When There's Lightning, You Know It Always Makes Me want to Read Free Fiction

Free E-books, chapter three of "The Fencing Master" at Paizo, and the latest episode of StarShipSofa = life is good.  Be sure to pick up Regan Wolfrom's After The Fires Went Out: Coyote, which can be downloaded free from Story Cartel in exchange for a review. Back tomorrow. [Art from "The Fencing Master"]













Fiction
• At Paizo: "The Fencing Master - Chapter Three: The Second Duel" by Dave Gross. Pathfinder. Fantasy.
     "'I won't let you take Blackjack,' snapped Vencarlo. Once more he danced away, trying to draw his blade. Once more I danced after him, thrusting my arm through the crook of his elbow to prevent him from reaching the blade."

Audio Fiction
• At StarShipSofa: "And Then Some" by Matthew Hughes, read by Barry J. Northern. Science Fiction.
      "Carrying his valise, he disembarked along with the crewmen, but when the little knot of spacers turned left out of the spaceport gate, heading for the huddle of taverns and bump-houses that catered to transients whose needs were pressing but whose standards were low, he turned right and climbed the rise into the town of Upper Pulluch."

Special Offer
• After The Fires Went Out: Coyote by Regan Wolfrom. Post-Apocalyptic.
      "Baptiste, stranded 500 miles from his wife and daughter, at the northern edge of civilization, has made a vow to protect a teenage girl from the chaos that surrounds them. But as food and fuel runs out, and even friends prove they can't be trusted, Baptiste realizes that this promise won't be easy to keep."

E-Books
At Free E-Books Daily:

• The Ring by James Sperl.  Science Fiction Thriller.
• The Inner Circle by Carmen Caine. YA Urban Fantasy Romance
• Universe: The Edge of Tomorrow by R. M. Dilleen. Science Fiction.
• I Bring the Fire Part I : Wolves by C. Gockel. Fantasy.
• Murder Most Magic by Audrey Mackaman. Fantasy. Mystery.
• Essie's House by Robert Meyerson. Horror.
• Souvenir by Daniel Kelley. Fantasy. Horror.
• Firestone by Damien J. Nash. YA Fantasy.
• Island Tango by Anisa Claire West. Romantic Fantasy.
• Reckless Rescue by Rinelle Grey. Space Opera.

At Amazon: [via freebook sifter]

• Sunset Rising by S.M. McEachern. Dystopia.
• Escaping Darkness (The Stone Legacy Series) by Theresa McClinton. Paranormal.
• Dark Luminance (Frameway Multiverse) by E.M. McDowell. Science Fiction.
• This Plague of Days Season One (The Zombie Apocalypse Serial) by Robert Chazz Chute.
• Annwyn's Blood (The Paladin of Shadow Chronicles) by Michael Eging. Fantasy.
• Sir Eloise by Kaitlin Campos. Fantasy.
• The Mosquito Syndrome by James Sperl. Horror.
• The Death Fairy by Laird Stevens. Paranormal.

If Free Fiction be the Food of Love, Read On.

e-books, comic books, and a story too good to wait.  [Art from  "The Girl Who Ruled Fairyland — For a Little While" linked below]






Fiction
• At Tor.com: "The Girl Who Ruled Fairyland — For a Little While" by Catherynne M. Valente. Fantasy.   
     "In which a young girl named Mallow leaves the country for the city, meets a number of Winds, Cats, and handsome folk, sees something dreadful, and engages, much against her will, in Politicks of the most muddled kind."

Comics

• At Atomic Kommie Comics: "1...2...3...Infinity!" Sci-fi. 1967.
• At The Comic Book Catacombs: Zegra in "The Black Pool" Adventure. 1949.
• At The Horrors of It All: "The Statue of Evil" Horror. 1952.
• At Western Comics Adventures: "Battle of Spaceman's Gulch" Sci-fi. 1953.

E-Books
• At Amazon: Soldier Of The Brell by David Scholes. Science Fiction.
At Amazon: [via Freebook Sifter]

• Renhala by Amy Joy Lutchen. Paranormal.
• Reclaiming Ter Chadain (Protector of Ter Chadain) by C.S. Yelle. Fantasy.
• The Chalice and the Blade (The Chalice Trilogy) by Tara Janzen. Fantasy.
• Central Outbreak Response: Genesis by RJ Kennett. Post-Apocalyptic.
• I Am Forgotten by J. A. St. Thomas. Paranormal.
• Fate's Hand by Christopher Lynn. Fantasy.
• The Road to Grafenwöhr by Edward C. Patterson. Historical Fantasy.
• The Arbiter by M.M. Perry. Fantasy.
• Warrior Class. The Crooked Path by P. T. Mayes. Fantasy.
• The Prodigal Brother Saga (Sympathy-B 1.1) by M.R. Adams. Superhero.
• The Fairy Garden by Katherine Ann Wynne. Fairies.
• Soul's Harbour by T.M. Bledsoe. Paranormal.
• Einstein Must Die! (Fate of Nations) by Chris Kohout. Steampunk.

