Ask Not for What the Bell Tolls It Tolls for Free Fiction.

More great free fiction including the start of a new Pathfinder fantasy serial at Paizo, an alternate history by Harry Turtledove, and several free for a limited time e-books. 

[Art from "Cayos in the Stream"]




Fiction
At Paizo: "The Weeping Blade  - Chapter One: Blind Beggar’s Bind" by Josh Vogt. Fantasy.
     "Despite the leather strap over his eyes, Larem sensed Dargley beaming a grin in clueless innocence, the attitude that had defined his existence since the head injury. Sighing, Larem took up his beggar bowl and shook the three copper coins it held."

At Tor.com: "Cayos in the Stream" by Harry Turtledove.
     "You’re the greatest writer of the age, gone to ground and subsiding into drink. You always said you wanted to catch some of those Nazi bastards in the waters around your beloved Cuba. What happens when you actually get your wish?"

At Free eBooks Daily:

• Heir to the Underworld by E.D. Walker. YA Paranormal.
• Lay Saints by Adam Connell. Science Fiction. 
• Talent Storm by Brian Terenna. Fantasy.
• Vessel, Book I: The Advent by Tominda Adkins. Fantasy. 
• Human No Longer by Kathryn Meyer Griffith. Vampire Horror.
• Titan Encounter by Kyle Pratt. Space Opera.
• Stars Rain Down by Chris J. Randolph. Space Opera. 

At Amazon: [via Freebook Sifter]

• Oenone by Agatha Rae. Contemporary Fantasy.
• Gryphon of the Hidden Realm by Robert Denethon. Fantasy. 
• Greater Treasures: A DragonEye by Karina Fabian. Fantasy.
• Home Lost by Franz McLaren. Fantasy.
• Beloved Enemy (Gaian Series) by Janet Miller. Science Fiction. Romance. 
• Pactum (Contractor) by Nicholas Taylor.

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

• At Daily Science Fiction: "Sticks and Stones" by Kevin Pickett. Science Fiction.
• At 365 Tomorrows: "Heart" by Duncan Shields. Science Fiction.
• At 365 Tomorrows: "Thirteen Cities" by George R. Shirer. Science 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]

• The Year of the Great Seventh by Teresa Orts 
• Unfettered by David VanDyke
• ePulp Sampler Vol 1 by John Picha, Matthew J Davies, N.R. Grabe and Russ Bopp 
• Cry Wolf (YA 17+ Sci Fi Adventure) by Rohan Healy and Alex Healy 
• Templar, New Beginnings (Second Edition) (The Templar Legacy) by Chris Hales 
• Sword of the Ronin (The Ronin Trilogy) by Travis Heermann 
• The Princess of Caldris (The Pandoran Age Chronicles) by Dante D'Anthony
• Starfarer by Jeremy Reimer 
• IHU by Cliff Hays 
• Breach of Destiny by Frank Michael Adamo 
• The Heart of Evil by Doris Mixon 
• From Vermont to Mars: A Novella by William Graham 
• Renaissance Nation by C Mielczarski 

At Barnes and Noble [Nook]

• League of Super Heroes: Rise of the Villain by Celeste Ayers. Superhero.
• Heroics by Alex Kost. Superhero.
• Carpe Diem by Michael Loring. Spec. Fiction.
• Hither and Yon by PD Allen. Fantasy.

At Free eBooks Daily:

• Whispers of Memories Lost by J. J. Kalke Jr. Science Fiction. Fantasy.
• Hunting The Five by Maria Violante. Fantasy.
• Dead Roots by Brian Geoffrey Wood. Fantasy.
• The Elsbeck Chronicles: Wicked Roots by Aaron Roark. 
•  Eden Legacy by Scott Toney. Fantasy.
• The Loneliest Road by Kimberly A. Bettes. Horror. Thriller.
• Zorek's Pyramids by MV White. YA Fantasy.
• The Cats and the Crystal by Daniel Steven Kahan. Children's Fantasy.
• Peter And The Vampires by Darren Pillsbury. YA Paranormal.
• The Reintegrators by Will Weisser. Science Fiction.
• Deceptions of the Heart by Denise Moncrief. Paranormal. Thriller. 
• The Hawk's Shadow by M.S. Verish. Fantasy.
• Recovery of a Colony Ship by John Thornton. Science Fiction.

