Another week, another inbox brimming with free-to-read science fiction stories. Hell knows we could all do with a bit of escapism right now… so dive on in, free fiction fans!

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Manybooks is keepin’ it old-school, yo:

• Captain Gardiner of the International Police – A Secret Service Novel of the Future by Allen Robert Dodd
• Ladies Whose Bright Eyes by Ford Madox Ford

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Meanwhile, over at Feedbooks:

• Another Futurismic reissue: “Hooking Up” by Tom Doyle
• “Alchymical Romance” by Lee Battersby
• The Infinite Sea by Jeffrey A Carver (the final book of the Chaos Chronicles)

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You can read yet more of Paul McAuley‘s new novel; chapter three of The Quiet War awaits your eyeballs.

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Futurismic alumnus Tobias Buckell has been throwing up the first few chapters of his new novel Sly Mongoose on his website: here are chapters 1, 2 and 3.

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This week’s Strange Horizons fiction offering is “Cowboy Angel (Part 2)” by Samantha Cope.

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From the people at Apex:

For your consideration, “What You Know” (PDF) by Geoffrey Girard, one of the exciting new stories in Jodi Lee’s Apex anthology Courting Morpheus.

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Via SF Signal:

• Mike Gordon has posted free excerpts of his novel Tracks at his website
• Douglas Clegg goes one further with the entire text of his novel Afterlife
• SpaceWesterns presents Part 1 of “The Mound” by H. P. Lovecraft and & Zealia Bishop

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Gwyneth Jones has just made available the entire text of her seminal Bold As Love novel, the first in the series of the same name, in PDF format.

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A message from dj lotu5:

Hi! Previously, I submitted my story “Tissue Banking”, which you linked to. Here is another story in the same vein that you may enjoy: “Laser Skin Reinscription“

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Here’s your Friday Flash Fiction action for the week:

• Sarah Ellender got hers by “Mail Order“
• Greg O’Byrne has “Windows For Eyes“
• Neil Beynon has been taking “Lessons“
• Gareth L Powell is watching “Aztec Jaguars Falling“
• Phred Serenissima insists on your “Consent“

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Non-sf online comics bonus via Scumlord Warren Ellis:

Paul Sizer’s been serialising his new music graphic novel BPM online while the physical book’s been printing in Malaysia. As I write, there’s something like 47 pages of the book up there for free reading.

I took a quick look, and ended up devouring the lot; beautiful colourful artwork, and if you’ve ever been into the DJ/club/dance music scene, it should be right up your street.

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That’s your fiction thrift for the week, folks – hope you enjoy. Don’t forget to send in your tip-offs and shameless self-plugs for next week; deadline is 1800 GMT every Friday! Have a great weekend…

The world of finance may be in a flux, but there’s no shortage of free fiction flooding through the marketplace. Thrifty science fiction readers, get clicking!

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Just the one from Manybooks, an Uncanny Tales anthology from 1916.

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Feedbooks have been on a little Mary Robinette Kowal binge:

• “Portrait of Ari“
• “For Solo Cello, op. 12“
• “Death Comes But Twice“
• “Cerbo in Vitra ujo“
• “This Little Pig“
• “The Bound Man“

And they’ve a couple of titles for Doctor Who fen, also:

• Doctor Who: Human Nature by Paul Cornell
• Doctor Who: Nightshade by Mark Gatiss

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Via SF Signal, more classic shorts at the bizarrely-named Munseys:

• “Postmark Ganymede” by Robert Silverberg
• “The Hunted Heroes” by Robert Silverberg
• “The Nothing Equation” by Tom Godwin

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Aussie pop-sci outpost COSMOS Magazine has published “Micro Expressions” by Stephen Gaskell.

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This week’s red-letter free-fiction announcement (in my humble opinion) is issue #6 of the irregular sf webzine Flurb, as curated by the endearingly oddball Rudy Rucker. In this issue, we have some Futurismic favourites among the new names:

• Rudy Rucker – “Qlone“
• Madeline Ashby – “Fitting a New Suit“
• Michael Blumlein – “The Big One“
• Brian Garrison – 3 SF Poems
• Charles Platt – “The Gnirut Test“
• Brendan Byrne – “The Loa and the Gaping Jaw“
• Jetse de Vries – “Random Acts of Cosmic Whimsy“
• Bruce Sterling – “Computer Entertainment Thirty-Five Years From Today“

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This week’s offering at Strange Horizons: “Cowboy Angel (part 1 of 2)” by Samantha Cope

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Some topical Alaskan political sf courtesy of Gordon van Gelder at F&SF:

…in the meantime, all the recent light cast on the political scene in Alaska (compliments of the nomination of the state’s governor for Republican V.P.), we’ve gotten permission to reprint George Guthridge‘s “Nine Whispered Opinions Regarding the Alaskan Secession” for a month. This story first appeared in our July 2004 All-American issue. It will only be on our site until October 20, 2008.

