Wow, there are a lot of freebies today! First up fiction. Dave is too embarrassed to show his face today after realizing he had been forgetting to link ChiZine since he had returned from his long hiatus. So there are many, free professional dark fiction stories today. There's a Ken Liu story at On the Premises, as well as other good ones (don't miss the cartoons). And many more fiction items, including serials and classic SF.There are many free audio stories today, which beats the heck out of listening to crappy radio on a long drive. There's flash fiction and poetry, several cool gaming items (all with pictures this one time), and finally a movie. One of the strangest sword and sandals movies ever (though the lizardmen are cool, much better looking than humans.)
This week's QuasarDragon presents will be delayed (until next week) due to the larger size of the story and OCR providing less help than usual.
One last thing. Please tell Dave his is completely wrong with his movie reviews yesterday or I, Lt. Bob, will loose a bad bet.
@ChiZine: Dark Fiction available until July 1, 2011.- Before and After by Sunil Sadanand
- Holy Mackerels by Ursula Pflug
- I, Cthulhu by Neil Gaiman
- Lament by Tom Piccirilli
- The Girl with the Halo by Matthew Sanborn Smith
- W.W.P.D by Patricia Lee Macomber
- A Bride’s Head, Revisited by Joel Arnold
- Champion of Lost Causes by Scott Emerson Bull
- Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee around a Pomegranate by Stephen M. Wilson
- The Insides by Richard Larson
- Protection by Stewart O'Nan
- Summer of Love by Livia Llewellyn
- The Swordsman by Michael R. Colangelo
- Reflections on the Critical Process by Mike Carey
- Your Essential Unsung Hero by Nancy Kilpatrick
- Marion’s Knot by Lee Thomas
- Noogle Knock by Robert Swartwood
- Requiem by Brian Hodge
- Ten Steps by Richard Thomas
- Chanting the Violet Dog Down: A Tale of Noreela by Tim Lebbon
- Payback by P. D. Cacek
- A Little Glimpse by Steve Eller
- Things I No Longer Like about God by Tarl Roger Kudrick
- Three Legged Bird by Vylar Kaftan
- A Whispered Apocalypse by Simon Logan
On the Premises has its 13th issue up featuring a mixture of Genre and Mainstream stories. (And cartoons!)"The Visit" by Ken Liu.
"Four hundred fifty-three probes arrived that night."
"Neighbor from Heaven" by Edoardo Albert.
"'You are going to hell and there is nothing I can do to stop it,' he said."
"Inside Out" by Debra Purdy Kong.
“The cops don’t care, she doesn’t take anything major, and she talks to herself a lot. What a nut job.”
"A Brick Wall" by Neil James Hudson.
"After I first came here, I thought I could hear someone behind the wall."
"What Do You Want?" by Rona Yohalem.
"When she hangs up, her heart beats so rapidly, she’s afraid she’ll collapse. Maybe it’s a mistake."
"A Dead Profession" by Frank Dutkiewicz.
“No one’s died in over eighty years, Paul. What if he’s not the first? What if they can’t find out what happened? What if…?”
and "Mornings with AJ and Jen" by Thomas Cannon.
"'Do you know why I picked your show?' the gunman asked."
@Daily Science Fiction: "The Ambiguity Clock" by Lavie Tidhar,"Bangkok, eleven o'clock at night: Soi Cowboy a street of loud music, loud laughs, pheromone generators pumping their wares into the atmosphere, truflesh dolls dancing, men walking with glazed eyes and happy smiles--all but for the two who were following him."
@Analog Science Fiction and Fact: "Phantom Sense" by Richard A. Lovett & Mark Niemann-Ross. (2010)."I’ve never understood how it could be stalking if all you’re trying to do is keep her safe. I just want to be a good father. Make up for all those years of being AWOL because CI-MEMS is a full-time job. You can’t be a father and CI-MEMS."
