Galaxy's Edge

Now Posted: Galaxy's Edge #4.
   A great ezine that contains a mixture of new and reprinted science fiction stories.  Edited by Mike Resnick (a fantastic writer himself), it is worth a read.










Fiction
• "Out of All Them Bright Stars" by Nancy Kress. 1985.
      "So I’m filling the catsup bottles at the end of the night, and I’m listening to the radio Charlie has stuck up on top of a movable panel in the ceiling, when the door opens and one of them walks in. I know right away it’s one of them—no chance to make a mistake about that—even though it’s got on a nice suit and a brim hat like Humphrey Bogart used to wear in Casablanca."

• "Sisters" by Nick T. Chan
     "In the still moments before dawn, when all is as dark as the bottom of the sea, I turn my head from my sister and dream—and in my dream we are not conjoined. We are not fused from breast to stomach. I am not destined to cast spells until Isabella dies. Instead, I walk straight. I do not crab-scuttle with her. Alone and proud, I am with the love of my life. When I wake, I can’t remember his face."

• "Correspondence With a Breeder" by Janis Ian. 2005
     "I am hoping we can communicate via satelnet regarding this project, as I am pressed for sunturns and must get this in quickly or my lectern will be degrading me."

• "The Prayer Ladder" by Marina J. Lostetter
      "The ladder stretches up and up before me. Into the sky, past the clouds—past the sun, perhaps. I cannot see the top, but I know it ends in Heaven."

• "Amazingland" by Tom Gerencer
      "In retrospect, what happened next was probably predictable, but hindsight only counts if time runs backwards, and in that case, there’d be funeral cake, and restroom visits would be frightening."

• "Good News From the Vatican" by Robert Silverberg. 1971.
      "This is the morning everyone has been waiting for, when at last the robot cardinal is to be elected pope. There can no longer be any doubt of the outcome. The conclave has been deadlocked for many days between the obstinate advocates of Cardinal Asciuga of Milan and Cardinal Carciofo of Genoa, and word has gone out that a compromise is in the making"

• "I Am Lonely" by Ed McKeown
      "I am lonely. I have been so for a long time. This all started so differently when I was shiny and new, the height of human science and innovation. Everyone loved me. Humanity would speak to the universe and to time itself through my high-tech hull. I was Hermes, messenger from Earth, come to carry the word 'We are here.'"

• "Nekropolis" by Maureen McHugh 1994.
      "I have been with my present owner since I was twenty-one. That was pretty long ago, I am twenty-six now. I was a good student, I got good marks, so I was purchased to oversee cleaning and supplies. This is much better than if I were a pretty girl and had to rely on looks. Then I would be used up in a few years. I’m rather plain, with a square jaw and unexceptional hair."

• "Garuda Superior" by Jeff Calhoun.
      "The garuda climbed high and banked once more before swooping in to release its spear like a guided missile. The monoceratops kicked up a dust cloud in a futile effort to escape. The spear plunged into the horned reptile’s flank and through it to its innards, knocking the herbivore on its back. Six feet pawed the air helplessly before falling eternally still."

• "The Pro" by Edmond Hamilton. 1964.
      "“God, yes.” Burnett moved his shoulders, half grinning. “Creepy, and proud. I invented that thing. Thirty years ago come August, in my ‘Stardream’ novel, I designed her and built her and launched her and landed her on Mars, and got a cent a word for her from the old Wonder Stories.”" 

• "Dark Universe  (Part 4)" by Daniel F. Galouye. 1961.
      "Hardly aware Mogan was no longer with him, Jared welcomed the intimate security of the passageway’s walls as they closed in about him once more. The zip-hiss that had accounted for the Zivver leader’s absence was only an insignificant memory against his greater dismay."

Great 'zines and Other Great Free Fictionj

Some more great free fiction from several great sites.  Be sure to check them all out.  And don't miss the SQ Mag links at SF Signal, posted by the legendary  John DeNardo.

[Art from the latest awesome issue of Clarkesworld]









Fiction
• At Anotherealm: "Bindlestiffs" by Donna M. Recktenwalt.
      "At the unexpected epithet I started and turned to stare at the man who had uttered it - not in his usual bantering way, but as an epithet of power. It wasn't like Karl to swear at all. He was, usually, one of the most serene, mellow of men."

• At GigaNotoSaurus: "Martyr’s Gem"  C.S.E. Cooney.
      “What they’ve lost in teeth, they’ve gained in wisdom,” she announced with some pomposity. “Besides, that’s what they have me for.” Her smile went wry at one corner, but was no less proud for that. “I chew their food, I change their cloths, and they tell me about the old days. Some of them had parents who were alive back then.”

• At Tor.com: "Jack of Coins" by Christopher Rowe.
     " a strange, amnesiac man who is befriended by a rebellious group of teenagers living in a repressive city."

• Now Posted: Clarkesworld #80

"Soulcatcher" by James Patrick Kelly.
      "After years of planning and scheming, of deals honest and not, of sleepless nights of rage and cool days of calculation, Klary’s moment arrives when xeni-Harvel Asher, the ambassador from the Four Worlds, enters her gallery."
"Tachy Psyche" by Andy Dudak.
     "The woman who means to kill Wang Zhe is, like the rest of the universe, apparently frozen, though actually in glacial motion."
"(R + D) /I = M"  by E. Catherine Tobler.
     "Grapes grew differently on Mars and no one minded. This trespass was for science, ask anyone."
"The Banquet of the Lords of Night" by Liz Williams.
      "He’s already late, and the Isle de Saint Luce is forbidden territory. Yet even in the midst of his terror, de Rais still thinks it’s a pity that he can’t pause and marvel, for the Isle is, by old decree of the Lords of Night, the only place in all Paris where light is permitted at this hour."
"From Babel’s Fall’n Glory We Fled . . ."  by Michael Swanwick.
     "Imagine a cross between Byzantium and a termite mound. Imagine a jeweled mountain, slender as an icicle, rising out of the steam jungles and disappearing into the dazzling pearl-grey skies of Gehenna. Imagine that Gaudi—he of the Segrada Familia and other biomorphic architectural whimsies—had been commissioned by a nightmare race of giant black millipedes to recreate Barcelona at the height of its glory"

• Now Posted:  Interstellar Fiction #10. Science Fiction.

