Free SF, Fantasy and Horror Fiction for 8/21/2013

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What’s special about today’s free fiction?

1. Apex has two versions of the same story by K. Allen Wood
2. Baen has excerpted stories from The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume 7 and The Best Horror of the Year Volume Five
3. Lovecraft eZine #26 – August 2013
4. It’s apparently Edward W. Robertson Day, with a pile of books free on Amazon.
5. QuasarDragon has found an even bigger pile of free Greg Egan stories, to mark that author’s birthday

Written

• @Apex: For Long Days to Come: Two versions of a story by K. Allen Wood: [Zombies]
  • “And It’ll Haunt Me (For Long Days to Come)” [from Mountain Dead]
  • “For Long Days to Come” [from Appalachian Undead]
• @Baen: [via Free Speculative Fiction Online]
  • From The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume 7:
    • “The Contrary Gardener” by Christopher Rowe [Science Fiction]
    • “The Woman Who Fooled Death Five Times” by Eleanor Arnason [Fantasy]
    • “Close Encounters” by Andy Duncan [Science Fiction]
    • “Great-Grandmother in the Cellar” by Peter S. Beagle [Fantasy]
    • “The Easthound” by Nalo Hopkinson [Fantasy]
  • From The Best Horror of the Year Volume Five: [Horror]
    • “Nikishi” by Lucy Taylor
    • “Little America” by Dan Chaon
    • “A Natural History of Autumn” by Jeffrey Ford
    • “Mantis Wives” by Kij Johnson
    • “Tender as Teeth” by Stephanie Crawford and Duane Swierczynski
    • “The Callers” by Ramsey Campbell
• @The Colored Lens: “Fossil Fire” by John Zaharick [Urban Fantasy]
• @Lightspeed:
  • “End Game” by Nancy Kress [Science Fiction]
  • “Breathless in the Deep” by Cory Skerry [Fantasy] (also available in audio)
• Lovecraft eZine #26 – August 2013: [Lovecraftian Horror Magazine]
  • “The Crevasse” by Dale Bailey and Nathan Ballingrud
  • “Cement Shoe Cthulhu” by Derek Ferreira
  • “Between” by William Meikle
  • “The Moon’s Architecture” by Graham Lowther
  • “The Arkham Terror” by Pete Rawlik
  • “The Pariah” by Bruce Durham
• @Strange Horizons: “A Plant (Whose Name is Destroyed)” by Seth Dickinson [Speculative Fiction] (also available in audio)
• @Tor: “Warm Up” by V.E. Schwab [Science Fiction]
• @Author’s Site: “Killing Time” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch [Science Fiction]

Written – Flash

• @365 tomorrows: “Intentional Paradox” by Clint Wilson [Science Fiction Flash]
• @Daily Science Fiction: “Nova Verba, Mundus Novus” by Ken Liu [Magic Realism Flash]
• @Every Day Fiction: “Giuseppe’s Boughs” by Brandon Nolta [Fantasy Flash]
• @Flashes in the Dark: “And the Darkness Fell” by Dawn Napier [Horror Flash]

Written – Serialized

• @HiLobrow: Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman – Part 6 [Science Fiction – from 1915]
• @Author’s Site: Tickling Butterflies by Guy Hasson – Part 10 – The Secrets of Magic: [Epic Fantasy]
  • “The Sun’s Story”
  • “At Death’s Door”

Audio

• @19 Nocturne Boulevard: Atomic Julie’s Glactic Bedtime Stories #12: “Ask a Foolish Question” by Robert Sheckley [Science Fiction – from 1953]
• @Lightspeed: “Breathless in the Deep” by Cory Skerry [Fantasy]
• PodCastle #274 – “Far as You Can Go” by Greg van Eekhout [Fantasy]
• StarShipSofa #301 – “Limited Edition” by Tim Maughan [Science Fiction]
• @Strange Horizons: “A Plant (Whose Name is Destroyed)” by Seth Dickinson [Speculative Fiction]

Free eBooks (at time of listing)

• @Amazon:
  • The Academician – Southern Swallow Book I (Nan Ya) by Edward C. Patterson [Historical Fantasy Novel – First of Series]
  • The Breakers Series by Edward W. Robertson: [Post-Apocalyptic]
    • Breakers (Book 1) [Novel – First of Series]
    • Outcome (Breakers) [Related Novella]
  • The Cutting Room: Episode I by Edward W. Robertson [Science Fiction Adventure Short Story – First of Series]
  • The Emerald Talisman (Talisman Series, Book 1) by Brenda Pandos [YA Paranormal Novel – First of Series]
  • Enchantress (The Evermen Saga, Book One) by James Maxwell [Epic Fantasy Novel – First of Series]
  • Extinction Level (Secret Apocalypse Book 2) by James Harden [Post Apocalyptic Novel – Second of Series]
  • Flight (The Alchemists of Galena: Book One) by Heather Robson [Science Fiction Adventure Novel – First of Series]
  • Forever After: Affliction (Forever After Book 2) by David Jester [Dark Urban Fantasy Novelette – Second of Series]
  • Lady of Devices (Magnificent Devices) by Shelley Adina [Steampunk Adventure Novel – First of Series]
  • On Fallen Wings by Jamie McHenry [YA Epic Fantasy Novel]
  • Parallel Lives by Lori Lucero [Time Travel Novel]
  • The Sword of Sighs (The Age of the Flame: Book One) by Greg James [YA Dark Fantasy Novel – First of Series]
  • Stray (Touchstone) by Andrea K Höst [YA Science Fiction Adventure Novel – First of Series]
  • Where Bluebirds Fly (Synesthesia-Shift Series) by Brynn Chapman [Historical Fantasy Romance Novel]
  • The White Tree (The Cycle of Arawn) by Edward W. Robertson [Epic Fantasy Novel – First of Series]
• @Apex: Mountain Dead [Supplemental Material from Appalachian Undead]:
  • Nook (Barnes & Noble)
  • Smashwords

QuasarDragon Birthdays – Free Fiction from authors on the anniversary of their birth

• August 20th:
  • Greg Bear and H. P. Lovecraft
  • Greg Egan

Excerpts

• @The Geek Curmudgeon: Excerpt from Ray Guns Over Texas – Preview from “Sovereign Wealth” by Chris N. Brown [Science Fiction]
• @Tor:
  • Excerpt from The Grim Company by Luke Scull [Fantasy]
  • Excerpt from Ragnarok and Roll by Keith DeCandido [Fantasy]

And For Writers: The Latest Speculative Fiction Writing Wroundup