Of Free E-Books, Skraelings, and Audio Fiction

It was just going to be the ebooks, but a few other items just didn't want to wait.  [Art from "The Hill Where Thorvald Slew Ten Skraelings" in short fiction.]












Short Fiction

• At Weirdyear: "Chemistry" by LA Sykes. Weird Fiction.Flash.

• At Amazon: "The Hill Where Thorvald Slew Ten Skraelings" by Regan Wolfrom.(E-book)
     Historical Fantasy "In the land of long, cold winters and exploding green summers, the frail seidrman Thialfarr works the last of his magic to keep his fellow Norsemen alive. As the summers grow colder and Thialfarr weakens, and with the savage skraelings blocking their only outlet to the sea, Thialfarr's Christian neighbours have begun to see his heathen presence as the reason for their misfortune." Limited time.


Audio Fiction
• At Selected Shorts: "Expect the Unexpected"
      "Guest host Neil Gaiman presents tales with surprises. Jane Yolen’s “The Babysitter” is a contemporary Gothic with a twist; James Thurber’s classic “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” introduces a milquetoast with attitude; Ray Bradbury’s “The Pedestrian” anticipated our media-driven lives; and Thurber’s “The Wood Duck” seems to have nine lives. The readers are Isaiah Sheffer, Dick Cavett, Jamey Sheridan, and Malachy McCourt."

• At WMG Publishing: "A Time to Dream" by Dean Wesley Smith , read by the author. Science Fiction.
       "Captain Brian Saber, his ship and other Earth Protection League ships face a suicide mission to save Earth. Can he succeed, even though seemingly moments before he lay slowly dying of old age in a nursing home on Earth?" - Steaming only. Free for one week.

E-Books
At Amazon: [via Pixel-of-Ink]

• Ambasadora (Book 1 Marked by Light) by Heidi Ruby Miller. Science Fiction Romance.

At Smashwords:

• "Slipped" by Edward Lange, Science Fiction.
• "Transit Dreams" by Antonio Simon, Jr. 
• "Apocalypse Earth (3d Illustrated) Episode 1" by Aisa Malyn Rose. Apocalyptic.
• "Southwest Gothic Tales" by John T. Biggs. Paranormal.
• "Tower of the Lost Ways" by Ander Nesser. Science Fiction.
• "Mooncake" by Ray Hecht. Science Fiction.
• "McGellen" by L L Watkin. Science Fiction.

At Amazon: [via Freebook Sifter]

• Parallaxium 2 by Mark Bernal and Termian. Comic Book. 
• Brotherhood of Osiris by Jeremiah Mckinlay. Fantasy.
• The Gall (The Gall Series) by Bill Abot. Science Fiction. Humor.
•  ... And the World Shall be Born Anew by Daniel Berman. Fantasy. Science Fiction.
• The Stulman Project by Joel Maus. Science Fiction.
• Gamer by Dr. Kim Smith. Time Travel.
• Welcome to the Dream (A Celeste Cross Book, #1) by Odette C. Bell. Paranormal.
• Taven's Departing by Mike Jackson. Paranormal.
• The Vision Keeper (Stone Bearers Trilogy) by P. A. Ellwood. Fantasy.
• Dust in the Wind by William Hutchison. Science Fiction.
• The Vanished Colony (Legend of Alm) by Graham M. Irwin. Science Fiction.
• Rites of Succession by Jane McCaa. Science Fiction.
• Cyber Trooper by Dareion Morgan. Science Fiction.
• 2040: Revelations (Ancient Origins) by Robert Storey. Apocalyptic.
• Frozen In Time (Blood of the Gods, Book 1) by Marie Symeou. Vampires.
• The Skull of a Crystallite: First Edition by C. R. Ballast. Fantasy.
• In Defence of the Empire by John Williams. Steampunk.
• The Mad Emperor (The Doomsayer Journeys) by Steven Wetherell. Science Fiction.
• Blood of the Immortals - The Blood Crystals by Brian Ramsey. Paranormal.
• Full Moon at Midnight Part 1 by David Amburgey. YA Paranormal
• The Colour of Dishonour: Stories from the Storm Dancer World by Rayne Hall. Fantasy.
• Falaysia - Foreign World by Ina Linger. Fantasy.
• The Terminus by Oliver Eade. YA Time Travel
• Arcadium by Sarah Gray. Zombie.
• The Diamond of Freedom (The Unaltered) by Lorena Angell.
• The Corsican by Tina Shelton. Science Fiction.
• Kasey And His Dragon by E. H. White. YA Fantasy.
• Blank Slate Boarding House for Creatives by Chaunce Stanton. historical-magical realism.
• Vault of Ages (The Langsyne Chronicles) by Jonathan Christopher.
• Descendant: The Protector (The Descendant Series 1) by Daniel W. Koch. YA Vampires.
• Timecachers by Glenn R. Petrucci. YA Time Travel.