"The Tale of the White Tiger" by Donald Jacob Uitvlugt.
     "Blind Li Xiao surveyed the marketplace. The sensor net embedded in his storyteller’s robes fed signals directly to his brain. The citizenship transponders exactly matched the number of heat signatures. A world firmly loyal to the Empire, then. Or one too afraid to act otherwise."
"The Cadet" by S.P. Parish.
      "It smelled like body odor and paperwork in here. There was a window open, but all that did was blow in the humid ocean breeze. I avoided this place at all costs, but as a final year cadet, I had to come in. Every cadet had to meet with the General in their last year at the Combat Academy."
"Cuddly Furballs of Contentment" by Erik Peterson.
     "Merek’s family had been on the planet for six months when his daughter Kemmy heard something bleating under a cover bush as they were hiking back to camp from a surveying expedition."

Audio Fiction
• At Clarkesworld: "Soulcatcher" by James Patrick Kelly.  Science Fiction.
     Described Above

• At LibriVox: "King Arthur" by Joseph Comyns Carr. Fantasy.
     "A retelling of the classic legend of King Arthur, Guinevere & Sir Lancelot"

• At LibriVox: "Patchwork Girl of Oz version 2" by L. Frank Baum. Children's Fantasy.
     "The Patchwork Girl, a free spirit if ever there was one, is brought to life in this story and then sets out into the wonderful world of OZ to help her friend Ojo find the ingredients for a magic potion to save his Uncle."

• At LibriVox: "The Water Ghost and Others" by John Kendrick Bangs. Ghost Stories.
     "Eight ghost stories by a master story teller"

• At StarShipSofa: "Tethered" by David Mercurio Rivera.
      No Description

Other Genres

• Fiction at the Western Online: "The Valdez Event" by Johnny Gunn..
• Fiction at the Western Online: "Voices" by Ken Staley.

Better Late Than Never

More great freebies- enjoy the weekend! May or may not post tomorrow.






Fiction
• At Baen: "To Spec" by Charles E. Gannon. Science Fiction.
       "Mendez, the newest guy in the squad, had been jumpy ever since the worsening solar weather updates started coming in. The most recent message—that Priestley’s replacement wouldn’t show up for at least another three hours—just made him more anxious. As Eureka command post signed off, Grim saw Mendez hold his new rifle—a flimsy piece of experimental junk called the Cochrane XM 1—a bit too tightly."

• At Buzzy Mag: "The Clean War" by Shelly Li and Ken Liu.
     "I’m not a soldier. I’m just a woman who programs computers. I don’t know what I’m doing. This was a mistake!"

• At Daily Science Fiction: "Spirit Gum" by Mike Resnick & Jordan Ellinger. 
      "Before he was The Great Bellini he was just plain old Malcolm Bell. He had a knack for magic tricks--illusions, he called them--and what had been a hobby became a profession."

• At Silver Blade: "The Guild of Swordsmen: Part 8" by Kristin Janz. Fantasy.
     "Lida suspected that her fourth match was not going to be won as easily as her first three.  She had the bad luck to have been paired against the big man she had hidden behind out on the plaza, the tallest and heaviest swordsman in the entire competition."

Flash Fiction

• At Every Day Fiction: "Abasteron House" by Paula Cappa. Horror.
• At 365 Tomorrows: "Relativity" by Patricia Stewart. Science Fiction.
• At Every Day Fiction: "The Place I Once Called Home" by Holly Jennings. Science Fiction.

E-Books
At Amazon: Essential Reading in Science Fiction by  David Scholes.

At Free eBooks Daily.

• Prison Nation by Jenni Merritt. Science Fiction.
• Fire & Ice by Patty Jansen. Fantasy.
• Alaskan Fire by Sara King. Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy.
• The Dress by Sophie Nicholls. Fantasy Romance.
• Gadgets by Kimberly Richardson. Fantasy.
• Dark Genesis by A D Koboah. Paranormal Romance.
• Forever Young by Sawyer Bennett. YA Paranormal.
• Trail of Bones by Chris Salisbury. Fantasy.
• On the Edge of Humanity by S.B. Alexander. YA Fantasy, Vampires.

At Smashwords:

• "Tooth & Claw" by Melody Hewson. 2k words.  Fantasy.
• A Spell Cast Volumes One, Two, and Three by Tessa Stokes. YA Fantasy Romance.
• "Given to Glass" by Brian Wheeler. 4k words. Fantasy.
• "Fatal Vision" by Mark Masters. 2k words. Horror.
• "The Gold Watch" by Rik Hunik. 5k words. Horror. Ghost.
• "For Joyce" by J T Pearson. 2k words. Horror. Weird.
• "My Brother's Keeper" by J T Pearson. 6k words. Science Fiction.
• "The Gravity of the Situation" by Tina Shelton. 8k words. Science Fiction.
• C-Shapes by Matthew Fish. 71 k words.Science Fiction.

Audio Fiction
• At Beware the Hairy Mango:  "The Piñata Club" by Matthew Sanborn Smith. Weird.
     No Description

• At Desert Gems Audio: "Porter of Baghdad Part I" from Sir Richard Burton's 1001 Arabian Nights.Adventure. Fantasy.
     "a handsome young  porter who is accosted by a beautiful young lady who needs his services at the market while shopping. As he is invited into her home, he haplessly stumbles into an drunken bacchanal at the house of her two sisters, on the condition he asks no questions of any goings on in the house."

• At Clarkesworld: "The Last Survivor of the Great Sexbot Revolution" by A.C. Wise.
     "She’s not what you expected, Alma May Anderson, the last survivor of the Great Sexbot Revolution. For one thing, her eyes are bluer. She must be a hundred if she’s a day, but her eyes are the blue of puddle-broken neon, and a postcard ocean, and the sky at noon."

• At Journey Into: "Fire Watch" by Connie Willis. Science Fiction. 
     "Young Bartholomew is a graduate student in history from a future Oxford who is assigned to travel back in time to join and study the famous Fire Watch Brigade-the volunteer corps whose brave members kept St. Paulâs Cathedral from being burned to the ground by Nazi incendiaries."

