E-Books, Hobbit, Trek, and Science News, and More

Some more free goodies for you!  There's a new audio fiction story at the always amazing Clarkesworld Magazine, and some good sounding E-Books, including the short story collection Essential Reading in Science Fiction by David Scholes. There's a newly discovered lost fairy tale by Hans Christian Anderson (believed to be his first) and more including Science and Movie News.



[Art from Essential Reading in Science Fiction linked below]

 




Audio 

• At Clarkesworld: "The Wisdom of Ants" by Thoraiya Dyer.

     "As I plunged shoulder-deep into fetid sink-silt, I had time to think, I’m not fit to take Mother’s place, before the arboreal ant’s nest I’d been reaching for dropped after me, cracking open on my upturned face."

E-Books

• At Amazon: Essential Reading in Science Fiction by David Scholes. Science Fiction.
• At Amazon: "White Witch" by Trish Milburn. Paranormal. [Via Pixel of Ink]

 At Free e Books Daily:

• The Undead Situation by Eloise J. Knapp.
• Prince In The Mist by Claudy Conn. Fantasy Romance.
• Wicked Sense by Fabio Bueno. YA Paranormal.
• Deke Brolin Rhol by Doug Backus. Sci-Fi, Fantasy.

Other Genres

• At Politiken. "The Tallow Candle" by Hans Christian Andersen. Fairy Tale. [Via DiscoveryNews]
• At Free eBooks Daily: Walking with Bilbo by Sarah Arthur. YA. Religious. Lit Crit.

Science News

• "NASA Eyes Mission to Jupiter Moon Europa" Space.com.
• "Three New Species of Venomous Primates ID'd" Science Daily.
• "Confusion on Internet Future After UN Treaty Split" Phys.org
• "Extending Einstein: Researchers Demonstrate a New Kind of Quantum Entanglement" Phys.org
• "Moon Probes Set for Smashing End" Science News.
• "Mysterious star deaths are really mergers in disguise" New Scientist.
• "Wired Science Space Photo of the Day: Shooting Star From Space" Wired.
• "Asteroid Toutatis Slow Tumbles by Earth" NASA [video]
• "Chinese probe snaps close-ups of asteroid" NBC

Hobbit and Star Trek News

• "Peter Jackson and his ‘Hobbit’ cameo" The One Ring.
• "'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey' Review: The Best Middle Earth Movie Since 'Fellowship Of The Ring'" Forbes
• "Review: 'Hobbit' movie more interesting than story itself" KTXS.
• "FILM REVIEW: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)" SF Signal.
• "Is ‘The Hobbit’ a ‘Christian’ film? Yes and no." Wahington Post.
• "Peter Jackson's Latest Hobbit Video Blog Wraps Up An Unexpected Journey" Cinema Blend.
• "Debbie's 'Hobbit' Video Diary" The Insider.[Video]
• "'The Hobbit' Steals $37.5 Million on Friday" BoxOffoceMojo.
• "Star Trek Into Darkness Behind The Scenes: The Geniuses Who Make It Happen" Cinema Blend.
• "‘Star Trek Into Darkness’: The Visual Effects, Weaponry & New Klingon Design" Screen Rant.
• "Star Trek Into Darkness: What we know so far" Tulsa World.
• "J.J. Abrams Talks Star Trek Into Darkness Romances" Access Hollywood. [Video]

The Snergs, Tales to Terrify, Comics, and More. AKA Part Two

Another batch of free goodies for all.  There's a new episode of the fantastic horror podcast Tales to Terrify, and the text version of one of the stories from it (No paragraph breaks though). There's an audiobook (complete) of The Snergs by E.A. Wyke-Smith, one of Tolkien's major inspirations for the Hobbit.  There's more good audio fiction, several classic Horror comics, flash fiction and more.

[Art from "Sirens of Space" in Comics below]



Fiction
• At Author's Site: "A Word from the World" by Lawrence Santoro. Horror. (poorly formatted)
      "The snow had started the day before. The sun was bright in a clear sky and it snowed! Each flake caught the sun. Sparkles swam in the air living along the wind. People passing on Cottage Street looked up to the clear air to let the cold colors hit them in the eye, or on the glasses."

Flash Fiction

• At Flashes in the Dark: "A Red Summer's Morning" by Henry Peter Gribbin. Horror.
• At 365 Tomorrows: "The Game of Life" by Desmond Hussey. Science Fiction.
• At Weirdyear: "Cycle of the Gods" by David Edward Nell. Weird.

Audio Fiction
• At Macabe Fantasy: "The Statement of Randolph Carter" by H. P. Lovecraft. Horror.
      "I repeat to you, gentlemen, that your inquisition is fruitless. Detain me here forever if you will; confine or execute me if you must have a victim to propitiate the illusion you call justice; but I can say no more than I have said already. Everything that I can remember, I have told with perfect candour."