At Free eBooks Daily:

• Make Me Howl by Susan Shay. Paranormal Romance.
• Idol Urges by Ruby Bassett. Paranormal Romance.
• The Dream Dragon by John Clark. Children's Fantasy. 
• Fantasy Quest by Tina Gerow. Paranormal Romance.
• The Atlantis Crystal by M.L. Rigdon. Fantasy. 
• Rendezvous with Hymera by Melinda De Ross. Paranormal Romance.
• Heart of the Vampire by Gayla Twist. Paranormal Romance. 
• The Red Demon by Julia Barrett.  Space Opera.
• Dangerous Dreams by Aileen Harkwood. Romantic Paranormal Thriller.
• Memoirs of a Gothic Soul by Rebekah Armusik. Contemporary Gothic.
• Mariposa by Rebekah Armusik. Contemporary Gothic.
• Alone by Marissa Farrar. Urban Fantasy. 
• Ghost Swim by Sara Brooke. Horror.
• 30 Minute Plan by Gerald Rice. Horror. 
• Core Values by Louis Bertrand Shalako. Horror.
• Horseman by Christopher Golden. YA Dark Fantasy. 

Free Fiction Nightcap

A few bonus goodies today, including some classic old time radio, some e-books, a new episode of  Every Photo Tells, and the completion of James Potter and the Morrigan Web by G. Norman Lippert.
 

Fan Fiction: 
• At Author's Site: James Potter and the Morrigan Web by G. Norman Lippert. Harry Potter. Fantasy.
      "James had expected his return to Hogwarts to be a happy occasion. Indeed, the sight of the enormous crimson engine of the Hogwarts Express, shrouded with steam, hissing and clanging with prosaic urgency, was a very welcome sight after the events of the previous months. Even Albus, who had spent the holiday in a sort of angry fugue, had displayed an almost annoyingly chipper mood all morning, eager to board the train and rejoin his Slytherin mates."

E-Books
• At Amazon: Alexandria by John Kaden. Post-Apocalyptic. [via Pixel-of-Ink]
At Free eBooks Daily:

• Indigo Kids: Awakenings by Saffina Desforges. Fantasy.
• Ghost Tales by Travis Flynn. YA Paranormal.
• The Prince and the Magic Quest by George P Saunders, Children's Fantasy.
• Shine: The Knowing Ones by Amy Freeman. Paranormal.

Audio Fiction
• At Every Photo Tells: "Night Cap" by Richard D. Asplund Jr. Horror. Mystery.
     "A young woman on the verge of suicide gets unexpected help."

Old Time Radio

• At OTR Plot Spot: "Hunter's Moon" - Part 01 of 08. and "The Evergreen Library" - Mindwebs (1979). Science Fiction.
• At Relic Radio: "Dark Gray Magic" - Quiet Please. Horror.
• At Boxcars 711: "Space Patrol - The Valley Of Dread " Sci-fi. (09-05-53)

Not Free, But Worth a Look At $3.99

In case you didn't already know it, Regan Wolfrom, my peer at SF Signal, is also an accomplished genre writer. In anticipation of the release of Book Two of After The Fires Went Out, Regan is serializing an excerpt from After The Fires Went Out: Coyote on his website.  Give the excerpt a chance in his site and if you like what you read, grab the e-book from Amazon for only $3.99. (More purchase options here,)

Also out now Haunted Horror #5, co-edited by The Horrors of It All blogmaster Karswell.  Classic horror comics in a new anthology so you don't have to pay a gazillion dollars to read them in print (only $3.99).  Check out the preview here, and read some classic horror comics at The Horrors of It All.  If you like what you see, be sure to grab a copy from your local comic book store.  

Thursday Morning Freebies

 A few gems this morning. More later.

Today's QD Radio features "There Will Come Soft Rain" and "Zero Hour" both by Ray Bradbury.  The first is one of Bradbury's more haunting stories.