Other Genres

• At Classic Tales Podcast:  "The Call of the Wild, part 4 of 5" by Jack London.

Sunday Morning, Praise the Dawning / It's Just Free Fiction By My Side

There's some good free fiction this morning and several good free e-books.  There are also a few good old time radio episodes (fantastic for long drives).  More posts to come today.













Fiction
• At Cast of Wonders: "Open 28 Hours" by Darin Ramsey. YA Science Fiction.
     "The seven-pointed star was pink and gold, and hung in the night over the dome like it heralded more than just a refueling stop and convenience store. The dome sat alone on a rocky, airless orb at the outer reaches of the system, so small and distant it didn’t have a name. From a ship on approach, the dome resembled a fallen globe on a tripod, with the three docking rings at the end of the airlock."

• At The WiFiles: "Low Tide on the Bryn" By Craig Kyzar.
     "She awoke with reluctance to the cruel charade of another day. In the fleeting moment before complete consciousness, she lay with her eyes closed as her body processed the surroundings and suppressed the screaming of her dreams. The room was chilled, as always, and the tickle of salt air on her nose confirmed her usual position facing a slightly cracked window"

E-Books
At Free eBooks Daily:

• Vampire World by Rich Douglas. YA Vampires.
• Club Shadowlands by Anne Rasico. Science Fiction.
• Manannan's Magic by Michele McGrath. Fantasy. Vikings.
• Art For The Sake Of Art by Christopher Brimmage. Sci-Fi Adventure, Satire
• Funny Tragic Crazy Magic by Sheena Boekweg. YA Fantasy.
• The Haunted Hikikomori by Lawrence Pearce. Horror.
• The Ark by Colin Edwards. Science Fiction.
• The Bleeder and Other Stories by J.R. Rain. Horror.
• White Collar, Green Flame by Shain Carter. Science Fiction. Technothriller.
• Echo's Revenge by Sean Austin. YA Science Fiction Thriller

At Amazon: [via Freebook Sifter]

• This Side of Paradise Illustrated : a Dystopian Detective Novel (Paradise Lost) by Jael Turner.
• Souftu Incident (The Steve Douton Chronicles) by David C Fitzgerald. Science Fiction.
• Hugh Becker and Black Wind by Joshua J. Lee. YA. Fantasy.
• The Incompertists by Shaun de Saint-Erne. Fantasy.
• Son of Thunder (Heavenly War Series) by S.C. Mitchell. Paranormal.
• Embustero: Pale Boundaries by Scott Cleveland. Science Fiction.
• Into The Darkness, Alone by Luke Bell. Science Fiction.
• The Balance of Four (Dragon Speaker) by Rebecca Storey. Fantasy.
• The Paragon Element (The Demon's Corruption Chronicles Book 1) by Jeff Hale and Lezlee Cheek Hale. YA Fantasy. 
• The Song of Man (Lost Ages) by Clara Hume. Fantasy.
• The Druid Legacy: Dungeon by Mark Miller. Fantasy.

Audio Fiction
• At The Fantastic Worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs:  "Episode 3 - Out Of Time's Abyss"
      "Bradley’s expedition has suffered casualties. Both Tippet and James have succumbed to the dangers of Caspak. Relentlessly, the weird flying creatures have dogged their campsites. Now, one day’s march from Fort Dinosaur, Bradley is on guard duty during the night. His relief, Brady awakens the following morning to discover that Bradley has disappeared – leaving only his hat as a trace that he had been"

• At Cast of Wonders: "Open 28 Hours" by Darin Ramsey. YA Science Fiction.
     "The seven-pointed star was pink and gold, and hung in the night over the dome like it heralded more than just a refueling stop and convenience store. The dome sat alone on a rocky, airless orb at the outer reaches of the system, so small and distant it didn’t have a name. From a ship on approach, the dome resembled a fallen globe on a tripod, with the three docking rings at the end of the airlock."

Old Time Radio
• At Boxcars711: Tom Corbett Space Cadet - "Space Station Of Danger" (1952) Pt. 2 of 2. Sci-fi.
• At OTR Plotspot:

• "The Great Plague" - The Weird Circle (1943) Horror,
• "The Beast Must Die" - Suspense (1944)
• "Hunter's Moon" - Part 03 of 08. Science Fiction.

At Relic Radio:

• "The Tangled Way" - Beyond Midnight. Horror.
• "The Battle Of The Magicians" - Lights Out. Horror.

