Free E-Books and More

Some good free e-books and comics as well as science and Hobbit news and more. 


[Art from "Cat Men of Phoebus" in comics below]





E-Books
At Free eBooks Daily:

• Night of the Pentagram by Barrymore Tebbs. Horror.
• Blakewood by Sable Grey.  Gothic Vampire Romance.
• Burning Bridges by Nadege Richards. YA Dystopia/SciFi Romance.
• Bound to Night by Nina Croft. Paranormal Romance.
• The Last Praetorian by Mike Smith. Science Fiction Adventure Romance.
• The War of the Worlds: Aftermath by Tony Wright. Science Fiction.
• The Prometheus Project (Book 2): Captured by Douglas E. Richards. Science Fiction.
• Wolf Dawn by Susan Cartwright.  SciFi Thriller Romance.
• Windigo Soul by Robert Brumm. Science Fiction.
• Incoming Alert by Arlene Webb. Science Fiction Adventure.

Via Pixel of Ink:

• The Boat by Christine Dougherty. Horror.

At Smashwords:

• "The Search" by Susan Noble. YA Fantasy. 17k.
• "Peter Pan & Anahita" by Anita Saran. Children's Fantasy. 7k. 
• "Spader dam" by Frida Arwen Rosesund. Horror. 2k.
• "The Devil's Bike: Love Potion" by Giovanni Flores. Horror. 5k.  
• "Zombie Dash" by Mark Matthews. Horror. Zombie. 5k.
• "The Big Game" by Ian Hillbeck. Science Fiction. Soccer.
• "The Net 7.0" by Cassal Sigonlos. Science Fiction.

Comics

• At Atomic Kommie Comics: "Cat Men of Phoebus" Sci-Fi. 1950.
• At Atomic Kommie Comics:"Dark 'O the Moon" Sci-Fi. 1950.
• At The Horrors of It All: "Kill, My Minions of Death!" Horror. 1953.
• At Seduction of the Innocent: "Doomsmoke" Horror. 1954.

Other Genres

• Audio at Gypsy Audio: "TamLynn PI: Casefile V Not Every Thorn has a Rose" by Gwendolyn Jensen-Woodard. Mystery.
• Audio at 19 Nocturne Boulevard: "Two If By Sea" by Julie Hoverson. Comedy.
• Music at Composer's Site: "Star Wars & Batman Christmas Songs" by John Anealio.

Science News

• "Black Holes Act Like Both Solids and Liquids" Science Daily.
• "Dino-Killing Asteroid Also Did in 'Obamadon'" Science Daily.
• "Do We Live in a Computer Simulation?" Science Daily.
• "An older Vega: New insights about the star all others are measured by" Phys.org
• "Hacking the Human Brain: The Next Domain of Warfare" Wired.
• "Bizarre Weather Around the Solar System" Slate.
• "Video: A Magical Nighttime Journey Through a Fluorescent Reef" Wired.
• "Opportunity, a Mars Rover Past Its Best-By Date, Keeps Going"  NYT.
• "Real-Life 'Hobbit' Face Revealed" Discovery.
• "Contact Lenses Could Send Texts to Your Eyes" Discovery.

 Genre Film News

• "‘Hobbit’ knockoff release blocked by judge"
• "Foxtrot Comic goofs on The Hobbit"
• "The Hobbit Games" Parody (Video)
• "Tolkien fans wait and worry about 'Hobbit' movie"
• "Another Trailer for 'Oz: The Great and Powerful'"
• "Star Trek Into Darkness Revelations"
• "'Star Trek Into Darkness': Cumberbatch's Identity, Carol Marcus, And A New 'Trek' Villain Theory"
• "'Star Trek Into Darkness' Plot: What We Learned On Behind-The-Scenes Trip To Bad Robot"
• "The New Man of Steel Trailer is Now Online"
• "The Trailer for After Earth, Starring Will and Jaden Smith"

Saturday

Just a few freebies today as well as some news. The image is from the Sorcerer and the White Snake, which looks good, despite some rather weak CGI. Back tomorrow.






Audio Fiction
At Escape Pod: "Chandra’s Game" by Samantha Henderson. Science Fiction.
     "Chandra’s Game roots in the side of a barren asteroid moon like a tick.  Over the years we’ve burrowed deeper into rock and ice until poor Chandra is mostly Game.  We loop the twin wormholes, Gehenna and Tartarus, roundabout in a figure eight, ready to catch the freighters as they escape from hell’s dark maw.  We strip them of goods and drink their heat, load them up and send them into another hell.  It’s a profitable game, Chandra’s."

