Wednesday Morning Free Fiction

A few fiction finds for this Wednesday morning. There's an Ed Greenwood (Forgotten Realms) story with an unusual origin, three free, and very different, genre eZines online, and a few free "eBooks" for your Kindle compatible device. Also there are reviews of free SF stories (all with links to the free story), and a bit of audio fiction and classic OTR. A bit more to come later.

Today's illustration is from AntipodeanSF #158 below.









@WotC: "The Rise of Bardic Beauty" by Ed Greenwood. Fantasy.

"At Gen Con in 2010, Ed Greenwood and a room full of Gen Con attendees met together at the Spin a Yarn seminar to create a work of cooperative storytelling. Each person in the seminar had a chance (or several) to make suggestions"

Now posted: Cafe Irreal Issue 39 [surreal fiction]:

• "The Spindler" by Kevin Sexton.
• "The Zeno Question" by Patrick Lawler.
• "Impossibly Blue" by Zdravka Evtimova.
• "Distant Brain Detection" by Richard Holinger.
• "The Toilet Situation 2" by Patrick Cosgrove.

Now posted: Residential Aliens 5.5 [Speculative Fiction]:

• "Some Assembly Required" by T. M. Hunter.
• "Snow Angel" by Joanne Galbraith.
• "The Convert" by Eric Landreneau.
• "Beatitude" by Fred Warren.

Now Posted: AntipodeanSF #158 [via Beam Me Up]

@Pixel of Ink [Kindle]:

• "Ice Cracker II" by Lindsay Buroker. Fantasy.
• "A Faerie Fated Forever" by Mary Anne Graham. Paranormal Romance.
• "The Knight of Death" by Brendan Carroll. Fantasy.
• "Strange Neighbors" by Ashlyn Chase. Paranormal Romance.
• "Elliot and the Goblin War" by Jennifer A. Nielsen. Children's Fantasy.

Reviewed Free SF
@Variety SF: "Delayed Action" by Charles V. De Vet. Science Fiction. (1953)
@BestScienceFictionStories.com: "Genome" by Giri. Science Fiction. (2010)
@BestScienceFictionStories.com: "The Hell Ship" by Ray Palmer. Science Fiction. (1952)

Audio SF
@Antipodean SF: "AntiSF Radio Show 157 Delta" featuring "The Succession" by David Scholes, "Linda's Boat" by David McVeigh, "Captive" by Claire Lockyer, and "Toyshop" by Harry Harrison, read by Cori Samuel.

@Triplanetary: The Adventures of Superman "Mystery Of The Lost Planet Parts 1-4" (1947).

Monday Free Fiction

It's Monday, but it's not all bad. There are a few cool freebies today, including today's highlighted story "Swans" (It's by Kelly Link and it's at Fantasy Magazine. Enough said."









@Fantasy Magazine: "Swans" by Kelly Link.

"My name is Emma Bear, and I am eleven years old. I live on Black Ankle Road beside the Licking River. I live in a palace. My father is a king. I have a fairy godfather."

@Free eBooks Daily [All DRM]:

"The Watchers From Within Moments, Revealed" by Mark Paul Jacobs. Horror.
"Turing Evolved" by David Kitson. Science Fiction.
"Astra: Synchronicity" by Lisa Eskra. Science Fiction.
"Martian Invaders Meet Mom" by Rebecca Lickiss. YA/ Science Fiction.

Flash Fiction
@Brain Harvest: "Terahertz" by Simon Kewin. Speculative Fiction.
@Daily Science Fiction: "Deathbed" by Caroline M Yoachim.
@Every Day Fiction: "The Sounds in the Woods" by Jonathan Ruland. Horror.
@Flashes in the Dark: "Monsters" by Anthony Conium. Horror.
@Flashes in the Dark: "Shadows" by Neil Leckman. Horror.
@Flashes in the Dark: "The Fire Baby" By Michael Albani. Horror.
@Quantum Muse: "You and We" by Larry Hodges.
@365 tomorrows: "I Want To Go" by Timothy Marshal-Nichols. Science Fiction.
@365 tomorrows: "The County Agents" by Eric L. Sofer. Science Fiction.
@365 tomorrows: Your Child in Space by Alia Gee. Science Fiction.


Reviewed Free SF
@BestScienceFictionStories.com: "Scales" by Alastair Reynolds (2009).
@BestScienceFictionStories.com: "Flying in the Face of God" by Nina Allan.
@Variety SF: "A Woman's Place" by Mark Clifton (1955).
@Variety SF: "Eight Miles" by Sean McMullen (2010).

