Wednesday, July 31, 2013

I, For One, Welcome Our New Free Fiction Overlords

It's a great day for free fiction! There's new fiction at Tor, Phantasmacore, and Mad Scientist Journal.  There are continuing serials at HiLobrow, new flash fiction, and classic comics. New audio fiction (including five Harry Turtledove stories). And there are half a googleplex e-books!. (A couple links were borrowed from Regan Wolfrom at SF Signal.


[Art from "Cat" in comics below.]



Fiction
• At HiLobrow: "The Clockwork Man - Part 20 conclusion." by E.V. Odle. Science Fiction. 1923.
     "“Let’s go back,” whispered Lilian, and they turned and retraced their steps. The sight of the lovers sealed their lips. Doctor Allingham struggled for a few moments with a strange sense of bigness wanting to escape. Almost it was a physical sensation; as though the nervous energy in his brain had begun to flow independently of the controls that usually guided it through the channels graven by knowledge and experience. It was Lilian who spoke next, and there was a note of pain in her voice."

• At HiLobrow: "Herland - Part 3" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Science Fiction. 1915.
     "The most prominent sensation was of absolute physical comfort. I was lying in a perfect bed: long, broad, smooth; firmly soft and level; with the finest linen, some warm light quilt of blanket, and a counterpane that was a joy to the eye. The sheet turned down some fifteen inches, yet I could stretch my feet at the foot of the bed free but warmly covered."

• At Mad scientist Journal: "Missing Apocalypse" by D. M. Allan. Science Fiction.
     "The room was exactly what you would expect if you told an unimaginative set designer to produce a professor’s study. Bookcases covered two of the walls. The third had a fireplace with a portrait of Rupert Johnstone-Jenkins in full academic regalia gazing into the middle distance hanging over it. In front of the window there was a big desk with a swivel chair upholstered in green leather and there were two matching upright chairs facing it."

• At Mad scientist Journal: "The Trash Construct" by Juan Angel. Science Fiction.
     "It smelled like wet cardboard the day Mr. Lorenzo took up in flight. The pitter-patter of rain on the aluminum roofs had ceased and, in its place, steam rose from the muddy slopes, the smear of smog vanishing from the sky as the wisps of heat rose towards it. Old Man Lorenzo swooped between our kites, his guttural laugh resonating out over the gleaming roofs and dirt paths below."

• At Phantasmacore: "Letters from Utopia" by RJ Astruc and Andy Astruc. Science Fiction.
     "Greetings humanoid William, this is a communication from humanoid Dale Sandgood. He wishes to express his positive emotions towards his current situation. Dale is comfortable and has appropriate rations. He has no desire to leave the collective."

• At Tor.com: "All the Snake Handlers I Know Are Dead" by Dennis Danvers. Dark, Magical Realism.
      "What did I expect him to say? I had a snake problem. He was Jerry the local extension agent. “Are they endangered?” I asked, referring to the dozens of timber rattlers who lolled about my construction site."

Flash Fiction
E-Books
• At Amazon: Dark Wings (Never Dark Book 1) by Skyla Madi. Paranormal [via Pixel-of-Ink]
At Amazon: Fantasy, Horror, and Science Fiction. [Via Freebook Sifter]
At Barnes and Noble [Nook]
At Free eBooks Daily:

Comics
Audio Fiction
• At Author's Site: "The Shambling Guide to New York City – Chapter 13" by Mur Lafferty.
     "A travel writer takes a job with a shady publishing company in New York, only to find that she must write a guide to the city - for the undead!"

• At DrabbleCast: "The Screaming Door" by Hampus Flink. Strange.
     "It has been two hundred days since the door to my study began screaming. I was nodding over a volume of Edwin Corang’s collected prose when I first felt it; a curious ripple that moved through the room, standing my hair on edge, followed by the sensation of coffee spilling into my lap as the screaming began."

• At StarShipSofa: Episode #300 Harry Turtledove. Science Fiction.
"Lure"/  "Gladly Wolde He Learne" / "Clash of Arms" / "Not All Wolves"
"The Barbecue, The Movie, and Other Unfortunately Not So Relevant Material"
     "'Yes, thanks to my old man, I am Temujin Genghis Kahn,' Khan said, wishing for the nine millionth time that his father had dug ditches for a living instead of being a professor of Mongol history. It had made him the only first-grader at Oakdale ever to be called exclusively by his initials."
Other Genres
• Flash Fiction at Every Day Fiction: "The Only Gifts We Give" by Ian Florida.
Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)