Showing posts with label Urban Fantasy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Urban Fantasy. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Do You Wanna Party? It's Free Fiction Time

Even more free fiction! What a good day!  For even more, including e-books, be sure to check out Regan Wolfrom's fantastic free links at SF Signal.  [Art from Kaleidotrope Autumn 2013, linked below]







Fiction
• At Author's Site: "The Voodoo Project" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. Urban Fantasy. 2012.
     "Rebekah uses her Sight to fight for good. She works for the Voodoo Project, although her work involves psy ops, not voodoo. She fears retirement and a normal life. So she keeps working, going on missions, never knowing when her next mission will be her last. Because she can see anyone’s future—except her own."

At Short Story.me:
• "The Boy Who Called The Naga" by Michael Schaper. Fantasy.
      "When Vanchay was born, the old village shaman declared him unusual, one to look out for. A boy who could call naga. The boy's mother looked at him, puzzled and a little frightened, but proud as well. She lay on the small birthing bed whilst below them the mighty Mekong rushed by, and for a minute she thought she could hear the water serpent move below."

• "Message in a Rock" by Stewart Mc Kay. Horror.
     "Finally he forces it into my hand and, right enough, it's incredibly light. The colour and the shape remind me of a terracotta bathroom tile, one with irregular, smoothed edges. Is it made of polystyrene? A film prop?"

Now Posted: Quantum Muse - October 2013.
• "The Haunted House " by Harris Tobias- - Alternative.
     "You shouldn't try to do scary on the cheap."

• "Slacker Zombie" by Stephen Hernandez. Alternative.
     "Short horror story for the Halloween edition"

• "Béba Daio's Prayers" by Chris DelGuercio. Alternative.
      "A failing New Orleans store owner calls on a local voodoo priestess to help his business. But at what cost?"

• "The Mortician's Confession" by Michele Dutcher. Science Fiction.
      "The mortician on a small island comes beating frantically on his best friend's door, whispering about cults, and secret books. What could have him so upset?"

• "Grim Park" by Robert Hegwood. Science Fiction.
      "People hear voices in Grim Park, or rather a voice…sometimes when the need is great. It's clearest near the old hanging tree, and if it's in the mood the voice may tell you more than you want to hear."

• "Dr Mephistopheles" by Alex Mair. Alternative.
      "Halloween submission - Sludworth College has a new GCSE chemistry teacher, a man who comes with dark secrets and harbors diabolical intentions. Can the chemistry class stop him before it's too late? Warning - contains weird British acronyms like 'GCSE', 'BBC' and 'A level'."

Now Posted Kaleidotrope Autumn 2013:
• "Mister Bob" by Dan Campbell     
       “It all began with the chicken in the end of the road,” she said.  

• "Lightning Strikes" by Lindsey Duncan     
      "Storm-clouds gathered over the city of Calrhayas, immense hands catching the smoke from fires below. In her training, Diyesari had learned of diviners who could read the future in fallen ash; there was too much here to interpret, and only one possible answer.

• "Lone White Seagull" by Geoffrey W. Cole     
      "The first officer announced that the plane was lost three hours after they entered the cloud."

• "Camouflage" by Eden Robins     
      "Today, I’m taking the train to the end of the line. Then I’m going to get on another train and another, and eventually I’ll end up in Wisconsin. And then? I’ll keep going north to where the trains stop. Is there a train to Nunavut? To the Arctic Circle? I intend to find out.

• "Heart-Song" by Danielle Davis.
       "Nycalla shifts on the dusty ground, unnerved by the shouting of the crowd. The voices of the Men rattle the soil beneath her, cluttering her senses with their vibrations and setting her tail to twitching.

• "Nice"” by Jamie Mason     
       "It is the anniversary of the Overthrow. The execution of Emile Vonnegut, child frightener, has just been broadcast and Michelle Michelle, host of Group Spank (“your liNk’s social equity enforcement program”) is announcing the round-up of four thousand middle-aged Eurasian grandmothers for their collective violations of the Kindarchy’s Social Consideration Code. A festive mood prevails. People are in the streets."
Poetry
At Kaleidotrope. Speculative Poetry.
 Audio Fiction
• At Apex Magazine: "Becca at the End of the World" by Shira Lipkin
     "She has about an hour, we think. And I have about an hour on this camera, an obsolete Flip mini. I guess all cameras are obsolete now. I don’t know if I’ll ever have a device on which to play this. But she wants to do it. And right now, Becca gets anything she wants. Ice cream or a visit to the zoo, a stolen car or a cliff dive; for the next hour, Becca gets anything and everything she wants."