[Art from Drabblecast -linked below[






Fiction
• At Daily Science Fiction:  "The Wyrd for Water is Water" by Marie Croke. "
       The wyrd for water is water, but my guards give me nothing but tea and wine though they know I hate the taste. I've tried to use my spit, but the Si'aer were much too specific in their language to listen to such disturbing beggary with their wyrds."

Flash Fiction

• At Nature: "Eros for Annabelle" by Ian Whates. Science Fiction.
• At 365 Tomorrows: "The Scientist" by Meg Everingham. Science Fiction.

Audio Fiction
• At Antipodean SF: "The AntiSF Radio Show 174"
     " featuring the stories from Issue 174 of AntipodeanSF online"

• At Drabblecast:  "Bright Lights" by  Robert Reed. Horror. Science Fiction.
"The water fountains are low. The lockers are empty. The summer air is warm but there are people in the classrooms. People are talking, are moving. A female emerges from the nearest classroom. She is fully grown. She has dyed hair and competing odors and all of her teeth. Showing her teeth, she asks, 'Are you the teacher?'"

• At Fantastic Worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs: Episode 18 - The Return of Tarzan Adventure,
      "Chapter XVIII – “The Lottery of Death”  Jane Porter, John Clayton and Nicholas Rokoff, posing as Monsieur Thuran, have been shipwrecked following the Lady Alice’s collision with a derelict off the coast of Africa. Taking to lifeboats, the crew and passengers of the doomed yacht are adrift in the Atla"

 • At 19 Nocturne Boulevard "Afterlives 2.4 - Fair Game"
     "Afterlives is a tale of what happens after death, or maybe afterlife.... and it isn't at all what you would expect"

Other Genres

• Flash Fiction at Every Day Fiction: "The Good Stuff" by MAB Lee. Suspense.
• Flash Fiction at Flash Fiction Friday: "So, You Wanna Start Somethin’?—The Stories"

Tuesday Night Gaming Items

Just a few quite cool gaming freebies.






@Ancient Vaults and Eldritch Secrets: [Spells] "Burstwall," and "Sticking Together"
@Ancient Vaults and Eldritch Secrets: [Magic Item] "Fungal Scout Pod"
@Big Ball of No Fun: [Magic Item] "Mage Killer Rod"
@Daddy Grognard: "An Adventure for Every Monster - Bugbear"
@DriveThruRPG: "GROMM: Frost Orcs of Esterlund, Faction Pack" for GROMM (linked not too long ago).
@A Field Guide to Doomsday: [Monsters] "Burstworm" and "Scrounge Hound" - Mutant Future.
@The Land of NOD: "Mu-Pan Eastern Encounter VIII"
@The Land of NOD: "Secret Society of the Straight Arrow" Mystery Men! archers.
@Netherwerks: "Geomorphs (Series 1, Set 5)"
@Savage Afterworld: [Monster] "Befuddlelk" - Mutant Future.

Gaming Freebies including two eZines, a wuxia RPG, and cool extras.

Some very cool gaming freebies today, including two free gaming eZines, a very nice looking, though not too printer friendly, wuxia RPG, and some great extras (a small adventure, encounters, tables, spells, magic items, and a monster).



Today's illustration is for the Enjirach below.











@DriveThruRPG: Pathways #5

"Rite Publishing continues its free e-zine with templates, new monsters, domains, feats, and reviews all bundled together with an Ecology of the Invisible Stalker by Matt Banach!"

@DriveThruRPG: Game Geek #19
The 19th issue of this cool free RPG magazine.







@DriveThruRPG: A Wanderer's Romance RPG 45 page pdf.

"A Wanderer's Romance is a game of martial art duels and tea-making contests set in a world of unnatural islands on an endless sea. It draws on its Wuxia influences but focuses on a character driven game with scope for incredible environments and a true sense of exploration."

At a glance, this one looks very good.

@RPG Creatures: [Monster] "Enjirach" Generic Fantasy
@Daddy Grognard: "An Adventure for Every Monster - Brownie"
@The Land of NOD: [Encounters] Mu-Pan - Eastern Encounters One and Two.
@The Land of NOD: [Magic Items] "Magic Belts - American-Style"
@Kobold Quarterly: [Table] "Your Whispering Homunculus: 50 Local Delicacies"
@Netherwerks" [Table] "More Damned Things"
@A Field Guide to Doomsday: [Monsters] "Sundoom" and "Neon King" Mutant Future.
@Sea of Stars: [Magic Item] "Sipahi’s Scimitar"
@Sea of Stars: [Table] "Random Demon Name Generator – Least and Lesser Demons"
@Ancient Vaults & Eldritch Secrets: [Spells] "Frail Before the Elements" "Face of Stone" "Leaving a Reminder" and "Darkfire"

Online Goodies - Flash Gordon

Welcome back to another day of freeness. While the e-fiction category is a bit small today, other categories make up the slack. The comics section is well stocked, as is the gaming section, non-RPG gamers might still enjoy the Agora boardgame, and the irregular category is here today. Also, I'm very happy to anounce the Flash Fiction category, a whole category dedicated to my personal hero Flash Gordon!