• At The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences:  "The Cross of Columba" by Doc Coleman". Steampunk.
        "Agent Bryan Teague travels from the London offices to a remote area of Scotland on the call of Lord Pennyfarthing, a self-proclaimed scientist and specialist in ancient and rare fauna. Agent Teague arrives to find his skepticism of Pennyfarthing’s previous follies on finding a traumatised valet and a dying English lord with an incredible fish story…"

• At Redecorating Middle-Earth in Early Lovecraft:  The Snergs by E.A. Wyke-Smith. YA Fantasy. [via Forgotten Classics]
      "which J.R.R. Tolkien read to his children and acknowledged as a sourcebook for his The Hobbit. This is a most clever and delightful story. But you don’t have to take my word for it. Take Tolkien’s: 'I should like to register my own love and my children’s love of E.A. Wyke-Smith’s Marvellous Land of Snergs...'"

• At Tales to Terrify: "Show No 49" Horror.

"A Word from the World" by Lawrence Santoro.
      Desceibed above.
"The Spirit of Christmas" by James Lovegrove.
        No description found

Comics

• At Atomic Kommie Comics: Kenton of the Star Patrol  - "Sirens of Space" Sci-Fi (1951)
• At Fiction House & Standard Horror. Many horror stories from the early 1950s (via THOIA)
• At Four-Color Shadows: Black Roger - "Lady in the Iron Mask" Adventure. Pirate. (1950)
• At The Horrors of It All: "The Cannibal!" Horror. (1953)
• At Pappy's: "Back to Yesterday" Paranormal. (1949)

Music
• At Redecorating Middle-Earth in Early Lovecraft:  "Five Favorite Bilbo Baggins-Centric Songs" Fantasy Music.

Other Genres

• Audio at CraftLit: "A Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift. Commentary then story.
• Audio at Every Picture Tells a Story: "Sobieski" by Mick Bordet.
• Audio at Mahabharata Podcast: The Mahabharata (English language re-telling of the ancient epic. 100 episodes complete)
• Flash Fiction at Every Day Fiction: "The Doll" • by Rachel J Bailey.

Free E-Books and More

Some good free e-books and comics as well as science and Hobbit news and more. 


[Art from "Cat Men of Phoebus" in comics below]





E-Books
At Free eBooks Daily:

• Night of the Pentagram by Barrymore Tebbs. Horror.
• Blakewood by Sable Grey.  Gothic Vampire Romance.
• Burning Bridges by Nadege Richards. YA Dystopia/SciFi Romance.
• Bound to Night by Nina Croft. Paranormal Romance.
• The Last Praetorian by Mike Smith. Science Fiction Adventure Romance.
• The War of the Worlds: Aftermath by Tony Wright. Science Fiction.
• The Prometheus Project (Book 2): Captured by Douglas E. Richards. Science Fiction.
• Wolf Dawn by Susan Cartwright.  SciFi Thriller Romance.
• Windigo Soul by Robert Brumm. Science Fiction.
• Incoming Alert by Arlene Webb. Science Fiction Adventure.

Via Pixel of Ink:

• The Boat by Christine Dougherty. Horror.

At Smashwords:

• "The Search" by Susan Noble. YA Fantasy. 17k.
• "Peter Pan & Anahita" by Anita Saran. Children's Fantasy. 7k. 
• "Spader dam" by Frida Arwen Rosesund. Horror. 2k.
• "The Devil's Bike: Love Potion" by Giovanni Flores. Horror. 5k.  
• "Zombie Dash" by Mark Matthews. Horror. Zombie. 5k.
• "The Big Game" by Ian Hillbeck. Science Fiction. Soccer.
• "The Net 7.0" by Cassal Sigonlos. Science Fiction.

Comics

• At Atomic Kommie Comics: "Cat Men of Phoebus" Sci-Fi. 1950.
• At Atomic Kommie Comics:"Dark 'O the Moon" Sci-Fi. 1950.
• At The Horrors of It All: "Kill, My Minions of Death!" Horror. 1953.
• At Seduction of the Innocent: "Doomsmoke" Horror. 1954.

Other Genres

• Audio at Gypsy Audio: "TamLynn PI: Casefile V Not Every Thorn has a Rose" by Gwendolyn Jensen-Woodard. Mystery.
• Audio at 19 Nocturne Boulevard: "Two If By Sea" by Julie Hoverson. Comedy.
• Music at Composer's Site: "Star Wars & Batman Christmas Songs" by John Anealio.

Science News

• "Black Holes Act Like Both Solids and Liquids" Science Daily.
• "Dino-Killing Asteroid Also Did in 'Obamadon'" Science Daily.
• "Do We Live in a Computer Simulation?" Science Daily.
• "An older Vega: New insights about the star all others are measured by" Phys.org
• "Hacking the Human Brain: The Next Domain of Warfare" Wired.
• "Bizarre Weather Around the Solar System" Slate.
• "Video: A Magical Nighttime Journey Through a Fluorescent Reef" Wired.
• "Opportunity, a Mars Rover Past Its Best-By Date, Keeps Going"  NYT.
• "Real-Life 'Hobbit' Face Revealed" Discovery.
• "Contact Lenses Could Send Texts to Your Eyes" Discovery.