• At Clarkesworld: "The Symphony of Ice and Dust" by Julie Novakova read by Kate Baker.
     “It’s going to be the greatest symphony anyone has ever composed,” said Jurriaan. “Our best work. Something we’ll be remembered for in the next millennia. A frail melody comprised of ice and dust, of distance and cold. It will be our masterpiece.”

Let the Terrors Begin

October begins well as we begin 31 days if terror at QuasarDragon.*  Although we will have as many, if not more, fantasy and science links as usual, there will a greater emphasis on fear until the horrors of All Hallow's Eve are washed away by the insipidness of All Saints' Day.  

 As you can see there's already a bunch of great freebies to start the month, with more to come. [Art for "The Sea Witch" in Audio Fiction]

 *QuasarDragon is not responsible for wet pants, heart palpitations, feeling of paranoia, or embarrassment as you run screaming in terror like a frightened child from these free frights.


Fiction
• At AE: "Nothing, Ventured" by James Beamon. Science Fiction.
     "Dr. Anatoly Iburruri hungered for nothing, and hungered for it relentlessly. It was out there, waiting for him to find — something that wasn’t something. While other scientists flash-heated liquids or supercooled solids trying to find new, undiscovered particles and elements to name after themselves, Anatoly searched for naught."

• At Aurora Wolf: "Home and Garden Show" by Juliana Rew.
       "Failing to decide is a decision. I flip the handmade slugs over and between my fingers like a magician with a coin. I made them myself to a fine tolerance. The action soothes me. I let them fall back into their coffer, slide it to the back of the drawer, and lock it. I wonder if the time has come. . ."

• At The Colored Lens: "Leaky Magic" by Judith Field. Urban Fantasy.
     "It was dark by the time Mark Anderson opened his front door and staggered into the house clutching the dead weight of the shoebox to his chest. He gagged as manure-smelling blue slime oozed from the base of the box, down his suit jacket and onto the hall rug. He pushed the door shut and put the box on the hall floor."

• At GigaNotoSaurus: "Mother Roughcoat and Aunt Far Away" by Patricia Russo.
      "Mother Roughcoat lived in a one-room shack in the center of the city. She wasn’t, and never had been, anybody’s mother, but because she was older than the municipal hall, or looked it–in truth, she looked older than the Foundation Fountain, and that thing was crumbling to sand–people called her Mother out of an old-fashioned sort of politeness."

• At Lightspeed: "Help Fund My Robot Army!!!"  by Keffy R. M. Kehrli. Science Fiction.
       "As late as ten years ago, a mad scientist with a dream could expect to turn a decent profit with his lesser inventions and build enough capital to put his (or her!) real plans into play. Those days are sadly over, although my father, fool that he was, claimed that they never existed."

• At Lightspeed: "Augusta Prima" by Karin Tidbeck, Fantasy.
      "Augusta stood in the middle of the lawn with the croquet club in a two-handed grasp. She had been offered the honor of opening the game. Mnemosyne’s prized croquet balls were carved from bone, with inlaid enamel and gold. The ball at Augusta’s feet stared up at her with eyes of bright blue porcelain."

Flash Fiction
Audio Fiction

• At Anthropomorphic Dreams Publishing: "A Place to Belong - part 2" by Eric Luhman. Anthropomorphic Fantasy.
      "Kevin the human decides to face the challenge and prove he has the right to be part of the dragon clan. It will not be easy though. It will take all his strength and cunning and he might very well be fighting for his life…"

• At Lightspeed: "Help Fund My Robot Army!!!"  by Keffy R. M. Kehrli, read by Stefan Rudnicki. Science Fiction.
       "As late as ten years ago, a mad scientist with a dream could expect to turn a decent profit with his lesser inventions and build enough capital to put his (or her!) real plans into play. Those days are sadly over, although my father, fool that he was, claimed that they never existed."

• At Protecting Project Pulp: "The Sea Witch" by Nictzin Dyalhis, read by Fred Himebaugh.  Horror.
     "Out of the sea she came, this gloriously beautiful woman, to compass a weird revenge that had been too long delayed." first published in Weird Tales, December 1937.

