Free Fiction, Will Robinson! Free Fiction!

It's Friday, so let the weekend begin! It's another great collection of free fiction from many generous site! It's only polite to thank Regan Wolfrom and SF Signal, from whom I swiped a couple of links. It's Monty Python's Flying Circus! OK, not really on the last one.




[Art from "Know When to Hold 'Em," linked below]







Fiction
 • At Buzzy Mag: "We’re All Super Here" by Michaele Jordan.
       "Esther opened the drawer; an old newspaper had been stuffed in on top, showing a headline which read Oldster Gang Trashes SS Office. Next to the headline, someone—probably Mom, judging by the handwriting—had scrawled, Beats Sunset Acres. Esther chuckled; Mom had never gone ten minutes without complaining about the assisted living facility where she resided. Then Esther remembered, again, and stopped chuckling."

 • At Nautilus:  "Know When to Hold 'Em" by K.G. Jewell. Science Fiction. [via SF Signal]
      "Huddled in the tiny attendant hut, Jonas checked, for the third time, the knob on the ancient space heater. It was still set on max. Usually the booth swung between hot and cold as the heater cycled on and off, but this evening the sub-zero winds of a Lake Huron cold front invaded Detroit, and the tiny glowing heating element fought a non-stop, losing battle."

• At The Red Penny Papers: "God on High or the Devil Below" by Jeffrey Wooten. [via SF Signal]
     “They’re trying to kill me.” Carl raised the head of his bed to get a better look at his new roommate. “You’ll see. They steal too, especially that big bastard.”

Flash Fiction

• At Daily Science Fiction: "I'll Leave The Light On" by Patricia Russo. 
• At Enchanted Conversations: "Ignorant Fools" by Aliza Faber. Poem.
• At Every Day Fiction: "Does Best in Ordinary Garden Soil" by Sarah Crysl Akhtar. Fairy Tale.
• At Flashes in the Dark: "The Floor that Creaked" by Adam Sear. Horror.
• At 365 Tomorrows: "The Diversity Of Life" by Clint Wilson. Science Fiction.

E-Books
At Free E-Books Daily.

• City of Blaze by H.O. Charles. Fantasy Romance.  
• Keeper of Reign by Emma Right. YA Fantasy. 

At Smashwords:

• The Torans of Andor 'Out of Time' by Linda Arditto. Fantasy. 112k words.
• "King of Rats" by Gregory Carrico. Paranormal.
• "Rez Diamond: Creation" by Geltab. Fantasy.
• "ApocalypZe - Those Left Behind: Dan Killmeyer's Story" by Ivan Turner. Horror. Zombies.
• Hardin's War by A.S. Morrison. Science Fiction. Apocalyptic. 51k words.
• "The Compound" by Christina J Adams. YA.
• "Interrogation" by J. Steven Butler. Science Fiction.

Audio Fiction
• The Classic Tales Podcast: "Through the Looking Glass, Part 2 of 5" by Lewis Carroll. Children's Fantasy.
     "Tweedledee and Tweedledum, Looking-Glass Insects, a Walrus and a Carpenter and more."

• At Escape Pod: "Growing Up Human" by Laura Hobbs. Science Fiction. 
     Jonathan was ready.  "Consider the sociological components.  One:  Juxtaposed verbiage of ‘Wake up and go to sleep.’  Two:  A slap of dominance and subservience, which defined the human condition.  And three:  Highly skilled competents feigning incompetence as part of their profession.”  Jonathan turned his back to the screen.

• At Pseudopod: "The End-Of-The-World Pool" by Scott M. Roberts. Horror.
     "The pool was as warm as sweat. Evan kicked away from the surface, algae shifting and bumping against his bare legs. Even with his mouth squeezed tight, he could taste the foulness of the water, like it had seeped through his ears to touch the back of his throat."

• At Tales to Terrify: "Episode No. 76"  "Dolls" by Drake Vaughn and "Creepdoll" by Gareth Stack. Horror.
     "a lonely bachelor takes a desperate step to finding romance by posing as a single father through the purchase of a hyper-realistic child doll he names Lucy. To his amazement, the scheme works, and he finds himself in a wonderful relationship with a spicy single mother. But what will happen when Lucy doesn’t age like a real child, or anyone discovers that she prefers being plugged into an outlet than munching cheerios?" - Tangent.

Gaming
• At DriveThruRPG: Pathways #27. (free membership required)
     "How can you say "No" to a free collection of Pathfinder templates, NPCs, Feng Shui feats, Apeiron Staffs, and a free preview of 101 Not So Random Encounters Winter? If you say no designer Steven D. Russell and artist Keith Seymour will send a Watchmen Silver Dragon after you! "

Old Time Radio

• At Boxcars711: "Lonely Sleep" - Inner Sanctum Mysteries. Horror. 1949.
• At Boxcars711: "Tunnel Under the World" by X Minus One. Science Fiction. 1956.
• At Relic Radio: "The Man Who Came Back" - Dark Fantasy. Horror. 1941.
• At Relic Radio: "Alien Presences" by CBS Radio Mystery Theater. Science Fiction. 1978.