At LibriVox: "Tanks" by Murray Leinster.
    "Two miles of American front had gone dead. And on two lone infantrymen, lost in the menace of the fog-gas and the tanks, depended the outcome of the war of 1932."  First Published in Astounding Stories of Super-Science No. 1, January, 1930

Flash Fiction

• At Every Day Fiction: "The Unwilling Trophy Wife" by Chad Stroup. Horror.
• At 365 Tomorrows: "The Things We Do for Love" by Ian Florida. Science Fiction/

E-Books
At Free eBooks Daily"

• The Supreme Warrior by John Viril. Fantasy.
• Parallel Spirits by T.S. Welti. Paranormal Romance.

At Smashwords:

• "Thursday Night Game" by David Haywood Young. Weird. 11k.
• "Mingo and Marla's Excellent Apocalypse - The End Times holiday gift set" by Steven J. Nixall. SF. 49k.
• "Tales of the Airship Neverland Vol 1.5 : Fairy Dust Never Rusts" by John White. Steampunk. 38k.
• "Nightfall" by Eric Dulin. Science Fiction. 60k.

Other Genres
Audio at Radio Drama Revival: "A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens.
Fiction at Online Pulps: "Nursery Crime" by Joe Archibald. Crime 1945. and "Gunman's Christmas" by Caddo Cameron. Western 1946.

Science News

• "Brown Dwarf Stars Could Host Earth-Size Planets, Study Finds" Space.com
• "Space bursts provide insight to 'theory of everything'" NBCnews
• "Florida Wants to Fight Disease With Genetically Modified Mosquitoes" ABCnews.
• "Apple's downward spiral accelerates" Japan Today.
• "Unlocking a Lake’s Bacterial Secrets, Beneath 20 Meters of Ice" Science Friday (Audio)

Genre Film/TV News

•  "‘Hobbit’ exclusive clip: Gandalf warns Saruman of a powerful evil"
• "'The Hobbit' is a safe kind of danger: Peter Jackson"
• "Andy Serkis talks Gollum reprisal for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" 
• "Tim Burton’s ‘Alice in Wonderland’ is Getting a Sequel"
• "Star Trek Into Darkness" (Trailer)
• "Star Trek Into Darkness Trailer: Five Questions Raised"
• "‘Game of Thrones’ Season 3 Teaser Trailer: Ice vs. Fire"
• "‘The Sorcerer and the White Snake’ Trailer: Snake Women and Ancient Chinese ‘Inception’ Horns"

Science News Plus Hobbit News and Trailer

Some fascinating science news tidbits, some Hobbit and Star Trek news, and a trailer for "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" and for those brave enough to enter a comic book store, be sure to check out Haunted Horror #2, co-edited by Karswell of The Horrors of It All.












 Science News

• "Can Slamming a Spaceship into an Asteroid Save Earth?" Space.com
• "Are Venus' Volcanoes Active? Clues Suggest Yes" Space.com
• "Scientists say NASA's budget inadequate for its goals" SpaceDaily.
• "What howler monkeys can tell us about the role of interbreeding in human evolution"  Phys.org
•  "New Dino Had Giant Nose" Discovery.
• "You Can Give a Boy a Doll, but You Can't Make Him Play With It" The Atlantic
• "Bizarre Creature Found in 200-Million-Year-Old Cocoon" LiveScience.
• "Last Man on The Moon" Tom's Astronomy Blog.
• "Prehistoric rhino reveals secrets" BBC
• "Rover could be on Martian clays" BBC
• "Titan is Icier Than Thought" Astrobiology Magazine.
• "The Sovereign and the Pirates, 1332" History. Medievalists.net (Amherst College)

Hobbit and Star Trek News

• "Happy Hobbit: Pinecone Bird Feeder – Episode 07" Video.
• "TV spot for The Hobbit : ‘don’t be afraid’" Video.
• "First official photo from SECOND Hobbit movie, The Desolation of Smaug, released"
• "Sir Ian McKellen defends Hobbit trilogy decision"
• "Movie Review: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" Huffington Post.
• "Star Trek Into Darkness: A Very Close Look At The Teaser Trailer"
• "Not again! Star Trek fans in uproar after new Japanese trailer seems to show sequel copies Wrath of Khan"

Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Trailer HD

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 E-Books, Hobbit Reviews, and More

Several interesting free e-books this time, as well as science news and Hobbit movie news. The first reviews are coming in and they are mixed. Purists hate it (of course, they hate every adaptation) but others are mostly enjoying it (issues with the 48 fps 3d aside). 

And I've noticed there are now advertisements linked to select words in the text (not put there by me).  To avoid confusion, I'll bold all real links and nothing else except the category titles.

[art from "New contender for oldest dinosaur" linked below]


E-Books
At Amazon: For Odin, for Thor, for Asgard. Fantasy. Mythology.