Serial Audio Fiction
@Author's Site: "The Starter (episode #24)" by Scott Sigler.
@Triplanetary: "Superman: The Radar Rocket (parts 14-20)" (1946)


Non-Fiction Podcasts
@SFFaudio: Podcast #118 "Scott, Jesse and Tamahome talk about Philip K. Dick’s wonderful novelette 'Upon The Dull Earth"
@SF Signal: Podcast (Episode 068) "ReaderCon Recap"
@Comics Podcsat Network: Deconstructing Comics #287 "Jeff Parker interview"
@Comics Podcsat Network: Weekly Comics Spotlight #205: 2011-07-13
@Roving Band of Misfits: Level Up — Episode #15 "Deathmatch, Staff of Ruin, and Worldbreakers" [via RPG Bloggers]

Free Fantasy, SF, and Horror

Some very good free fiction today (new, classic, and audio)










@Fantasy Magazine:"The Machine" by M. Rickert. Fantasy.

"Graveyards creak with too many bones, and the weight of headstones, and when the wind blows the air is dusty with the dead. Ah life, its hoary inevitability. What’s the point?"

Now Posted: Expanded Horizons #30 (July 2011). Speculative Fiction.
"The School" by Lavie Tidhar.

"There had been another boy at the school, called Ender, but he’d attacked and seriously hurt and in at least one case we knew of killed one of the other boys, and they finally had to put him down, though he kept protesting, the day they came for him, that it wasn’t his fault."

"A Handful of Earth" by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.

"He left, crates filled with earth, bound for England. Left us behind, promising to send for us. We believed him. But as the days went by, I realized he’d lied."

"Standing in Line at the End of the World: How One Man Became a God As Told to Isha Kiss" by Malon Edwards.

"For you, the Day of the Redeemer is a day to throw off the genteel and chaste Iaran shackles of society, let your hair down (or preen your crest feathers or touch-up your nacreous black lips), raise your petticoats and fulfill your every desire."

"The Representative" by T.N. Collie.

"Alex Haley, a man big on freedom and dignity, once said, “When you clench your fist, no one can put anything in your hand.” Well, my hands were clenched when the woman’s business card appeared in one of them as I sat outside of Beanie’s Café sipping a zebra mocha."

@Week in Rewind: Free Kindle eBook: “Draugr” by Arthur Slade [via SF Signal]. Horror.

“Are you afraid of the dead?” her grandfather asked. Sarah Asmundson will discover the answer to that question. She is prepared for her grandfather’s scary stories, but is anything but prepared when events from the story about a draugr–a man who comes back from the dead–begin to happen around her.

Serial Fiction
@Author's Site. "The Journals of Doctor Mormeck (Mountain)–Entry #13" by Jeff VanderMeer. Science Fiction.

"It has been five days since my last confession, father, and I have sinned…Except I don’t believe in God or priests, despite the fact Marty does, and my “father” was my mother, too,"

@L5R: "Goddess (Part 1)" by Shawn Carman. Fantasy.

"The Hiruma scout carefully surveyed the land to the south and then crept back down the stone outcropping like the shadow of a cloud crossing a midday garden. He hurried back to the command group and bowed sharply. “There is movement again to the south, my lord Benjiro-sama,” he reported. “I believe the Destroyers definitely know that we are here, and are moving to separate any avenue of escape we might have.”"

Classic SF/Horror
@Gutenberg: A Book of Ghosts by S. Baring-Gould (1904). Horror. Ghost Stories.

"If He Went Out For a Walk They Trotted Forth With Him, Some Before, Some Following."

@Munseys and Project Gutenberg: Pharaoh's Broker by Ellsworth Douglass (1899). Science Fiction. Mars.

"I now understood the more composed behaviour of the women. They were accustomed to the idea of being taken in war, and never suffered slaughter or hardship thereby, but merely a change of masters. As they now left the Park they eyed me curiously, as if wondering from what sort of new master they had escaped. I imagined I could detect some signs of disappointment among them, at being cheated out of a trip to a new star or being dismissed from the service of a god. "

@Munseys and Project Gutenberg: "The Premiere" by Richard Sabia, from Amazing Science Fiction Stories September 1959. Science Fiction.

"The young actor was great.... They didn't realize just how great until the night of"

@Munseys and Project Gutenberg:"The Merchants of Venus" by A. H. Phelps, rom Galaxy Science Fiction March 1954.

"A pioneer movement is like a building—the foundation is never built for beauty!"

@Internet Archive: "The Black Brain" by Robert Bloch, from Fantastic Adventures (March 1943). [via Marooned - Science Fiction & Fantasy books on Mars]

"If this was the brain of a Martian millions of years, how could it be alive? How could it keep on growing?"

Reviewed Free SF
BestScienceFictionStories.com: "Cucumber Gravy" by Susan Palwick (2001). Science Fiction.

"I do not need the government crawling up my backside to regulate me, and I have a lot more customers this way, and I make a lot more money. Being legal would be nothing but a pain in the ass, even if I didn’t have to worry about keeping people from finding out about the space cucumbers."

BestScienceFictionStories.com: "Ej-Es" by Nancy Kress (2003). Science Fiction.

"You had to be a little insane to leave Earth for the Corps, knowing that when (if) you ever returned, all you had known would have been dust for centuries."

