to mighty weapons of intense force--and still the Thessian enemy seemed to grow in power and ferocity"

• At 19 Nocturne Boulevard: "Duplicity"
      "Loosely inspired by a story from O. Henry - A "classic sci fi" style retelling of a heartwarming story"

• At SFFaudio: "The Shadow Kingdom" by Robert E. Howard. Fantasy. Sword and Sorcery.
     "The blare of the trumpets grew louder, like a deep golden tide surge, like the soft booming of the evening tides against the silver beaches of Valusia. The throng shouted, women flung roses from the roofs as the rhythmic chiming of silver hosts came clearer and the first of the mighty array swung into view in the broad, white street that curved round the golden-spired Tower of Splendor."

• At Strange Horizons: "I Have Placed My Sickness Upon You" by Karin Tidbeck.
    Described above

• At Toasted Cake: "This Is Your Problem, Right Here" by David Steffen.
     "Toasted Cake 61! In which we try to placate the Troll Council." 

Other Genres

• Audio at Crime City Central: "Back o’ Town Blues" by David Fulmer.
• Flash Fiction at Every Day Fiction: "Heads Up!" by Fraser Sherman. Surreal.