 Genre Film News

• "‘Hobbit’ knockoff release blocked by judge"
• "Foxtrot Comic goofs on The Hobbit"
• "The Hobbit Games" Parody (Video)
• "Tolkien fans wait and worry about 'Hobbit' movie"
• "Another Trailer for 'Oz: The Great and Powerful'"
• "Star Trek Into Darkness Revelations"
• "'Star Trek Into Darkness': Cumberbatch's Identity, Carol Marcus, And A New 'Trek' Villain Theory"
• "'Star Trek Into Darkness' Plot: What We Learned On Behind-The-Scenes Trip To Bad Robot"
• "The New Man of Steel Trailer is Now Online"
• "The Trailer for After Earth, Starring Will and Jaden Smith"

Saturday

Just a few freebies today as well as some news. The image is from the Sorcerer and the White Snake, which looks good, despite some rather weak CGI. Back tomorrow.






Audio Fiction
At Escape Pod: "Chandra’s Game" by Samantha Henderson. Science Fiction.
     "Chandra’s Game roots in the side of a barren asteroid moon like a tick.  Over the years we’ve burrowed deeper into rock and ice until poor Chandra is mostly Game.  We loop the twin wormholes, Gehenna and Tartarus, roundabout in a figure eight, ready to catch the freighters as they escape from hell’s dark maw.  We strip them of goods and drink their heat, load them up and send them into another hell.  It’s a profitable game, Chandra’s."

At LibriVox: "Tanks" by Murray Leinster.
    "Two miles of American front had gone dead. And on two lone infantrymen, lost in the menace of the fog-gas and the tanks, depended the outcome of the war of 1932."  First Published in Astounding Stories of Super-Science No. 1, January, 1930

Flash Fiction

• At Every Day Fiction: "The Unwilling Trophy Wife" by Chad Stroup. Horror.
• At 365 Tomorrows: "The Things We Do for Love" by Ian Florida. Science Fiction/

E-Books
At Free eBooks Daily"

• The Supreme Warrior by John Viril. Fantasy.
• Parallel Spirits by T.S. Welti. Paranormal Romance.

At Smashwords:

• "Thursday Night Game" by David Haywood Young. Weird. 11k.
• "Mingo and Marla's Excellent Apocalypse - The End Times holiday gift set" by Steven J. Nixall. SF. 49k.
• "Tales of the Airship Neverland Vol 1.5 : Fairy Dust Never Rusts" by John White. Steampunk. 38k.
• "Nightfall" by Eric Dulin. Science Fiction. 60k.

Other Genres
Audio at Radio Drama Revival: "A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens.
Fiction at Online Pulps: "Nursery Crime" by Joe Archibald. Crime 1945. and "Gunman's Christmas" by Caddo Cameron. Western 1946.

Science News

• "Brown Dwarf Stars Could Host Earth-Size Planets, Study Finds" Space.com
• "Space bursts provide insight to 'theory of everything'" NBCnews
• "Florida Wants to Fight Disease With Genetically Modified Mosquitoes" ABCnews.
• "Apple's downward spiral accelerates" Japan Today.
• "Unlocking a Lake’s Bacterial Secrets, Beneath 20 Meters of Ice" Science Friday (Audio)

Genre Film/TV News

•  "‘Hobbit’ exclusive clip: Gandalf warns Saruman of a powerful evil"
• "'The Hobbit' is a safe kind of danger: Peter Jackson"
• "Andy Serkis talks Gollum reprisal for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" 
• "Tim Burton’s ‘Alice in Wonderland’ is Getting a Sequel"
• "Star Trek Into Darkness" (Trailer)
• "Star Trek Into Darkness Trailer: Five Questions Raised"
• "‘Game of Thrones’ Season 3 Teaser Trailer: Ice vs. Fire"
• "‘The Sorcerer and the White Snake’ Trailer: Snake Women and Ancient Chinese ‘Inception’ Horns"

Science News Plus Hobbit News and Trailer

Some fascinating science news tidbits, some Hobbit and Star Trek news, and a trailer for "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" and for those brave enough to enter a comic book store, be sure to check out Haunted Horror #2, co-edited by Karswell of The Horrors of It All.












 Science News

• "Can Slamming a Spaceship into an Asteroid Save Earth?" Space.com
• "Are Venus' Volcanoes Active? Clues Suggest Yes" Space.com
• "Scientists say NASA's budget inadequate for its goals" SpaceDaily.
• "What howler monkeys can tell us about the role of interbreeding in human evolution"  Phys.org
•  "New Dino Had Giant Nose" Discovery.
• "You Can Give a Boy a Doll, but You Can't Make Him Play With It" The Atlantic
• "Bizarre Creature Found in 200-Million-Year-Old Cocoon" LiveScience.
• "Last Man on The Moon" Tom's Astronomy Blog.
• "Prehistoric rhino reveals secrets" BBC
• "Rover could be on Martian clays" BBC
• "Titan is Icier Than Thought" Astrobiology Magazine.
• "The Sovereign and the Pirates, 1332" History. Medievalists.net (Amherst College)

Hobbit and Star Trek News

• "Happy Hobbit: Pinecone Bird Feeder – Episode 07" Video.
• "TV spot for The Hobbit : ‘don’t be afraid’" Video.
• "First official photo from SECOND Hobbit movie, The Desolation of Smaug, released"
• "Sir Ian McKellen defends Hobbit trilogy decision"
• "Movie Review: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" Huffington Post.
• "Star Trek Into Darkness: A Very Close Look At The Teaser Trailer"
• "Not again! Star Trek fans in uproar after new Japanese trailer seems to show sequel copies Wrath of Khan"

Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Trailer HD

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Leaked on Youtube!