Escape Pod has posted it's 300th episode!! "We Go Back" by Tim Pratt, read by Mur Lafferty. Science Fiction.

"My best friend Jenny Kay climbed in through my window and nearly stepped on my head. If I’d been sleeping a foot closer to the wall, I would’ve gotten a face full of her boot, but instead I just snapped awake and said “What who what now?” and blinked a lot."

@Beam Me Up: "Greeters" by Zachery Cole. "What is it like to be a greeter for a big box department store now imagine you have been built expressly for that purpose – and all you want is a little time to figure out how the world works."and part 1 of "Paid" by Deanna knippling. "Boregard is both a multi-dimensional time traveler or a down and out gum-shoe. Neither and both are correct depending on what version of himself you ask….." Science Fiction.


@SFF audio: "The Stolen Bacillus" by H.G. Wells, read by Dawn Keenan.

"An anarchist, intent on wreaking ruin on a city, steals a phial from a bacteriologist."

@LibriVox: A new reading of The Time Machine by H. G. Wells, read by Mark F. Smith. Science Fiction.

"Surely the Time Traveler threw great dinner parties! His guests were treated to a once-in-forever trial of a miniature time machine – an exquisite miniature that acted so flawlessly as to appear to be stage magic."

@LibriVox: A new reading of Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, read by Caden Vaughn Clegg.

"Frankenstein starts to recover from his exertion and recounts his story to Walton. Before beginning his story, Frankenstein warns Walton of the wretched effects of allowing ambition to push one to aim beyond what one is capable of achieving."

@LibriVox: Violet: A Fairy Story by Caroline Snowden Guild, many readers.

"A charming fairytale -- with realistic touches -- from the mid-19th Century."

Serial Audio
@Journey Into: "Cyberpunk (Part 1)" by D.K. Thompson, full cast. [Via David Barr Kirtley] Science Fiction.

"Log on or die. Test gamer Billy Gibson didn't realize his next job would change his life and family forever."

@Author's Site: "The Starter (Episode 22)" by Scott Sigler. Science Fiction.

"Quentin and the Krakens head to To to square off against Quentin's favorite team from his childhood. Quentin will lead his team against Frank Zimmer, the best QB in the league, and the hero of Quentin's youth. Will the Krakens prevail?"

@Triplanetary: The Adventures of Superman "The Radar Rocket (Parts 1-5)"

"Leapin' lizards! Jimmy Olsen is trapped in space aboard the radar rocket. Can even Superman save him?"

Fan Audio
@Misfits Audio: "GL-Man Without Fear: “History Lesson – Part 1”"

"Sodam Yat, holder of the mighty Ion powers, has questions for Guy and Kyle about Sinestro. In an attempt to find such answers the trio consults the great “Book of Oa”, which explains exactly how the most disciplined GL became their most feared foe!"

TGIF and Free Fiction

As always, some good free genre items, fiction and audio fiction today. I'm amazed out how much is out there. Perhaps years from now, people will look back on the early 21st century as the golden ages of free fiction and podcasting.

More coolness later (either tonight or this weekend) with likely comics, gaming, QD presents, Lt. Bob's movie, and more.







Now Posted: Redstone Magazine #14 (July 2011)

"The Memory Gatherer" by Morgan Dempsey. Science Fiction.

"It’s much easier these days as the war dwindles, once-empty beaches now dumping grounds for the remains of destroyed AI, scattered circuits of green laced with gold, charred and battered and stinking of ruin."

"0wnz0red" by Cory Doctorow.

"Ten years in the Valley, and all Murray Swain had to show for it was a spare tire, a bald patch, and a life that was friendless and empty and maggoty-rotten."

@Ray Gun Revival: "Midgard" by M G Kizzia. Science Fiction.

"'Hell.' Jacobson switched off the scan system and that voice before it burned out completely. Sparks flew everywhere in the cockpit. 'I got old radar of the surface.' Jacobson talked to himself as pilots sometimes do. 'Life-scan shows benign plants, but no animals.'"

@Daily Science Fiction: "The Artwork of the Knid" by John Parke Davis.

"By the time I was twenty-five, I had grown used to the knid, seeing them standing alone at a bus stop, a small cleared out circle around them; watching them sitting by themselves in the park contemplating ants or trees or the paint peeling on a bench. The stooped, fragile little creatures had grown more prevalent in those days, but were still fairly rare, even in the larger cities."

@GigaNotoSaurus: "The Migratory Pattern of Dancers" by Katherine Sparrow.

"And now my eyes have changed. The cornea and pupil widen so that the white is barely visible. A mercy that the genetic modifications left me normal eyes for summer and winter, but when it changes, it is unsettling for everyone. My vision increases three-fold. It is the last sign that it is time. "

@Aurora Wolf: "The Melting of 92A" by Anne Patterson Friedman. Science Fiction.