At Free eBooks Daily:

• Escape (The Prisoner and the Sun #1) by Brad Magnarella. YA Fantasy.
• Portal Arcane II - The Law of Three by J. Thorn. Dark Fantasy (Book I)
• Reveal by Brina Courtney. YA Sci-Fi Romance.
• Destiny of Angels by Wendy Steele. Horror.
• Dead or Alive by William Harms. Zombies.
• The Wailing by MR Graham.

At Smashwords:

• "The Signal" by Ulf Wolf. Fantasy 5k. 
• "The Dragon Heart Keeper" by L.L Hunter. Fantasy. 6k.
• "Nannies, Inc." by Ninfa Hayes. Fantasy 6k.
• "A Sprig of Holly" by J.A. Clement. Fantasy. 8k 
• "The 11th Floor" by Charles Culver. Horror. 20k.
• "Cora Frost: The Fasting Spider" by Matthew Smith. Horror. 8k.
• "The Water That Binds" by Scott Weaver. Horror. 1k.
• "Prevention Protocol" by A. D. Barncord. Science Fiction.3k.
• "The Reader" by Ulf Wolf. Science Fiction. 7k.

Gaming
"Washed Up Walkers (Battle Cards)" by Adrianna White.
     "created to turn an ordinary deck of playing cards into a brand new and exciting game that people of all ages can enjoy." Many more Battle Cards games here.

 Science News

• "Alien Solar Systems May Prove to be More Habitable than Ours" The Daily Galaxy.
• "New contender for oldest dinosaur" BBC.
• "NASA Needs Stronger Direction to Lead In Space: Report" Space.com
• "Africa's Homo Sapiens Were the First Techies" Science Daily.
• "Did Bacteria Fuel World's Worst Extinction?"
• "New NASA Mars Rover to Launch in 2020" NASA.
• "Opportunity Rover Finds Mars Minerals That Formed in Life-Friendly Water" Wired.
• "Can life emerge on planets around cooling stars?" Space Daily.

Hobbit News

• "OFFICIAL: Six incredible video clips from The Hobbit" The One Ring.
• "'The Hobbit' underwhelms critics in early reviews" Chicago Tribune.
• "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" Review. Cinema Blend.
• "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" Review Variety.
• "'The Hobbit' 3-D Early Review: Back Again, But Not Quite There" Review Movieline.
• "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" Review Comingsoon.net
• "This return to Middle-earth is just shy of greatness" Review IGN
• "16 Movies I’m Excited to See in 2013 [Trailers]" College Candy.

Free Fiction, Free Comics and Science News

I must sound like a broken record "more great free fiction *skip* "more great free fiction *skip* "more great free fiction *skip* "more great free fiction *skip*" but virtualy every day some great sites release more of it. (And infite thanks to them!).  Today's fiction includes a pair from outstanding magazine Lightspeed, one from The World SF Blog, and more worthwhile stories.  For this week only(?), New Scientist is posting a flash fiction story a day. Plus there are some cool classic comics and news of note (if you check out the Science News headlines, doesn't it seem that at least three of them sound like pulp era SF?)

[art for Star Trek Into Darkness in film news]






Fiction
At Author's Site: "Fate" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. Fantasy.
      "She held a deck of cards in her left hand and cut it easily, sliding the top of the deck to the bottom. Her skin was pale white, her hair even whiter, and she wore a backless white evening dress. Grif could almost imagine her in the glassed-in cage on the lower levels, astride the white tigers."

At The Colored Lens: "Diffusion – Part 2" by Andrew Tisbert. science Fiction.
     "Billy watched as his clone looked down into the car. It felt as if time had stopped, as if the hail had become suspended in the cold gray air. Then the soldier looked away and disappeared."

At Daily Science Fiction: "The Show Must" by Matt London.
      "The soles of the dance shoes on Joan Jansen's feet were scored and coated with countless layers of rosin. She bent the shoes up and down, stretching the fabric, and inside, her feet. What else could she do? That was her routine"

At Lightspeed: "An Accounting" by Brian Evenson. Fantasy.
       "I have been ordered to write an honest accounting of how I became a Midwestern Jesus and the subsequent disastrous events thereby accruing, events for which I am, I am willing to admit, at least partly to blame. I know of no simpler way than to simply begin."

At Lightspeed: "The Perfect Match" by Ken Liu. Science Fiction.
       "Sai woke to the rousing first movement of Vivaldi’s violin concerto in C minor, “Il Sospetto.” He lay still for a minute, letting the music wash over him like a gentle Pacific breeze. The room brightened as the blinds gradually opened to the sunlight. Tilly had woken him right at the end of a light sleep cycle, the optimal time. He felt great: refreshed, optimistic, ready to jump out of bed."