@Asimov's Science Fiction: "The Day the Wires Came Down" by Alexander Jablokov. On title page here or right click to save PDF."Mother had gone home with a mechanical device for chopping tree roots out of drainage pipes and left her offspring to their mission. Arabella should have been getting home herself, to prepare for her going-away party, but instead she persuaded her mother that Andrew couldn’t handle finding Father an appropriate birthday present on his own."
Serial Fiction
@Ray Gun Revival: Thieves’ Honor Episode 14: Head Games, Part 1 – Keanan Brand.“Aye, ma’am, that may be, but you’re in a colonial military facility. With a hospital. If they set you free so easily after such a grave accusation, that means there’s an implant to track you for the rest of your life. Is that the kind of freedom you want, ma’am?”
@White Wolf Publishing: "Silent Knife, part 3" David Nurnberg"In Ariadne’s room—her cell—it was always night. She didn’t need the lamp on her desk, didn’t even know if the bulb still worked. Years ago, she had wanted it as a reminder of her old life. Now, it was only a piece of jetsam she hadn’t yet gotten around to disposing of."
Classic SF
@F&SF: "12:01 P.M." by Richard A. Lupoff, from F&SF (Dec. 1973)."What frustration, Castleman thought, if he ever did succeed in making Rosenbluth realize that the strange phenomenon he had theorized was an actuality, had taken place, and was recurring at one-hour intervals."
@Munseys and Project Gutenberg: "One Way" by Miriam Allen deFord, from Galaxy Science Fiction (March 1965)."I thought of every way to save Hal from the Lydna Project and failed ... but the women didn't!"
@Pseudopod: Episode #229 "Man Eat Man" by Mike Irwin.“The Dumpster Kid is already recounting the tally behind Uncle Sam to make sure that there’s no foul play. When they finish the first vote, he puffs out his chest and in a slightly deeper voice says, ‘Now all those against.’ Again the two go competitively counting heads.
@Escape Pod: Episode #290 "Tom the Universe" by Larry Hodges, read by Mat Weller."I permeate this universe, which I’ve named Tom, and guard against its destruction. If someone had done that for the universe I came from, then Mary, my sweet Mary, would still be alive, and I wouldn’t have killed her and everyone else when I accidentally destroyed that universe."
@SFFaudio: Podcast #105 with a complete and unabridged reading of the action/adventure classic The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell, narrated by William Coon."A tempest tossed hunter crawls ashore on a mysterious island only to find his way to a creepy castle inhabited by a Russian Count named Zaroff."
@The Internet Archive: Strange Adventure (1945) or right click here to download a zip of the whole collection."Strange Adventure aired in 1945 and was a collection of short adventure stories lasting not much longer than 3:30 minutes told by host, Pat McGeehan." The perfect length to mix with songs on your iPod or MP3 player.
@Misfits Audio: Star Rabbit Tracks episode #5 "Who Are You? written by N.J. Rainford, performed by a full cast. SF humor/parody."Things aren’t always as they appear- as the Crew of the Jackalope are about to find out!"
@BrokenSea Audio Productions: Maudelayne Series 3 Episode 12: "Seven Years." (Earlier episodes here)"The beautiful naiad love of Atherton returns, but is trapped inside a mirror. Can he free her without paying the ultimate price?"
@AntipodeanSF: AntipodeanSF Pilot Episode."features "Ninja Nemesis" by Crisetta MacLeod, "Zero" by Shaun A. Saunders, and "An Accident Going Somewhere To Happen" by Shaun A. Saunders."
@Flashes in the Dark: "Night" by David Kernot.
@365 tomorrows: "Unleaded" by Garrett Harriman.