Ha fooled you! Bazinga! It's a 1985 Russian parody of The Hobbit, with English subtitles. You should know that QuasarDragon doesn't believe in piracy so would never knowingly link to a real leaked copy of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. (If this is your first visit here, among other things QuasarDragon links to free, legal Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror stories, many of them quite professional and extremely good). Embedded is part one, with links to all six parts below it.










Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six.

Science and Hobbit News and a Bit More

A bit more coolness for you today.




Speculative Poetry
At Silver Blade:

• "On the Recycling Day" by Changming Yuan.
• "Expanding, Morning Mists" by Changming Yuan.
• "At an Autumn Auction" by Changming Yuan.
• "Rioting " by Changming Yuan.
• "The Plague Tree" by J. P. Wickwire.
• "Planet of the _______" by Laura Madeline Wiseman.
• "A Cautionary Note from the Time Thief " by Bruce Boston. 
• "Tinsel Rose" by Adele Gardner.

Audio Fiction
At The Fantastic Worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs: Episode 08 - The Return of Tarzan
      "Now in North Africa in the small town of Sidi Aissa, Tarzan has come to the rescue of a pretty dancing girl, and has fought a roomful of angry Arab men."

At Relic Radio: "The Sense Of Wonder" -  X Minus One. Science Fiction. OTR.

Science News

• "'Time Reversal' Research May Open Doors to Future Tech" ScienceDaily.
• "Mysterious Gravity Waves May Explain Clear-Skies Turbulence" LiveScience.
• "What really caused the Oracle at Delphi to utter mad prophesies?" io9
• "Mars Rover Discovery Revealed" NYT.
• "Golden Spike Company Unveils Plans to Fly Commercial Crews to the Moon" Wired.
• "Saturn Moon Enceladus Eyed for Sample-Return Mission" Space.com
• "Should the UN govern the internet?" CBC
• "Fossilized raindrops hold clues to early Earth?" Times of India.

 Hobbit and Oz News

•  "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – 13-minute TV special!"  [Video]
• "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" Review. Variety.
• "Hobbit TV spot 10 officially up" Video.
• "Sneak Peek Of Disney's "Oz The Great and Powerful"
• "Oz: The Great and Powerful Wallpapers"
• "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Wallpaper"
• "The Hobbit Movie: Will This Prequel Be as Awesome as X Men or as Terrible as The Phantom Menace"

Free E-Books, Hobbit Reviews, and More

Several interesting free e-books this time, as well as science news and Hobbit movie news. The first reviews are coming in and they are mixed. Purists hate it (of course, they hate every adaptation) but others are mostly enjoying it (issues with the 48 fps 3d aside). 

And I've noticed there are now advertisements linked to select words in the text (not put there by me).  To avoid confusion, I'll bold all real links and nothing else except the category titles.

[art from "New contender for oldest dinosaur" linked below]


E-Books
At Amazon: For Odin, for Thor, for Asgard. Fantasy. Mythology.

At Free eBooks Daily:

• Escape (The Prisoner and the Sun #1) by Brad Magnarella. YA Fantasy.
• Portal Arcane II - The Law of Three by J. Thorn. Dark Fantasy (Book I)
• Reveal by Brina Courtney. YA Sci-Fi Romance.
• Destiny of Angels by Wendy Steele. Horror.
• Dead or Alive by William Harms. Zombies.
• The Wailing by MR Graham.

At Smashwords:

• "The Signal" by Ulf Wolf. Fantasy 5k. 
• "The Dragon Heart Keeper" by L.L Hunter. Fantasy. 6k.
• "Nannies, Inc." by Ninfa Hayes. Fantasy 6k.
• "A Sprig of Holly" by J.A. Clement. Fantasy. 8k 
• "The 11th Floor" by Charles Culver. Horror. 20k.
• "Cora Frost: The Fasting Spider" by Matthew Smith. Horror. 8k.
• "The Water That Binds" by Scott Weaver. Horror. 1k.
• "Prevention Protocol" by A. D. Barncord. Science Fiction.3k.
• "The Reader" by Ulf Wolf. Science Fiction. 7k.

Gaming
"Washed Up Walkers (Battle Cards)" by Adrianna White.
     "created to turn an ordinary deck of playing cards into a brand new and exciting game that people of all ages can enjoy." Many more Battle Cards games here.

 Science News

• "Alien Solar Systems May Prove to be More Habitable than Ours" The Daily Galaxy.
• "New contender for oldest dinosaur" BBC.
• "NASA Needs Stronger Direction to Lead In Space: Report" Space.com
• "Africa's Homo Sapiens Were the First Techies" Science Daily.
• "Did Bacteria Fuel World's Worst Extinction?"
• "New NASA Mars Rover to Launch in 2020" NASA.
• "Opportunity Rover Finds Mars Minerals That Formed in Life-Friendly Water" Wired.
• "Can life emerge on planets around cooling stars?" Space Daily.

