Free Fiction - The Appetizer Round.

 Some very good free fiction for you this morning.  There's a longer than average story at Daily Science Fiction, two more stories at Tor.com, and the conclusion of the serialization of Out of Time's Abyss (only free for a limited time so listen to it, or download it, soon).  More later.  [Art from "A Rumor of Angels"]




Fiction
• At Daily Science Fiction: "The Witch's Cat" by Kalisa Ann Lessnau. Fantasy.
      "We knew the witch was dead when her cat showed up on our doorstep. Mom found him sitting patiently beside the morning's milk delivery, like he was waiting for his share of the cream. She only called to Dad, but the tone of her voice got us both up from the breakfast table until we all stood in the entryway to stare at the cat."

• At Tor.com: "The Lady Astronaut of Mars" by Mary Robinette Kowal. Science Fiction.   
      "She would have been a little girl and, oh lord, there were so many little kids hanging around outside the Fence watching us work. The little girls all wanted to talk to the Lady Astronaut. To me."

• At Tor.com: "A Rumor of Angels" by Dale Bailey. Historical Fantasy.
      "That was a season of mysteries. Day after day, a slow tide of humanity streamed down the rutted track that ran not two hundred yards from the boy’s door, driven alike by hope and despair. Before them California and the dream of a better life, behind them drought and devastation."

Flash Fiction

• At Chilling Tales for Dark Nights: "Masterpiece" by Anonymous, narrator Jordan Antle. Horror. Audio.
• At Nature: "Lacunae" by William Meikle. 
• At 365 Tomorrows: "Jigsaw" by Jae Miles. Science Fiction.

Audio Fiction
• At Fantastic Worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs: "Episode 10 (Final) - Out Of Time's Abyss"
      "Chapter V, Part Two  Bradley and the girl have made their way back to the mainland of Caspak. Unfortunately, they are now quite far from the land of the Galus, the girl’s home.  Making their way, they come upon the evil German crew and the U-33 – and the rest of Bradley’s party now captive.  A battle royal ensues, with Von Schoenvorts managing to break free of Bradley and seize him by the wrist." -  Earlier chapters nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, and one.

Other Genres

• Fiction at Project Gutenberg: The Phantom Town Mystery by Carol Norton. 1933.
• Flash Fiction at Every Day Fiction: "The Teddy Bear Who Was Hitler" by Carl Steiger.

I Know It's Only Free Fiction But I Like It, Like It, Yes, I Do

More good free fiction including, a classic by Philip Wylie, a poem by Jane Yolen, and audio stories by Mary Robinette Kowal and William Hope Hodgson.  Likely More to Come Tonight (including e-books). Until then, be sure to visit all six"Free SF Sites" linked in the right hand column.

[Art for Drabblecast, linked below]




Fiction
• At Baen: "Seven Miles" by T.C. McCarthy. Science Fiction.
     "Come." He adjusted the incinerator straps, flicked off the safety, and angled his body so that he could squeeze out the narrow portal. Ludmilla followed, her tail between her legs. "It's clear, Ludy, another day of work. Up!" The sound of his voice made her tail go straight, wagging, and she moved to lead the way." Also available as part of the free e-book Free Stories 2013.

• At Baen: "The Lamplighter Legacy" by Patrick O'Sullivan. Science Fiction.
     "The astronaut gripped Ernesto's wrist. 'Look, kid, you want to put the phone down and look around?' He had to shout to be heard over the helicopter's deafening noise. 'This is a once in a lifetime experience.'"

• At HiLobrow: "The Devolutionist - part 18" by Homer Eon Flint. Occult. Science Fiction.
     "Mona leaped to the controls. She turned the craft about automatically and started toward Hafen. Then she glanced over the side. What she saw brought her heart to her throat." From Argosy All-Story Weekly, July 1921.

• At Project Gutenberg: "Gladiator" by Philip Wylie. (1930) Science Fiction. [via Free Speculative Fiction Online]
     "The chief obstacle to Mrs. Danner's placid dominion of her hearth was Professor Danner's laboratory, which occupied a room on the first floor of the house. It was the one impregnable redoubt in her domestic stronghold. Neither threat nor entreaty would drive him and what she termed his 'stinking, unchristian, unhealthy dinguses' from that room."

Now Posted: Aphelion Issue 174, Volume 17 June 2013. Science Fiction. Fantasy.