"Throughout her stay on the icy world, she had seen no other life—no bugs, no shoots greening the bleak expanse. She knew of these in shadowed ways only, from frayed memories, from bedtime tales not wholly forgotten. And now, eyeing the spine of a curved white ridge, she wondered if Outpost 92A were not itself alive, a planet-sized armadillo curled into its sleeping self."

Now Posted: Crossed Genres #31 Heroes and Heroines
Life Line by Sandra M. Odell

“I talked to Deputy Delmore yesterday.” Ryan fussed with her hair, her hospital gown, seeking the reassurance of touch. “He said the guy has lawyered up even though he popped twice the legal limit on the Breathalyzer.”

Trapped Inside of Good by Adam King

"I got it from a shelter. Its name was Ajax, a female runt with sad eyes that Boom fell in love with and I had to feed. When I got back with the mutt, I tied it to a door and took Boom out, and we stopped a man from kidnapping a little girl from a mini mall just as he slid her drugged body into his van."

Kinetica by Rachel Bender

"My mistake was moving to a small town. It would’ve been easier to lose myself, become anonymous and faceless, in someplace like Chicago or St. Louis, but it seemed like there’d just be too many temptations in the city. All I’d have to do is walk past one mugging in a dark alley and I wouldn’t be able to help myself. The hero sickness would rear its ugly head again."

Yerushalom by S. Ali

"Amal narrowed her eyes, twisting the scopes on the battered binoculars to zoom in on the camp below. A young man was tearing the flat brown loaves into equal sections, passing them around the small circle of ragged refugees. Any remaining doubt vanished. The hardened protein cakes her people ate were more likely to break your teeth than tear in your hand, and they certainly never elicited smiles like the ones on the faces of the children eating below."

The Foolish Samurai by M. Shaw

"The samurai is asleep in a sewer drain, a very large and spacious sewer drain south of the industrial district. Tomorrow he is going to break into the evil wizard’s corporate HQ. Things have gotten desperate, almost as desperate as they were last time he broke into HQ. But that’s tomorrow."

Serial Fiction
@White Wolf: "Silent Knife" part 11 by David Nurenberg. Horror. Urban Fantasy.

"Andrei followed tentatively, but without protest, as Ariadne led him through the dimly lit hallways of the First National Bank of Boston, where even the soft press of their footsteps on the carpet sounded incriminating."

@L5R: "The Destroyer War part 17" by Shawn Carman. Fantasy.

"The village of Zokujin Mura was protected by the most unusual of defenses that Kakita Yosuga had ever seen: a massive wall of stone and earth that had been created by a supernaturally powerful earthquake high in the mountains."

@Escape Pod: Episode #299 "Plus or Minus" by James Patrick Kelly, read by Christiana Ellis. Science Fiction.

"Everything changed once Beep found out that Mariska’s mother was the famous Natalya Volochkova. Mariska’s life aboard the Shining Legend went immediately from bad to awful. Even before he singled her out, she had decided that there was no way she’d be spending the rest of her teen years crewing on an asteroid bucket. "

@Pseudopod: "Dearest Daughter" by Kate Marshall, read by Grammar Girl. Horror.

"When you call me to your room, we both know you’re going to die. Your bones are so frail I think they’ll crack under the weight of the thin cotton sheet; I think your skin will burn under the harsh lights of the hospital room. You push a shoebox toward me with a hand so withered the bones shine through."

Serial Audio
@Classic Tales Podcast: "The Mark of Zorro Part 1 of 9" by Johnston McCulley, Read by B. J. Harrison. Adventure.

"The incredibly pompous Sergeant Pedro Gonzales boasts up and down of what he will do if he ever meets with the masked highwayman known as Zorro. But when the tavern door opens and reveals a black masked stranger, Sergeant Gonzales must put his puffed up boasts to the test."

Fan Audio
@BrokenSea Audio: "Doctor Who – Season 4 – Episode 1 – Viracocha" Science Fiction.

@Pendant Audio: Issue 50 of "Supergirl: Lost Daughter of Krypton" Superhero.

"Metallo is trapped inside his mind while Kara and Kal fight for their lives"

@Pendant Audio: Issue 78 of "Superman: The Last Son of Krypton" Superhero.

"Lois catches up with friends while Lobo makes a deal with Superman!"

Monday

Some great free fiction today including a Holly Philips short story in Fantasy Magazine and a Jason Sanford story dramatized at LightningBolt Theater. More good stuff later because, as normal, I'm running late. I really should get organized but honestly, it's more likely that a herd of winged unicorns will fly down from the sky and perform the latest Blackmore's Night album than me getting organized.







@Fantasy Magazine: "Virgin of the Sands" by Holly Phillips.

"Graham came out of the desert leaving most of his men dead behind him. He debriefed, he bathed, he dressed in a borrowed uniform, and without food, without rest, though he needed both, he went to see the girl."

@Daily Science Fiction: "The Thinning" by Christopher Owen.