Hobbit News

• "OFFICIAL: Six incredible video clips from The Hobbit" The One Ring.
• "'The Hobbit' underwhelms critics in early reviews" Chicago Tribune.
• "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" Review. Cinema Blend.
• "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" Review Variety.
• "'The Hobbit' 3-D Early Review: Back Again, But Not Quite There" Review Movieline.
• "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" Review Comingsoon.net
• "This return to Middle-earth is just shy of greatness" Review IGN
• "16 Movies I’m Excited to See in 2013 [Trailers]" College Candy.

Free Fiction, Free Comics and Science News

I must sound like a broken record "more great free fiction *skip* "more great free fiction *skip* "more great free fiction *skip* "more great free fiction *skip*" but virtualy every day some great sites release more of it. (And infite thanks to them!).  Today's fiction includes a pair from outstanding magazine Lightspeed, one from The World SF Blog, and more worthwhile stories.  For this week only(?), New Scientist is posting a flash fiction story a day. Plus there are some cool classic comics and news of note (if you check out the Science News headlines, doesn't it seem that at least three of them sound like pulp era SF?)

[art for Star Trek Into Darkness in film news]






Fiction
At Author's Site: "Fate" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. Fantasy.
      "She held a deck of cards in her left hand and cut it easily, sliding the top of the deck to the bottom. Her skin was pale white, her hair even whiter, and she wore a backless white evening dress. Grif could almost imagine her in the glassed-in cage on the lower levels, astride the white tigers."

At The Colored Lens: "Diffusion – Part 2" by Andrew Tisbert. science Fiction.
     "Billy watched as his clone looked down into the car. It felt as if time had stopped, as if the hail had become suspended in the cold gray air. Then the soldier looked away and disappeared."

At Daily Science Fiction: "The Show Must" by Matt London.
      "The soles of the dance shoes on Joan Jansen's feet were scored and coated with countless layers of rosin. She bent the shoes up and down, stretching the fabric, and inside, her feet. What else could she do? That was her routine"

At Lightspeed: "An Accounting" by Brian Evenson. Fantasy.
       "I have been ordered to write an honest accounting of how I became a Midwestern Jesus and the subsequent disastrous events thereby accruing, events for which I am, I am willing to admit, at least partly to blame. I know of no simpler way than to simply begin."

At Lightspeed: "The Perfect Match" by Ken Liu. Science Fiction.
       "Sai woke to the rousing first movement of Vivaldi’s violin concerto in C minor, “Il Sospetto.” He lay still for a minute, letting the music wash over him like a gentle Pacific breeze. The room brightened as the blinds gradually opened to the sunlight. Tilly had woken him right at the end of a light sleep cycle, the optimal time. He felt great: refreshed, optimistic, ready to jump out of bed."

At The World SF Blog: "Ceremony of Innocence" by Armando Salinas.
     "The rooms below were mostly dark and smelled. Damp melanomas stained the walls. Arthritic cables, knotted and almost fossilized with dust, crawled out of holes in the ceiling with naked light bulbs hanging like fruit. Whatever poor lighting there was, though, came mostly from the phosphorescent graffiti scribbled on every inch of wall. Occasionally, cheap portraits of saints and wooden crucifixes eclipsed the glowing artwork"

At Weird Fiction Review: "The Engine of Desire" by Livia Llewellyn. Horror.
       "Megan pulls the empty wine glass from her husband’s limp hand. His fingers brush the shag of the living room floor, sway to the sleepy sigh of his breath. Clocks tick in the kitchen and hallways, and when she places the glass on the coffee table, the clink against the wood shoots like a falling star through the silent house. Outside, in the neighborhood, the engine throbs and waits."

Reviewed Free Fiction

• At BestScienceFictionStories.com: "Anansi Island" by Christian Cantrell. Science Fiction. 2010.
• At Variety SF: "Exposure" by Eric Frank Russell. Science Fiction. 1950.

Flash Fiction

• At New Scientist: "Digital Eyes" by Tamara Rogers. Science Fiction.
• At New Scientist: "S3xD0ll" by Kevlin Henney. Science Fiction.
• At 365 Tomorrows: "I, Rifle" by Jae Miles. Science Fiction.

Audio Fiction
At Lightspeed: "The Perfect Match" by Ken Liu. Science Fiction.
      described above.

At SFFAudio: "The Flying Machine" by Ray Bradbury.
     " a short “fantasy” set in a mythical China"

Comics
At Atomic Kommie Comics: ""Gambling Den of Space" Sci-Fi. 1940.
At Digital Comics Museum: Black Magic 020 Horror 1953 and Tales of Horror 002 Horror. 1952.
At The Horrors of It All: "Thing in the Graveyard / Third Grave on the Right..." Horror. 1952/1954.
At Pappy's Golden Age Comics Blogzine: "two stories from consecutive issues of Captain Flight Comics" Sci-Fi. 1945/1946.

Other Genres
Flash Fiction at Every Day Fiction: "Barrels" by Dirk Knight. Surreal.