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Mind you don’t cut yourself on Jayme Lyn Blaschke‘s 24th sliver of Memory.

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Subterranean Online has a timely reminder…

… that we’re in the homestretch for Mike Resnick’s companion novella to his multi-award winning Kirinyaga series of stories. We think Kilimanjaro stands proudly with those earlier stories.

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Paul McAuley has posted up the second chapter of his new novel The Quiet War for you to read. I finished the book a few weeks ago, and I think it’s well worth your time, but go take a taste and decide for yourself.

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Via John Joseph Adams, Shimmer Magazine is getting into the spirit of International Talk Like A Pirate Day:

In honor of this most glorious holiday, Shimmer is making the electronic edition of the Pirate Issue freely available, for September 19th only.

Won’t you help us spread the word? Free pirate booty, there for the taking!

Wired’s GeekDad blog is in on the act as well; they’ve got a sample story from the forthcoming anthology of piratical fiction from the ever-prolific VanderMeers:

… top of my list so far has been Boojum, by Elizabeth Bear & Sarah Monette.  And, as a special bonus for GeekDad readers [and anyone else, I guess], the publisher [Night Shade Books] has agreed to make this story available as an exclusive [pdf] download.

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Thanks to the tireless SF Signal gang for spotting this one; Antipodean SF is up to issue number 124, which is a pretty impressive run. There’s a big old bunch of stories to be found there, too.

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A brief message from Ben Rawluk:

A flash fiction piece I wrote is available [over at NegativeSpace.net]; it’s called “Phone System World“.

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And finally, some Friday Flash Fiction:

• Phred Serenissima is headed for “Sanctuary Mons“
• Gareth D Jones is all about the “Grammar“
• Gaie Sebold has been drinking from the “Font of Inspiration“
• Neil Beynon has “Fallen“

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And that’s it for another week, free fiction fans. I’m off to dose the heck out of the head-cold I seem to have acquired; in the meantime, keep your tip-offs and plugs coming in, and have a great weekend!

Here it is folks – two week’s worth of free science fiction from around the web. I hope you’re hungry!

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At ManyBooks.net:

• The Day of the Nefilim by David L. Major
• The Crack of Doom by Robert Cromie

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Over at FeedBooks, the Futurismic back-catalogue is nearly complete:

• David Reagan – “Only the Neck Down“, “Solitude Ripples From The Past“
• Ruth Nestvold – “Exit Without Saving“
• Will McIntosh – “Echoes in Evening Wear“
• David McGillveray – “Forgotten Dragons“
• Jason Stoddard – “Jack’s Gift“
• Chris Nakashima-Brown – “R.P.M.“
• Mark Ward – “A Life In Pictures“
• David Walton – “The Towers of St. Michael’s“
• Eliot Fintushel – “UXO, Bomb Dog“
• Leonard Richardson – “Mallory“
• Kristin Janz – “Veritas Nos Liberabit“

And a few old classics from elsewhere:

• Ernest M Kenyon – “Security“
• Edgar Pangborn – “The Good Neighbors“
• Frederic Brown – “Earthmen Bearing Gifts“
• Ambrose Bierce – “The Damned Thing“
• Jeffrey A Carver – Neptune Crossing, Strange Attractors, “Rocket Ride! A Short Day’s Journey Into Space“
• Benjamin Rosenbaum – The Ant King and Other Stories
• Kelly Link – Stranger Things Happen
• Charles V de Vet – “Monkey on his Back“

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The last ever Oddlands Magazine:

Short Fiction

• “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee” by Edward Morris
  
• “The World Above” by Adam Durrant
• “Yet Again at the Funeral of Robin Goodfellow” by Derek Goodman

Poetry

• “Music Smooth as Fog” by Marge Simon
• “Sparrow” by Marge Simon
• “In the Eyes of the Pilot” by Bruce Boston

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Clarkesworld Magazine:

• Eric M Witchey – “Can You See Me Now?“
• Cat Rambo – “Worm Within“

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Byzarium:

• “The Mistman” by Michael John Grist
• “An Occurrence at Oakpost Sundries” by Jacob P. Silvia

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Subterranean Press has another installment of “Kilimanjaro” by Mike Resnick. And another little bonus at Subterranean – Scalzi fans who don’t read the Whatever (for, ahem, whatever reason) should schlepp on over and check out “Denise Jones, Super Booker“.

(Those who do read the Whatever doubtless knew that already… and knew that Scalzi sold it within thirteen (13!) minutes of finishing it.)

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Apex Online:

A Jay Lake story, originally published in Interzone – “The American Dead”

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John Klima – who blogs for Tor and edits the rather super print zine Electric Velocipede – has had a story published. I’ll let him explain:

A select few of you know that I do write, despite my protestations that I am just an editor. And even fewer of you know that I sold a story to Diet Soap, the wonderfully eclectic magazine put out by Doug Lain.