"Becky was in her kitchen, mixing up a batch of love potion, when the electric people knocked at her door."

@AE: The Canadian SF Review: "Humans Love You" by Tracy Canfield.

"The Aerumnula name for the station worked out to Floats Above Blue Planet with White Moon, but Jordan Eversley thought of it as Three Loud Buzzes and a Fart. It held fifty-eight hundred Aerumnulae, of which three hundred were coiled on the concave auditorium floor. Fifty-eight hundred Aerumnulae and Jordan."

Serial Fiction
@Strange Horizons: "The All-Night Truck Stop Polka Band (part 2 of 2)" by Shaenon K. Garrity. Spec. Fiction.

"A muscular, white-toothed UPS man stood in the hall. Except that he wasn't a UPS man. Someone had clearly put a lot of work into the uniform, but it was the wrong shade of brown and some of the insignias read PSU. He had two lobes on each ear, which was probably another mistake."

@L5R: "The Destroyer War, Part 15" by Shawn Carman. Fantasy.

"Only a short time ago, the lands around the River of Gold had been beautiful, worthy of being depicted in a hundred paintings, mentioned in a thousand poems. That was before the Destroyers had come."

@Mindflights: "Saplings" by Lindsey Duncan. Fantasy.

"Hevia was an herbalist before she obtained mysterious powers and found herself caring for royal children. When a menace in the trees steals away one of her charges, she sets off to bring him back with a nanny's magic."

@LightningBolt Theater: "Peacemaker, Peacemaker, Little Bo Peep" by Jason Sanford, performed by a full cast.

"When your neighbors and friends suddenly turn against you because their dreams tell them to hate violence, your main priority is to survive. The world has turned upside down for Sgt. Glosser, Sgt. Davies and the convicted murderer Victor."

Serial Audio
@Beam Me Up: Episode 266 "Luna Voices on the Solar Winds, part 1" by Rick Wood. And "Dark Inspectre episode 13" by Jason Kahn

"a research outing on the surface of the Moon goes horribly wrong when a science / research outing gets trapped in the open by a solar eruption which blinds their maps, and scrambles their communications"

@Cthulhu: "The Fire Of Asshurbanipal, part 2" by Robert E. Howard.

"In this episode we get to hear the completion of the "Fire" story with its juicey Cthulhu references and adventure."

@Author's Site: "The Starter, episode #19" by Scott Sigler.

"The Krakens finish their game against the Themala Dreadnaughts. Will Quentin run the plays that are called? Or, will he again try to run his own game instead of running the offensive of coach Hokor the Hookchest?"

@Dramapod: "Journey to the Centre of the Earth Part Fourteen" by Jules Verne.

The classic story continues.

@Triplanetary: "The Adventures of Superman: Looking For Kryptonite parts 11-15."

"Can Superman successfully track down the missing pieces of kryptonite? The plot is beginning to return to the standard mystery/thriller style storyline that typifies the series."

Fan Audio
@Misfits Audio Productions: "Star Rabbit Tracks Ep 2-06: Return of Deadeye" by N.J. Rainford, performed by a full cast.

"A spot of R & R for the crew of the Jackalope leads to a bigger adventure for Lt Taddy McZacker when he encounters a face from the past, Deadeye Eastlife."

Free Science Fiction, Steampunk Audio, and Paranormal Romance Audio

Some very good Fiction on a dreary Tuesday (hopefully you are all having better weather). We have Science Fiction from Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Lightspeed Magazine, and Daily Science Fiction. Serial fiction at Strange Horizons, audio fiction from The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences (Steampunk) and Wily Writers Podcast (Fantasy/Paranormal Romance). And more of the classic radio Superman serial.

Classic SF and Gaming will appear either tonight or tomorrow.

Today's illustration is for the two "The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences" stories in the audio fiction.







@Lightspeed Magazine: "Frost Painting" by Carolyn Ives Gilman. Science Fiction.

“It’s easy for you East‑Coasters to be tolerant,” the man said. “You don’t have to live near them. I’ll tell you this: If those weirdos ever decide to come out of the mountains, we’re going to be ready for them. That is, if you liberals haven’t taken away our guns by then, too.”

@Author's Site: "Elites" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. Science Fiction.

"Rowena runs the House, a place for homeless Sky veterans. The House, open only to the women who compose the Elite Squad, has only a few rules: No names, no details, no weapons. The problem? Anything can become a weapon—even a toilet bowl scrubber. Even a word. Especially a word. A word that could destroy both Rowena and her House."

@Daily Science Fiction: "Dharma Dog and Dogma" by Steven Paul Mathes.

"The door crashes open, shattered by a kicking black boot. The police have cloaking devices, noise cancellation, robots, battering rams, and computerized lock picks--technology. The big black jackboots? Awkward, but what a retro statement."

Serial Fiction
@Strange Horizons: "The All-Night Truck Stop Polka Band (part 1 of 2)" by Shaenon K. Garrity. Speculative Fiction.