Other Genres

• Fiction at Online Pulps!: "Red Over Yellow" by William L. Rohde. "Murder Magic" by Robert Wallace. "The Crimson Clue" by Fred Walsh. Pulp. Noir. Western. 1949. 1944. 1941.
• Flash Fiction at Every Day Fiction: "Sunday Drive" by Dennis Milam Bensie.
• OTR at Boxcars711:  "You Are There: The Battle of Hastings". Medieval History.

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

Online Freebies

A very good day for free fiction with great free genre stories from many big sites - seriously awesome!. And a bit of an unusual gaming/fiction hybrid as Kobold Quarterly's free Midgard preview contains two short, short stories. And there;s more free fiction in a variety of formats (E-Book, Audio, Comic Book, etc).  More great free fiction links are available at SF Signal and Free SF Reader. And as always, lice are welcome. 

 The lovely lady to the left is from "Proper Villains Chapter Three: The Caper" below.




 
Fiction
At Beneath Ceaseless Skies: "A Song of Blackness" by Nancy Fulda. Fantasy.
     "I had never met this man, this gnarled old usurper who lounged on furniture emblazoned with my ancestors' crest."
At Beneath Ceaseless Skies: "Hold a Candle to The Devil" by Nicole M. Taylor. Fantasy.
    "Florence sat in Miss Em’s desk and felt small and wrong there."
At Black Gate: “The Daughter’s Dowry” by Aaron Bradford Starr. Fantasy.
    "I inserted the key into the lock, amazed at how free of corrosion or accumulated grit the inner mechanism was. Yr Neh cocked his ears forward in surprise as well. Our eyes met, and we smiled to each other as I turned the key."
At Nature:  "The Tell-Tale Ear" by Alex Shvartsman. Science Fiction.
    "We seem to be having an equipment malfunction. I can hear bits broadcast from the Grand Cayman Casino and Erectile Dysfunction marketing campaigns while at the office. Somebody get on top of this."
At Paizo:  "Proper Villains Chapter Three: The Caper" by Erik Scott de Bie. Fantasy.
     "Humming anxiously under his breath, Tarrant watched as the last cart of treasure arrived from the docks as the sun set. This time was always torture and ecstasy for him: he could hardly stand the waiting, and yet he could not help his excitement for the game to come."
At Project Gutenberg: "The Metal Moon" by Everett C. Smith and R.F. Starzl. Science Fiction.
"The ship was now coming close to the vast curve of the crystal city. The earthmen became aware that the part below the city level was a dull ugly black." from Wonder Stories Quarterly Winter 1932.
At Tor.com: "Jacks and Queens at the Green Mill" by Marie Rutkosk.
      "Few know that the Great Chicago Fire was started deliberately, bringing genocide to deadly creatures called Shades. Fewer still know that they didn't die, not quite...and one human will confront the truth when an ominous beauty makes him gamble for his life."
At The WiFiles:  "The Hunt" by John Krissilas. Speculative Fiction.
    "I had been tracking it for several kilometers, I reminded myself, and finally, finally my patience had paid off. This is it. The animal was pausing to graze, confident that it was free from danger, unaware of the fact that I’d been watching and waiting."
Reviewed at Variety SF:  "The Chronic Argonauts" by H. G. Wells. (1888).
    "About half-a-mile outside the village of Llyddwdd by the road that goes up over the eastern flank of the mountain called Pen-y-pwll to Rwstog is a large farm-building known as the Manse. It derives this title from the fact that it was at one rime the residence of the minister of the Calvinistic Methodists."
At Kobold Quaterly In Free Midgard Preview:  [Requires Free Membership]
     “At the Sign of the World Serpent” by Wade Rockett. Fantasy.“I confess that I do not like the look of this so-called inn,”said Benedict, gazing at the rickety building before them"  and “The Bloodtide” by Jeff Grubb. Fantasy. "It had all seemed so simple, back in Savoyne, safely behind the protection of the Raven’s Wall. A simple mission into the Wasted West, to the reputed wreckage of a particular now-dead necromancer’s tower."

Flash Fiction
At Daily Science Fiction: "This is the Way the World Begins" by C.L. Holland.
At 365 Tomorrows: "A Practical Trip" by Robert White. Science Fiction.

E-Books
At Free eBooks Daily:

• Worlds Unseen by Rachel Starr Thomson. Fantasy.
• Outside That Door by Judith Johnson Kypta. Fantasy.
• Arms of the Storm by M Todd Gallowglas. Fantasy.
• Extinct Doesn't Mean Forever by Phoenix Sullivan. Anthology.
• Wraith by Angel Lawson. YA Paranormal.