At The World SF Blog: "Ceremony of Innocence" by Armando Salinas.
     "The rooms below were mostly dark and smelled. Damp melanomas stained the walls. Arthritic cables, knotted and almost fossilized with dust, crawled out of holes in the ceiling with naked light bulbs hanging like fruit. Whatever poor lighting there was, though, came mostly from the phosphorescent graffiti scribbled on every inch of wall. Occasionally, cheap portraits of saints and wooden crucifixes eclipsed the glowing artwork"

At Weird Fiction Review: "The Engine of Desire" by Livia Llewellyn. Horror.
       "Megan pulls the empty wine glass from her husband’s limp hand. His fingers brush the shag of the living room floor, sway to the sleepy sigh of his breath. Clocks tick in the kitchen and hallways, and when she places the glass on the coffee table, the clink against the wood shoots like a falling star through the silent house. Outside, in the neighborhood, the engine throbs and waits."

Reviewed Free Fiction

• At BestScienceFictionStories.com: "Anansi Island" by Christian Cantrell. Science Fiction. 2010.
• At Variety SF: "Exposure" by Eric Frank Russell. Science Fiction. 1950.

Flash Fiction

• At New Scientist: "Digital Eyes" by Tamara Rogers. Science Fiction.
• At New Scientist: "S3xD0ll" by Kevlin Henney. Science Fiction.
• At 365 Tomorrows: "I, Rifle" by Jae Miles. Science Fiction.

Audio Fiction
At Lightspeed: "The Perfect Match" by Ken Liu. Science Fiction.
      described above.

At SFFAudio: "The Flying Machine" by Ray Bradbury.
     " a short “fantasy” set in a mythical China"

Comics
At Atomic Kommie Comics: ""Gambling Den of Space" Sci-Fi. 1940.
At Digital Comics Museum: Black Magic 020 Horror 1953 and Tales of Horror 002 Horror. 1952.
At The Horrors of It All: "Thing in the Graveyard / Third Grave on the Right..." Horror. 1952/1954.
At Pappy's Golden Age Comics Blogzine: "two stories from consecutive issues of Captain Flight Comics" Sci-Fi. 1945/1946.

Other Genres
Flash Fiction at Every Day Fiction: "Barrels" by Dirk Knight. Surreal.

Science News

• "For Lonely Astronauts, a Robotic Companion" The Atlantic.
• "Do Robots Rule the Galaxy?" Discovery News.
• "Voyager 1 Encounters New Region in Deep Space" Science Daily.
• "Curiosity rover: No big surprise in first soil test" PhysOrg.
• "Mars Rover Discovery Revealed" NYT.
• "Will a Secret Private Manned Mission to the Moon Be Announced This Week?" Wired.
• "Scary Rumors about the World Ending in 2012 Are Just Rumors" USA Gov.
• "Galaxy Grande: Milky Way May Be More Massive Than Thought" Scientific American.

Genre Film News

• "Video: see mastersmith Peter Lyon’s Hobbit weapons"
• "MrCere reviews ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
• "Main Poster of "Oz The Great and Powerful" Completes Triptych"
• "'Star Trek Into Darkness' gets an oddly familiar teaser poster"

Hobbit and Science News and More Free Reads

Even more! Another good free genre fiction magazine, Theaker's Quarterly is out and there are many great sounding e-books.  And there are some links to some interesting Science and Hobbit news stories. (With apologies to Buckner & Garcia)
'Cause I've got Hob-bit fever;
Hob-bit fever.
It's driving me crazy.
Driving me crazy.
I've got Hob-bit fever;
Hob-bit fever.
I'm going out of my mind. 
Going out of my mind.


Fiction
Now Posted: Theaker's Quarterly Fiction #42  In e-book format

• “The Powers That Be” by Sophia-Karin Psarras
• “Drydock”by Mitchell Edgeworth
• “Old Men Who Reach into Guitars”by R.M. Fradkin.

 E-Books
At Free eBooks Daily:

• Away With the Fairies by Jenny Twist . Fairy Tales.
• Stolen Love by Jodie B Cooper. YA Paranormal.
• The Hole by Aaron Ross Powell. Horror.
• The Night Library by T. L. Barrett. horror.
• Choices by Cate Dean. Fantasy Time Travel.
• Angel Wings.by Suzanne Stengl. Fantasy.
• Star One: Tycho City: Discovery by Raymond L. Weil. Science Fiction.
• Chest of Souls Book One by Michelle Erickson. Fantasy.
• Man or Beast by Annie McLeod. Fantasy Romance.
• Take Back Tomorrow by Richard Levesque. Science Fiction.

