A e-ton of free fiction today with three complete magazines, as well as several new individual stories and flash fiction stories. And there are several classic genre stories as well. Indeed, there is so much free text fiction that the audio fiction has necessarily been delayed until later today. Happy reading - there is definitely some good stuff.
Today's illustration is from Michael Moorcock's Black Petals in the Audio section.
Free Magazines
Electric Spec Volume 6, Issue 2 is posted with fiction (Science Fiction, Fantasy, and the Macabre).
"Invasive Species" by Ryan Kinkor
"Norse didn't know what he was closer to these days: a soldier or a garbage man. All he ever did was clean-up duty, picking up the refuse of one cocked-up incident after another. "
"Frazee" by Patricia Russo
"Frazee's sister had been abducted on her way home from school when she was ten years old. He barely remembered her, the way she had been in life; he'd been only two, a late baby, an afterthought."
"Remodel with Swan Parts" by Michael Griffin
"The thing Tod feared about his wife returning home was the unveiling. Always that ritual, like a game show host whipping away the drop cloth to reveal a prize."
The Turtle Wore Mascara by E. Bundy
"Greg was basking in her giddy adoration when pain electrified his arm. His left hand jerked reflexively upwards with an eighteen-pound snapping turtle clamped onto his little finger"
"Inside the Walls of East Lombard Street" by Anthony J. Rapino
"The shiny cashier saw me. She looked right at me. The store's fluorescent lights reflected off her skin like tiny searchlights. Her green eyes, the security cameras."
and "Race to Redemption" by Betsy Dornbusch
"Lord Oman sat at his desk, hands resting flat on it. For all Kaelin knew, the lord had a pistol in his lap. His back prickled. He kept his MK 23 within easy reach."
And nonfiction an Interview with Robert J. Sawyer, and more.
Nightblade: Horror and Fantasy Magazine issue #16 Propaganda is posted. This issue's fiction
"Ghost Story" by Deedra Cooper
"'Would you like me to tell you a story?' Something besides sadness now. Hope? Gratitude?"
"The Elder Gods of Richmond Street" by Dan Davis.
"We walked towards the front steps of the porch. I didn’t like the way they moved — as if they were expecting us."
"Striped Pajamas" by Marge Simon.
"The clothes you wear are perm-press, the only other item in your bag is the pair of striped pajamas that belonged to your father."
"Jackalope Season" by M.B. Ryther
"The jackalope is one of the most ferocious creatures out there. My ancestors in the Scottish Highlands had to fend them off with swords and burn them out of their dens with fire."
Mirror Dance Summer 2011 Issue is posted with fiction by Sara Cleto, Nicole Votta, David Brookes, Melinda Giordano, and Dora Badger and poetry by Sylvia Adams, A. J. Huffman, Aubrey Nesbitt, and Robert Shmigelsky
Mirror Dance is a quarterly magazine of fantasy stories, art, and poetry.
Single Stories@
Ray Gun Revival: "
The Wheat from the Chaff" by Kurt Heinrich Hyatt. Science Fiction.
"The scout shuttle broke through the smog to reveal a drab world of grays and browns set in flat and oily seas. Just below was the monthly supply freighter sent by the Interplanetary Relief Fund surrounded by a protective swarm of other scout shuttles."
@
Anotherealm: "
Death Row" by Milan Smith. Speculative Fiction.
"Graduation was close, and The Future was an exciting time for them, unlike me, for who Tomorrow was still not that much different from Today"
@
Linger Fiction: "
Ma-Ma" by RJ Astruc. Speculative Fiction.
"Katya looks away quick before she giggles or screams or faints and stares out the window at the city of Namyanka. A thousand hi-houses–huge white mushrooms like 1960s UFOs–speckle the sky, all connected by a web of ropes, chains and makeshift metal gangplanks."
@
Philippine Genre Stories: "
The Jar Collector" by Charles Tan. Horror.
"On most days, a lot of people pass by, either to smoke or to lounge around as they wait for friends. But today feels different and I am all alone save for the stranger sitting beside me"
Classic SF/Horror/Fantasy@
Munseys and
Project Gutenberg: "
Cold Ghost" by Chester S. Geier, from Amazing Stories (Nov. 1948). Horror.
"All Hager had to do was slow the dogsled to a walk, and his partner died. A perfect crime—no chance to get caught!"
@
Munseys and
Project Gutenberg: "
The Invader" by Alfred Coppel, from Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy (Feb. 1953). Science Fiction.
"Invading Earth was going to be a cinch, the Triomed scout decided. But to make certain he must study its inhabitants—as one of them!"
@
Munseys and
Project Gutenberg: "
The Next Time We Die" by Robert Moore Williams, from Amazing Stories (Feb. 1957). Science Fiction.
