Two Free Magazines, Free Comics, Reviews, Etc.

Two cool magazines today as well as other good fiction (including audio and flash). Quite a bit of good reading altogether. Several cool comics, including a complete, online graphic novel. My take on three recent fantasy adaptations ["Like anyone cares" Lt. Bob]. And More. Today's illustration is for A Game of Thrones, briefly reviewed below.







Issue #21 of Apex Magazine is now available free online with.
Fiction
“The Eater” by Michael J. Deluca.
"Not like the Eater, who walks among us bouncing and gangly like a marsh bird with a broken leg, grey but full of life, showing us those things he may show whose place the Speaker’s words will take."

“Biba Jibun” by Eugie Foster.
"Papa said that Mama left because she was one of the obake, the spirit folk. She tricked him into marrying her when he was a rich man and could buy her French perfume and trinkets from Cartier’s."

“The Button Bin” by Mike Allen.
"Yet why would he worry? In a throwback town like this, with every house from a 1950s-era postcard, crime remains distant, alien, a single murder strange as an apocalypse."

“Ghosts of New York” by Jennifer Pelland.
"Poets and sages like to say that there is clarity in certain death. That a calm resignation settles over the nearly deceased, and they embrace the inevitability of the end of life with dignity and grace."


Issue #151 of Aphelion is up with "D.A.V.E." by Dean Giles, "Genesis" by Ché Francis Monro, "Debtor" by Noah Zachary, "Sacred Logs and Crocodiles" by Walter G. Esselman, "Rapid Transit" by E. S. Strout, "swodahS" by J. E. Deegan, "Liam's Bridge" by Mary Brunini McArdle, "Death with French Bread" by Chris Sharp, "Finding Our Voices" by Richard Tornello, "In Their Eyes" by Ian Cordingley, and "Pretty Little Foxes" by Lester Curtis.




@Book View Cafe: "Arroyo de Oro" by Pati Nagle (1999/2009).
"By time I got there it was almost 11:30. I left the field office as soon as the call came in, but downtown Albuquerque is a long way from "Arroyo de Oro." That's what they call the strip. It runs right up the Sandia Reservation on the north edge of town, and it rivals Las Vegas for glitz."







Serial Fiction
@Paizo.com: The conclusion of "Two Pieces of Tarnished Silver" by Erik Mona - Chapter Two: Breaking Fast.
"'You seem to know a lot about us,' Aebos said warily, rubbing his meaty hands clean on a bit of shirt stolen from one of the dead crewmen at the top of the stairs. 'But we don't know anything about you.'"

Classic SF
@Munseys and Project Gutenberg: "Deepfreeze" by Robert Donald Locke, from Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy (Jan. 1953).

"Life and the future belong to the strong—so Dollard laughed as he fled Earth and Mankind's death agony. But the last laugh was yet to come...."











@SFFaudio: "Warrior Race" by Robert Sheckley. "Destroying the spirit of the enemy is the goal of war and the aliens had the best way!" Available there in an MP3 download, in a pdf scan of the original story from Galaxy Magazine, and with a link to the story at Project Gutenberg. Thorough as always.











@Daily Science Fiction: "Writing on the Wall" by Vaughan Stanger.
@Every Day Fiction: "Answers" by C.L. Holland.
@365 tomorrows: "Pilgrimage" by Roi R. Czechvala.
@Eschatology: "A Visitor to Zennor" by Les Merton.
@The New Flesh: "Wild Ride" by Laura Eno.
@Aphelion [Poetry]

• Report On The Recent Excavations At Norwich by David Barber.
• Wondrous Gobbledygook by Richard H. Fay.
• Gumshoe by Thomas Reynolds.
• I’m Sorry, But… by Stuart Sharp.
• Last Man by Chris Wood.
• Life's A Party by Richard Tornello.
• Out There by Brian S. Lingard.
• The Arousal Indicator by Mike Wilson.
• White Pinnacle of Pain by Robin B. Lipinsk.
  

@Secret Sanctum of Captain Video: The conclusion of the Time Machine. SF / Classic.





@Diversions of the Groovy Kind: Jason Monarch #1 (1979) B&W Sci-Fi.





@The Comic Book Catacombs: Dr. Voodoo in "Quest For the Golden Flask:Part II" from Whiz Comics #18 (June 1941). Well illustrated adventure.




@Parishi's Vision: Flash Gordon in "Plant Attack" and "Death Trap" Space Opera Sci-Fi.








@Digital Comics Museum: Eerie Tales #1 (Nov. 1959) B&W horror / suspense magazine.