• "The Plague Merchants" by Kurt Heinrich Hyatt
     "A beer-swilling android and an attractive, uptight virologist try to save the Kloakan people."
• "Forever" by Kat Dysart
        "Kira wanted to get past that door hidden beneath the cellar more than anything.
• "Dimensional Shift" by E.S. Strout
        "Lt. Lori Colquitt disappeared into the unknown, but in the end, she found herself."
• "Soul Mates" by D.C. Plump
        "Two fallen angels fight vampires in a dark, urban fantasy with weapons and their love for each other."
• "The Demon Whitefish" by Jordan Moureau
       "The fate of the village rested in the fisherman's widow and a nobleman's servant."
• "The Pool" by Lester Curtis
      "A fable of sorts, exploring who we really are."
• "Escape of the Fire Demon" by Mike Phillips
      "Summoning a demon turns out to be a burning problem for an inexperienced wizard."
• "Heaven Falls" by Craig Wesson
     "Zach survived the war in the trenches by hearing the girl in the tower sing and dreaming of the princess from the sky."
• "The Seventh Folding of Willow Sprite" by Marjorie Kaye
      "The internet can do a lot: bring people together, find us love, and just maybe scare the heck out of us."
• "No Further" by Matthew Acheson
     "The dead were coming and all that was left of the Legion would face them, once and for all."• "Good Night, Timmy" by Rick Grehan
     "Timmy can’t talk, and he does not have any friends. However, that is about to change, thanks to an extra-terrestrial artifact."

Flash Fiction
• At Chilling Tales For Dark Nights: "Faces" by Christina Cross. Horror. Audio.
• At Daily Science Fiction: "Dark, Beautiful Force" by Jessica May Lin. Superhero.
• At Flashes in the Dark: "Like Fallen Pieces of an Old Picket Fence" by Van Hall. Horror.
• At Nature: "Buzz Off" by John Grant. Science Fiction.
• At 365 Tomorrows: "Party for Two" by Kevin Richards. Science Fiction.
At Goblin Fruit: Fantasy Poems.

• April by Nita Sembrowich
• Sheshnaag by Shweta Narayan
• Lexicon by Kristin Gulotta
• The Hooligan by C.S.E. Cooney
• Tea With Witches by Kate Chadbourne
• Zucchini by Penny Stirling
• Save Our Soulsickened by Adriana Tosun
• Caul by Jane Yolen
• The Ferryman by Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam
• Sunk by Yumi Dineen Shiroma
• If Wurrunna Had Seen the Mardi Gras by Michele Bannister

At Aphelion: Poetry.

• After I Traded My Voice Box by April Salzano
• Bullet Train by Richard Tornello
• I Dream of Rings by A. J. Huffman
• Lawthorn Cemetery by Jay Hill
• Practical Joke by Robin B. Lipinski
• The Fires by Dominic Lennard
• The Uncertainty of the Certainties by Mark Edgemon
• Party of Four by Rob Wynne and Jeffrey Williams

Audio Fiction
• At Author's Site: "Swallow" by Mateo Hellion. Horror.
      "In the dark corners of the earth, there are certain objects that carry curses with them.  They come in many forms.  In this particular story, an old chest is the object of interest.  When certain words are inscribed on this chest and then recited in its presence, strange things happen.  And when the chest happens ..." Also in MP3 download Here (scroll down to the 16th).

• At DrabbleCast:  "Doubleheader XIII" Fantasy.
     "Locked In" and "Clockwork Chickadee" by Mary Robinette Kowal.
     "Samuel sat on the balcony, enjoying the fading light of day. When the ventilator pushed air into his lungs, he savored the salt brine from the sea. He pretended that he had control over breath, but it was much a fantasy as adjusting his wheelchair."

• At PodCastle: "The Copperroof War" by Megan Arkenberg. Fantasy.
     "It began in the south wing, near the long cold Hall of Empires and the chambers of the Duke of Cloud. Helene, the Duchess, woke at midnight to the metal sound of marching in the corridor, and farther away, the hollow ring of drums."

• At SFFaudio: "The Voice In The Night" by William Hope Hodgson. Horror.
     " With there being no wind, we had steadied the tiller, and I was the only man on deck.  The crew, consisting of two men and a boy, were sleeping forrard in their den;  while Will — my friend, and the master of our little craft — was aft in his bunk on the port side of the little cabin."

Other Genres

• Fiction at Project Gutenberg: The Folk-Tales of the Magyars by Various. 1889. Mythology.
• Flash Fiction at Every Day Fiction: "Forever Berries" by Oonah V Joslin.

Free Magazines, Fiction, Audio Fiction, and Gaming.

A ton of free fiction, audio, and gaming items today!





Fiction
Magazines
Issue #55 of Clarkesworld is now online with,

Fiction
"The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees" by E. Lily Yu.
"For longer than anyone could remember, the village of Yiwei had worn, in its orchards and under its eaves, clay-colored globes of paper that hissed and fizzed with wasps."