• At LibriVox: The Jewels of Aptor by Samuel R. Delany. Science Fiction.
      " Set several centuries after the Great Fire -- a nuclear holocaust -- a young woman seeks her destiny with the help of a four-armed youth."

• At PodCastle: "Throwing Stones" by Mishell Baker. Fantasy.
     "In the city of Jiun-Shi the third shift was known as the goblin watch, but some of us were not very watchful. I, for one, was so absorbed in the daily details of living a lie that it took me three months to learn that one of the regulars at the Silver Fish Teahouse was a goblin. By the time our paths collided three years later, I had been promoted to third-shift manager, and my lie had been promoted to widely established fact."

• At Pseudopod: "Entrance And Exit / The Terror Of The Twins" by Algernon Blackwood. Horror.
      "“Entrance And Exit” was originally published February 13, 1909 in The Westminster Gazette and republished in TEN MINUTE STORIES in 1914. “The Terror Of The Twins” was originally published November 6, 1909 in the same newspaper and republished in 1910 in THE LOST VALLEY AND OTHER STORIES."

• At Tales to Terrify: "Episode #62" Horror.
     “Cemetery Water” by Frances Snowder and “Ghost in the Graveyard” by Tim Waggoner.

Other Genres

• Audio at The Classic Tales Podcast: "The Man Who Knew Too Much" Part 6 of 8 by G.K. Chesterton. 
• Audio at Craftlit: "Jane Eyre, Chapters 25" by Charlotte Brontë.
• Fiction at Online Pulps: "Traitor Patrol" by Peter Barrett (1937) and "Wake Up and Die!" by Robert Turner (1947). Pulp/Noir.
• Flash Fiction at Every Day Fiction: "Kid Gloves" by Justin N Davies. Suspense.
• At Flash Fiction Friday: "Cycle 119 – The Good Guy Stories"

Tuesday Free Fiction

More goodies.










@Daily Science Fiction: "Like Origami in Water" by Damien Walters Grintalis.

Johnny is angry again. I hate this part, but I won't try to stop him. I would feel the same way, too. "It's not fair," he yells, spit flying out of the corners of his mouth. "And it's not right. Why can't they figure out what this is? Why can't they fix it?"

@Fantasy Magazine: "The Invisibles" by Charles de Lint.

"Here’s what you do, Jerry says. You get one of those little pipe tobacco tins and you put stuff in it. Important stuff. A fingernail. Some hair. A scab. Some dirt from a special place."

@GigaNotoSaurus: "Sauerkraut Station" by Ferrett Steinmetz.

“The sauerkraut is what makes us special,” Lizzie explained as she opened up the plastic door to show Themba the hydroponic units. She scooped a pale green head of cabbage from the moist sand and placed it gently into Themba’s cupped hands.

@Lightspeed: "How Maartje and Uppinder Terraformed Mars (Marsmen Trad.)" by Lisa Nohealani Morton.

"As her breath hissed out it thickened and spread and wrapped around the planet. Before long it was pushing everything down; my mother’s breath became the atmosphere of Mars."

@Ray Gun Revival: "Catastrophe Baker and the Fall of the House of Usher" by Mike Resnick.

"Every now and then I hear some highbrow talking about the fall of the House of Usher as if it was some fiction story. Well, take it from me, Catastrophe Baker, it’s all perfectly true. I ought to know, because I was there when it fell"

@Strange Horizons: "Particle Theory" by Edward Bryant.

"If you're right," she said, "it could be the most fantastic event a scientist could observe and record." Her eyes refocused and met mine. "Or it might be the most frightening; a final horror."

@Wily Writers: "I’m My Own Kryptonite" by Donald Jacob Uitvlugt.

"Kenley Williams’s alter ego is killing him. Literally. Is a painful life in the hospital worth everything he goes through as a superhero? Does he have to sacrifice love along with everything else? Excerpt: His eyes close. He can sense them, their lives a shout in the Flow of all things. Fear, anger, greed."

Now Posted: Abyss & Apex - Issue 40: 4th Quarter 2011
"The Old Factory Award" by Grey Freeman.

"The Old Factory stands forgotten upon a small and narrow road folded between a street filled with shops, cafes and bakeries and another beaded with pubs, clubs and wine bars."

"Keeping Tabs" by Kenneth Schneyer.

"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. But the customers tip really well, and I was able to save up enough money, even after paying rent and stuff."

"Silvergrass Mirror" by Amanda M. Hayes.

"Dozens of stalks of stonespear thrust up through the swamp waters, some of them as big around as Eisle’s fist; she hadn’t seen such a patch in years. She had a hatchet. She had a water-bag to keep the pith moist. She loved the harvest of a rare component as much as its discovery, and the money as much as either."

"Random Fire" by Van Aaron Hughes.

"I never kept a journal. I made day-to-day notes on my research, but a file for personal thoughts always struck me as vanity. Today, however, a little vanity is appropriate. Someday, people will wonder what went through my head at this moment."

"Hungry" by Ryan J. Southworth

"The royal carriage clattered and shook. It seemed to bounce from one rock to the next, intent on ignoring the road in favor of its largest obstacles, and with every jolt the old woman’s bones rattled in time to the creaking wood and glass. She found herself wondering –several times–whether the driver was going blind. Or whether perhaps he was taking vengeance for some accidental wrong she’d done him."

Now Posted: Crossed Genres - Issue 35 – Dark Comedy
"Jezebel's Blouse" by Timothy T. Murphy.

"Sixteen hundred and thirty-two years ago, the assembled gods of the world abandoned humanity, leaving us to our self-determined fates, the bastards. I can’t say as I blame them, really."

"Jason's Shoes" by Richard Bist.

"At first it was kinda funny, ya’ know? He’d come in and pull his shoes off and after a few minutes this smell would just overwhelm you."

"The Execution of Zacharius Grubb" by Bethan Claire Price.

"As it turned out, being hanged was only the second most unpleasant thing to happen to me on the worst day of my arduous existence."

"Chasing Persephone" by Natalie Stachowski.

She threw a horseshoe. The latest projectile almost sent him backwards over the railing as he evaded it. His eyes flashed a bright yellow color as he regained his footing. “Give it up! Just invite me in already!”

"Worse Than a Devil" ..by Sarina Dorie

"When my best friend, Mandy, offered to set me up with a hot, handsome man, I had no idea he would also have horns and hooves."