Online Comic
"The Phoenix Requiem" by Sarah Ellerton, a complete online (800 page!) graphic novel. [or start at the beginning] "The Phoenix Requiem is a Victorian-inspired supernatural fantasy story about faith, love, death, and the things we believe in." Very well drawn. [via TopWebComics.com]


Dave's Views
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One (blu-ray). The beginning of the end. The film does nearly as good a job as possible in adapting the material, though the first half of the seventh book is far from the strongest material in the series.

Good: Captures the mood of the book. Engrossing. Very good cinematography.

Bad: S . . . l . . . o . . . w. The film, like most of the latter HP films, is better if you've read the book. They cut out the scene of Dudley saying goodbye (and the version in the extras is only a dress rehearsal).

Grade: B+

A Game of Thrones on HBO is a solid adaptation of George R. R. Martin's material. After two episodes, the series is off to a good start. All the strengths (and weaknesses) of the novel are here.

Good: Acting, reasonably faithful to the story, cinematography.

Bad: You already need a scorecard for all the characters and it's only going to get worse, much worse. My there's a lot a skin here.

Grade: A-

Camelot on Starz is, at least in theory, a retelling of the various Arthurian legends. Thus far, however, it seems to be more about finding excuses for nudity and sex scenes. Oh, and there's a sword named after a girl Merlin killed.

Good: Very good acting. Beautiful scenery, costumes, props, etc.

Bad: Miscasting (Jamie Campbell Bower as King Arthur? Really?), Arthur and Guinevere come off far worse than in any classic version of the myths, odd changes (The whole Excalibur storyline is a strange interpolation at best), and enough gratuitous sex that no one would be surprised if Misty Mundae guest starred.

It may get better, but after three episodes it seems a waste of all the acting talent. Grade C-


"Please argue with Dave. He gets so arrogant when he thinks people agree with him! And he's usually wrong. Except about to much gratuitous nudity. Keep your clothes on! Humans are ugly enough dressed." Lt. Bob.





Other Coolness
@Apex Magazine: “An Introductory Guide to the Nebula Awards” by Michael A. Burstein.
@SF Signal: Podcast #46 Interview with Daniel Abraham.
@Online Degree “10 Most Believable Natural Disaster Movies”

Many Freebies, Including George R. R. Martin's "The Lonely Songs of Laren Dorr"

A ton of AWESOME today. George R. R. Martin's "The Lonely Songs of Laren Dorr" is only one of the cool stories today. And there is an iPod full of worthy audio fiction (OK a cheap MP3 player full) , a video, and some very good gaming items. As Blur would say "Woo hoo!!!!!"



Fiction
@Fantasy Magazine: "The Lonely Songs of Laren Dorr" by George R. R. Martin.
"One moment there was only the valley, caught in twilight. The only sounds were the cries of the mourning-birds coming out for the night, and the swift rush of water in the rocky stream that cut the woods."
Online and in MP3 (streaming and download).



@Ray Gun Revival: "White World" by Steve Stanton.
"Viki staged a party for their last night together. The food was catered but the drinks were bring-your-own. She had planned the details for weeks in advance, her fifth-floor apartment immaculate, completely sterile. All the guests had been instructed to be free of animal dander and scrubbed clean with disinfectant. Her young man Danny could not risk any contamination this late in his regime."

@Book View Cafe: "Signed in Blood" by P. R. Frost, from A Girl’s Guide to Guns and Monsters, edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Kerrie Hughes, February 2010.
"I knew words would flow easily from this pen. Beautiful words that melded together into a story."

@Book View Cafe: "California Demon" by Susan Wright.
"Read the urban fantasy story "California Demon" and find out what happens to Allay when she is possessed by a demon."

@Mindflights: "The Oracle of Themazuri" by Rachel V. Olivier.
"Dayo, like many girls her age, is a daydreamer. Unlike those girls, however, sometimes those daydreams come true. It is a gift, but it is a gift that has cost her everything."

Serial Fiction:
@Kat and Mouse: Guns for Hire: "Payback" - Part Two" by Abner Senires.
"Since the meet was in Southside near the Gibson Street Tunnel, I dropped four extra pistol magazines in my cargo pockets, grabbed a frag grenade, a smoke grenade, and made sure I had the FAL fully loaded with several extra magazines in the Shelby's trunk"

Classic SF
@Two-Fisted Tales of True-Life Weird Romance: ". . .and It Comes Out Here" by Lester del Rey, from Galaxy Science Fiction (Feb. 1951). In Jpeg scans.
"There is one fact no sane man can quarrel with ... everything has a beginning and an end. But some men aren't sane: thus it isn't always so!"