"Meanwhile, the band members were busy. They were saving the world. They mentioned this pretty often, although all they seemed to do was drink beer, smoke Marlboros, watch TV, and raid the kitchen. They all loved TV. They'd missed thirteen years of it, and everything fascinated them."

@The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences: "Hanuman’s Gift" written and narrated by Helen E. H. Madden. Steampunk. [via Parsec Awards]

"Deep in the Archives, Augustus Whitby toils through his duties in the Archives, dreaming up romantic stories far more plausible than the supposed “investigations” of the field agents. A story from Agent Harrison Thorne and an unassuming artifact from his recent case, however, proves much to Whitby’s chagrin that there are some truths that are far stranger than fiction."

@The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences: "A Ruby in Rain" written and narrated by Grant Stone. Steampunk. [via Parsec Awards]

"From the farthest edge of the Empire, New Zealand agents Lachlan King and Barry Ferguson are called to interview a recent arrival to Auckland’s prisons. An infamous gambler, according to the constable’s account, has turned himself into their custody, not for the safety of society but for his own. The Ministry steps in to uncover a man’s story of impressive luck, and more incredible vision."

@Wily Writers Podcast: "Catch and Release" by Cassandra D’Angelo. Fantasy, Paranormal Romance. Text version also available. [via Parsec Awards]

"The story of a young man’s deep desire to be known by someone else. What he doesn’t know is that the only person who can truly appreciate him is a merwoman, destined to live her life just out of his reach"

@Wily Writers Podcast: "Fear of Darkness" by Christine Danse. Fantasy, Fiction, Paranormal Romance. Text version also available. [via Parsec Awards]

"Alena Swift, hunter of creatures that stalk the night, is terrified of the dark–and in love with a shadow. When a terrible demon is unleashed upon San Francisco, it is up to her and her mysterious hunting partner to stop it."

Classic Serial Audio
@Triplanetary: The Adventures of Superman "Looking for Kryptonite parts 6-10"
"Helped by his friends, Batman and Robin, Superman pursues the mysterious gang whose symbol is a crescent and star. It's interesting to note that unlike today's Batman, who often uses the threat of torture to get criminals to talk, this Golden Age Batman instead gets info using a clever ruse. Odd, but clever. "

Innsmoth Free Press, Pathfinder Tales, Star Pirates, and More

There's some terrifyingly good Lovecraft inspired fiction today as the seventh issue of Innsmoth Free Press is out. And there's plenty more good free fiction (classic, new, and serial) linked below.

And there are some good free audio fiction and comic book stories.


Today's illustration is from "The Ironroot Deception" in the serial fiction section.











Issue #7 of Innsmoth Free Press is posted featuring:

"Cool Mist" by W.H. Pugmire.

"Night seeped into the early evening sky and made it black. I remember wandering that realm of ink in search of perfect solitude, hunting for one uninhabited place where I could sit undisturbed and weep for the soul of my young lover, dead by his own hand. "

"A Tour of the Catacombs" by Stephen Woodworth.

"And I hope there shall be no stragglers among you. As we say in the Abbey, only two sorts enter the Catacombs: the quick and the dead."

"On The Generation of Insects" by Byron Alexander Campbell.

"Democritus bears witness that men first appeared in the form of small worms, which little by little assumed human shape…After a long period of fertility, during which many monstrous and marvelous generations were brought forth, the Earth Mother became at last exhausted and sterile…."

"Nyarlathotep" Don Webb.

"I stood on the high balcony, looking eastward to the rising sun. The pillars were deep-red and the roof slightly curved, suggesting “China ” to me. But it was not China – at least, not the China of now. "

"Black Sand" by Regina Glei.

"Despite his many layers of clothing, Orin almost froze to death and cursed the Elders who had sent him on the journey through the plain to the Cone Islands in the Lake of Stone."

"Every Little Sparrow" by Melissa Sorensten.

"Phebe had overheard one of the nurses saying that Ruth White, Phebe’s 12-year-old best friend, would be the next to be lowered into such a lead-lined pit."

@Tor.com: "Six Months, Three Days" by Charlie Jane Anders .

"The man who can see the future has a date with the woman who can see many possible futures."

Classic Fiction
@Munseys and Project Gutenberg: "Fly by Night" by Arthur Dekker Savage, from IF Worlds of Science Fiction (May 1954).

A young man and a young woman alone on the first over-the-moon ship. The world cheered them as the most romantic adventurers in all history. Do-gooders decried them as immoral stunters. Gaunt, serious militarists pronounced them part of the most crucial experiment ever undertaken....

@Munseys and Project Gutenberg: "Mr. President" by Stephen Arr, from Galaxy Science Fiction (Nov. 1953).

He had been overwhelmingly elected. Messages of sympathy poured in, but they couldn't help ... nothing could.

@Munseys and Project Gutenberg: "Death of a B.E.M." by Berkeley Livingston, from Amazing Stories (Oct. 1948).