Monday, September 12, 2011

Back With Great Free Fiction

As anticipated, a ton of great freebies on this first post-vacation listing. Much more to come over the next few days!










@Lightspeed: "Join" by Liz Coleman.
"Ngoraich hadn’t slept that whole month we were in transit. She was a pupating larva, soft and pearly. The spacers didn’t know how to put her into stasis, and even if they could, she wouldn’t notice the difference."
@Anotherealm: "Transportation" by Rachael Acks. Science Fiction.
@Aurora Wolf: "Kitchen Life for the Greater Good" by Opal Edgar. Fantasy.
@Beneath Ceaseless Skies: "Salvage" by Margaret Ronald. Fantasy.
@Beneath Ceaseless Skies: "Gone Sleeping" by Heather Clitheroe. Fantasy.
@Cosmos: "Slug Time" by Mary E. Lowd. Science Fiction.
@Cosmos: "Honour Those Who Serve" by Steve Singleman. Science Fiction.
@Daily Science Fiction: "Everlasting" by Fran Wilde.
@Daily Science Fiction: "Now Until" by Jonathan Fredrick Parks.
@Daily Science Fiction: "Dragons" by Wakefield Mahon.
@Daily Science Fiction: "Rules For Living in a Simulation" by Aubrey Hirsch.
@Daily Science Fiction: "Distilled Spirits" by Andrew Kaye.
@Dargonzine: "The Lie" by Jon Evans. Fantasy.
@Dargonzine: "A Slight Danger" by Jim Owens. Fantasy.
@Fantasy Magazine: "Using It and Losing It" by Jonathan Lethem.
@Fantasy Magazine: "Lessons from a Clockwork Queen" by Megan Arkenberg.
@Giganotasaurus: "Somewhere the Desert Hides a Well" by Maria Deira. Science Fiction.
@Hub: "Wallflower" by Jennifer Williams.
@Philippine Genre Stories: "Triskaidekaturions" by Alexander M. Osias. Horror.
@Planet Magazine: "Mutant XX Embryo" by Edward R. Heard. Science Fiction.
@Ray Gun Revival: "From Alexandra to Amberglow" by Rich Matrunick. Science Fiction.
@Ray Gun Revival: "Captain Quasar and the Insurmountable Barrier of Space Junk" by Milo James Fowler. Science Fiction.
@Short Story Me: "Call Me Murph" by Mike Wood. Fantasy.
@Strange Horizons: "The Fountain and the Shoe Store" by Paul Steven Marino.
@Subterranean: "SHAKA II" by Mike Resnick.
@Tor.com: "Lee at the Alamo" by Harry Turtledove. Alternate History.
@Tor.com: "Wikihistory" by Desmond Warzel. Science Fiction.
@Wiley Writers: "Chaser" by Satyros Phil Brucato. Urban Fantasy.


Serial Fiction
@AEG: "Aftermath - Part 3 and Part 4" by Rusty Priske. Fantasy.
@Author's Site: "The Journals of Doctor Mormeck (Mountain)–Entry #20" by Jeff VanderMeer
@Author's Site: "Paradigm Shift #7" by Misa Buckley. Urban Fantasy.
@Paizo: "The Seventh Execution - Chapter One: The Watcher Watched" by Amber E. Scott. Fantasy.
@Paizo: "A Passage to Absalom - Chapter Four: Cheap Sack" by Dave Gross. Fantasy.
@White Wolf: "Silent Knife - Part 19, Part 20, and Part 21" by David Nurenberg. Horror. Vampire.


Audio
@Beneath Ceaseless Skies: "The Witch's Second" by Marissa Lingen. Fantasy
@Beware the Hairy Mango: "Episode 85 – Bouncy House" Matthew Sanborn Smith.
@Drabblecast: "Dread Unlocks" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. Horror.
@Dunesteef: "Dark Detour" by Lance Young. Science Fiction / Horror.
@Escape Pod: "The Insurance Agent" by Lavie Tidhar, read by Christian Brady. Science Fiction.
@Escape Pod: "Kill Me" by Vylar Kaftan, read by Mur Lafferty. Science Fiction.
@Fantasy Magazine: "Using It and Losing It" by Jonathan Lethem, read by Harlan Ellison.
"Pratt walked the distance to work, stopped in at his accustomed cigar store to buy cigarettes, and rode the elevator upstairs to his office; in short, his standard routine, without deviation—yet it didn’t feel right."
@Journey Into: "God-Shaped Box" by D.K. Thompson, read by Lawrence Santoro.
@Lightningbolt Theater of the Mind: "Sky People" by Philip S Jones, performed by full cast.
@PodCastle: "Who in Mortal Chains" by Claire Humphrey, read by Julia Rios. Fantasy.
@PodCastle: "Doors" by Rajan Khanna, read by David O. Engelstad. Fantasy.
@Pseudopod: "The Eater" by Michael J. DeLuca, read by Laurice White. Horror.
@Pseudopod: "Blue Eyes" by Jay Caselberg, read by Jen Williams. Horror.
@Wiley Writers: "Chaser" by Satyros Phil Brucato. Urban Fantasy.