"We journey to far places, driven on by ideals. We fight for lost causes, sacrificing our lives because the things we fight for seem worthwhile. But are we right? Are they worth being killed over? Perhaps. Then again, maybe we'll know better—The Next Time We Die"
@
Munseys and
Project Gutenberg: "
Day of the Druid" by Knut Enferd, from Amazing Stories (Nov. 1948). Fantasy.
"Be'al, all-powerful god, drank the blood of his victims. Would Gaar be able to save Marna, whom Be'al kept in eternal sleep, and avenge her people?"
@
Munseys and
Project Gutenberg: "
The Colonists" by Raymond F. Jones, from IF Worlds of Science Fiction (June 1954). Science Fiction.
"If historical precedent be wrong—what qualities, then, must man possess to successfully colonize new worlds? Doctor Ashby said: "There is no piece of data you cannot find, provided you can devise the proper experimental procedure for turning it up." Now—about the man and the procedure."
@
Munseys and
Project Gutenberg: "
The Ordeal of Colonel Johns" by George H. Smith, from IF Worlds of Science Fiction (June 1954). Science Fiction.
"Colonel Johns, that famous Revolutionary War hero, had the unique—and painful—experience of meeting his great-great-great-great granddaughter. Now maybe you can't change history, but what's there to prevent a soldier from changing his mind about the gal he is going to marry?"
@
Project Gutenberg:
The Slayer of Souls by Robert Chambers (1920). Horror. [via
Triplanetary]
"Nobody ever before had seen that sort of magic in America. People scarcely knew whether or not they quite liked it. The lightning of innovation stupefies the dull; ignorance is always suspicious of innovation—always afraid to put itself on record until its mind is made up by somebody else."
Reviewed Free Fiction@BestScienceFictionStories.com "
A Pocketful of Dharma" by Paolo Bacigalupi (1999). Reviewed with a link to the free story. Science Fiction.
"It rose into the evening darkness, a massive city core, dwarfing even Chengdu's skyscrapers. Construction workers dangled from its rising skeleton, swinging from one section of growth to the next on long rappelling belts. Others clambered unsecured, digging their fingers into the honeycomb structure, climbing the struts with careless dangerous ease."
Serial Fiction@Legend of the Five Rings: "
The Destroyer War" Part 12 by Shawn Carman
. Fantasy.
"The air was thick with smoke. It burned the eyes and choked life from the lungs. Somewhere nearby, Hida Harou knew that the Palace of Crimson Shadows was burning. He wondered what manner of horrible things the Scorpion might have been hiding within it to make the smoke so acrid and stinging."
@The Author's Site: "
Deluge" (Part 74) by Brian Keene. Horror.
"The fungoid man-thing lurched forward, arms outstretched. Supporting Sarah’s dead weight, Henry barely dodged Earl’s attack. Seven more of the creatures lumbered up the stairs."
@Every Day Fiction: "
To Turn Back Time" by Leigh Kimmel. Fantasy.
@Every Day Fiction: "
The Thing About A Haunting" by Aaron Polson. Weird.
@Flashes in the Dark: "
The Most Beautiful Tree" by Jennifer Jackson. Horror.
@Flashes in the Dark: "
Well Laid Schemes" by Lori Titus. Horror.
@Strange Horizons: [Poem] "
Waking the Red Guardian" by WC Roberts.
@Daily Science Fiction: "
U is for Ubiquitous" by Tim Pratt, Jenn Reese, Heather Shaw, Greg van Eekhout.
@Dark Valentine: "
The Sound of Silence" by Alvin G. Burstein.
@365 tomorrows: "
Fundamental Forces"
by Patricia Stewart. Science Fiction.
@365 tomorrows: "
Remedies" by Ian Rennie. Science Fiction.@Weirdyear: "
How to Punch a Seven Foot Tall Dog-Headed Alien Warrior in the Head" by David Macpherson.
@Weirdyear: "
Visions of Lincoln" by Justin Short.
@Yesteryear Fiction: "
A Brief History" by Caitlin Jackson. Fantasy.
@Linger Fiction: "
A Lady of My Own" by Robyn Ritchie.
@Linger Fiction: "
Circus Freaks" by Courtney Cullinan Robb.
@Nightblade: [poetry]
@Antipodean SF: [via
Beam Me Up]
@StarShipSofa:
Episode #190 featuring "Black Petals Pt 1" by Michael Moorcock, read by Peter Cavell. Full size version of the awesome cover
here.
Really! Free Moorcock fantasy fiction! Elric! Read by StarShipSofa! Huzzahs to infinity and beyond!
@LibriVox:
A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay, read by Mark Nelson.
"It combines fantasy, philosophy, and science fiction in an exploration of the nature of good and evil and their relationship with existence. It has been described by critic and philosopher Colin Wilson as the "greatest novel of the twentieth century" and was a central influence on C. S. Lewis's Space Trilogy."
More cool freebies from great sites.