@BestScienceFictionStories: "A Logic Named Joe" by Murray Leinster (1946).
"a 1946 science fiction short story by Murray Leinster. It is about a network connected machine that can answer any and all questions!" Reviewed and linked to a free online version.


Audio Fiction
@Beam Me Up: Episode #254 featuring the conclusion of "The Utility of Love"” by David Steffen, read by Wilson Fowlie. And "Time Enough At Last" by Lynn Venable.

@The Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine: "Anakoinosis" by Tobias S. Buckell, produced by Marshal Latham. "Humans have come to the home world of an alien species known as the whiffets. The whiffets are eager to learn all that humans have to teach them. They are helping the humans repair the damage to their ship, but are the humans helping the whiffets? "

@The Classic Tales Podcast: Episode #203, "The Black Cat" by Edgar Allan Poe, read by B. J. Harrison.
"A convicted man tells of his descent into dissipation. For his love of animals, once his greatest comfort, proves to be his ultimate undoing."

@Cast Macabre: Episode #35, "The Night Stalker" by Raymond Gates, read by Barry J. Northern.

@Cthulhu: "The Curse of Kralitz" by Henry Kuttner.
A mythos related story by the SF great.

@LibriVox: PD Goth, by various (inc. Poe and Blackwood)
"A collection of spooky stories culled from etexts found on Project Gutenberg."

@LibriVox: The Book of a Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 04, by Anonymous, translated by Richard Francis Burton.
"A long series of cliff-hangers told by Shahrazad to her husband Shahryar, to prevent him from executing her. Many tales that have become independently famous come from the Book, among them Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, and the voyages of Sinbad the Sailor."

Serial Audio
@The Author's Website: The Starter - Episode #7 by Scott Sigler.
"The rookies arrive on the TOUCHBACK after surviving their tests on the COMBINE, and this time Quentin is meeting the new recruits as the starting quarterback of the Krakens."


Flash Fiction
@365 tomorrows: "The Vote" by John Tudball.
@365 tomorrows: "Protocol" by Eric Poch.
@365 tomorrows: "Looking Glass" by N. Thomas Parshall.
@The New Flesh: "Immortality" by Robert Eccles.
@Every Day Fiction: "The Princess and the Bullfrog" by Vincent D. O’Connor.
@Flashes in the Dark: "Bloody Rejuvenation" by Joshua Scribner.
@The Daily Cabal: "On Reincarnation in Turkeys" by Luc Reid.
@Daily Science Fiction: "That's Show Business" by Bruce Boston.

Video
@VODO: Zenith (2011).
"A father and son, separated by decades and a cataclysm that has upturned the world, track a grand and elusive conspiracy in this cyberpunk thriller.

In the hellish future of 2044, human beings have become stupefied by the state of permanent happiness they’ve been genetically altered to experience. ‘Dumb’ Jack (Peter Scanavino) offers relief via drugs that bring his customers the welcome phenomenon of pain. But when Jack receives a mysterious videotape of his dead father, he sets out to unmask the dangerous conspiracy that has created this dystopian world."
Unfortunately distributed only through torrents, but if you trust your anti-virus software, this doesn't look bad.


Gaming
@A Character for Every Game: Labyrinth Lord Downloadables. A good roundup of the free Labyrinth Lord materials available on the web. Everything you need to start gaming after a few hours reading.








Short But Sweet.
@A Hamsterish Hoard of Dungeons and Dragons: [New Monster] Brass Jackal.
@The Land of NOD: [Encounters] Mu-Pan - Encounter XII / XIII.
@The Land of NOD: [Encounter] Mu-Pan - Encounter XIV.
@The Land of NOD: [Encounter] Mu-Pan - Encounter XV.
@A Character for Every Game: [New Magic Items] 6 More Magic Potions.
@Ancient Vaults & Eldritch Secrets: [New Magic Item] Master Thief’s Club of Deception.
@Ancient Vaults & Eldritch Secrets: [New Spell] Dead Freeze.
@Ancient Vaults & Eldritch Secrets: [New Spell] Numberspeak.
@Strange Magic: [New Magic Items] 6 Minor Magic Items.
@Trollish Delver: [New Character Types] Burglar and Wildfarer for Tunnels and Trolls.
@DriveThruRPG: Dark Ages Basic Rules From White Wolf [free membership required].
@Blog on the Borderlands: [New Spell] Holy Weapon.