 At Smashwords:

• "A Dainty Dish" by Elizabeth Wexford. Fantasy 4k.
• "Woolgathering" by Christina Hambleton. Fantasy. 32k.
• "Immortal Remains" by R. J. Davnall. Fantasy. 8k.
• Chasing Sorcery  by L.J. Hutton. Fantasy. 232k.
• "Deep Water, Sharp Teeth" by Karen L. Abrahamson. SF/Fantasy. 14k.
• "There Goes the Neighborhood" by Christopher Lee Cousino. Urban Fantasy. 7k.
• Infinite Limits by J.C, Bell. Fantasy. 86k.
• "The Night Bus" by Ray Daley. 6k.
• "Broken Dream" by Joyce Chng. 3k.
• Mission Beyond The Stars: Book #1 of Saga OF The Lost Worlds by Neely & Dobbs. Science Fiction. 94k.
• "The Secret Beneath the Ice" by Andrew M. Crusoe. Science Fiction. 4k.
• "Merry Christmas, Mister Wolf" by Steph Bennion. Science Fiction. 9k.
• "The Cold Hell" by Augusto Chiarle. Steampunk. 4k.
• "Ana of Acheron" by Sam Seudo. Science Fiction. 6k.

 Science and History News

• "Mercury's Water Ice Bodes Well for Alien Life Search"
• "Can a Jellyfish Unlock the Secret of Immortality?"
• "Even Brown Dwarfs Grow Rocky Planets"
• "US court to decide if human genes can be patented"
• "Where does Old Norse religion end?"

Hobbit and other film news

• "Blink and you’ll miss Smaug in the latest Hobbit trailer"
• "Hobbit Ownership, Way Early Midnight Movies and More Burning Questions—All Answered!"
• "An Interview with the Elusive Fran Walsh!"
• "Peter Jackson talks Smaug"
• "The ‘Oz: The Great and Powerful’ Trailer has Witches, Monkeys, and Munchkins"
• "First Trailer For STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS To Be Just Over One-Minute Long"
• "Star Trek Into Darkness (2013): Benedict Cumberbatch Is Not Gary Mitchell?"

Dark Fiction Magazine and a Few Headlines

Just a tiny bit more tonight.  There's new free audio fiction from Dark Fiction Magazine - link stolen without remorse from SF Signal. And a few headlines [Disclaimer: I wrote the "Bad Science Reporting 101" post. Don't want to link to myself without giving fair warning]





 


Audio Fiction
Dark Fiction Magazine #13 – The Drowned Lands: [Via SF Signal]

“And The North­men Brought Their Gods” by Lou Morgan. Horror.
      "It is said that be­fore the North­men sacked that most blessed of places, God’s own church at Lind­is­farne, dire portents"

“A Hum­ble But­ter­cup” by Emma Newman. Horror.
      The road end­ed with an abrupt drop in­to the ocean. Jim stood at the edge of the tar­mac, his car parked on the oth­er side of the bar­ri­er a few me­tres away."
 “Jetsam” by Adrian Faulkner. Horror.
     "The wa­ter that splashed over her feet was icey cold and sent a shiv­er up her, but she dare not stop, in­stead con­tin­u­ing to walk for­ward as each suc­ces­sive wave"
 “Swamp Tale” by Joshua Malbin. Horror.
     "A crane calls, a rat­tling, mu­si­cal sound like a stick dragged along a wood­en fence. An­oth­er joins it, then two more, then a cho­rus of dozens. They stand up from"

Hobbit News

• "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey(2012)" Movie Trailer.
• "Hobbitus Ille: The Latin Hobbit – ‘In foramine terrae habitabat hobbitus.’"
• "Hobbit fans already line up"

Science News

• "Elon Musk Wants to Build 80,000-Person Mars Colony"
• "Do missing Jupiters mean massive comet belts?"
• "Unexpected data from the Large Hadron Collider suggest the collisions may be producing a new type of matter"
• "Bad Science Reporting 101: No they didn't plan on blowing up the Moon"
• "In Nature, Fatal Attractions Can Be Part of Life"
• "Life on Mars: NASA says 'hold on a minute!'"
• "Dark matter running out of place to hide"
• "Giant Planet Slowly Dying"
• "Visit Machu Picchu with Huge 'Zoomable' Image

Ephemeral Links - Enduring Freebies and News

Quite a few interesting items, including several e-books, some eclectic news items that might be of interest and a three part CBC podcast about three orders of Medieval knights. It's been up awhile, but it's new to me.

 

 [Art From "The Sword Brothers – Knights Templars, Hospitallers and Teutonic Knights"  below]




E-Books
Via Pixel of Ink: Cerulean Isle by G.M. Browning. Fantasy. Pirates.

At Free eBooks Daily:

• Fast-Tracked by Tracy Rozzlynn. YA Fantasy.
• You Are Not a Planet and Other Stories by Sean Manseau. Speculative Fiction.
• Verita by Tracy Rozzlynn. YA Science Fiction.
• Yseult by Ruth Nestvold. Historical Fantasy.
• First Crossing by Tyla Grey. Paranormal Romance.