The writer hated to create bug-eyed monsters, but they hated him too!

@Munseys and Project Gutenberg: "Forsyte's Retreat" by Winston Marks, from IF Worlds of Science Fiction (May 1954).

Sextus Rollo Forsyte had his trouble with the bottle, but nothing out of a bottle ever produced such a hotel as the Mahoney-Plaza: only 260 rooms ... only two guests to a room ... but accommodating 5200 guests—all at the same time!... Floor please?

@Munseys and Project Gutenberg: "Uniform of a Man" by Dave Dryfoos, from IF Worlds of Science Fiction (May 1954).

After rescue, revenge was uppermost in Chet Barfield's mind; the hideous, bestial Agvars had to be taught a lesson they'd never forget. His rescuers seemed to disagree, however—until Chet learned his lesson too!

@The Internet archive: "The Blonde from Barsoom" by Robert F. Young, from Amazing Stories (July 1962). [via Marooned - Science Fiction & Fantasy books on Mars]

"The Tarks were attacking, the bosomy princess was clinging to him in terror, and Harold smith realized he was at the end of his plot line. What a dilemma! And what an opportunity!!"

@The Internet archive: Amazing Stories Volume 01 Number 01 (April 1926). [Via Triplanetary]

"Scanned copy of a pulp magazine published by Experimenter Publishing Co. and edited by Hugo Gernsback."

Serial Fiction
@Pathfinder Tales: "The Ironroot Deception - Chapter Two: The Hole" by Robin D. Laws.

"On massive, clawed legs, the forest-beast bounds toward the elves and their captives. Its beady eyes, shielded by rootlike extrusions, seem to lock onto Gad. It stops to snort and paw the ground."

Reviewed Free Fiction
@BestScienceFictionStories.com: "Spider The Artist" by Nnedi Okorafor.

"A Nigerian woman escapes from her abusive husband to the quiet land behind her house where she plays her guitar and finds a bit of peace and solitude. However, this is dangerous because she is so near the fuel pipeline that is guarded by Zombies"

Serial Audio
@The Drama Pod: "Journey to the Centre of the Earth: Part Thirteen" by Jules Verne.

"The story involves a German professor who believes there are volcanic tubes going toward the center of the Earth. He, his nephew Axel, and their guide Hans encounter many adventures, including prehistoric animals and natural hazards." - Wikipedia.

Classic Serial Audio
@Triplanetary: The adventures of Superman "Looking For Kryptonite" Parts 1-5."

"In this story arc Superman once more teams up with Batman and Robin to hunt down the remaining pieces of kryptonite."

Fan Audio
@Pendant Audio: "Star Trek: Defiant -Episode 57 - Wednesday Night Regatta"

"Darcy races to unravel a mystery as Task Force Defiant joins the games!"

@Digital Comics Museum: "Star Pirate Archive Pt.1" Sci-Fi from Planet Comics 12-39.




@The Bloody Pulp: " "Torture Garden" & "The Living Dead" B&W. Horror.
@The Horrors of It All: "Vampires Two" 1954. Horror.
@Atomic Kommie Comics: "Barbarella 3.1" Sci-Fi.

Memorial Day Free Fiction

Same very good fiction today - more (along with comics and gaming) tomorrow.










@ChiZine:

"Mrs. Kong" by Sandra Kasturi.
"Mrs. Kong sighs. Take the jungle, for instance. Its verdant insinuation into their home, their food, their bed, is a battle she fights to a standstill each day"

"Everyone on Earth" by Brett A. Savory.
"I miss his head and hear bone crunch against my knuckles. His clavicle cracks."

"A Viper Among Us" by N. R. Brown.
"The entire Flock figured he’d disappeared because he needed time to mourn—everyone but Mambo Cree, high priestess of the church."

"Not That Kind Of Town" by Daniel Kaysen.
"Then the victims’ friends and family mark the spot, with flowers in cellophane, taped to the bark or the metal."

"Dust Bunnies" by Jeremy C. Shipp.
"I can’t for the life of me remember why my mother didn’t attend her funeral yesterday, so I ask her."

@Kasma: "Manifest Error" by Gary Cuba.

"Diogenes rediscovered the wayward bio-stasis chamber while struggling with the ship's balky cargo transfer lorry. The chamber, tucked inside a machinery plenum behind the lorry's docking nest, evoked a distant memory that now flooded through his synthetically evolved chimpanzee brain."

@The New Flesh: "Noise Complaints" by Connor de Bruler.

"The man in the adjacent apartment used to listen to sitcoms all night long. The noise pollution of weak storylines and canned laughter bled through the prefabricated walls like noxious gas into a death chamber."

Classic SF
@Munseys and Project Gutenberg: "Adolescents Only" by Irving E. Cox, from Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy (Jan. 1953. )
"Elvin wasn't sure how it had started—maybe it was the Schermerhorn twins—or the mysterious "meteorite"—or else the world had gone crazy...."