Serial Audio
@Author's Site: "The Starter - Episodes 29, 30, and 31" by Scott Sigler. Science Fiction / Football.
@Beam Me Up: "Arvies pt1" by Adam Troy-Castro. Science Fiction.
@Beam Me Up: "Dark InSpectre #16 by J. Kahn + The Stars Fell by Keith Latch" Science Fiction.
@Cast Macabre: "From Around Here - Part one and Part two" by Tim Pratt, read by Graeme Dunlop. Horror.
@Classic Tales Podcast: "The Mark of Zorro - Parts 8 and 9" by Johnston McCulley, read by B. J. Harrison. Adventure.
@Cthulhu: "The Damned - Part 1 and Part 2" Horror.
@Lightningbolt Theater of the Mind: "One drop of Blood Episode I" by tanja Milojevic and Amanda Furr, Performed by full cast.
@StarShipSofa: "The Sultan of the Clouds - Part 1 and Part 2" by Geoffrey A. Landis.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

eBooks, Audio Fiction, and More

Quite a bit of free fiction today, including a ton of free eBooks from Pixel of Ink and Free eBooks Daily (Yes, I know know eBooks technically have no real weight, but it's a good figure of speech). And some interesting sounding audio fiction. I will try to get caught up on free comics and gaming sometime in the next few days - sorry, time has been in very short supply here.


Illustration from "Valhalla Unleashed" below. Two words "Viking Zombies"








@Hub: "The Mumbling Man" by Danie Ware.
@Mindflights: "The Hand with the Knife" by Jeff Chapman.
@Philippine Genre Stories: "Fragrant Blood" by Elyss Punsalan.

Now Posted: Yellow Mama #27 - Horror/Noir.

@Pixel of Ink [Kindle]:

@Free eBooks Daily [DRM]:
Audio Fiction
@Podcastle: "Five Ways Jane Austen Never Died" by Samantha Henderson, read by Amal El-Mohtar. Fantasy.

@LibriVox: "Library of the World’s Best Literature, Ancient and Modern volume 2" by Charles Dudley Warner, ed. [Including a few fantasy stories from "The Arabian Nights"]

Now Posted: Dark Fiction Magazine Issue #8, featuring audio stories by Paul Cornell, Lee Harris, Scott Harrison and Alasdair Stuart

@AntipodeanSF: AntiSF Radio Show 158 Beta

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

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]:
Now posted: Residential Aliens 5.5 [Speculative Fiction]:
Now Posted: AntipodeanSF #158 [via Beam Me Up]

@Pixel of Ink [Kindle]:
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, August 1, 2011

Monday Morning Fiction

Good morning (or any other time). Some good free fiction today from a few good magazines and other sites. Added some cool audio fiction links, including the latest Beam Me Up, the audio of today's highlighted story, and more.









@Fantasy Magazine: "The World Is Cruel, My Daughter" by Cory Skerry.
"One day it was, “Why haven’t you any hair, Mother?” She stroked her own golden locks, which now swept her ankles, as she waited for an answer."
@AE: "Ascension" by Matt Moore. Science Fiction.
@GigaNotoSaurus: "This Strange Way of Dying" by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. Science Fiction.
@Mindflights: "The Dust of the Earth and the Foam of the Sea" by E.M. Biswell. Fantasy.
@Ray Gun Revival: "Fare-Weather Friends" by Joseph L. Kellogg. Science Fiction.

@Wily Writers: "Moon Drops" by Florence Ann Marlowe. Urban Fantasy.






@Aurora Wolf [Fantasy and Science Fiction]:
Now Posted: Crossed Genres #32 - Sidekicks & Minions.

