Free SF, Fantasy and Horror Fiction for 2/21/2014
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What’s Special About Today’s Free Fiction?
- Beneath Ceaseless Skies #141 – February 20, 2014
- Tor has a historical fantasy short story from DB Jackson
- Unlikely Story #8 – February 2014 – The Journal of Unlikely Cryptography
Written
- Beneath Ceaseless Skies #141 – February 20, 2014: [Fantasy Magazine]
- “Pilgrims” by Ann Chatham [also available in audio]
- “The Days When Papa Takes Me to War” by Rahul Kanakia
- @Tor: “The Price Of Doing Business” by DB Jackson [Historical Fantasy]
- Unlikely Story #8 – February 2014 – The Journal of Unlikely Cryptography: [Speculative Fiction Magazine]
- “Chilaquiles Con Code” by Mary Alexandra Agner
- “How My Best Friend Rania Crashed a Party and Saved the World” by Ada Hoffmann
- “Ink” by Mari Ness
- “Something In Our Minds Will Always Stay” by Barry King
- “Two Things About Thrand Zandy’s TechnoThèque” by Gregory Norman Bossert
Written – Flash
- @365 tomorrows: “First Contact” by Clint Wilson [Science Fiction Flash]
- @Daily Science Fiction: “St. Valentine’s Day Mashup” by G. O. Clark [Science Fiction Flash]
- @Every Day Fiction: “The Backup Bartender Prefers to Keep His Thoughts to Himself” by David Macpherson [Science Fiction Flash]
- @Farther Stars Than These: “Protocol “ by Eric White [Science Fiction Flash]
- @Nature: “Coffee in end times” by Alvaro Zinos-Amaro & Alex Shvartsman [Science Fiction Flash]
Written – Serialized
- @Paizo: Hunter’s Folly by Josh Vogt – Chapter 4: Essence of the Hunt [Shared World Fantasy Serialization]
Audio
- Beneath Ceaseless Skies Podcast #120 – “Pilgrims” by Ann Chatham
Audio – Radio Dramas
- @Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod: X Minus One –“A Thousand Dollars A Plate” [Science Fiction Radio Drama – from 1956]
Free eBooks – Various Speculative Subgenres
- Some of the Best From Tor.com, 2013 Edition: A Tor.Com Original
[Speculative Fiction Collection – Amazon | B&N | Kobo]
Free eBooks – Science Fiction
- Below Mercury by Mark Anson
[Science Fiction Adventure Novel – Amazon] - “Empty Sea” by Dennis Yates
[Science Fiction Short Story – Amazon] - Hybrid by Brian O’Grady
[Technothriller Novel – Amazon | B&N] - The Never Born: 1 (Locus Origin) by Christian Matari
[Space Opera Novel – First of Series – Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Smashwords] - The Price of Ascendance by Matt Sayer
[Science Fiction Adventure Novel – Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Smashwords] - “The Wandering Earth” by Cixin Liu
[Science Fiction Short Story – Amazon]
Free eBooks – Fantasy
- A Legacy of Light (The Dragon War, Book 1) by Daniel Arenson
[Epic Fantasy Novel – First of Series – Amazon | Kobo] - Moonlit (Book #1 of the Moonlit Series) by Jadie Jones
[YA Sword & Sorcery Novel – First of Series – Amazon] - Swallowtail by Sheri Meshal
[Paranormal Fantasy Novel – Amazon] - The Hazing Tower by Leland Roys
[Fantasy Suspense Novel – Amazon] - Torbrek…and the Dragon Variation (The Torbrek Duology) by Lexi Revellian
[YA Sword & Sorcery Novel – Amazon] - Winterland by Mike Duran
[Surreal Fantasy Novella – Amazon]
Free eBooks – Vampires
- Bite Marks by Drew Cross
[Vampire Novel – Amazon]
Free eBooks – Zombies
- Cages (Book One) by Chris Pasley
[YA Zombie Novel – First of Series – Amazon]
Free eBooks – Post-Apocalyptic and Dystopian
- Murder Inc (Part 1) by Owen Baillie
[Dystopian Serial – First Episode – Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Smashwords] - Pollen by Aaron Lamb
[Dystopian Novel – Amazon]
Free eBooks – Cyberpunk
- Memoria. A Corporation of Lies by Alex Bobl
[Cyberpunk / Technothriller Novel – Amazon]
The Wandering Earth by Liu Cixin is not fantasy but science fiction (and closer to a novella than to a short story, I reckon).
Also, it is very, very, very good. I highly recommend it. This is my review, in case you are interested: http://sentidodelamaravilla.blogspot.com.es/2012/05/review-of-wandering-earth-by-liu-cixin.html
Thanks, Odo. I’ve moved it over.
and now no longer free, I guess? it’s showing $2.99 for me
but now I’m also really intrigued to read some of his works
You can try “Taking Care of God”, included in this issue of Pathway http://paper-republic.org/pubs/pathlight/spring-2012/
It was translated by Ken Liu, by the way.
Re. Yor posting of links to Amazon
Hi, I really enjoy reading your posts. I actually make it part my daly routine to cheak your website to see what you have found. Occasionally you post links to some really great stuff. Even for something free, it means that I am now aware of yhat author, and will be on the lookout to buy their next book. This is good for them as well as me.
When I try a link to a free ebook on Amazon I find that often thst book is ‘geobloked.’ This means that those of use in Australia are excluded from the deal. I find this practice very annoying, as those of us in down here at the bottom of the globe are being singled out for ‘special treatment. ‘
Thus, the practice of geobloking by Amazon is not good for us in the short term as we down here either have to pay more for the same product than US customers or do without. In the long term we may remain ignorant of good upcoming authors and not buy their books, or just get so annoyed with Amazon that we will simply not deal with them. This has got to be bad for Amazon as well in the long term. Shurly they can see this, but evidently they can not.
I do not expect Amazon to change their attitude overnight. I also do not want to waste my time dealing with Amazon by following links to something that is ‘free’ but I am excluded from because I am on the wrong part of the wourld.
I therefore ask that if something free on Amazon is being geobloked, you tell us so. If you are not sure and Amazon are not clear on this issue, you do not post it.
Other than this, thanks for your postings. Keep it up!
Cheers
Philip
So you know, geographical restrictions are also set by publishers, who only have rights to publish books in certain countries.
I appreciate your heartache over this, but these posts are already enormous amounts of work. Tracking which books are available in what countries (i.e. there are more geographic regions than just Australia) is simply more work than we’re willing to do. And rather than take a don’d-do-it approach (which benefits nobody), perhaps you can use these posts as a springboard to know about books that *might* be free in your area…?
There is one way I *think* works to determine if a book will be free in Australia. If only an Amazon link is available there is a better than not chance that it is a KDP Select Promotion, and that it’s free in all territories. If the book is listed as free at B&N and Kobo, I expect it won’t be free in Australia in most cases, but not all.
Meanwhile, there are some free books that are free on Amazon through a specific arrangement with the publisher, and there’s no easy way to know if it’s available for free in regions aside from the US (where my Amazon account is based).