My story, which was initially submitted under a pseudonym, was accepted for the online edition of Diet Soap. Doug has created a new feature, “How to Write Stories About Writers” of which I am the first offering.

There are two parts:

• My Story
• A Short Interview

I hope you enjoy them both.

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A heads-up from Paul McAuley:

I’ve just discovered that the online magazine Fanzine has published a short story by Scott Bradfield. I’ve been a big fan every since I read some of his early short stories in Interzone, back in the Paleolithic: smartly-written absurdist parables, goofy and sweet, but always with a sting in the tale. Kind of like the films of Preston Sturges.

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Those nice people at Orbit Books have got another excerpt from their roster for you to read; this time it’s from Halting State, the latest sf novel from Charlie Stross.

For what it’s worth, I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and I reckon you’ll get a good sense of whether it’ll be your thing by checking out a sample of its idiosyncracies… put it this way, if you’re into RPGs, virtual worlds or old-school text-adventure dungeon games, I reckon you’ll love it.

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Two slices of Jayme Lynn Blaschke‘s Memory, numbers 22 and 23

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Here are some free samples from John Joseph Adams‘ new zombie fiction anthology, The Living Dead (how does he manage such a prodigious output?):

• “Some Zombie Contingency Plans” by Kelly Link
• “Death and Suffrage” by Dale Bailey
• “Dead Like Me” by Adam-Troy Castro
• “Stockholm Syndrome” by David Tallerman

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The mysterious Minister Faust, who has been blogging over at Jeff VanderMeer’s Ecstatic Days this week, offers an excerpt from his book The Coyote Kings of the Space-Age Bachelor Pad.

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An email from Shira Lipkin:

Hello! I’m doing a collaboration with Kythryne Aisling of Wyrding Studios, posting short fiction every weekday this month based on reader prompts and Kythryne’s jewelry. The fiction is free; there’s a PayPal button, but no payment is required, so Free Ficton Friday fans might be interested. 🙂

Thanks, Shira – good luck!

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Tor.com has another piece of fresh fiction from a genre notable: “The Girl Who Sang Rose Madder” by Elizabeth Bear.

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Thanks to SF Signal for rounding up a lot of stuff that I’d have doubtless otherwise missed by being away from the RSS coalface:

• “Larisa Miusov” by Lucius Shepard, parts one, two, and three.
• An excerpt from The Stepsister Scheme by Jim C. Hines
• Revolution SF has “Wonder” by J.R. and “Flowers for Melody” by Mikal Trimm
• SpaceWesterns: “West of the Texas Nebula” by Dan Devine and Lyn Perry.
• Reflection’s Edge #39 features fiction from Matthew Kressel, Claude Lalumière, Margaret Yang, Chad Bank, and Brian Haycock.
• Ray Gun Revival #46 has a gorgeous looking new issue featuring fiction by Jonathon Mast, Justin R. Macumber, T.M. Hunter, Jonathan J. Schlosser, and Alice M. Roelke. The issue also features continuing serials by M. Keaton, Keanan Brand, L. S. King, Johne Cook, and Sean T. M. Stiennon, as well as art by Christian Hecker and reviews.
• SFX has “The Stinker” by Colin Harvey.
• And finally, Munseys has “The Judas Valley” by Gerald Vance (1956).

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And a special mention – Futurismic‘s very own hard-working fiction editor Chris East got a story published at COSMOS Magazine – “Frame of Mind“. Yay, Chris! 😀

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Last week’s Friday Flash pieces:

• Sarah Ellender – “Red Rock West“
• Gaie Sebold – “Tempus Fugit“
• Shaun C Green – “We’re Never Going Home!“
• Neil Beynon – “Turn“
• Phred Serenissima – “Vandiver“
• Gareth L Powell – “Hot Rats” (Zappa references FTW!)
• Clive Birnie – “Regret“

And here are the early ones from this week; I’m afraid another sojourn away from the computer this evening may mean I miss a few, but I’ll roll ’em on into next week’s round-up if so.

• Shaun C Green – “Watching the Valves“
• Sarah Ellender – “The Seven Year Itch“
• Phred Serenissima – “The Cube“

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Non-fiction bonus: Sir Cory of Doctorow has a collection of his essays coming out, and naturally you can get an electronic version for nada:

Tachyon Books and I are launching my latest book, Content: Selected Essays on Technology, Creativity, Copyright, and the Future of the Future, my very first collection of essays. In it are 28 essays about everything from copyright and DRM to the layout of phone-keypads, the fallacy of the semantic web, the nature of futurism, the necessity of privacy in a digital world, the reason to love Wikipedia, the miracle of fanfic, and many other subjects.

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Phew! Amazing how it all piles up in just a couple of weeks, eh? Keep your tip-offs coming in, though, and they’ll make it into next week’s selection – deadline 1800 GMT!