Comics

• At Atomic Kommie Comics: "Shadow on the Screen" Horror. 1953
• At Digital Comics Museum: Black Magic #8. Horror. 1951.
• At Digital Comics Museum: Black Magic #13. Horror. 1952.
• At Heroines: "Barbarella 1.1" Sci-fi. 196x.
• At The Horrors of It All: "Cat! / Immortality Factor" Horror. 1973.
• At The Horrors of It All: "The Happy Dead / The Terrible Trident!" Horror. 1974 
• At Pappy's Golde Age Comics Blogzine: "Weird Tales / Here’s to Horror! / Redskin" Horror.  1940/54/52
  

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.

More Goodies

 A few more freebies for today.

 [Art for Police Your Planet by Lester Del Rey in audio fiction]








Fiction
• At Aurora Wolf: "Swallowed by Darkness" by Jennifer M. Windrow. Fantasy.
    "Our date wasn’t going well. It had been obvious from the start.  However, I felt obligated to stick it out. I owed it to the good friend who’d thought “we’d be perfect for each other”. "

• At Daily Science Fiction: "Shadow Play" by Liz Argall.
     "Every time the shadow puppets play, someone is saying, goodbye. Someone is saying, please don't go. Someone is saying, if only, please. Someone is saying, I remember when, and laughing."

• At Paizo: "Bastard, Sword - Chapter Four: Illusions of Ice" by Tim Pratt. Fantasy.
     ""Probably," Hrym said. 'I can't be expected to remember every kind of thing I've slain. Listen, Manius, before we begin our crusade, do you mind giving me a few moments alone with Rodrick here?'"

• At Tor.com: "Running of the Bulls" by Harry Turtledove.
     "You are all a lost generation, she said back then. And anyone who looked at them as they spun their dizzy way through life would have had a hard time telling her she was wrong."

Flash Fiction

• At Every Day Fiction: "Life of Eight" by Paul Miller. Science Fiction.
• At Nature: "Sticky" by George Zebrowski. Science Fiction. 
• At 365 Tomorrows: "Cold" by Bronwyn Seward. Science Fiction.

Audio Fiction
• At Escape Pod: "Keeping Tabs" by Kenneth Schneyer. Science Fiction.
      "I was so excited when I could finally buy a Tab. They cost so much, you know, but I saved up for maybe six months. I waitressed at Antonio’s in the North End, and let me tell you, it’s murder on the feet.  Those trays are heavy, too, and Nico screams at everybody the whole shift, not to mention the way you smell after six hours."

• At LibriVox: Police Your Planet by Lester Del Rey. Science Fiction.
     "Bruce Gordon looked at his ticket, grimaced at the ONE WAY stamped on it, then tore it into bits and let the pieces scatter over the floor. He counted them as they fell; thirty pieces in all, one for each year of his life. Little ones for the two years he'd wasted as a cop."

• At LibriVox: People of the Mist by H. Rider Haggard. Adventure.
     "Penniless Leonard Outram attempts to redress the undeserved loss of his family estates and fiancee by seeking his fortune in Africa."

Free Friday Finds

A pretty good Friday for freebies. Highlights include, new free fiction from Harry Turtledove, classic fiction by Frederic Brown and Octavia Butler, new audio fiction, including two H. P. Lovecraft stories, new gaming items, fantasy art and cool comics, including Tara, Queen of the Space Pirates, from which comes the illustration to the left.

And a special thanks to the three (at least) blogs that have added QD to their links/blogrolls, it really helps attract readers, which in turn sends readers to all the great sites I link to, either directly or in the blogroll here.








@Tor.com: "Shtetl Days" by Harry Turtledove.
"Jakub Shlayfer opened the door and walked outside to go to work. Before he could shut it again, his wife called after him: 'Alevai it should be a good day! We really need the gelt!'"





@Ray Gun Revival: "Lifestealer" by Joseph Giddings.
"That you can actually steal the life from someone? Just by touching them? They say you just touch people and draw out their life, leaving them dead without so much as a weapon mark. It’s how you got your name, after all."

@Daily Science Fiction: "Outer Rims" by Toiya Kristen Finley.
"Six years earlier she'd thought of visiting NYC, the bistro where she met her husband, to honor his memory. But she fussed over the budget. Her last chance passed her by, after half of New York City had eventually been submerged by the encroaching Atlantic."