"Matchmaker" by Erin M. Hartshorn.
"Miss Berazazz could've been Jewish, sure. The first kurz had converted only a few years after the kurz and humans had encountered each other out in space. Everyone learned of the Acceptance in Hebrew school, even if no kurz attended synagogue locally."
Non-Fiction
"Linguistics for the World-Builder" by Brit Mandelo
"Same Story with a 21st Century Sensibility: A Conversation with John Scalzi" by Jeremy L. C. Jones

Podcast
Audio Fiction: "The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees" by E. Lily Yu, read by Kate Baker

Cover Art
"Post-apolacalyptic Fisherman" by Georgi Markov.

[h/t SF Signal]


Issue number three of Lovecraft eZine is online with,

"Introduction to Issue #3" by Mike Davis

"Cockroaches" by Amanda Underwood.
"I shivered as darkness crept predator quiet between the bark, watching us, waiting for us."

"A Meeting on the Trail To Hot Iron" by Joseph S. Pulver.
"Bart looked down on the man. Looked like a man. One not from these parts mind you. His robes looked foreign, Egyptian. I’d seen pharaohs in books. He was wearing robes like a pharaoh. Wearing diamonds and rubies too. A lot of them."

"Things We Are Not" by Brandon H. Bell.
"After my third day in the City a crow alighted next to me on the park bench where I slept, squawking of a wonder at the city aquarium. Its feathers beaded with moisture, its beak dripped blood."

"Descent Into Shadow and Light" by W.H. Pugmire.
"I awakened in my windowless tower, to the smell of ancient books and the worms with which they were infested, and swept the pale winged things from where they had nestled in my coiled hair."

"The Slickens" by Jeremy Russell.
"Then they started to dig them out, but the Department of Environment Quality declared ours not to be ‘fluvially active’ and it was allowed to sit there like a noxious tumor on the farmland. "

"The Town of Autumn: Chapter 1" by Mike Davis.
"As I sit at my desk, there is a bottle of whiskey to the left of my computer, and a gun to the right."



Issue number eight of Heroic Fantasy Quarterly is now online with

"Demon Song" by A. R. Williams.
"Supernatural samurai slices some serious adventure. (Sorry, A. R. — we couldn’t resist!) Seriously, good readers, check this one out: a vengeful samurai learns a lesson from the grave . . . but just whose grave is it?"

"The Dome of Florence part I" by Richard Marsden.
"Way back in HFQ Issue 1, Richard Marsden’s MAN OF MOLDANIA was the first story we accepted — and he continues his firsts with us by delivering our first novella, this coming to you in an historical fantasy in two parts. With architecture, alchemy, and papal wizards, who could have guessed the Inquisition would be so fun!"

"The Baroness Drefelin" by David Pilling.
"Another fine offering from a writer previously published at HFQ, this one bringing some much overdo levity to our fictions. When it comes to unrequited love, we reckon there are many more bad ways than good to, um, bear the jilt. We like the way the hero in this tale goes about it. "

As well as art by Garrett Hanna and poetry by David Sklar, Keith Kennedy, and Jason M. Waltz.

Single Stories
@Fantasy Magazine: "Choose Your Own Adventure" by Kat Howard.
"Are you brave enough to begin? If so, turn to page 1. If not, remain safe. Close the book and return it to the shelf. No one will think any less of you. " In online text and MP3 audio formats. (and don't miss the author's interview here and an article "Choosing Your Own Adventure" by Molly Tanzer.)


@Daily Science Fiction: "Words on a Page" by Allison Starkweather.
"He flinches at the touch of sharp, cool metal against his shoulder. Only once and then he stills, holding himself motionless for her. She begins slowly, dragging the nib over his skin, leaving tracks that chill him as the ink dries."

@The Canadian Science Fiction Review: "Matthias Comes Home From the War" by Bev Vincent.
"After he returns from his tour of duty, Matthias notices differences everywhere he looks. Some barely discernible, but others too insidious to ignore. So much has changed, it seems impossible that it has been just two years."

@Subterranean Press: "Water to Wine" by Mary Robinette Kowal.
"Water sprayed out from beneath the wine barrel, carrying the faint stink of sulfur with it. I suppose it’s crazy to have a fondness for the smell of rotten eggs, but that means cleanliness in the wine industry. I shut off the hose and wrestled the barrel off the ancient Gamma-Jet, rolling it to the racks outside the cellar door so it could drain in the sun."

@Suvudu: "The Second Kalandar's Tale" by Francis Marion Soty, from the March/April issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction magazine [via SF Signal]
"A story of the encounters between Hassain Mohammed al-Shehr, a Prince of Arabia, and theIfrit Jirjaris bin Rajmus, in A Thousand Nights and A Night"


Serial Fiction
@Kat and Mouse: Guns for Hire: "Payback - Part Three" by Abner Senires.
"The headless body slumped back against the BMW's front grill, splashing blood and brains across the hood and windshield."