@Munseys and Project Gutenberg: "The Worlds of Joe Shannon" by Frank M. Robinson, IF Worlds of Science Fiction (March 1954).

"Strumming a harp while floating on a white cloud might be Paradise for some people, but it would bore others stiff. Given an unlimited chance to choose your ideal world, what would you specify—palaces or log cabins?"

@Munseys and Project Gutenberg: "Project Hush" by Philip Klass, from Galaxy Science Fiction (Feb. 1954).

"The biggest job in history and it had to be done with complete secrecy. It was—which was just the trouble!"

@Munseys and Project Gutenberg: "The Chameleon Man" by William P. McGivern, from from Amazing Stories (Jan. 1943).

"Perfect adaptation, that's what it was. When a human being can blend with his surroundings, funny things can happen!"

@Munseys and Project Gutenberg: "The Last Gentleman" by Rory Magill, from IF Worlds of Science Fiction (Jan. 1953).

"No one knew, no one cared. For a great lethargy was overcoming the people and their only salvation was—"

@The Internet Archive: "We're Civilized!" by Mark Clifton and Alex Apostolides, from Galaxy Science Fiction (Aug. 1953). [via Marooned - Science Fiction & Fantasy books on Mars]

"Naturally, the superior race should win, but superior by which standards, and whose?"

@Project Gutenberg: "The Beautiful People" by Charles Beaumont, from If Worlds of Science Fiction (Sept. 1952). [via Triplanetary]

"Mary was a misfit. She didn't want to be beautiful. And she wasted time doing mad things—like eating and sleeping."

Reviewed and Free
@BestScienceFictionStories.com: "Mouse" by Frederic Brown, from Thrilling Wonder Stories (1949).

"It was cigar-shaped, about seven feet long and two feet in diameter at the thickest point."

@Beam Me Up: Episode #263 featuring part two of "Simulacrum" by Ken Liu (The conclusion "We are carried deeper into the dynamics and implications of the Simulacrum device and how it has impacted the inventor’s life") and "Better Than Jelly Beans" by Doug Hilton ("a twisted tale in the vein of Damon Knights 'To Serve Man'").

@LibriVox: "The Wonderful Garden or The Three C.'s" by E. Nesbit, read by Ruth Golding. Children's Fantasy.

"Do you believe in magic? Caroline, Charles and Charlotte do, and nothing that happens during their summer holiday at their great uncle's house does anything to diminish that belief. "

Serial Audio
@The Author's Site: "The Starter" Episode #16.

"After the game with Isis is over, Quentin, Yassoud and John head out on the town. While Quentin is almost always interested in seeing the sites, tonight the boys have a surprise in store for Quentin."

Classic Serial Audio
@Triplanetary: The Adventures of Superman, now up to "Atom Man In Metropolis" parts 17-19.

"Superman recovers but can he stop the Atom Man in time? Find out as the transcription feature comes to its dramatic conclusion."

Flash Audio
@Beware the Hairy Mango: Weird.

• Episode 77 "Sex, Ice Cream, Sex"
• Episode 78 "Wedding the Dress"

@Daily Science Fiction: "Shades of Orange" by Caroline M Yoachim.
@Dark Valentine: "Passion in Venice" by Cormac Brown.
@AE: "Founding Fathers" by Edward W. Robertson. Science Fiction.
@Everyday Fiction: "The Sat-Nav of Doom" by Nyki Blatchley. Fantasy/humor.
@Everyday Fiction: "Leaf" by Douglas Campbell. Science Fiction.
@Eschatology: "Of a Disease" by Mike Sauve. Horror.
@The New Flesh: "The Keeper" by Kurt Newton. Horror.
@Quantum Muse: "The Virgin Factory" by Harris Tobias.
@365 tomorrows: Science Fiction.

• "The Lottery" by Travis Gregg.
• "The Iteration Cube" by Garrett Harriman.
• "Sign of the Times" by Roi R. Czechvala.
• "Synesthesia" by Evan McCoy.

@Flashes in the Dark: Horror.

• "Shears" by Conan Young.
  
• "The Magician" by Eleni Konstantine.
• "Breathless" by Neil Leckman.

@ChiZine: [poems]

• My Friend Ernie, Trying to Light a Match by Tom Piccirilli
• Lake Ontario Looked at During the August New Moon by Peter Block-Hansen
• Irish Witches by Clara Blackwood
• Neo by Scott E. Green
• The Mummy by Francine Lewis

@Weirdyear:

• "We Have Until Sunrise" by Frank Larnerd [poem]
• "Geronimo of the Stars" by Susan Franceschina.
• "The Para-Idiotic Table" by Ralph Puglisi.
• "Wishful Thinking" by Jeff Hill.

@Yesteryear Fiction: Fantasy.

• "Dolls for Dummies" by Deryn Pittar.
• "Mag and the Tar Pig" by Jesse Harlin.