Now Posted: Expanded Horizons - Issue 31 (Sep 2011)
"Kuda Kepang" by Fadzlishah Johanabas.

"Malik watched his bride as she cheered at the Kuda Kepang troupe performing in honor of their wedding. Nine men astride legless horse puppets woven from nipah palm leaves danced in choreographed silat martial art movements, with his brother Hassan leading them on a black-painted stallion. A middle-aged man, the Kuda Kepang master, stood beside four seated men playing gongs and percussions and snapped his leather whip."

"Blue Dahlia" by Larisa Walk.

"After six years of therapy, Melissa’s voice still calls me from the lake. My shrink’s three hundred and twelve cream-colored business cards sit on my desk. One card for each appointment that failed to stop me from hearing my lover’s whispers in the patter of rain on dead leaves, in the footsteps on a flagstone path, in terror-soaked dreams. I can’t tell what she is saying, but I know the voice is hers."

"Unfit to Eat" by Tyus Barnwell.

"When I was still a juvenile an old man made the long climb from the village to our mountainside home. A boy walked at his side to aid him. I remember studying the elder carefully as he stood in the arched entry to our cavern casting a stocky shadow. From what I could see past my mother’s broad body, the man looked filthy and tired, leaning on the boy and his walking stick as though he had a boulder strapped to his back."

Now Posted: Redstone Science Fiction #18 - November 2011
"Passive Resistance" by David Tallerman.

"Alec turned just in time to see Ennis begin to fall, to feel wetness spray across his face. Ennis, his bodyguard, his friend, wavered for an instant – then collapsed backward, emptying a flower of red over the steps behind him."

"On the Sabbath Day Be Ye Cleansed" by Amanda C. Davis.

"We knelt, arching our faces to the temple like flowers strain toward the sun. We remembered the week, the loves gained and friends won. Those lost. Our conflicts. Our sins. We remembered."

Serial Fiction
@Author's Site: "The Journals of Doctor Mormeck’s Avatar–Entry #18" by Jeff VanderMeer.

"You can lose yourself in certain types of spaces, at a certain time. I discover this every day as I pass further into the East. In becoming a shadow, in needing to hide, to avoid, to make myself invisible, I have begun to experience the strange sensation of no longer existing, of floating, even though most days I am an enormous komodo dragon."

@Kat and Mouse: "Into The Woods - Part Six" by Abner Senires.

"Outside, standing two meters away, the aerodyne looked even worse than before. The RPG had taken out the rear left thrusterpod and part of the rear fuselage. Burned and twisted metal still smoked and what paint scheme there was on the main body had been scraped off, as if by some monster talons, exposing bare metal beneath."

Audio
@Dunesteef: "Silk For Moisture, Mud For Shine" by Amanda C. Davis.

"A Silkie Wrap. All the beautiful people are getting them. After you’ve had yours, you’ll feel like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon. Hopefully, you can afford the price."

@Fantasy Magazine: "The Invisibles" by Charles de Lint, read by by Stefan Rudnicki.

@Librivox: "The World Set Free" by H. G. Wells, read by Jules Hawryluk and William Tomcho.

Radioactive decay is a major theme in the novel The World Set Free, published in 1914. Wells explores what might happen if the rate of decay could be sped up. The book may have encouraged scientists to explore theories of nuclear chain reaction.

@Lightspeed: "How Maartje and Uppinder Terraformed Mars (Marsmen Trad.)" by Lisa Nohealani Morton, read by Claire Bloom.

@PodCastle: "Still Small Voice" by Ben Burgis, read by David Rees-Thomas.

A few patrons looked up at the sound of the door opening and closing, then turned back to their business when they saw no one there. Under his cloak, Jack luxuriated in the artificial cool of the café.

@Wily Writers: "I’m My Own Kryptonite" by Donald Jacob Uitvlugt.

Serial Audio
@Beam Me Up: "The Things - Part 2" by Peter Watts.

"the creature comes to realize the horror of just the type of beings he is dealing with. Horrifying creations that violently react when faced with anything that changes. Creatures that never change, born and die with the same shape and can not imagine anything different."

@Beware the Hairy Mango: "The Careerist’s Guide to the Sea, Part 1" by Matthew Sanborn Smith.

Friday Freebies

Some great free fiction and audio to start the weekend. But, since everything is subjective, you'll have to decide for yourselves which stories are great and which are only very good.









@Tor.com: "Journey Into The Kingdom" by M. Rickert. Fantasy.

"The first ghost to come to my mother was my own father who had set out the day previous in the small boat heading to the mainland for supplies such as string and rice, and also bags of soil"

@Daily Science Fiction: "The Large People" by Karen Heuler.
@Kasma Science Fiction: "Beached" by J. Bell.
@The Internet Archive: "Mo-Shanshon!" by Bryce Walton. (1947). Science Fiction. [via Marooned - Science Fiction & Fantasy books on Mars]

@Free eBooks Daily [DRM]:

• "Copy Bird" by B.C. Young.
• "The Alpha Centauri Project" by Marco Santini, Science Fiction.

@Pixel of Ink [Amazon]:

• "The Empty Door" by E.R. Mason. Science Fiction.
• "The Rhine Maiden" by Erin Evans. "Chick Lit, Paranormal"
• "Legacy" by Jeanette Baker. Romance, Time Travel.
• "The Lens & The Looker" by Lory S. Kaufman.

@Smashwords:

• "The Chains" by Dalya Moon. Science Fiction.
• "Rekindle the Sun" by Mary E. Lowd. Science Fiction.
• "Tempting Yerva" by Chris Turner. Science Fiction.
• "The Beast of Bridgewater" by David Willoughby. Horror.
• "Creatures of Wonder: A Tale of the Unfound" by George Wilhite. Horror.

Serial Fiction
@Author's Site: "Paradigm Shift #3" by Misa Buckley.

Reviewed Free SF
@Variety SF: "Millennium" by Everett B Cole. Science Fiction (1955).