What? That's not what Flash Fiction means? Well flaming febelcarbs, what am I going to say about it? Well, whatever it is, it's here.



E-Fiction
"The Enormous Room" by H. L. Gold and Robert Wilson Krepps, from Amazing Stories Oct.-Nov. 1953.

"The orange-blue rolling stock hit the bottom, slammed around a turn and shot upward again, the wind of its passage whistling boisterously. But by then there were none to hear the wind, to feel the gust of it in watered eyes or open shouting mouths. The cars were empty."

At Munseys HERE and Project Gutenberg HERE.


Serial Fiction
At Paizo.com, chapter two of "The Walkers from the Crypt" by Howard Andrew Jones.
"Elyana was eager to keep moving; she meant to lose the Galtans only after she'd led them deeper into the woods, but she hadn't reckoned on them pressing so close. Perhaps the sight of their quarry fleeing before them on the plain had excited them, for they were now crashing through the brush a few bowshots behind with almost reckless intensity."

Online HERE.


Audio Fiction
At StarShipSofa, episode #179 featuring "The Sandal-Bride" by Genevieve Valentine, an interview with John Joseph Adams, and More.

Streaming and in MP3 download HERE.



At the Internet Archive, A Canticle for Liebowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr., dramatized by John Reed, and produced at WHA by Carl Schmidt and Marv Nunn.
"Set in a Roman Catholic monastery in the desert of the southwestern United States after a devastating nuclear war, the story spans thousands of years as civilization rebuilds itself."

In ogg and MP3 download HERE.


Flash Fiction "He'll save with a mighty hand (he'll save with a mighty hand); He'll save with a mighty hand (he'll save us); Every man every woman every child; With a mighty Flash a-ah"

@Daily Science Fiction, "I is for Inertia" by Tim Pratt, Jenn Reese, Heather Shaw, Greg van Eekhout
@Every Day Fiction, "Will Work For Food" by James C.G. Shirk
@Flashes in the Dark, "The Priest and His Demon-Hunting Dog" by C.D. Goble
@Flashes in the Dark, "Second-Hand Soul" by Lori Titus.
@365 tomorrows, "The Mantinai" by Edd Vick


Gaming
At A Character for Every Game, "Stag Centaurs" a monster for Labyrinth Lord (or early D&D editions).

"Although imbued with even more natural armament than normal centaurs, stag centaurs are at least as non-aggressive as their typical kin."


Online HERE.




At Cheapass Games, four free games to download, including Agora "the ever-changing Ancient Greek Marketplace. It's a wide-open space filled with chaos and commerce. And it's what you're afraid of when you have agoraphobia."

In PDF downloads HERE [via freewargamesrules]


At Sham's Grog 'n Blog, "One-Hundred NPC Personalities" a nice little "on-the-fly random determination of NPC personality types/traits." Good for pretty much any RPG.

Online HERE.




At A Hamsterish Hoard of Dungeons and Dragons, a pair of D&D compatible spells "Shining Tear of Time" and "Snapping Clockwork Teeth"


Online HERE or follow the thread for more spells here.



Comics
At Diversions of the Groovy Kind, a creepy, werewolf tale "A Change of Identity"



Online HERE.




At Four-Color Shadows, a rare, made for comics Brick Bradford tale fron 1967. Bradford was a "second string version of Flash Gordon."


Online HERE.





At The Comic Book Catacombs, The prehistoric adventures of Tor in “Isle of Fire” (May 1954)




Online HERE.



At The Horrors of It All, "House for Sale" and "The Burning Flame" a pair of horror tales from Mystic #8 (May 1952).



Online HERE.





Noir/Suspence
At CrimeWAV, The Immortal Game by Mark Coggins is being serialized in audio format.

"It's a true find, a well-written and sophisticated addition to the heralded San Francisco private-detective story…a panoramic tour de force" and selected it as a book of the year."


In MP3 downloads, Parts ONE, TWO, THREE, and FOUR. (likely R rated)





At 19 Nocturne Boulevard, "A Jury of Her Peers" (adapted from a play and short story by Susan Glaspell, published in 1917).

