Happy Friday, free fiction fans! This week’s selection may be missing a few items, because I’ve had to precompile it on Thursday (I’m off on holiday, don’t you know). For the same reason, there won’t be a Friday Free Fiction next week, but I’ll be saving up the links as per usual for a bumper edition on 12th September.

If you’re worried about going hungry for new material, though, bear in mind that there’ll be a fresh new Futurismic story out on Monday 1st… keep watching the skies! Now, on with the list…

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From ManyBooks.net, a classic pulp “Hitler won” novel: The Sound Of His Horn by Sarban

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Feedbooks.com are still catching up on the Futurismic back catalogue:

• “The Jiminy Device” by Lisa Mantchev
• “Cycle Thieves” by Mark Ward
• “The Other Side Of Silence” by Ruth Nestvold
• “Diamond Dust” by David Walton
• “Changing the Tune” by Jason Stoddard
• “Real City” by Carrie Vaughn
• “Eyelid Movies” by Will McIntosh
• “The Baby Window” by Vincent VanAllen

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Project Gutenberg drags out Anthem by the enduringly controversial Ayn Rand.

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At Tor.com, a new story from Steven Gould: “Shade”

Xareed had been waiting for the water truck for two days, seated in the dirt at the edge of the camp, his family’s plastic ten-liter water-jug tied to his ankle.

He didn’t like being on the edge of the camp. Except for the piece of cardboard he carried impaled on a stick there was no shade. The poet Sayyid had said, “God’s Blessing are more numerous than those growing trees,” and Xareed hoped so, for there were no trees in the camp or outside. So the blessings had better be more numerous, not less.

Also via Tor, we hear that Mur Lafferty has released an electronic version of her new novel Playing For Keeps in parallel with the dead-tree launch.

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More heads-up notices from the SF Signal posse:

• Stuart Clark is giving away PDF versions of his stories “Digitall” and “The Curator“.
• Someone has laboriously scanned the first year’s worth of Astounding Stories magazine (from 1930!) and put it up on archive.org for all to read. Should be good for a chuckle, if nothing else.

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From Apex Online: “Scenting the Dark” by Mary Robinette Kowal

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Via the Scalzi, an excised chapter from an early version of The Last Colony goes up at Subterranean Online: “The Secret History of the Last Colony“.

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The Shadow Unit never sleeps: the latest DVD extra is called “Mirror Writing“.

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From Gary Reynolds:

Issue #2 of the Concept Sci-fi ezine is now available to download in both PDF format and Mobipocket format. This issue includes short fiction from; Walter Jon Williams, Susan Murray, Ben O’ Neill, Andrew Males and Michael Kechula. We also have a piece of poetry (our first one!) and an interview with Marianne De Pierres.

I really hope that you enjoy reading it – feel free to subscribe and get future issues delivered directly to your Inbox.

You heard the man – go check it out.

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Jayme Lynn Blaschke is up to instalment #22 of Memory:

“Lassie, I’m nae a performing dog what’ll sit up and do tricks on command for ya,” Flavius growled. “Nae matter what ya ken of me, with all this talk about ‘lesser sentients’ and the like, I’m more than a plaything for the women of the Eternal Dominion. I’m descended of Bellona’s bridgroom and Sajal be damned, I’ll nae jump to when ya snap yer fingers. I’ll thank ya to remember that!”

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And finally, Greg O’Byrne missed the Friday Flash Fiction boat last week, so here’s his micro-flash of “Hard Luck on Mars“. I’m sure the other Fictioneers will supply their own links in the comments in my absence!

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And that’s your lot, folks. Keep the tips and plugs coming in as usual, and I’ll cobble them into a post in a fortnight’s time. Until then, bon voyage!

Unless I’m very much mistaken, this is one of those rare occasions where the US and the UK get a long weekend at the same time – so let’s celebrate with some Friday free fiction, eh?

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A trio from ManyBooks.net:

• “A Prize For Edie” by J F Bone
• “Planetoid 127” by Edgar Wallace
• “Wreckers of the Star Patrol” by Malcolm Jameson

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From Paul McAuley:

I’ve added a new short story, “A Brief Guide To Other Histories“, to my fiction archive. First published in Postscripts #15, it shares the same multiverse as [McAuley’s latest novel] Cowboy Angels.

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The latest from Apex Online:

• “Through Thy Bounty” by Lucy A Snyder
• “The Finger” by Matt Hults

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There’s some new stuff at Subterranean Online; I’m not entirely sure what’s newest, because either I’ve not been paying attention or their feed hasn’t been coming through to my reader properly of late. So, my apologies if I’ve posted any of these already, or missed any out:

• “Kilimanjaro” by Mike Resnick (the first instalment of a serialised piece; more to come in the weeks ahead)
  
• “Like Father” by John Farris
• “Big Man: a Fable” by Joe R. Lansdale
• “The Midland Specter” by David Prill
• “Them Shoes” by C. E. Murphy

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From Jayme Lynn Blaschke, Memory #21:

Flavius recoiled from the creature, throwing up his arm between them. The thing stared at him briefly, nictating membranes sliding quickly across the eyes before its spindly arms abruptly produced a translucent, frosted dinner plate with crusted orange balls delicately arranged upon it. It deftly set the plate before Flavius as another arm deposited a tall flute of burgundy liquid on the table. It cocked its head without saying a word, then swiftly retreated straight up.

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From Jay Lake:

The tarot issue of Behind the Wainscot has gone live. This includes my short-short “Heirophant Bridge“, along with a number of other short-shorts and flash pieces by a wide assortment of authors. Quick, interesting read.

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The sixteenth (!) DVD extra from Shadow Unit is called “Mythology”

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Via SF Signal, we hear that Jeffrey Carver has released his novel Neptune Crossing as a free ebook in a variety of formats, which you can download from Starrigger.com; looks like there’s some stories as webpages there, too.

From the same tips list, a couple of titles at the curiously named Munseys:

• The Defiant Agents by Andre Norton
• “The Sundering Flood” by William Morris

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And here’s a handful from the Friday Flashers:

• Neil Beynon is looking for “Ground Cover“
• Phred Serenissima is moving “Towards Sanction“
• Justin Pickard reminds us that “There Is No Lion“
• Gaie Sebold meets a “Foreign Student“

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That’s your lot – plenty to be going on with there, I think. In the meantime, keep your tip-offs and plugs coming through – this time only the deadline is 1800 GMT THURSDAY, because I’m out of town on Friday week and will need to pre-compile. Have a great weekend!