At Smashwords:

• "My Curious Ocean" by Ulf Wolf. Science Fiction. 9k.
• "The Royal Runaway" by Rory Mackay. Fantasy. 9k.
• "The Memory of a Salt Shaker" by Bernard Cox. Contemporary Fantasy. 5k.
• "Resurrection #1" by Tim  Curran. Horror. 22k.
• "Twas The Night Before Christmas (When The Aliens Appeared)" by Michael Carter. Sci-Fi Poem. 1k.
• "Death and Taxes" by Sansoucy Kathenor. Speculative Fiction. 21k.

Audio Non-Fiction
At Medievalists.Net: "The Sword Brothers – Knights Templars, Hospitallers and Teutonic Knights"
      "Life in the eleventh century was nasty, brutish and short. Most people lived and died a few miles from where they were born. Strangers were suspect and danger lurked everywhere. Who was in charge was a matter of opinion. Barons and local chiefs ruled as they wished. Those who would be king faced a skeptical and hostile world…we take the modern world for granted with its more or less stable patchwork of nation-states, each with its body of law and governance."

Science News

• "Quantum teleportation between atomic ensembles demonstrated for first time"
• "Astronomers pin down origins of 'mile markers' for expansion of universe"
• "Mars and Earth: Similar Building Blocks"
• "'Super-Jupiter' Around Massive Star Discovered"
• "A Tsunami in Switzerland? Lake Evidence Says Yes"
• "Instrument Delivered for NASA's Upcoming Mars Mission"
• "Born-Again Star Shows the Fate of Our Solar System"
• "Finding a direction of time in exotic particle transformations"
• "Private Moon Race May Spark Lunar 'Water Rush'"
• "Henley hit by 'mutant super rat' invasion"

Paleontology/History News

• "After 121 years, identification of 'grave robber' fossil solves a paleontological enigma"
• "Mary Rose: scientists identify shipwreck's archers"
• "An 11th-Century Scandal"
• "Civilization versus Barbarians? Fortification Techniques and Politics in Carolingian and Ottonian Borderlands"
• "Haraldr the Hard-Ruler and his poets"

Fantasy Films News

• "The amazing Middle-earth art of John Cockshaw"
• "Philippa Boyens: film powerplayer"
• "Watch a tantalising 7.5 minute fan-made Hobbit trailer and TV spot compilation!"
• "Oz The Great And Powerful – A MUST SEE film!"
• "Oz The Great and Powerful’s second trailer has been released [Movie Trailer]"
• "'Breaking Dawn' Ends 'Twilight' Franchise on Strong Note"

Part 2

A bit more free fiction and other items of interest.  It's been an insane day so more will likely have to wait until tomorrow.





Fiction
Now Posted: Issue 18 of On the Premises (Genre stories listed below)

• "Reset Romance" a speculative story about a romantic relationship gone wrong by John Burridge.
• "Miss Betty Comes Home" an unusual ghost story by Theresa Rovillo. 
• "The Quantum Mechanic" a speculative story about some of the bad—and good—that can come from disturbances in time and space by Sarina Dorie.
• "Transmission" a speculative story about what our recent past might mean to the very distant future by James Calbraith.

Flash Fiction

• At Every Day Fiction: "Wall Walkers" by Mary Alice Meli. Fantasy.
• At 365 Tomorrows: "Reflection" by Clint Wilson. Science Fiction.
• At Weirdyear: "The Phone Call" by Mark Slade.

Gaming

• "Beer & Pretzel Space Marines" wargame [via freewargamesrules]
• "The Many Spirits of the Shaman: Archetypes for the Shaman Class (Part 4)"
• "Bats in Dabelfry!" Tunnels & Trolls adventure. 
• "Chuluunbold's Bow" - "Dwarf Lord’s Battle Horn" - "Stone of Bridges" - "Peacock Guardian Brooch" [Magic Items]
• "Acephali" - "The Blaash" (Gamma World) [Monsters]
• "Arcanic Fire" [Spell]

Science News

• "A harvest of new moons" Exoplanests.
• "Meteorites Reveal Warm Water Existed On Mars"
• "Archaeologists identify spear tips used in hunting a half-million years ago"
• "Ebola may go airborne"
• "Most Ocean Species Remain Undiscovered"
• "Astrophile: Lonely planet roams with stellar outcasts"
• "Scientists find 'fidelity' hormone in men"
• "Robotic Explorers May Usher in Lunar 'Water Rush'"
• "Kepler planet-hunting mission extended"
• "Mars Ripe for 'Cold Springs' Akin to Canadian Arctic"

Paleontology/History

• "Great whites 'not evolved from megashark'"
• "Tomb of Ancient Egyptian Princess Unearthed"