Science News

• "For Lonely Astronauts, a Robotic Companion" The Atlantic.
• "Do Robots Rule the Galaxy?" Discovery News.
• "Voyager 1 Encounters New Region in Deep Space" Science Daily.
• "Curiosity rover: No big surprise in first soil test" PhysOrg.
• "Mars Rover Discovery Revealed" NYT.
• "Will a Secret Private Manned Mission to the Moon Be Announced This Week?" Wired.
• "Scary Rumors about the World Ending in 2012 Are Just Rumors" USA Gov.
• "Galaxy Grande: Milky Way May Be More Massive Than Thought" Scientific American.

Genre Film News

• "Video: see mastersmith Peter Lyon’s Hobbit weapons"
• "MrCere reviews ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
• "Main Poster of "Oz The Great and Powerful" Completes Triptych"
• "'Star Trek Into Darkness' gets an oddly familiar teaser poster"

Hobbit and Science News and More Free Reads

Even more! Another good free genre fiction magazine, Theaker's Quarterly is out and there are many great sounding e-books.  And there are some links to some interesting Science and Hobbit news stories. (With apologies to Buckner & Garcia)
'Cause I've got Hob-bit fever;
Hob-bit fever.
It's driving me crazy.
Driving me crazy.
I've got Hob-bit fever;
Hob-bit fever.
I'm going out of my mind. 
Going out of my mind.


Fiction
Now Posted: Theaker's Quarterly Fiction #42  In e-book format

• “The Powers That Be” by Sophia-Karin Psarras
• “Drydock”by Mitchell Edgeworth
• “Old Men Who Reach into Guitars”by R.M. Fradkin.

 E-Books
At Free eBooks Daily:

• Away With the Fairies by Jenny Twist . Fairy Tales.
• Stolen Love by Jodie B Cooper. YA Paranormal.
• The Hole by Aaron Ross Powell. Horror.
• The Night Library by T. L. Barrett. horror.
• Choices by Cate Dean. Fantasy Time Travel.
• Angel Wings.by Suzanne Stengl. Fantasy.
• Star One: Tycho City: Discovery by Raymond L. Weil. Science Fiction.
• Chest of Souls Book One by Michelle Erickson. Fantasy.
• Man or Beast by Annie McLeod. Fantasy Romance.
• Take Back Tomorrow by Richard Levesque. Science Fiction.

 At Smashwords:

• "A Dainty Dish" by Elizabeth Wexford. Fantasy 4k.
• "Woolgathering" by Christina Hambleton. Fantasy. 32k.
• "Immortal Remains" by R. J. Davnall. Fantasy. 8k.
• Chasing Sorcery  by L.J. Hutton. Fantasy. 232k.
• "Deep Water, Sharp Teeth" by Karen L. Abrahamson. SF/Fantasy. 14k.
• "There Goes the Neighborhood" by Christopher Lee Cousino. Urban Fantasy. 7k.
• Infinite Limits by J.C, Bell. Fantasy. 86k.
• "The Night Bus" by Ray Daley. 6k.
• "Broken Dream" by Joyce Chng. 3k.
• Mission Beyond The Stars: Book #1 of Saga OF The Lost Worlds by Neely & Dobbs. Science Fiction. 94k.
• "The Secret Beneath the Ice" by Andrew M. Crusoe. Science Fiction. 4k.
• "Merry Christmas, Mister Wolf" by Steph Bennion. Science Fiction. 9k.
• "The Cold Hell" by Augusto Chiarle. Steampunk. 4k.
• "Ana of Acheron" by Sam Seudo. Science Fiction. 6k.

 Science and History News

• "Mercury's Water Ice Bodes Well for Alien Life Search"
• "Can a Jellyfish Unlock the Secret of Immortality?"
• "Even Brown Dwarfs Grow Rocky Planets"
• "US court to decide if human genes can be patented"
• "Where does Old Norse religion end?"

Hobbit and other film news

• "Blink and you’ll miss Smaug in the latest Hobbit trailer"
• "Hobbit Ownership, Way Early Midnight Movies and More Burning Questions—All Answered!"
• "An Interview with the Elusive Fran Walsh!"
• "Peter Jackson talks Smaug"
• "The ‘Oz: The Great and Powerful’ Trailer has Witches, Monkeys, and Munchkins"
• "First Trailer For STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS To Be Just Over One-Minute Long"
• "Star Trek Into Darkness (2013): Benedict Cumberbatch Is Not Gary Mitchell?"