Classic SF
"Human Error" by Raymond F Jones, from If: Worlds of Science Fiction (April 1956)
"The government was spending a billion dollars to convince the human race that men ought to be ashamed to be men—instead of errorless, cybernetics machines. But they forgot that an errorless man is a dead man...."

In ebook downloads at Munseys and Project Gutenberg.


"Security Risk" by Ed M. Clinton, Jr. From If: Worlds of Science Fiction (Feb. 1958.)
"It was a touchable touching an untouchable. Both scientist and general were doing their own version of right...."

In ebook downloads at Project Gutenberg and Manybooks. [h/t Triplanetary].


@Two-Fisted Tales of True-Life Weird Romance!: "Judas Ram" by Sam Merwin Jr. From Galaxy Science Fiction (Dec. 1950).
"The house was furnished with all luxeries, including women. If it only had a lease that could be broken --" In JPEG scans.


Flash Fiction



@Flashes in the Dark: "Behind the Gaze" by Katie Prince.
@Flashes in the Dark: "What Lies ‘Neath Lake Leona" by Rosemary Youngblood.
@Flashes in the Dark: "Willpower" by Paul Kardos.
@365 tomorrows: "Communal Thought" by Patrick Condon.
@365 tomorrows: "The Light of other Universes" by Jeremy Wickins.
@365 tomorrows: "Milk Dipped Eyes" by Richard Chins.
@The New Flesh: "Frankincence, Gold & Myrrh" by Joseph M. Bouthiette, Jr.
@Every Day Fiction: "Up the Stairs" by John Lander.
@Mindflights: "Mirror, Mirror!" by Eleni Konstantine.


Audio Fiction





@Beam Me Up: Episode #255 featuring "Ghosts in My Head" by Cory Doctorow and a Libravox recording of C. H. Thames’ "Prison of a Billion Years."

@Cthulhu: "The Coastal Circuit" by D.S. Carmon.
"a great bit of mythos story telling."

@LibriVox: Tom Swift in Captivity by Victor Appleton, read by Tom Weiss.
Classic but very dated children's adventure.


Serial Audio:
@The author's website: The Starter Episode #8 by Scott Sigler.
"Quentin's efforts to take full control of the Krakens run into obstacles from an unexpected source. He finally gets to try out his receivers as the Krakens prepare for opening day."

@The Drama Pod: Journey to the Centre of the Earth Part Eight by The Drama Pod.
Part eight of Jules Verne's classic novel.

@Triplanetary: The classic radio serial The Adventures of Superman is being replayed at triplanetary. Now up to The Atom Man (parts 5-8) - Parts 1-4 are here.
"Superman will finally face a worthy adversary. First he must race to stop the mad scientist Der Teufel from completing his evil scheme to create an Atom Man, a kryptonite powered supervillain."

Gaming
@DriveThruRPG: Game Geek #16. A free 53 page PDF download featuring many Pathfinder items, comics, and fiction "She-Wolf" by Megan Robertson. [free membership required]


And Quid Novi? Perilous Penguin Edition an 8 page PDF of Pathfinder material. [free membership required]




@Mongoose Publishing: In a free PDF download Signs & Portents #91. Highlights include,

RuneQuest: A complete Gloranthan adventure that sees the players duelling with agents of Chaos, A cult designed around swordplay, and A range of shrubs, trees and other plants that will both benefit and hinder your players.

Traveller: A series of plot hooks that will get your players working for charity. They won't want to talk about it though..., and A complete adventure that will set the players against the latest entertainment craze.

Lone Wolf: The final part of the City of Lof.


@The Land of NOD: Monsters of Mu-Pan I - five monsters for the Mu-Pan setting (easily compatible with early edition D&D and retro-clones)




Small But Cool Gaming Items
@The Land of NOD: [encounter] "Mu-Pan - Encounter XVII"
@1d8: [Online Gaming Tool] "Fantasy Business Name Generator" [via Gothridge Manor which expands on two sample names here]
@1d8: [New Monster] Cadaver Dog.
@Ancient Vaults & Eldritch Secrets: [New Magic Item] Cage Arrows.
@Ancient Vaults & Eldritch Secrets: [New Magic Item] Elixir of Halfheartedness.
@Ancient Vaults & Eldritch Secrets: [New Spell] Rain of Birds.
@Blog on the Borderlands: [New Magic Item] Sandals of the Four Winds.
@Sea of Stars: [New Magic Items] Aphodite’s Anklet, Bellona’s Horn and Sword, and Cloacina’s Amulet.