Hobbit/Oz News

• "Hobbit films loaded with new technology"
• "The sixth 'Hobbit' TV spot: Bilbo vows to help the dwarves recover their home"
• "The Hobbit IMAX 3D Getting a Star Trek Experience"
• "Warner Brothers Launches Official Hobbit and LOTR Shop!"
• "Hobbit TV Spot #7"
• "Disney releases second trailer for Sam Raimi’s ‘Oz the Great and Powerful’"

Haldeman, Bear, Hoffman, and Other Great Free Fiction and More

Some great stuff today including SF great Joe Haldeman's Nebula award winning short story "Graves" in both Fiction and Audio Fiction, Elizabeth Bear and Nina Kiriki Hoffman in Audio Fiction.  There are other potentially great stories in those two categories as well as E-Books and Flash Fiction. A few cool comics round out the freebies and there are a few science and Hobbit news items for those interested. Lastly, the resident blathering blowhard, yours truly, weighs in on Mankind: The Story of All of Us

[Art from "Dracula" in Comics below]




Fiction
At The Colored Lens: "The Illusionist" by Bruce Holland Rogers.
     "When Jerome’s father died, his mother started visiting mediums and spiritualists, and Jerome would come along and sit in the room while his father’s messages were conveyed to the land of the living. This was the beginning of his interest in crystal balls, velvet cushions, bright scarves, and other accoutrements of magic. Before he was even a teenager, Jerome knew that communication with the dead was a confidence game"

At Nightmare Magazine: "Graves" by Joe Haldeman. Horror. 1993.
     "I have this persistent sleep disorder that makes life difficult for me, but still I want to keep it. Boy, do I want to keep it. It goes back twenty years, to Vietnam. To Graves."  the Nebula Award and the World Fantasy Award for best short story in 1993.

Flash Fiction

• At Daily Science Fiction: "Old Flames"by Sylvia Spruck Wrigley. 
• At Every Day Fiction: "Consuming" by Peter Tupper. Science Fiction.
• At 365 Tomorrows: "Beaming" by Duncan Shields. Science Fiction.
• At Yesteryear Fiction: "The Storm" by TRS. Fantasy, short poem.

E-Books
Via Pixel of Ink:

• Bad Radio (The Emergent Earth) by Michael Langlois. Urban Fantasy
• Empire (In Her Name: Redemption #1) by Michael R. Hicks. Science Fiction.

At Free eBooks Daily.

• Nice Day to Die by Cameron Jace. YA. Science Fiction.
• G1.1 by JT Kalnay. Technothriller.
• Half Past by Catherine Winchester. Fantasy.
• Past Due by Catherine Winchester. Fantasy.
• Bemused by Catherine Winchester. Fantasy.
• How to Train Your Zombie by C S Winchester
• Transmission by James Calbraith. Science Fiction.
• Woven With A Silent Motto by L J Hutton. Fantasy.
• "Faith Of Fools" by Lee Donoghue. Fantasy Short Story.
• Islandia The Lost Colony by C.J. Klinger. Science Fiction.

At Smashwords

• "Into the Tower" by Bruno Stella. Fantasy. 6k.
• Rift of Askrah Book 1: Fracture    by Benjamin Andrews. 91k.
• "Hegira" by Ela Lond. Fantasy. 12k.
• "The Duel" by Shane Griffin. Fantasy. 5k.
• "The Secret Garden of Zombies" by Erin Pyne. Horror. 8k.

Audio Fiction
At Nightmare Magazine: "Graves" by Joe Haldeman. Horror.
     See "Fiction" above. 

At PodCastle: Giant Episode: "The Tricks of London" by Elizabeth Bear.
      "“That’s the third damned dead whore in seventeen days,” Detective Inspector Rupert Bitner said, his educated tones incongruous to his choice of words. He slurped tea loudly from the chipped enamel lid of a vacuum flask."

At StarShipSofa: Episode No. 264.

 "In Their Garden" by Brenda Cooper.
     "I’m running back through the desiccated woods, going too fast to keep the sticks and branches that have fallen from the trees from cracking under my weight. My skin and mouth are dry. The afternoon sun has sucked all the water from me, and I haven’t stopped to drink."

"Futures in the Memories Market" by Nina Kiriki Hoffman.
      "You can't do anything else when you emp one of Geeta Tilrassen's memory modules. Her senses seize you; you see through her eyes, taste with her tongue, hear with her ears. And touch? You've never felt air against your skin until you've felt it breathe across hers."