Dark Fiction Magazine and a Few Headlines

Just a tiny bit more tonight.  There's new free audio fiction from Dark Fiction Magazine - link stolen without remorse from SF Signal. And a few headlines [Disclaimer: I wrote the "Bad Science Reporting 101" post. Don't want to link to myself without giving fair warning]





 


Audio Fiction
Dark Fiction Magazine #13 – The Drowned Lands: [Via SF Signal]

“And The North­men Brought Their Gods” by Lou Morgan. Horror.
      "It is said that be­fore the North­men sacked that most blessed of places, God’s own church at Lind­is­farne, dire portents"

“A Hum­ble But­ter­cup” by Emma Newman. Horror.
      The road end­ed with an abrupt drop in­to the ocean. Jim stood at the edge of the tar­mac, his car parked on the oth­er side of the bar­ri­er a few me­tres away."
 “Jetsam” by Adrian Faulkner. Horror.
     "The wa­ter that splashed over her feet was icey cold and sent a shiv­er up her, but she dare not stop, in­stead con­tin­u­ing to walk for­ward as each suc­ces­sive wave"
 “Swamp Tale” by Joshua Malbin. Horror.
     "A crane calls, a rat­tling, mu­si­cal sound like a stick dragged along a wood­en fence. An­oth­er joins it, then two more, then a cho­rus of dozens. They stand up from"

Hobbit News

• "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey(2012)" Movie Trailer.
• "Hobbitus Ille: The Latin Hobbit – ‘In foramine terrae habitabat hobbitus.’"
• "Hobbit fans already line up"

Science News

• "Elon Musk Wants to Build 80,000-Person Mars Colony"
• "Do missing Jupiters mean massive comet belts?"
• "Unexpected data from the Large Hadron Collider suggest the collisions may be producing a new type of matter"
• "Bad Science Reporting 101: No they didn't plan on blowing up the Moon"
• "In Nature, Fatal Attractions Can Be Part of Life"
• "Life on Mars: NASA says 'hold on a minute!'"
• "Dark matter running out of place to hide"
• "Giant Planet Slowly Dying"
• "Visit Machu Picchu with Huge 'Zoomable' Image

Astounding, Hub, Hobbit News, and More

 Even more good free fantasy and science fiction, both classic and contemporary.  And some interesting news of likely interest to many genre readers.

[Art from Astounding Stories of Super-Science]









Fiction
In Hub 145: "Incident on Oblomov" by Eric Brown. Science Fiction.
      "I turned to Ella, my co-pilot. She was lounging in her sling, reading from her com-screen. I tried to keep my gaze from her lustrous Venezuelan eyes. For a vat-grown premier grade AI, she was disconcertingly beautiful." 

At Adventures in Fiction: Thieves' Honor ep 17: "In the Enemy's House" by Keanan Brand.
     "What were you thinking, Bosko? Talking up the merchandise like that?" Using a torch so small he appeared to squeeze fire from his fist, a bondsman welded manacles around the wrists of the prisoner lying prone in the courtyard. "The Vortuna slave run teach you nothin'?"

At Project Gutenberg: Astounding Stories of Super-Science January 1930. Science Fiction.

"The Beetle Horde" by Victor Rousseau.
     "Only Two Young Explorers Stand in the Way of the Mad Bram's Horrible Revenge—the Releasing of His Trillions of Man-sized Beetles upon an Utterly Defenseless World. (Part One of a Two-part Novel.)"
"The Cave of Horror Captain" by S. P. Meek.
     "Screaming, the Guardsman Was Jerked Through the Air. An Unearthly Screech Rang Through the Cavern. The Unseen Horror of Mammoth Cave Had Struck Again!"
"Phantoms of Reality" by Ray Cummings.
     "Red Sensua's Knife Came up Dripping—and the Two Adventurers Knew that Chaos and Bloody Revolution Had Been Unleashed in that Shadowy Kingdom of the Fourth Dimension. (A Complete Novel.)"
"The Stolen Mind" by M. L. Staley.
       "What Would You Do, If, Like Quest, You Were Tricked, and Your Very Mind and Will Stolen from Your Body?"
"Compensation" by C. V. Tench.
      "Professor Wroxton Had Disappeared—But in the Bottom of the Mysterious Crystal Cage Lay the Diamond from His Ring!"
"Tanks" by Murray Leinster. 
      "Two Miles of American Front Had Gone Dead. And on Two Lone Infantrymen, Lost in the Menace of the Fog-gas and the Tanks, Depended the Outcome of the War of 1932."
"Invisible Death" by Anthony Pelcher. 
     "On Lees' Quick and Clever Action Depended the Life of "Old Perk" Ferguson, the Millionaire Manufacturer Threatened by the Uncanny, Invisible Killer."

At Strange Horizons: "The Three Immigrations" by Rose Lemberg. Speculative Poem.

Audio Fiction
At SFFAudio: "The Queen Of The Black Coast" by Robert E. Howard. Sword and Sorcery.
     "Hoofs drummed down the street that sloped to the wharfs. The folk that yelled and scattered had only a fleeting glimpse of a mailed figure on a black stallion, a wide scarlet cloak flowing out on the wind. Far up the street came the shout and clatter of pursuit, but the horseman did not look back"

E-Books
Via Pixel of Ink: Beyond Hades (The Prometheus Wars) by Luke Romyn. Fantasy.
At Free eBooks Daily: Spell Checked by C.G. Powell. Paranormal.
At Smashwords:

• "Little Boy Blue" by G.M. Reinfeldt. Horror. 5k.
• "The Wood Sprite's Tale" by Lachelle Redd. Fantasy. 16k.
• "Watching Over Her" by Bliss Addison. Paranormal. 15k.
• Hourglass by Karina Crandon. Paranormal. 79k.
• "Deception: The Prequel" by Stacy Claflin. YA Fantasy. 25k.
• The Evanescence Chronicles: Volume I by Alexandra Pelaez. Fantasy. 152k.
• "Arcane Genesis: Depression Lock" by Sean Roney. 3k.
• "Next Door" by Lori R. Lopez. Horror. Ghost. 5k.
• "Horrendus" by Lori R. Lopez. Horror. 3k.
• "Second Chance" by Ardy. Horror. 10k.
• "Little Boy Blue" by G.M. Reinfeldt. Weird. 5k.
• "Ghoulgirls Files Number One, Sting of the Master" by David Johanek. Horror. 11k.