"In the horse and buggy days, a sheriff probes the motive behind a man's murder. "

Audio drama in MP3 download HERE.



At the author's website, "Discovery" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, first published in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, November, 2008.

"Pita Cardenas has taken the case of her life. The only attorney in small Rio Gordo, she has decided to fight the biggest railroad company in the state to get compensation for the widow of a man who may have raced a train. He’s guilty—or is he?"

Online HERE until 14 March 2011.



At the Internet Archive, The Shadow of Silk Lennox (1935).

"A crooked nightclub owner (Lon Chaney Jr.), pretending to go straight, is forced to kill a henchman when the latter tries to run off with the gang's latest haul."

In ogg, MPEG4, and DivX downloads HERE.

More Good Free Stuff

Another day of good free items from the internet. The sites linked to below are high among the justifications for the existence of the internet. Quality, legal, and free.





E-Fiction
Now free online, Issue 21 of Apex Magazine featuring,

Original Fiction:
“Close Your Eyes” by Cat Rambo
“Langknech and Tzi-Tzi in the Land of the Mad” by Forrest Aguirre

Reprint:
“A Raggy Dog, a Shaggy Dog” by Nalo Hopkinson (Originally appeared in Lust for Life: Tales of Sex and Love, Vehicule Press, 2006)

Poetry:
“House of Shadows” by F.J. Bergmann
“The Witch’s Heart” by Nicole Kornher-Stace

At Lightspeed, "Gossamer" by Stephen Baxter.
"Lvov looked up from her data desk, startled. Beyond the flitter’s translucent hull, the wormhole was flooded with sheets of blue-white light which raced towards and past the flitter, giving Lvov the impression of huge, uncontrolled speed."

Online HERE.



At Daily Science Fiction, "Snowfall" by Jennifer Mason-Black.
"And on the last day came the snow."


Online HERE.




At Strange Horizons, "The Last Sophia" by C.S.E. Cooney.
"I came under enemy enchantment at the soft age of fourteen. For some reason it pleased the Gentry that I should breed their changeling babes, will me nil me, and breed them I have, though I had little else to do with them."

Online HERE or read the complete magazine online HERE.



At The World SF Blog, "A Change of Season" by Carmelo Rafala.
"—I rode the monorail around its circuit, passing my stop a dozen times or more, clothes hiding the bruises on my torso which throbbed suddenly with each jolt of the car. My facial bruises would draw no attention. Street fighting among immigrants. Mugging. Happened all the time in Stinksville."

Online HERE.


And at Munseys, three classic SF stories.

"The World with a Thousand Moons" by Edmond Hamilton (1942) in e-book downloads at Munseys and Project Gutenberg.

"The Kenzie Report" by Mark Clifton (1953) in e-book downloads at Munseys and Project Gutenberg.

and "Sam, This is You" by Murray Leinster (1955) in e-book downloads at Munseys and Project Gutenberg.


Audio Fiction
At Podcastle, "Card Sharp" by Rajan Khanna, read by Wilson Fowlie.
"He reached into his pocket and withdrew the Seven of Diamonds. The card flared like phosphorous in his hand, then disappeared in a wisp of smoke. He felt an ephemeral film coat his body. He moved from his hiding place behind some trees and moved down the walkway and to the ramp leading up to the riverboat."

Streaming and in MP3 download HERE.




At Ancient Faith Radio, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, read by Dr. Chrissi Hart. C. S. Lewis' classic and well known YA fantasy. Also there, most of the other Narnia books in audio downloads.





Streaming and in MP3 downloads HERE [via Free Listens - don't miss the review there]




At Scott Sigler's website, "Tuesday Terror" #2 "Neighbors" by Eddy Jones, edited and performed by Arioch Morningstar. Set in the Infected universe.

In Mp3 download HERE.



At The Drama Pod, Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth Pt 6.

Streaming and MP3 download HERE.



Gaming
At Daddy Grognard, "An Adventure for Every Monster" now up to Barracuda! [Arrgh, now the Heart song by the same name is going to be stuck in my head all day!]

Online HERE.




Several new entries at Ancient Vaults & Eldritch Secrets.
[New Monster] "Birds of Peace" online HERE.
[New Spell] "You Never Really Knew Me" online HERE.
[New Spell] "Eyes of the Hawk" online HERE.
and [New Magic Item] "Compass of Kalaki" online HERE.




At The Savage AfterWorld,"Savage Menagerie: Brain Lord" a monster for post-apocalyptic RPGs, especially Mutant Future.


Online HERE (more Savage Menagerie creature here).