@AntipodeanSF: "AntiSF Radio Show 158 Alpha" Stories by Shelley Ontis, Ray O'Brien, and by Shaun Saunders.
@Dunesteef: "Catastrophe Baker And The Cold Equations" by Mike Resnick, many readers.
@Escape Pod: "Union Dues – Sidekicks in Stockholm" by Jeffrey R. DeRego, read by Stephen Eley.
@Flashpulp: "The Ragman" by J.R.D. Skinner, read by Opopanax. Horror.
@LibriVox: "The Great God Pan" by Arthur Machen, read by Ethan Rampton.
@Pseudopod: "In Bloom" by Caspian Gray, read by Julie Hoverson.

Serial Audio
@The Classic Tales Podcast: "The Mark of Zorro, Part 5 of 9" by Johnston McCulley, read by B. J. Harrison.

Fan Audio
@Giant Gnome Productions: "Star Trek: Outpost – Episode 27 – The Melnoran Solution – Part II" by Daniel McIntosh and Tony Raymond, performed by a full cast.

Non-Fiction Podcasts
@Comics Podcast Network: "Randumb Idiocy: A Kickstarter conversation with Dern & Obsidian"
@The Functional Nerds: "Episode #67" – Patrick D’Orazio
@Paizo: "Pathfinder Podcast 15" Kingmaker III – The Varnhold Vanishing with Greg Vaughan
@SF Signal: "Podcast Episode 071" - An Interview with Author William Gibson
@Undergopher Central: "UnderDiscussion 52" Megan Culver Interview. [via RPG Bloggers]







@Daily Science Fiction: "The Jester" by Maria Melissa Obedoza.
@Daily Science Fiction: "Blessed are the Sowers" by Robert Lowell Russell.
@Eschatology: "Consecrated Woman" by Deborah Walker. Horror.
@Eschatology: "Vocational Training" by Bruce L. Priddy. Horror.
@Every Day Fiction: "Hungry Water" by Jessica George. Horror.
@Every Day Fiction: "Candyeyes" by Michael Peralta. Science Fiction.
@Flashes in the Dark: "Listening to Skippy" by Hal Kempka. Horror.
@Flashes in the Dark: "Alliances" by Lori Titus. Horror.
@The New Flesh: "Even Colour-Out-of-Space Boys Got to Shout: Baby Got Back!" by Douglas Hackle.
@The New Flesh:"Battle at Beef Beach" by Joseph Bouthiette, Jr.
@365 tomorrows: "Prospecting" Andrew Bale. Science Fiction.
@365 tomorrows: "Aether ex Machina" by Michael Iverson. Science Fiction.
@Weirdyear: "The Secret Audit" by David Macpherson.
@Yesteryear Fiction: "Revelations 101" by Andrew J. Stone. Fantasy.

Mike Resnik, Five Fiction eZines, Huge Comics Lists, All Free

Looking for something good to read? Wallet and/or purse empty? Then just keep reading because in the links below should be something for all readers.

Illustration from the Dark Horse Comics link below.













Now Posted: Enchanted Conversions Volume Two, Issue Two

"It's June according to the calendar, but in the land of Enchanted Conversation, it's cold and treacherous and filled with revenge. It's the "Snow White Poetry Issue," and it's very clear that our poets have read, and were inspired by, the ancient, dark versions of 'Snow White.'" Featuring fairy tale poetry by Katrina Robinson, Sarah Stasik, Ace G. Pilkington, Julia H. West, Rachel Ayers, Candace L. Barr, Deborah Walker, Lorraine Schein, Mary Meriam, and Frances McQuillan.

Now Posted: Allegory Volume 15/42 with Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror.

"Chet McKenzie and the Moment of Truth" by Meredith Galman
"The Urn" by John Barnes
"The Possibility of Flat Sea Ghosts" by P.F. White
"Skinny Jeans of the Zombie Apocalpyse" by Nicky Drayden
"The Manipulator" by Chris Stageman
"The Underbelly" by Danielle Abramsohn
"Pearl" by Stephanie Charette
"Preying for Help" by John C. Tremblay

@Aurora Wolf:
"Fairview 619" by Rebecca Schwarz.

"The house is quiet but not empty. Maybe an hour before sunrise, it’s one of my favorite times. While the system preference is to monitor all cameras simultaneously, I prefer to run them in sequence as if on patrol."

"God-Deaf" by Cheryl Barkauskas

"Yes, daughter, the Goddess replied. Her voice shimmered soundlessly. The question was rhetorical—Erai felt the divine presence like a warmth."

Now Posted: The Gloaming Magazine Volume 2, Issue 4: Wonderland June, 2011.

"Reverie" Milo James Fowler. Science Fiction.
"A Spriggan Moon" By Laura L. Hill. Fantasy.
"The Devil's Moccasins" By Madeline Bridgen. Horror.
"Pretty Simone" By Jamie Killen. Horror.
"Summer Jumpers" By A.J. Brown. Spec. Fiction.
"We Meet Again" By J.M. Ferguson. Horror.

Now Posted: Journal of Unlikely Entomology Issue 1.

"Here you will find Arachne, weaving for her lost love; a group of school children who are among the last witnesses to a dying world; an immortal cowboy, his most unusual horse, and the scorpion he tries to befriend; a world devoid of both mosquitoes and love; a museum, slowly being devoured from within; the rise of a new kind of humanity, triggered by an earworm of a song; and a terrifying childhood nightmare, made horribly real."

"Arachne" by J. M. McDermott
"Love in the Absence of Mosquitoes" by Mari Ness
"So Speaketh the Trauma Gods" by John Medaille
"Plague of Locusts" by Sylvia Spruck Wrigley
"Museum Beetles" by Simon Kewin
"They Wait" by Steve Barber
"The Cowboy, the Horse, and the Scorpion" by Nathaniel Lee

Serial Fiction
@More Red Ink: "The 43 Antarean Dynasties (Part 3 of 3)" by Mike Resnick.

When the Antareans learned that Man's Republic wish to annex their world, they gathered their army in Zanthu and then marched out onto the battlefield, 300,000 strong. They were the cream of the planet's young warriors, gold of eye, the reticulated plates of their skin glistening in the morning sun, prepared to defend their homeworld.

@Free SF Reader: Two mega-lists of free online comics, many of which fall into genres covered here (all in flash format, but you can't have everything). These lists are Dark Horse Comics, which includes Falling Skies shown above, but requires a free account, and the even larger list of other companies. (and of course you should check out the rest of the site while there).