Classic SF
@Variety SF: A review and link to "The Waverlies" by Frederic Brown (1945).
"The opening guns of invasion were not at all loud, although they were heard by millions of people. George Bailey was one of the millions. I choose George Bailey because he was the only one who came within a googol of light-years of guessing what they were."

@BestScienceFictionStories: A review and link to "Blood Child" by Octavia E. Butler (1985).
"My last night of childhood began with a visit home. T'Gatoi's sister had given us two sterile eggs. T'Gatoi gave one to my mother, brother, and sisters. She insisted that I eat the other one alone. It didn't matter. There was still enough to leave everyone feeling good."

@Munseys and Project Gutenberg: "A Gift For Terra" by Fox B. Holden, from If: Worlds of Science Fiction (Sept. 1954)
"The good Martian Samaritans rescued Johnny Love and offered him "the stars". Now, maybe, Johnny didn't look closely enough into the "gift horse's" mouth, but there were others who did ... and found therein the answer to life...."







@Escape Pod: Episode #288 "Future Perfect" by LaShawn M. Wanak, read by Dani Cutler.
"I saw you at a party once. You stood by the bookshelf, reading a tattered volume on Proust. You wore an orange and yellow XTC shirt beneath brown flannel. I bumped your elbow by accident and you looked up, your eyes startling green."

@LibriVox: Short Ghost and Horror Collection #13. "A collection of twenty stories featuring ghoulies, ghosties, long-leggedy beasties and things that go bump in the night. Expect shivers up your spine, the stench of human flesh, and the occasional touch of wonder." Featuring readings of stories by Algernon Blackwood, Ambrose Bierce, H. P. Lovecraft ("Ex Oblivione" and "The Nameless City"), and others.

@Decoder Ring Theater: Red Panda Adventures - "The Wild West" "There are some situations that you just can't prepare for. You can be the cleverest mystery man on the block, there will still be days that you just never saw coming. Those are the moments that cry out for a firey horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust and a hearty... well, you know..." Superhero/humor.


Video
Streaming at Hero (& Heroine) Histories: The Green Hornet Strikes Again "Flaming Havoc!" Classic superhero serial.







@Flashes in the Dark: "Frankenwad" by Neil Leckman.
@365 tomorrows: "Marcus Grillman, Culinary Artiste"by Steve Smith.
@Robot Trees: "Queen of Mars" by J. J. Ulm [Via Marooned]







@Greyhawk Grognard: "Adventures Dark and Deep Bestiary Now Available!"

"All of the monsters from the original Monster Manual (some in other guises for legal purposes)

Some of the monsters from the original Monster Manual II

A couple of the monsters from the original Fiend Folio

A few new monsters"

@Big Ball of No Fun: [Monster] "Mara"
@Blog on the Borderlands: [Monster] "Cthulhi (Starspawn)"
@Sea of Stars: [Magic Item] "Momus’ Mask"
@A Character for Every Game: [Map] "Erdea Manor (surface and level 1)"
@Ancient Vaults & Eldritch Secrets: [New Spell] "It’s No Secret"
@The Land of NOD [Encounter] "Mu-Pan - Encounter XXII"







@Atomic Kommie Comics: Tara, Queen of the Space Pirates in "Fabulous Jewel of Morn" from Wonder Comics #15. Sci-Fi.

@Atomic Kommie Comics: SpaceBusters in "Mission to Baldor!" from SpaceBusters #2. Sci-Fi.

@Four-Color Shadows: "Mind Reader" by Bernie Krigstein (1957). Horror/Weird.

@The Comic Book Catacombs: Garo, Prince of the Jungle in “The Curse of the God Rama” from Ramar of the Jungle #2 (Sept. 1955). Adventure.

@The Fabuleous Fifties: "The Stranger from the Stars" from Strange Adventures #3: (1951?) Sci-fi. (and other unrelated comics).

@The Horrors of It All: "Beware the Graveyard Clay" from Baffling Mysteries #14 (March 1953).

Other Coolness - Art
@Golden Age Comic Book Stories: [Art] Lensman covers and interior art.
@Fantasy Ink: [Art] "Classic Science Fiction Art"
@The Land of NOD: [Art] Fantasy art gallery by Lizzy John - GraySaphire. (PG-13ish)
For more Dark, Surreal, and Fantasy art, check out Trixie's Treats. (PG-13ish)