Now Posted: Redstone Science Fiction #15




@Free eBooks Daily: "Mozart's Blood" by Louise Marley. Horror. Paranormal Romance.

Serial Fiction
Link@AEG: "Goddess (part 4 of 4)" by Shawn Carman. Fantasy.







@Beam Me Up: Episode #272 "Seth 7" by Fox Dunham and "Paid (part 4 of 4)" by Deanna Knippling
@Beware the Hairy Mango: Episode 83 "The Chimney Sweep and the Steeplejack" by Matthew Sanborn Smith.
@Fantasy Magazine: "The World Is Cruel, My Daughter" by Cory Skerry, read by Gabrielle De Cuir
@19 Nocturne Boulevard: "Trophy Case" by Julie Hoverson, performed by full cast. Horror / SF.

Serial Audio
@Author's Site: "The Starter: Episode #25" by Scott Sigler. Science Fiction. Serial.
@Drama Pod: "Journey to the Centre of the Earth Part Seventeen" by Jules Verne.

Non-Fiction Podcasts

@Comics Podcast Network: Deconstructing Comics #288 “Changing Ways” and “Heroic: A Womanthology”
@Comics Podcast Network: Weekly Comics Spotlight #206 2011-07-20
@SFFaudio: Podcast #70 discussing Science Fiction (and other) podcasts.
@SF Signal: Podcast (Episode 070) Panel Discussion of Favorite Podcasts

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Tuesday Free Fiction and Audio Fiction

Some more free fiction and audio fiction today. Including highlighted free fiction, the SF story "Face Value" (from which today's illustration comes) and the fantasy story "The Wishwriter's Wife" Keeping the even split between fantasy and SF, Dunesteef has a new audio SF story and PodCastle has new audio fantasy story.

Unfortunately, I have to report some very sad news. Lovecraft eZine has folded after just five issues due to the editor's health problems. This is a loss to the entire SF/Horror community, both readers and writers.


@Lightspeed: "Face Value" by Karen Joy Fowler. Science Fiction.
"When they had their backs to him he could see the symmetrical arrangement of dark spots which marked their wings in a pattern resembling a human face. A very sad face, very distinct."
@Daily Science Fiction: "The Wishwriter's Wife" by Ian McHugh. Fantasy.
"In the days when fairies were still to be found in the world, and wishes could come true, there lived a wishwriter and his wife. The wishwriter was a clever man, but plain, and born with a twisted back that made him stoop."
@Electric Velocipede: "The Chiaroscurist" by Hal Duncan.

@Free eBooks Daily: "Fluffs" by Daniel I. Russell. Horror.
@Pixel of Ink:The Gift of Fury by Richard Jackson. Urban Fantasy. [Kindle]
@Smashwords: The White Shadow Saga: The Stolen Moon of Londor by A.P. Stephens. Epic Fantasy [via Pixel of Ink]







@Dunesteef: "Must Have Own Weapons" by Edward McKeown. Science Fiction.
"At that moment, with gun in hand, he sees a rather unusual want ad. The only caveat? Whoever responds to this ad must be able to bring their own weapons. Well, at least Dan can fill that part of the ad, right?"
@PodCastle: "Portage" by An Owomoyela, read by Elizabeth Green Musselman. Fantasy.
"When it came time to carry her father’s soul down from the mountain, she had nothing to carry it in. The bowl her mother had carved from heirloom ivory, fit together like a puzzle mosaic and watertight without needing glue, had been shattered just that morning in an argument with the father’s retainer."

Serial Audio
@Pendant Productions: "Episode 22 Genesis Avalon" Fantasy.

Non-Fiction Podcasts
@Comics Podcast Network: V for Vertigo, Episode 112 - The Mass Effect of Comic Con
@Comics Podcast Network: Cape Town Extra - “Captain America: The First Avenger” Review.


There may be a second post tonight, but no promises - I'm often to fatigued after work to even consider it.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Wednesday Free Fiction and Audio Fiction

Another day of cool free fiction (text, audio, serial, etc.)

Today's illustration is from StarShipSofa in the audio section.











@Tor.com: "Ghost Girl Takes Manhattan" by Carrie Vaughn.
"Meekly now, Jennifer walked with her friend—still keeping close enough that their arms touched. 'My parents would flip out if they knew I was anywhere near Jokertown.'"
@Hub: "The Train" by Keith Harvey.
"the pilot engineer of Engine B, exited the wheel house and moved to intercept him. He caught a glimpse of her emerging from the warmth of the building and stopped to admire her lithe figure silhouetted against the light. No matter how beautiful she was, he thought as he waited, he didn’t want her on his team."