@ChiZine: [Dark Poetry]
- He Says "Please" so Nicely by Annie Boyle
- Some Secret Symphony by Donna Burgess
- Tea Party Vamp by Marge Simon
- The Dead Gather at Your Feet by Kiel Stuart
- Louis in the Morning by Phoebe Wray
- a promise fulfilled by Brian Rosenberger
- Beachhead by Marge Simon & Michael Fosburg
- Beware of Attics by Andrea Blythe
- Glass, Redux by Robyn Herrington
- Mr. Poe’s Last Express by Ed Lynskey
- ms & mr frankenstein by Phyllis Gottlieb
- The Surrender by Rain Graves w/Artwork by Daniele Serra
- Their Shades Are Legend by Bruce Boston
- After Pompeii by Jennifer Jerome
- Experts on Mortality by R. G. Evans
- Fingernails by P. S. Cottier
- Judas Noose Tavern by Charles Clifford Brooks III
- Young Miss Frankenstein Regrets by Camille Alexa
- Beneath the Stars, in the Earth by Nancy O. Greene
- Children’s Crusade by Donna Farley
- If Only People Weren’t Made Out of Meat by James S. Dorr
- Midnight Grocery Shopping in the Icelandic Sagas by Hugh Thomas
- My Skull, the Garage by Bethany Powell
@The Internet Archive: Vulcan, Son of Jupiter (1961).Bizarre, dubbed Italian sword and sandals film with two rival gods (Vulcan and Mars) stripped of their powers and sent to Earth. There Vulcan faces Mars and his Thracian allies as well as lizardmen.
@Powers and Perils: The complete 1983 fantasy RPG and (all?) supplements available in PDF scans of the original books as well as re-edited versions (go with the scans). Not a great game, but an interesting look at a different type of "old school" RPG."Welcome to adventure! You are about to enter the world of Powers and Perils, a completely new fantasy role-playing system, that breaks from the old standards to create an environment of unlimited, exciting adventure."
I'm not certain how legit this site is, but since it's apparently been up 15 years, it's probably OK.
@Suffer Shack: "The Challenge of Asmodeus" 4E adventure for level 30 characters. More free 4E adventures here."It was three earthen years after Obad-Hai’s death, before any proper link was known to the infernal hells. Asmodeus, in his scheming, offered up the archdevil Levistus to take the fall."
Other Cool Gaming Items
@The Land of NOD: [Supervillains] "Kardiak and Psychedelic for Mystery Men!"A "drop of blood worked its way through the machinery until it touched a tiny silver pentagram hidden deep within, and Kardiak was released"
@Ancient Vaults & Eldritch Secrets: [New Magic Item] "Blood Charm of Klauso" and "Leap Locket of the Elements"“A red mist!” lamented Koram. “It fogs all I see!”
@Big Ball of No Fun: [New Monsters] "Water Leaper" and "Xiuhcoatl" (statless)Then he saw it, or rather, them. A half dozen frog eyes floated barely above the surface of the water."
@Sea of Stars: [New Magic Items] "Wepwawet’s Arrows" and "Xanthos’ Manger""It flew true, finding its mark in the neck of the enemy scout who fell silently. The hunter quickly closed to make sure the scout was dead. With another prayer to guide the spirit to the lands of the dead, he pulled the arrow free."
@Zalchis: [New Monsters] "Xilmpa" and "Walmakash""Xilmpa are huge, hulking, brutish crocodilian warrior-amazons with a taste for uranium."
@A Field Guide To Doomsday: [New Monsters] "Brawlrus" and "Scrawler" (Mutant Future / Gamma World)"There is anecdotal evidence that brawlruses may be evolving intelligence"
@No Signal: [New Monster] "Bonnacon" Medieval monster (Encounter Critical.)"Its horns are curved inward, and useless for defense, so the bonnacon uses its dung as a weapon."
@Rather Gamey: "Dead Simple Lock & Trap Mini-game""Each lock has a certain amount of cards that determine it's difficulty. A 2d4 roll could easily be used to determine the number of cards, but any amount could be used."
@A Character for Every Game: [Map] "Erdea Manor – the Depths""And here, in the depths (in the great cave of area 61) we have further stairs down into the lowest level of Erdea Manor – the Catacombs."
@DriveThruRPG: "Mutants & Masterminds Threat Report #17: Talona"From Green Ronin.
"The Threat Report is formatted as an update from AEGIS, the American Elite Government Intervention Service, the government agency in the World of Freedom tasked with handling super-powered menaces."
That's all for now.