Free Comics

• At The Horrors of It All: "The Two-Timer" Horror. 1954.
• At Comic Book Catacombs: "Wambi the Jungle Boy in "Enter the Sultans Dungeon" Adventure. 1941.
• At Seduction of the Innocent: "Dracula" part four. Horror. 1953

Hobbit and Oz News

• "Video: watch Hobbit TV spot #5!.."
• "My Little Pony Lord of the Rings video parody" [Be Afraid!]
• "Interview with the Hobbit himself"
• "The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle-earth out now on iOS and Android"
• "3 New Hobbit Movie Posters [Pics]"
• "Life before Dorothy: James Franco's Wizard gets to know Michelle William's Good Witch in prequel Oz: The Great And Powerful"
• "New 'Oz Great and Powerful' photos show off mystical land and cast"

Science News

• "The Sun: Our Perfectly Average Middle Aged Star " [Video]
• "Solving the Mystery of Aging: Longevity Gene Makes Hydra Immortal and Humans Grow Older"
• "Star Trek's Universal Translator Much Closer"
• "Physicists peek through opaque materials"
• "Meteor Shower This Week"
• "Scientists use quasars to probe dark energy over 10 billion years in the past"
• "Rare Particle Find May Cast Doubt on Popular Physics Theory"
• "Why the World Won't End in 2012"
• "Rover's 'SAM' Lab Instrument Suite Tastes Soil"

Paleontology/history

• "Ancient hominid had an unusual diet"
• "What Really Happened to the Maya?"
• "Ancient Roman Giant Found"
• "Stone Tools Point to Creative Work by Early Humans in Africa"
• "Unferth the Unhealthy" (Medieval Medicine) [Podcast]

Mini-review: Mankind: The Story of All of Us - Episode One. History Channel.
About: The History Channel's whirlwind tour of history. Episode one covered important discoveries and inventions.  This was a rather disappointing attempt to create a history equivalent of Planet Earth.

The Good: Many individual scenes were interesting enough, though too brief and generally lacking in real context. The visuals were good, though not nearly what the hype would have one believe.

The Bad: The very nature of the show lends itself to a limited, shallow interpretation of critical historical events. It focused too much on events and too little on the various cultures involved with these events. Worse, it took controversial opinions, such as the idea that Stonehenge was a memorial to the dead, and presented them as established facts. And worst, the series deliberately eschewed actual experts and relied on celebrities (Brian Williams, Dr. Oz, Anthony Bourdain) to give what are, at best, semi-informed opinions.

Final Rating: 5 of 10. Read a couple history books instead of watching this series.

Science, Hobbit, and Gaming Items and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter mini-review

Just some of the more interesting Science and Hobbit news, as well as some cool gaming items and my brief take on Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.




 Science News and Views

• "Why console gaming is dying"
• "How four companies took over the Internet"
• "What Arctic Rocks Say About Life in Mars Meteorite"
• "New Way to Split Water Molecules Into Hydrogen and Oxygen: Breakthrough for Solar Energy Conversion and Storage?"
• "Making a Better Invisibility Cloak"
• "Brazil aims to clone endangered animals"
• "Are Humans Becoming Less Intelligent?"
• "How To Watch Tomorrow’s Amazing Total Solar Eclipse Online"

Hobbit News

• "Listen to Neil Finn's 'Song of the Lonely Mountain' From The Hobbit" [via SuperHeroHype]
• "Two Versions Of The Hobbit’s Song Of The Lonely Mountain – Neil Finn Vs. Dwarves"
• "‘The Hobbit’ outsells Breaking Dawn and Skyfall!"
• "Seventeen Hobbit character posters you’ll absolutely love"
• "How To Throw A Dinner Party – The Hobbit Way [VIDEO]"
• "‘The Hobbit’: New Images & Advance Ticket Sales"
• "150 Behind the Scenes Photos from ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’"
• "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Official Movie Trailer"

Gaming Items

• "Playtesting in Detail" WotC.
• "Creature Comforts: Frost Giants"
• "Backstabber’s Delight" [Magic Item]
• "Shared Inexperience"

Monsters

• "Splicesaur — Chlophus" [Gamma World] - "Aegogur" 

Mini-Review
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012)

Plot: As a child, Abraham Lincoln witnesses his mother being killed by a vampire and grows up to seek to destroy the vampire menace to the United States.  The vampires are desperate to maintain slavery in the South as a means of securing easy victims and in doing so, become even more hated by Lincoln.

The Good: It's a rather original idea and somehow manages to stay respectful to the great president. It looks good, is reasonably well paced, and, most importantly, the vampires don't sparkle.

The Bad: It's very hard too take seriously, yet isn't intended as camp.  The main villain is too bland and obviously a last minute addition. 

While a bit slow starting, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is a rather tolerable action film if you don't expect too much (I learned many years ago to expect very little from Hollywood or else to be continually disappointed).  The characters are likeable enough, especially Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Scott Pilgram Vs. the World) as Mary Todd Lincoln and the special effects are at least average.  It's a decent film that's worth watching, but not a great film.

Blu-ray extras: Of note is "The Great Calamity" - a motion comic book, that has Edgar Allan Poe telling Lincoln what he knows about the origin of vampires in America and "The Making of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter"

Final Rating: 7 out of 10.  Not bad, but not great.