A bit of a sparse week for free fiction this time … but there’s always the webzines listed in the sidebar if you’re running short. OK, here we go:
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Classic free fiction at ManyBooks.net: The Creature from Beyond Infinity by Henry Kuttner (1940), The Worm Ouroboros by E.R. Eddison (1922), “A Wind is Rising” by Robert Sheckley (1957, writing as Finn O’Donnevan)[edited to remove link to copyright infringing material; see comments], plus “Viewpoint” (1960) and “Unwise Child” by Randall Garrett (1962).
At Project Gutenburg, pointed out by none other than Warren Ellis as a formative influence in his reading as a young man, Space Prison by Tom Godwin, the author of the bleak classic short “The Cold Equations”.
And at Arthur’s Classic Novels: The Time Axis by Henry Kuttner (1948) and Stowaway to Mars by John Wyndham (1936).
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A heads-up from BoingBoing, which may not be news for those tech-obsessed (or financially fluid) enough to own an iPhone:
Josh [Klein] sez, “I wrote a sci-fi novel called “Roo’d” and released it under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License. Even cooler, it was chosen for release for the eBook reader for the iPhone – the first modern novel released for the platform, and the second available after Tarzan. W00t! As a first-time author I could never have gotten this kind of feedback any other way – now everyone who hacks their iPhone can try out my book, and I’ve received tons of fabulous feedback. Go Creative Commons!”
You should be able to get Roo’d here at Josh’s own site, but it appears to be down at the moment (doubtless thanks to the BoingBoing effect), so maybe try the Google Cache or wait a while.
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The Friday Flash Fictioneers take the field somewhat reduced in numbers this week, but there’s always a few of the troops willing to man the trenches. Let’s see:
Gareth L Powell has been ill, so he’s using an excerpt of a story titled “Falling Apart” in lieu of a fresh offering.
Dan Pawley puts a twist in the tale with “The New Boss“.
Gareth D Jones is trying an experiment in viral memetic flash fiction with “Let Me Entertain You” – will we see it linked on MetaFilter and Digg before the weekend is out?
And lastly there’s “New kid blues” by yours truly, which probably shows the influence of the Philip K Dick anthology I reviewed recently.
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That’s your lot! Don’t forget to drop me a line at my address as found on the Staff page if there’s something you think deserves a mention of Friday Free Fiction. In the meantime, have a good weekend!
Just for the record, the Robert Sheckley story listed in your post on Free Fiction is NOT in the public domain and should not be available on that website.
The Estate of Mr. Sheckley will be looking into this and other copyright violations that have occurred since Mr. Sheckley’s death in 2005.
I was a long time friend of Mr. Sheckley’s and I know he would be appalled at the blatant thefts that are being done to his work.
I urge everyone who respects the work of this and other writers to please refrain from republishing on the web copyrighted material. I know Mr. Sheckley’s widow would be comforted by this as she is trying to use these works to pay off his debts.
If you love Mr. Sheckley’s writing that much, please consider buying a book containing the stories and not downloading illegal copies.
Ira, I must apologise – I received the link second hand, but that’s no excuse for not having checked. Consider it edited, and I will be more careful to check links in the future.