Free SF, Fantasy and Horror Fiction for 9/27/2013

My post-apocalyptic novel, After The Fires Went Out: Coyote, is not free. Sorry. But I’ve put it down to $0.99 for a few days.

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What’s special about today’s free fiction?

1. Dark Futures has a science fiction novelette from Tom Howard
   

   “Transpace Cargo Ship 479,” said the calm voice on the radio. “We have identified you by your security beacon. Are you available for conversation?” It was a standard question, carefully designed and delivered to ensure the pilot had an opportunity to turn down any communication that might cause anxiety. As part of his extensive contract, Serv’s interactions were limited to docking instructions and occasional check-ins with his handlers, but he’d recently unloaded his cargo pods and wasn’t scheduled for contact with his bosses for six months, three weeks, two days and thirteen hours. Perhaps they had a question about why he was delayed reaching his last port. Or maybe a fleet of Winzi Rive space lizards was blasting its way to him at this very minute. Or… The possibilities were endless; each one more horrifying than the last.

   – “Isolation Run”

2. Tor has a contemporary fantasy short story from Steven Brust, from the world of The Incrementalists
   

   Ren had gone back to Phoenix for her sugar spoon, leaving me nothing to do except play poker or change the world. I got out of my sadly empty bed, put the coffee on, and stepped into the shower. Usually, it would be an easy choice: The World Series of Poker was going, and the money I made playing the side-games was a truly appalling percentage of my yearly income. But, in the first place, I’d done really well so far, and, in the second, I’d played eight to twelve hour sessions every day for the last eleven days. Even if you’ve been playing poker since the game was invented, which I have, you need breaks from time to time to stay at your best.

   Besides, Ren had made a pretty good argument before she left.

   So I had to change the world. Trouble was, I didn’t know how. I mean, I knew, in the most general terms, what I wanted to do; but how to go about it stumped me.

   – “Fireworks in the Rain”

3. The Hole Behind Midnight is a new dark fantasy audio serial

Written

• @Dark Futures: “Isolation Run” by Tom Howard [Science Fiction]
• @Farther Stars Than These: “Soy or Miso?” by James Pollard [Science Fiction]
• @Tor: “Fireworks in the Rain” by Steven Brust [Contemporary Fantasy]

Written – Flash

• @365 tomorrows: “Norwellian Phase” by Morrow Brady [Science Fiction Flash]
• @Daily Science Fiction: “Those Little Slices of Death” by Susan Lanigan [Science Fiction Flash]
• @Every Day Fiction: “Soul Smuggler” by Lindsay Morgan Lockhart [Fantasy Flash]
• @Nature: “The rumination on what isn’t” by Alex Shvartsman [Science Fiction Flash]

Written – Serialized

• @Legend of the Five Rings: Face the Madness by Shawn Carman & Seth Mason – Part 2 [Shared World Fantasy Serialization]
• @Paizo: The Fencing Master by Dave Gross – Chapter Four: The Second Trap [Shared World Fantasy Serialization]
• @Weird Fiction Review: The Divinity Student by Michael Cisco – Chapters Eleven and Twelve [Neo-Gothic Horror Novel Serialization]
• @Author’s Site: The Greenland Diaries by Patrick Marsh – Day 89 [Post Apocalyptic Serial]

Audio

• @Boxcars711: The Zero Hour – “Once a Thief” [Horror Radio Drama – from 1974]
• @Chilling Tales for Dark Nights: [Horror]
  • “The Devil Behind You” by Richard A. Moore
  • “Ability”
• Dunesteef #146 – “Tethered to the Cold and Dying” by Ray Cluley [Post-Apocalyptic]
• @Relic Radio: Dark Fantasy – “W Is For Werewolf” [Horror Radio Drama – from 1942]

Audio – Serialized

• Anthropomorphic Dreams #53 – A Place to Belong by Eric Luhman – Part 1 [Fantasy Serialization]
• The Hole Behind Midnight: [Dark Fantasy Serial]
  • Episode 1: Late Night Phone Call
  • Episode 2: Interrogation:Posthumous

Free eBooks (at time of listing)

• Science Fiction:
  • The Beam: Episode 1 by Sean Platt and Johnny B. Truant
    [Science Fiction Novella – First of Series – Amazon | B&N | Smashwords]
  • Hard Duty: Merkiaari Wars 1 by Mark E. Cooper
    [Space Opera Novel – First of Series – Amazon]
  • Nastragull (Pirates) by Erik Martin Willén
    [Space Opera Novel – First of Series – Amazon]
  • The Phoenix Conspiracy (The Phoenix Conspiracy Series) by Richard Sanders
    [Space Opera Novel – First of Series – Amazon | B&N | Smashwords]
• Fantasy:
  • Craved (#1 in the Gwen Sparks Series) by Stephanie Nelson
    [Dark Paranormal Fantasy Novel – First of Series – Amazon]
  • Everflame by Dylan Peters
    [Epic Fantasy Novel – Amazon | B&N]
  • “Fine Wine” (A Tale of the Assassin Without a Name #1) by Scott Marlowe
    [Dark Fantasy Short Story – First of Series – Amazon | B&N | Smashwords]
  • Kindred (Kindred, Book 1) by Nicola Claire
    [Paranormal Fantasy Novel – First of Series – Amazon | B&N | Smashwords]
  • Oathbreaker, Book 1: The Knight’s Tale by Colin McComb
    [Sword & Sorcery Novella – First of Series – Amazon]
• Horror:
  • Moorehead Manor by David McMullen-Sullivan
    [YA Horror Novelette – Amazon | B&N | Smashwords]
  • Night Terrors (Savage Species) by Jonathan Janz
    [Horror Novella – Amazon | B&N]
• Post-Apocalyptic and Dystopian:
  • Affliction Z: Patient Zero by L.T. Ryan
    [Post-Apocalyptic Novella – First of Series – Amazon]
  • DMQZ by Quinn Fleming
    [Post-Apocalyptic Dystopian Novel – Amazon]
  • Tethered Twins by Mike Essex
    [Dystopian Novel – Amazon]

Excerpts

• @Tor: Excerpt from The Red: First Light by Linda Nagata
  [Military Science Fiction Novel – Available Now]

For Post-Apocalyptic Lovers: The Post Apocalyptic Link Roundup for 9/27/2013

And For Writers: Speculative Fiction Writing Wroundup for 9/27/2013