Now Posted: Yellow Mama #26 (Horror/Noir - R rated)








@Short Story Me: "Yellow Roses" by Janet Baldey. Horror.
"The day after the funeral I knew I would have to leave the village. Its crooked streets, that I had once thought quaint, now seemed sinister as if dark secrets festered around each bend in the road"


Classic SF
@Hairy Green Eyeball 3: "Skeleton Men of Jupiter" by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Scanned Jpegs from Amazing Stories (Feb. 1943).





@Internet Archive: "The Red Death of Mars" by Robert Moore Williams. [via Marooned - Science Fiction & Fantasy books on Mars]
"With better space ships, exploration of other worlds brings more unpredictable hazards of mystery and death."

Serial Fiction
@White Wolf: Silent Knife part 8, part 9, and part 10 by David Nurenberg. Horror. Urban Fantasy.
"Ariadne was no stranger to disturbing sights—to blood and gore, to dismembered limbs and disemboweled torsos. But she turned away from the vision of Bourne’s rolling waves of flesh spilling out from the small towel he wore as he sat at the edge of the marble platform in the subterranean Turkish bath."


@Author's Site: "The Journals of Doctor Mormeck–Entry #11" by Jeff Vandermeer. Science Fiction. Earlier entries here. [via SF Signal]
"Living on a far-distant planet, Doctor Mormeck works for strange beings that might or might not be angels by conducting surveillance across a hundred thousand alt-Earths. When an avatar of Mormeck is sent to a war-torn winter city to investigate a mysterious Presence, the doctor will become embroiled an ever-widening conflict."







@PodCastle: "The Landholders No Longer Carry Swords" by Patricia Russo, read by Ann Leckie. Fantasy.
"Since the ascension of the young dukes, the landholders no longer carry swords, and we are no longer obliged to kneel in their presence. Taxes have been lowered; we can keep more of our grain, our olives, our limes. Obligatory civic work days have been decreased to five per month. Smile, the elders say. Raise up your heads. The sun has emerged after long, long years of rain."


@PodCastle: PodCastle Miniature "The Trouble in Leafy Green Street" by Lord Dunsany, read by Steve Anderson. Dark Fantasy.
She went to the idol-shop in Moleshill Street, where the old man mumbles, and said: “I want a god to worship when it is wet.”

@StarShipSofa: Episode #195 with "Frankenstein, Frankenstein" by Will McIntosh, read by Simon Hildebrandt.
"Phineas Gage has been grotesquely injured in a railroad accident, so he and his friend Darby come up with a scheme to make money by exhibiting Phineas as the genuine Frankenstein monster. When a man named Wilson comes backstage after a show and pays to ask Phineas questions about how he was brought to life, Phineas, believing him a fool, provides bogus answers." Tangent

Serial Audio
@ScottSigler.com: Tuesday Terror #09: "Perry Dawsey, Are You Okay? Part 2 of 2" by OJ OgreOregon, read by Arioch Morningstar.
"Last episode, we met Nellie McDaniel and Anna Carl, two elderly nosy nellies. They're worried because Perry Dawsey, who normally stops by to check on Nellie, seems to have disappeared."

@The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences: "Night’s Plutonian Shore part 2" by Jack Mangan.
"We rejoin our epic tale across the America’s as Agent Bruce Campbell remains on the trail of Usher assassin, Mikael Scharnusser, who has fellow Ministry agent Brandon Hill captive. With a narrow window of time granted by the enigmatic agent of the States’ OSM agency, Bruce must rescue Agent Hill from this madman’s locomotive lair…"

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Part One: Audio Fiction and Gaming

Some cool freebies - More later.






@PodCastle: Episode #162 "Gods of the North" featuring Conan the Barbarian, by Robert E. Howard, read by Graeme Dunlop.
Across the red drifts and mail-clad forms, two figures glared at each other. In that utter desolation only they moved. The frosty sky was over them, the white illimitable plain around them, the dead men at their feet. Slowly through the corpses they came, as ghosts might come to a tryst through the shambles of a dead world. In the brooding silence they stood face to face.
@19 Nocturne Boulevard: "Poe-etic Justice" by Julie Hoverson, adapted from Edgar Allen Poe.
(loosely adapted and modernized from "Hop-Frog" by Edgar Allen Poe) In a classic 1970s frat house, pranks turn dark, and revenge is ...toasty.