Midweek Free Fiction

Some cool classic SF, including part one of a serialized story by Mike Resnick, and a new story at Ray Gun Revival. All free. Likely, something more later

Today's illustration is from "Tillie" below. The art looks better than the story description sounds.






@Ray Gun Revival: "Mercurial Nights" by Gareth D Jones. Science Fiction.

"Lieutenant Robbins stood patiently on the barren surface of Mercury and concentrated on what he wanted to say. He had to be very literal for the non-corporeal Mercurials to grasp any concept that he vocalized."

Serial Fiction
@More Red Ink: "The 43 Antarean Dynasties, part 1 of 3" by Mike Resnick, from Asimov's Science Fiction, (Dec. 1997). [via SF Signal]

"A man, a woman, and a child emerge from the Temple of the Honored Sun. The woman holds a camera to her eye, capturing the same image from a dozen unimaginative angles. The child, his lip sparsely covered with hair that is supposed to imply maturity, never sees beyond the game he is playing on his pocket computer."

Classic SF
@Munseys and Gutenberg: "The Dark Goddess" by Richard S. Shaver, from Imagination (Feb. 1953). Science Fiction.

"Deep within her caverns the great mer-woman longed for death to end her loneliness. But then came a voyager from space—a man—also lonely...."

@Munseys and Gutenberg: "Success Story" by Robert Turner, from If (Jan. 1953). Science Fiction.

"What is to be will be. Our only refuge lies in that which might not have been."

@Munseys and Gutenberg: "Tillie" by Rog Phillips, from Amazing Stories (Dec. 1948). Science Fiction.

"She was just a blob of metal, but she had emotions like any woman. She, too, wanted ROMANCE, and wasn't coy about running after her 'guy'"

@Munseys and Gutenberg: "The Impossible Voyage Home" by F. L. Wallace, from Galaxy Science Fiction (Aug. 1954).

"The right question kept getting the wrong answer—but old Ethan and Amantha got the right answer by asking the wrong question!"

@Munseys and Gutenberg: "The Moralist" by Jack Taylor, Galaxy Science Fiction (June 1956). Science Fiction.

"Aye, 'tis a difficult thing to be a lady on a far world—but who needs them there?"

@Internet Archive: Complete issues of Amazing Stories. Volume 01 Number 07 (Oct. 1926), Volume 01 Number 08 (Nov. 1926), and Volume 01 Number 09 (Dec. 1926).

Classics by Verne, Wells, and other classic science fiction writers.

Reviewed Free SF
@BestScienceFictionStories: "Hindsight, In Neon" by Jamie Todd Rubin (2009)

"the story of a science fiction writer who is unhappy that he no longer has any readers."

@BestScienceFictionStories: "The Chameleon Man" by William P. McGivern (1943)

"science fiction short story. It is about a man with a peculiar condition that renders him nearly invisible."

Mike Resnick, Gaming Items, and Poetry?

A few cool fiction items, including one by Mike Resnick. There's been quite a few Resnick items lately, which I love since I've been a fan of his since I read Birthright: The Book of Man back in high school. Some genre poetry, including one by fantasy author and GURPS Celtic Myth co-writer Jo Walton. There are some very cool gaming items and a pair of fairy tale books - very well illustrated with fantasy art that is now public domain, which might interest fantasy/rpg bloggers looking for free, legal artwork. Today's illustration comes from Celtic Folk and Fairy Tales, listed below.


Fiction
@Daily Science Fiction: "Break" by Mishell Baker.
"When I shook Femi's hand in the office break room on my first day, everything faded: the snot-colored linoleum, the nauseous fluorescent lighting, the wheezy hum of the refrigerator. Instead of "Nice to meet you," I heard myself say, 'You are a fragment of heaven.'"

@Subterranean Press: "Treasure Island: A Lucifer Jones Story" by Mike Resnick.
"I’d been on the high seas for about a week after leaving my pal Capturin’ Clyde Calhoun on an uncharted island that seemed to specialize in apes with pituitary problems, and I figgered at the rate of speed I was rowing I’d arrive at Australia just in time to die of extreme old age."

@Goblin Fruit: The Spring 2011 issue is now posted, featuring fantasy poetry (most with MP3 downloads) including, "A Silver Splendour, a Flame: Act I" by Catherynne M. Valente, "Crowfunded" by J. C. Runolfson, "The Making of Witches" by Paul McQuade, "Kelpie" by Cheryl Ruggiero, "The Catfish Woman" by Joshua Gage, "Mora" by Nina Pelaez, "Grey-Eyed" by Emily Jiang, "Ride of the Robber Bride" by C.S.E. Cooney, and "Icarus" by Shawna Lenore Kastin.

@Stone Telling: Issue 3 is now posted, featuring "literary speculative poems with a strong emotional core ... [that] focus on fantasy, science fiction, surrealism, and slipstream" including
"The Weatherkeeper's Diary" by Jo Walton, "Newton's First Copy of Euclid" by Benjamin Cartwright, "11:40PM" by Sara Saab, "Jonah's Widowed Wife" by Susan Rooke, "A Dreamed Zodiac" by Michael Roderick Fosburg, "Firefly Girls" by Caitlyn Paxson, "Rice Cooker Dreams" by Emily Jiang, "Self-Portrait as Mushroom" by William Doreski, "Sodom Gomorrah" by Eliza Victoria, "Persephone in Hel" by Sonya Taaffe, "Moving to Enceladus" by Mary Turzillo, and "The Secret of Being a Cowboy" by Catherynne M. Valente. [via Goblin Fruit]

Classic Adventure:
@Munseys and Project Gutenberg: "Warrior of the Dawn" by Howard Browne, from Amazing Stories (Dec. 1942 and Jan. 1943)
"From the forest deeps came brutal killers, and Tharn, the Cro-Magnon, vowed that vengeance would be his...."






Mythology:
@Project Gutenberg: Celtic Folk and Fairy Tales selected and edited by Joseph Jacobs, illustrated by John D. Batten.
@Project Gutenberg:Japanese Fairy Tales by Grace James, illustrated by Warwick Goble







@The Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine: "Spider Hunt" by Kenneth Yu.
"Lysel was attacked and bitten by a giant venomous spider, now Leyton must collect dozens of venom sacs to make the antidote for the poison, or his sister will perish. Can he get them in time…"








@Flashes in the Dark: "An Attack" by Jim Bronyaur.
@365 tomorrows: "The Application" by Ian Sweeney.
@The New Flesh: "Trimming Hedges" by Randall E. Cunningham.