Science News

• "Life abounds in Antarctic lake sealed under ice"
• "Do Aliens Use Hairspray?"
• "Chemistry That Sparked Origin of Life"
• "Jikes! NASA Backpedeling!"
• "Pluto Atmosphere Larger Than Thought, Study Shows"
• "Failure Of India's Big Rocket Project Is Symbolic Of Deep Structural Problems"
• "One Year After Launch, Curiosity Rover Busy on Mars"

 Palaeontology/History

• "Giant Eocene bird was 'gentle herbivore', study finds"
• "Nordic Witchcraft in Transition: Impotence, Hersery and Diabolism in 14th-century Bergen"

 Fantasy Film News

• "Hobbit - Production video #9: what bird is that?"
• "Latest 'Hobbit' video diary offers a sneak peek at CG goblins and trolls: Watch"
• "James Franco, Michelle Williams, Rachel Weisz – OZ: THE GREAT AND POWERFUL Movie Preview"
• "Watch a Video From the Thor: The Dark World Set!"
• "'Twilight,' Bond Dominate Fruitful Thanksgiving"

 Misc.
"A Visual Timeline of the Future Based on Famous Fiction" Via Popular Science.

Ephemeral Links - Enduring Freebies and News

Quite a few interesting items, including several e-books, some eclectic news items that might be of interest and a three part CBC podcast about three orders of Medieval knights. It's been up awhile, but it's new to me.

 

 [Art From "The Sword Brothers – Knights Templars, Hospitallers and Teutonic Knights"  below]




E-Books
Via Pixel of Ink: Cerulean Isle by G.M. Browning. Fantasy. Pirates.

At Free eBooks Daily:

• Fast-Tracked by Tracy Rozzlynn. YA Fantasy.
• You Are Not a Planet and Other Stories by Sean Manseau. Speculative Fiction.
• Verita by Tracy Rozzlynn. YA Science Fiction.
• Yseult by Ruth Nestvold. Historical Fantasy.
• First Crossing by Tyla Grey. Paranormal Romance.

At Smashwords:

• "My Curious Ocean" by Ulf Wolf. Science Fiction. 9k.
• "The Royal Runaway" by Rory Mackay. Fantasy. 9k.
• "The Memory of a Salt Shaker" by Bernard Cox. Contemporary Fantasy. 5k.
• "Resurrection #1" by Tim  Curran. Horror. 22k.
• "Twas The Night Before Christmas (When The Aliens Appeared)" by Michael Carter. Sci-Fi Poem. 1k.
• "Death and Taxes" by Sansoucy Kathenor. Speculative Fiction. 21k.

Audio Non-Fiction
At Medievalists.Net: "The Sword Brothers – Knights Templars, Hospitallers and Teutonic Knights"
      "Life in the eleventh century was nasty, brutish and short. Most people lived and died a few miles from where they were born. Strangers were suspect and danger lurked everywhere. Who was in charge was a matter of opinion. Barons and local chiefs ruled as they wished. Those who would be king faced a skeptical and hostile world…we take the modern world for granted with its more or less stable patchwork of nation-states, each with its body of law and governance."

Science News

• "Quantum teleportation between atomic ensembles demonstrated for first time"
• "Astronomers pin down origins of 'mile markers' for expansion of universe"
• "Mars and Earth: Similar Building Blocks"
• "'Super-Jupiter' Around Massive Star Discovered"
• "A Tsunami in Switzerland? Lake Evidence Says Yes"
• "Instrument Delivered for NASA's Upcoming Mars Mission"
• "Born-Again Star Shows the Fate of Our Solar System"
• "Finding a direction of time in exotic particle transformations"
• "Private Moon Race May Spark Lunar 'Water Rush'"
• "Henley hit by 'mutant super rat' invasion"

Paleontology/History News

• "After 121 years, identification of 'grave robber' fossil solves a paleontological enigma"
• "Mary Rose: scientists identify shipwreck's archers"
• "An 11th-Century Scandal"
• "Civilization versus Barbarians? Fortification Techniques and Politics in Carolingian and Ottonian Borderlands"
• "Haraldr the Hard-Ruler and his poets"

Fantasy Films News

• "The amazing Middle-earth art of John Cockshaw"
• "Philippa Boyens: film powerplayer"
• "Watch a tantalising 7.5 minute fan-made Hobbit trailer and TV spot compilation!"
• "Oz The Great And Powerful – A MUST SEE film!"
• "Oz The Great and Powerful’s second trailer has been released [Movie Trailer]"
• "'Breaking Dawn' Ends 'Twilight' Franchise on Strong Note"