@Wily Writers Podcast: “Upon a Star” by Debbie Cowens.
"In a city where Prince Charmings can’t be trusted and getting what your heart desires can be deadly, a string of murders leads PI Robin Goodfellow to the Blue Fairy night club. Noir meets Fae in a tale of lust, betrayal, corruption and broken dreams."
Serial Audio
@Pendant Audio Production: "The Line episode 2x04: Solus, Part II" Fantasy.







@DriveThruRPG: "Nightmare on Hill Manor"
"Quickstart scenario for the World of Darkness. There are times when the rational world seems, if only for a second, to fall away. The leaves rustling in the trees on a still day. The movement just past the corner of your eye. We are taught to ignore the foolish impulse to react."




@The Free RPG Blog: Reviewed and linked to "Dave’s Mapper"
"a free online mapping tool that takes the community Geomorphs and allows you to generate maps, either by random or by semi-random switch and rotate."

@The Savage After World: "World of Thundarr the Barbarian Sourcebook for Mutant Future."
@DriveThruRPG: [Sidetrek] "Shrine of the Risen" D20/Pathfinder.
@Kobold Quarterly: [Monsters] "Sand Giants" and "Mnemonic Slime" 4E.
@WotC: [Cartoon] "Epic Campaign #5"
@A Field Guide to Doomsday: [Monsters] "Briarbear" and "Narl" Mutant Future.
@Sea of Stars: [Magic Item] "Blessed Soil of the Green Mother"
@Blog on the Borderlands: [Magic Items] "Wand of Lethargy" and "Club of Endless Beatings"
@Ancient Vaults & Eldritch Secrets: [Monsters] "Stray Sod," "Seether," and "Rat, Infernal"

Monday, March 28, 2011

Many Freebies, Including George R. R. Martin's "The Lonely Songs of Laren Dorr"

A ton of AWESOME today. George R. R. Martin's "The Lonely Songs of Laren Dorr" is only one of the cool stories today. And there is an iPod full of worthy audio fiction (OK a cheap MP3 player full) , a video, and some very good gaming items. As Blur would say "Woo hoo!!!!!"



Fiction
@Fantasy Magazine: "The Lonely Songs of Laren Dorr" by George R. R. Martin.
"One moment there was only the valley, caught in twilight. The only sounds were the cries of the mourning-birds coming out for the night, and the swift rush of water in the rocky stream that cut the woods."
Online and in MP3 (streaming and download).



@Ray Gun Revival: "White World" by Steve Stanton.
"Viki staged a party for their last night together. The food was catered but the drinks were bring-your-own. She had planned the details for weeks in advance, her fifth-floor apartment immaculate, completely sterile. All the guests had been instructed to be free of animal dander and scrubbed clean with disinfectant. Her young man Danny could not risk any contamination this late in his regime."

@Book View Cafe: "Signed in Blood" by P. R. Frost, from A Girl’s Guide to Guns and Monsters, edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Kerrie Hughes, February 2010.
"I knew words would flow easily from this pen. Beautiful words that melded together into a story."

@Book View Cafe: "California Demon" by Susan Wright.
"Read the urban fantasy story "California Demon" and find out what happens to Allay when she is possessed by a demon."

@Mindflights: "The Oracle of Themazuri" by Rachel V. Olivier.
"Dayo, like many girls her age, is a daydreamer. Unlike those girls, however, sometimes those daydreams come true. It is a gift, but it is a gift that has cost her everything."

Serial Fiction:
@Kat and Mouse: Guns for Hire: "Payback" - Part Two" by Abner Senires.
"Since the meet was in Southside near the Gibson Street Tunnel, I dropped four extra pistol magazines in my cargo pockets, grabbed a frag grenade, a smoke grenade, and made sure I had the FAL fully loaded with several extra magazines in the Shelby's trunk"

Classic SF
@Two-Fisted Tales of True-Life Weird Romance: ". . .and It Comes Out Here" by Lester del Rey, from Galaxy Science Fiction (Feb. 1951). In Jpeg scans.
"There is one fact no sane man can quarrel with ... everything has a beginning and an end. But some men aren't sane: thus it isn't always so!"