At Smashwords:

• "The Ocean Goddess and The Home Run Queen" by Regan Wolfrom. Fantasy. 9k.
• Ice Will Reveal by Eric T. Reynolds. Fantasy. 134k.
• "To Sail The Dark Sea"  by Steve Smy. Science Fiction. 10k.
• "Dead End Bridge" by Will Weisser. Science Fiction. 10k.
• "Half Past One" by Jennifer Douwes. Science Fiction. 5k.
• Songs for a Machine Age by Eric T. Reynolds. Science Fiction. 131k.
• "You Never Know What's Going to Come Through the Door" by Fred Schaefer. Horror. 3k.

Via Pixel of Ink:

• Oathbreaker: The Knight’s Tale by Colin McComb. Fantasy.

Audio Fiction
At Beneath Ceaseless Skies: "Cursed Motives" by Marissa Lingen. Fantasy.
     "Safy laughed despite herself. 'Unnatural? Of course I am.'"
At The Fantastic Worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs: Episode 22 - Tarzan of the Apes
    "Paul D’Arnot, Lieutenant from the French cruiser, has been captured by Mbonga’s tribe and subjected to the ordeal of torture by the cannibals."At SFFAudio: Two versions of  "The Nine Billion Names Of God" by Arthur C. Clarke.

Old Time Radio
At Journey Into: Mind Webs: "The Fog Horn" by Ray Bradbury.
At OTR Plot Spot: "'Return Trip" - Suspense (1946) and "The Talkers" - Theatre 5 (1964) up until around: 25 Oct.

Video
At Internet Archive:  The Invaders-Unseen Pilot pt I and II (1967). Science Fiction.
 
Comics
At Atomic Kommie Comics: "World War III with the Ants" Sci-Fi.
At The Yellowed Pages: "A Ghastly Tale - No.1" and "A Ghastly Tale - No.2"  Horror.

Other Genres
At Project Gutenberg: "The Vinland Champions" by Ottilie A. Liljencrantz. Historic Adventure. Vikings. 1904.

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]:

• "The Hawk And His Boy" by Christopher Bunn. Fantasy.
• "Frost Moon" by Anthony Francis. Urban Fantasy.
• "The Written" by Ben Galley. Fantasy.
• "Ancient Awakening" by Matthew Bryan Laube. Horror.

@Free eBooks Daily [DRM]:

• "The Blinddust Collection" by Molecat Jumaway. Horror/Fantasy.
• "Once In A Blue Moon" by Brenna Lyons. Urban Fantasy.
• "Incursion From An Alternate Frame Of Reference" by James Pratt. Science Fiction.
• "Seeing Things" by Kater Cheek. Urban Fantasy.
• "The Seventh Day" by Matt Barden. Fantasy.
• "Starblazer" by Barbara G.Tarn. Fantasy.
• "The Stud Farm" by Louis Bertrand Shalako. Science Fiction.
• "The Photo-Album" by Rick Dearman. Fantasy.
• "For Ramon" by Richard C. Rogers. Magic Realism.
• "Red Moon: Haniel's Slice of Life" by Ela Lond.
• "The Beckoning Within" by Thunder Falcon.
• "A Thousand Tears" by J.C. Martin. Fantasy.
• "Cultivating Love" by Linn Henderson. Urban Fantasy.
• "The Wreck of the Hu Jintao" by Stephen McDonald. Science Fiction.
• "My Name is Jerry Richardson II" by Jeffrey Zweig II. Science Fiction.
• "Struck By Beauty" by Heather Kuehl. Urban Fantasy.
• "Silent Sentinel" by Amanda Harris.
• "Frost Moon" by Anthony Francis
• "Forever" by Lee Moan.
• "A Nest of Flames" by Keith P. Graham.
• "Out, Damned Spot" by Dan Dillard. Horror.
• "Anasazi" by J.R. Leckman. Horror.
• "Gandalf" by Troy Dennison. Horror.
• "It Waits" by Robert M. Yelverton. Horror.
• "Tinsel" by Frazer Lee. Horror.
• "Cain's Apples" by Bryan Lee. Horror.
• "Guests" by Mark James Wooding. Horror.
• "Lumps" by Ian Woodhead. Horror.
• "The Beheld" by Paul G Bens, Jr. Horror.
• "Nightcrawler" by Scott Crowder. Horror.
• "Artificial Angel" by Kody Boye. Horror.
• "From The Sky" by Keri Knutson. Horror.
• "Circulatory System" by Reena Jacobs. Horror.
• "Red Coyote Weekend" by Stuart Connelly. Horror.
• "Crisis Hospital: Dark Tales from the Ward, the World, and the Bedside" by Belinda Frisch. Horror.
• "Poltergeisten" by Ian Woodhead. Horror.
• "The Allnighter" by Stuart Connelly. Horror.
• "Valhalla Unleashed" by Garry Charles. Horror.
• "Shallow" by David Shute. Horror.

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