@RPG Creatures: "Johrlars" a monster for most fantasy RPGs.
"Like strange lizard-like gnomes, the Johrlars move through the woods with their hands in constant contact with the ground. Their fingers work nimbly through the moss, grass, and leaves of the forest floor, to feel out the kind and energy of the undergrowth." (The original illustration looks MUCH better than this thumbnail)



@DriveThruRPG: Nemesis by Arc Dream Publishing.
"Nemesis: Roleplaying in Worlds of Horror is a free game using the One Roll Engine (also seen in Godlike, Wild Talents, Monsters and Other Childish Things, Reign, and A Dirty World) for modern-day horror, particularly the Lovecraftian horror of the Cthulhu Mythos."

Shorter But Still Very Cool:
@Sickly Purple Death Ray: [Map] "Tomb of Yekelil"
@Daddy Grognard: [Encounter Table] "Woodland Dangers" PDF download.
@Ancient Vaults & Eldritch Secrets: [New Magic Item] "Livery of the Elder Cavalry of the Northern Stars"
@Ancient Vaults & Eldritch Secrets: [New Monster] "Thelg"
@A Character for Every Game: [Tables] "Lost Cities of the Fallen Empire"
@Sham's Grog 'n Blog: [Table] "Monster Business"
@Sea of Stars: [New Magic Items] "Libertas’ Pileus (hat)" and "Keres’ Charm"
@DriveThruRPG: [Encounters] "The Chamber of Fire" and "The Hall of Spiders" (both 4E)
@Big Ball of No Fun: [Monsters] "La Chusa" and "Kludde"
@Rather Gamey: [Monster] "The Croucher"

Friday Freebies

It's Friday! There's fiction by smoe great contemporary writers, Jason Sanford, Mike Resnick, Cat Rambo, and others. Some cool podcasts and gaming items round things out. Have a great weekend and see you Sunday at latest (barring disaster or Gnaerkiean invasion).


Fiction
@Daily Science Fiction: "The Blue Room" by Jason Sanford.
"The plains rolled out before Aiesha, all buffalo grass and forever sky drowning to the dusk's easy light. Aiesha sat on the weather-worn porch of her grandpa's farm house, flipping page after page of her history textbook--unread, the words blurring to elsewhere. Away! they whispered. Go! they sighed."


@Ray Gun Revival: "Catastrophe Baker Makes First Contact" by Mike Resnick.
"I was standing at the bar in The Outpost, the best drinking hole in the Plantagenet system, minding my own business and admiring some of the ladies who were in attendance, when my old pal Hurricane Smith rushed into the place, looked around, spotted me, and raced up to the bar."


Classic SF and Weird:
@Variety SF: A review with links to free online versions of "The Thirst Quenchers"by Rick Raphael, from Analog (Sept. 1963).

@Feedbooks: Odes and Sonnets by Clark Ashton Smith (1918). Written before Lovecraft and Howard.
"Triumphant, through what realms of elder doom, / Where even the swart vans of Time are stunned, / Seek thou some fit Cimmerian citadel, And mighty cities, desolate, unsunned, / Whose walls of horrent and enormous gloom / Make sharp the horizon of the light of hell."

@Munseys and Project Gutenberg: "All In The Mind" by Gene L. Henderson, from If: Worlds of Science Fiction (April 1954).
"When does life begin?... A well-known book says "forty". A well-known radio program says "eighty". Some folks say it's mental, others say it's physical. But take the strange case of Mel Carlson who gave a lot of thought to the matter."

@Munseys and Project Gutenberg: "The Model of a Judge" by William Douglas Morrison, from Galaxy Science Fiction (Oct. 1953).
"Should a former outlaw become a judge—even if he need only pass sentence on a layer cake?"


Audio Fiction





@Escape Pod: Episode #287 "A Taste of Time" by Abby Goldsmith, read by Mur Lafferty.
"Jane gagged on the sour taste in her mouth. She was so dizzy, she’d fallen . . . but she was sitting in an office chair, with no memory whatsoever of leaving her dark and quiet apartment."

@Pseudopod: Episode #224: "The Horror Of Their Deeds To View" by Lizanne Herd, read by Matt Weller.
"The door opens and we each press against the nearest wall. I lower my eyes. The police officer, the last one to be taken, had stood up and screamed at them, had taken a swipe at them, knocking one over. It hit the wall and made a sickening crunching noise, a crack in its shell, splat from several of its eyes smeared thick and brown as it slid to the floor. It took them only moments to turn on him."

@Cast Macabre: Episode #37: "The Sparrow" by Patrick Hurley, read by Graeme Dunlop.
"In late spring of 1794, villagers along the Gold Coast of Ghana discovered an abandoned merchant ship run aground on their shore."

@Kung Fu Action Theater: KFATales Episode #3: "The Paper Dragon Breathes Fire" by Winnie Khaw, read by Ty Konzak. Historic Adventure.
"The essence of a dynastic change, something that occurred frequently in Chinese history, and while such events are often times of triumph they are also equal parts tragedy caused by the all too mortal failings of man."

@Misfits Audio Productions: Strange Stories Episode #10: "Unicorn in the Closet" by Mike Murphy, performed by a full cast.
"Returning to her childhood home, a young woman finds herself drawn into a magical world of her youth."

@SFFaudio: Yesterday, I linked to LibriVox's The Mad Planet by Murray Leinster, check out the art, as well as a printable CD case for the story at SFFaudio.