@BestScienceFictionStories: "A Logic Named Joe" by Murray Leinster (1946).
"a 1946 science fiction short story by Murray Leinster. It is about a network connected machine that can answer any and all questions!" Reviewed and linked to a free online version.


Audio Fiction
@Beam Me Up: Episode #254 featuring the conclusion of "The Utility of Love"” by David Steffen, read by Wilson Fowlie. And "Time Enough At Last" by Lynn Venable.

@The Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine: "Anakoinosis" by Tobias S. Buckell, produced by Marshal Latham. "Humans have come to the home world of an alien species known as the whiffets. The whiffets are eager to learn all that humans have to teach them. They are helping the humans repair the damage to their ship, but are the humans helping the whiffets? "

@The Classic Tales Podcast: Episode #203, "The Black Cat" by Edgar Allan Poe, read by B. J. Harrison.
"A convicted man tells of his descent into dissipation. For his love of animals, once his greatest comfort, proves to be his ultimate undoing."

@Cast Macabre: Episode #35, "The Night Stalker" by Raymond Gates, read by Barry J. Northern.

@Cthulhu: "The Curse of Kralitz" by Henry Kuttner.
A mythos related story by the SF great.

@LibriVox: PD Goth, by various (inc. Poe and Blackwood)
"A collection of spooky stories culled from etexts found on Project Gutenberg."

@LibriVox: The Book of a Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 04, by Anonymous, translated by Richard Francis Burton.
"A long series of cliff-hangers told by Shahrazad to her husband Shahryar, to prevent him from executing her. Many tales that have become independently famous come from the Book, among them Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, and the voyages of Sinbad the Sailor."

Serial Audio
@The Author's Website: The Starter - Episode #7 by Scott Sigler.
"The rookies arrive on the TOUCHBACK after surviving their tests on the COMBINE, and this time Quentin is meeting the new recruits as the starting quarterback of the Krakens."


Flash Fiction
@365 tomorrows: "The Vote" by John Tudball.
@365 tomorrows: "Protocol" by Eric Poch.
@365 tomorrows: "Looking Glass" by N. Thomas Parshall.
@The New Flesh: "Immortality" by Robert Eccles.
@Every Day Fiction: "The Princess and the Bullfrog" by Vincent D. O’Connor.
@Flashes in the Dark: "Bloody Rejuvenation" by Joshua Scribner.
@The Daily Cabal: "On Reincarnation in Turkeys" by Luc Reid.
@Daily Science Fiction: "That's Show Business" by Bruce Boston.

Video
@VODO: Zenith (2011).
"A father and son, separated by decades and a cataclysm that has upturned the world, track a grand and elusive conspiracy in this cyberpunk thriller.

In the hellish future of 2044, human beings have become stupefied by the state of permanent happiness they’ve been genetically altered to experience. ‘Dumb’ Jack (Peter Scanavino) offers relief via drugs that bring his customers the welcome phenomenon of pain. But when Jack receives a mysterious videotape of his dead father, he sets out to unmask the dangerous conspiracy that has created this dystopian world."
Unfortunately distributed only through torrents, but if you trust your anti-virus software, this doesn't look bad.


Gaming
@A Character for Every Game: Labyrinth Lord Downloadables. A good roundup of the free Labyrinth Lord materials available on the web. Everything you need to start gaming after a few hours reading.








Short But Sweet.
@A Hamsterish Hoard of Dungeons and Dragons: [New Monster] Brass Jackal.
@The Land of NOD: [Encounters] Mu-Pan - Encounter XII / XIII.
@The Land of NOD: [Encounter] Mu-Pan - Encounter XIV.
@The Land of NOD: [Encounter] Mu-Pan - Encounter XV.
@A Character for Every Game: [New Magic Items] 6 More Magic Potions.
@Ancient Vaults & Eldritch Secrets: [New Magic Item] Master Thief’s Club of Deception.
@Ancient Vaults & Eldritch Secrets: [New Spell] Dead Freeze.
@Ancient Vaults & Eldritch Secrets: [New Spell] Numberspeak.
@Strange Magic: [New Magic Items] 6 Minor Magic Items.
@Trollish Delver: [New Character Types] Burglar and Wildfarer for Tunnels and Trolls.
@DriveThruRPG: Dark Ages Basic Rules From White Wolf [free membership required].
@Blog on the Borderlands: [New Spell] Holy Weapon.