Other Genres

• Audio at Every Photo Tells: "Never Alone"  by Odin1Eye.
• Audio at Radio Drama Revival: "Episode 336 – This Time, It’s An Open Season" Mystery.

Science and Hobbit News and a Bit More

A bit more coolness for you today.




Speculative Poetry
At Silver Blade:

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

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

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

Science News

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

 Hobbit and Oz News

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

Free Enough

Some great fiction today including the conclusion of Eric Scott de Bie's "Proper Villains,"  new fiction from Tor and Nature, classic ghost stories from the Nineteen Teens at Project Gutenberg and Tor, four more stories at Phantasmacore, flash fiction, and audio fiction. And don't miss today's free fiction links at SF Signal.

 Concerning e-books: Information has been brought to my attention that complicates matters [thank you]. While I still consider free as being something that is given to, or taken by, you that cannot be taken away, the fact that some companies at Amazon do not use DRM and the fact that I don't have time to check them individually means that e-book listings will continue irregularly (just like before). So concerning yesterday's notice about e-books, I'll just quote the classic Gilda Radner character Emily Litella, "Never mind."
 
[Art from "Foundation" below].
 
Fiction
At Nature: "Glass Future" by Deborah Walker. Science Fiction.
      “Do you think she's post-human?” I whisper to my husband. She looks too good to be real.
At Paizo:  "Proper Villains - Chapter Four: The Reward"  by Erik Scott de Bie. Fantasy.
     Link is to all four parts. "He awoke in a cold spray of brackish water. The Hellknight who'd roused him drew back the half-empty bucket, then brought it forward again for another go. This time, Tarrant inhaled half the putrid stuff and gagged. "Is that really necessary?" he coughed."
At Project Gutenberg:  Great Ghost Stories by Various. Horror. 1918.
         "The Were-Wolf" - "We waited for some time, but the report of the gun did not reach us, and my elder brother then said, 'Our father has followed the wolf, and will not be back for some time. Marcella, let us wash the blood from your mouth, and then we will leave this corner, and go to the fire and warm ourselves.'"
At Tor.com:  "Foundation" by Ann Aguirre. Horror.
    "I don’t remember how the sun feels.It’s an abstract concept for me, something I know exists, but doesn’t have the meaning it once did."
At Tor.com:  "The Shadowy Third" by Ellen Glasgow. Horror. Ghost. 1916.
     “He didn’t mention me by name. Can there be a mistake?” I stood, incredulous yet ecstatic, before the superintendent of the hospital.
At Pantasmacore: 

"Dangerous Rendezvous" by Grove Koger.
     "No doubt about it, Eric Francis was my father’s meal ticket. Oh, Dad corresponded now and then with Talbot Mundy and knew Sax Rohmer well enough to have a drink with him when they happened to be in Manhattan at the same time, but the big markets had them sewn up tight."
"Dying Day" by Michael C. Keith.
     "TAKE THE DREAD OUT OF DEAD! SCHEDULE YOUR PRACTICE DYING DAY NOW BY CALLING 1-800-DEAD-DAY. DON’T WAIT UNTIL IT’S TOO LATE, read the huge digital billboard along Route 95 between Boston and Providence."
"Montalov’s Box" by Michael Griffin.
      "Some wives fear losing their husband to an office affair, some to a heart attack. Each morning Sveta watches her husband leave for work and thinks maybe today’s the day he annihilates the universe."
 "Assignment" by Sayuri Yamada.
     ‘All the students have spent their time on this project. It’s not only you. Look at this. The temperature is rising unnaturally. The air is dirty. Many species are disappearing. It’s a shambles.’

Flash Fiction
At Daily Science Fiction: "My Mother's Body" by Christie Yant.
At Every Day Fiction: "Rags to Riches" by Robert Swartwood. Horror. Jinn.
At 365 Tomorrows: "Old Cars Never Die" by Clint Wilson. Science Fiction.


Audio Fiction
At SFFAudio: Two Versions of "Time And Time Again" by H. Beam Piper. Science Fiction.
     "To upset the stable, mighty stream of time would probably take an enormous concentration of energy. And it's not to be expected that a man would get a second chance at life. But an atomic might accomplish both—"
At Drama Pod: Unhinged Worlds (Season Premiere) S02 Ep01 "Exit 34"
At Drama Pod: Unhinged Worlds (Season Premiere) S02 Ep02 "The Bench"