Flash Fiction:



@Brain Harvest: "The Break" By Amy McLane.
@Flashes in the Dark: "Mushroom Pizza" By Zach Owen
@365 tomorrows: "Sorry" by Richard Chins.
@10Flash Quarterly: "Accompaniment" fantasy by Keffy R. M. Kehrli.
@10Flash Quarterly: "A La Mode" fantasy by Karina Fabian.
@10Flash Quarterly: "Aliens" science fiction by D. J. Swatski.
@10Flash Quarterly: "As Is" science fiction by Sandra M. Odell.
@10Flash Quarterly: "Brown Bottle Nostrum" fantasy by Jay Lake.
@10Flash Quarterly: "Data de Morte" dark fantasy by Lorna D. Keach.
@10Flash Quarterly: "Open-Door Policy" horror by David S. Grant.
@10Flash Quarterly: "The Forbidden Stitch" fantasy by Cat Rambo.
@10Flash Quarterly: "The Misanthrope" fantasy by Janna Silverstein.
@10Flash Quarterly: "With Gleaming Blades" fantasy by Anne Patterson Friedman.

Gaming
@Campaign Wiki: All One Page Dungeon Contest 2011 Submissions. Several one page dungeons in a zipped collection of PDFs [via Discourse and Dragons]






@Trollish Delver: "10 free RPGs you must play"
"Free RPGs are all over the major PDF download sites like DrivethruRPG and RPGNow, but the real task is to sift through the mud and find the best free roleplaying games."



Small but Cool Gaming Items
@A Character For Every Game: [1 page dungeon] Ember Crag.
@A Character For Every Game: [dungeon] Infinite Caves of the Shroom-Goblins (part 1 of 2).
@A Character For Every Game: [Encounter] Random Flowing Fountains.
@Ancient Vaults & Eldritch Secrets: [New Spells] Everbloom and Ghosthaunt.
@The Land of NOD: [Encounter] Mu-Pan - Encounter XX.
@The Labyrinth: Reimagining the Goblin.
@Blog on the Borderlands: "Vodyanoi, Burrowing"
@Sea of Stars: [New Magic Items] Eos’ Lamp and Fama’s Talisman.

Mondays aren't all bad - Free Fiction

Lots of cool free items today! There is fiction in many formats, text, audio, serial, illustrated (comics), and collaborative (gaming). It takes a bit of the sting off the fact that it's a Monday. And if anyone sees Lt. Bob, please kick him hard for yesterday's movie.




E-Fiction
At Daily Science Fiction, "Waiting In The Corners" by Brian Dolton.
"We used to be there all the time. In the background, but there, in the dark corners. We'd come out at night, or when you were alone. When there were strange sounds in the jungles of Cambodia, or on the wild Scottish cliffs. Then you'd remember us, and look around, and be afraid."

Online HERE.



At Ray Gun Revival, "Catastrophe Baker and the Cold Equations" by Mike Resnick.
"If you really want to know about the cold equations, there’s only one person to ask, and that’s me—Catastrophe Baker, hero by trade but all too frequently fugitive by misunderstanding."

Online HERE.


At Fantasy Magazine, "The Sandal-Bride" by Genevieve Valentine.
"Pilgrims always cried when they crested the hill and saw the spires of Miruna; they usually fell to their knees right in the middle of traffic. All I saw was the gate that led to the Night Market."

Online text and MP3 download HERE.



At Anotherealm, "Keeping Up appearances" by Shawn Murphy and Tana Lyma.

"What big teeth you have, grandma—and your breath! — Little about-to-be-eaten Riding Hood"

Online HERE.



The Fifth Dimension fantasy and SF e-zine has its edition 13, #1--March 2011 issue up with

"Unnatural Selection" by Adam La Rusic & Johan Thornton
"Real Good Looking Boy" by Daniel C. Smith
"The Dance of Predator and Prey" by Joyce Reynolds-Ward
"The Girl with Two Eyes" by Eric Del Carlo


These, as well as poetry and editorial" are HERE.



Aoife's Kiss has a sample story and poem from its March 2011 issue free online. "Nights of Wonder," by K. S. Hardy, and the poem, "When I Was Numb," by Maria Kelly



Both online HERE (probably temporarily)





Mirror Dance, a free online magazine of fantasy stories, art, and poetry has its Spring 2011 online featuring

Fiction by Chrystalla Thoma, Laura Kjosen, Cheryl Wood Ruggiero, and Crowerd Robinson.

Poetry by Laura Garrison, Sari Krosinky, Robert Shmigelsky, and Deborah Walker.

All online HERE.



Serial Fiction
At Kat and Mouse: Guns For Hire, part two of "Taking Care of Business" by Abner Senires.
"Sakura looked up from her plate of waffles and eggs and smiled at the short-haired blond in the opposite seat. She was dressed just like in the surveillance shots Simon took. Knee-length black leather coat. Black shirt and pants."

Online HERE.



Audio Fiction
At Beam Me Up, episode 251, with classic fiction "The Salesman" by Waldo Boyd and "part two of David Steffen’s retelling of the Wizard of Oz theme called 'The Utility of Love'. In Part two we meet more of the cast of characters but there are some pretty major differences that leads the main characters in substantially different directions."

Streaming and in MP3 download HERE.




At Scott Sigler's website, The Starter episode #4.
"Quentin & Company deal with the aftermath of the championship parade. With the Tier One season fast approaching, can the Krakens manage these distractions?"


In MP3 download HERE.





At The Drama Pod Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne is being serialized.

Parts one through five are available in MP3 downloads HERE.


At Cthulhu, episode 97 featuring "The Spawn of Dagon" part 2.

In Mp3 download HERE.




Gaming
At Dragonsfoot, "The Howling Hills" This module is one of a series of adventures created in homage to the deadliest adventure ever created, The Tomb of Horrors! An Adventure of characters of level 10-14

In a free PDF download HERE.




At DriveThruRPG, Oubliette #5 is available as a free download for a limited time (through March, 2011).
"Written for Labyrinth Lord, but also ideal for use with any Basic/Expert/Advanced original or clone, with little or no adjustment required." Contains a large article on Paladins.



In PDF download HERE.




At The Land of Nod, part one of Mu-Pan, a pseudo-Asian setting for NOD.
"Mu-Pan is the fabulous land of jade, silk and lotus blossoms that makes princes of Motherlander merchants."

Online HERE.



Comics
At The Comic Book Catacombs, ""The Red Hills of Uganda" from Amazing Adventures #5 (Nov.1951) . Giant Ants!




Online HERE.





At Grantbridge Street & Other Misadventures, "Requiem for a Werewolf!" from Tales of Evil #2. The title says it all.



Online HERE (caution PG post nut R rated site).