Heads up, Friday people – time for your weekly wheelbarrow of free science fiction stories from the far-flung bends and spirals of the intertubes!

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A big batch from ManyBooks this time out:

• “Shipwreck in the Sky” by Eando Binder
• “With the Night Mail” by Rudyard Kipling
• “The Terror from the Depths” by Sewell Peaslee Wright
• “The Door” by Evelyn E Smith
• “Keep Out” by Frederic Brown
• “No Pets Allowed” by Monette A Cummings
• “Operation Lorelie” by William P Salton
• “Acid Bath” by Vaseleos Garson
• “The Mathematicians” by Arthur Feldman
• “Cogito, Ergo Sum” by John Foster West

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But just the one from FeedBooks:

• “The Gun” by Philip K Dick

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HUB Magazine presents “Storm CHASER” by Craig Pirrell

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There’s only the one DVD extra from Shadow Unit, but that should be “Sufficient“. Arf!

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Chris Roberson is back in the free-fic saddle with “Annus Mirabilis”

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Still coming steady from Fort Stoddard, Eternal Franchise is up to chapter 9.1

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A R Yngve sez:

My homepage has been updated with chapter 6 of my unsold novel The Time Idiot (the ongoing serial). This is a short, funny novel about a dumb man who has gained power far beyond his ability to handle it responsibly — in this case, the power to alter history. (You can call it a metaphor, if you’re into metaphors.)

Cheers, A R!

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Via BoingBoing (and pretty much the rest of the genre sub-web) comes the word that Catherynne M Valente is posting one chapter a week from her superbly-titled YA fantasy novel, The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making

Also mentioned at BoingBoing is a similar effort by a chap called Jonathan, who says “I’ve set myself the target of putting a free short story online every week, and to keep doing just that for a year. […] more than that, I am making these stories available under a Creative Commons Share-alike Licence, hoping that others will take the stories to places that even I can’t imagine.” Well, good on him; go take a look, why don’tcha?

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Once again, SF Signal have a hugely comprehensive post of free fiction for each day of the past week, so go follow those. They also pointed out that Hachette – the people behind SF publisher Orbit Books – have made The Digital Plague by Jeff Somers available to read online, albeit from a rather fiddly Flash interface that crashes my browser (64-bit Kubuntu doesn’t handle these things well, sadly).

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And last but not least, a few short pieces from the ever-reliable Sumit Dam: “The Queen Is Dead” and “Manna“.

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That should keep you out of trouble while the boss finishes off his extended Friday lunch meeting, right? Right – and don’t forget you can drop us a note with any suggestions for next week’s collection. In the mean time, have a great weekend!

It’s Friday once again, which can only mean one thing – a big bunch of free science fiction stories to read on the intertubes!

Thanks to the wonders of Fusion-Modulated Temporal Blogging Technology (better known as “pre-scheduled posting”), I’ll actually be half-way up the country from my home by the time you read this, having compiled it beforehand… so if there’s anything I’ve missed, please accept my apologies, and my assurances that it’ll be rounded up for next week’s collection. That said, there’s plenty here to keep your eyeballs busy as it is…

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Here’s a whole shed-load from FeedBooks:

• “In the Orbit of Saturn” by Roman Frederick Starzl
• “Spawn of the Comet” by H Thompson Rich
• “Raiders Invisible” by Desmond Winter Hall
• “The Heads of Apex” by George Henry Weiss
• “The World Beyond” by Raymond King Cummings
• “The Einstein See-saw” by Miles John Breuer
• “Poisoned Air” by Sterner St Paul Meek

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Strange Horizons presents what is surely a candidate for Longest Titled Short Story Ever: “A Journal of Certain Events of Scientific Interest from the First Survey Voyage of the Southern Waters by HMS Ocelot, As Observed by Professor Thaddeus Boswell, DPhil, MSc; or, A Lullaby” by Helen Keeble, part the first and part the second

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Subterranean Online presents a new excursion into Jack Vance’s Dying Earth: “Sylgarmo’s Proclamation” by Lucius Shepard

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Here’s the latest instalment of Jason Stoddard‘s Eternal Franchise; we’re up to chapter 8.4

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Shadow Unit Season 2 continues with Episode 2.04: “Getaway“

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News from the courageous Jay Lake:

My short story “People of Leaf and Branch” is live at Fantasy magazine.

There’s also a sample from Jay’s new novel Green at Tor.com.

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Speaking of Tor.com, their latest full-sized piece of original fiction is “The City Quiet as Death” by Steven Utley and Michael Bishop

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Here’s fragment 38 of Jayme Lynn Blaschke‘s Memory

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The ever-prolific Lee Gimenez writes to inform us that his story “September 12th” is up at Aphelion.

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Last but certainly not least, over at SF Signal they’re continuing their nefarious and underhand quest to make me look like the lazy mountebank I surely am by collating daily (daily!) free fiction round–ups. So go and wreak revenge on my behalf by clicking through and hopefully overloading their servers or something. That’ll show ’em. 😉

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Oh, you want more? OK, so here’s a non-fiction bonus for you: in case you’ve not seen it already, the new edition of H+ Magazine is available to buy, read online in a fancy Flash interface or download as a free PDF. Can’t say they don’t give you options, them transhumanist types…

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And that’s your lot. Don’t forget to send smoke signals if you want to head us off at the pass with something you think we might otherwise miss in next week’s selection! But otherwise, have yourselves as good a weekend as you can.

It’s June already; does that mean we can act like it’s summer? The weather in my neck of the woods is warm enough to suggest that yes, we can – but if it’s rainy where you are, why let that stop you?

So, here’s a bunch of free science fiction stories from the intertubes to aid whatever form of relaxations suggests itself to you… but don’t forget to take a look at this month’s Futurismic fiction first – “Awakening in Six Parts” by Karen M Roberts is a surreal near-future headtrip that deserves your attention!

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Just the one from ManyBooks:

• “Spawn of the Comet” by H Thompson Rich

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And one from FeedBooks:

• “All Cats Are Grey” by Andre Norton

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New at Lone Star Stories:

Fiction:

• “Parable Lost” by Jo Walton
• “Pranks” by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
• “The Parable of the Shower” by Leah Bobet

Poetry:

• “Madonna of the Cave“ by Sonya Taaffe
• “Marcy Rode a Meteor” by Samantha Henderson
• “Arsinoë’s Letter to Her Sister” by Jacqueline West

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The last pre-hiatus issue of Byzarium is up:

• “The Fire” by Michael Fosburg
• “Death and the Miser” by Emerald B.

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New from Clarkesworld:

• “Walking With a Ghost” by Nick Mamatas
• “The Giving Heart” by Corie Ralston

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From Subterranean Online:

This week’s fiction over at the Gardner Dozois-edited issue of Subterranean Online is a novelette by none other than hisownself, Joe R. Lansdale. Check out “Hide and Horns” for some rudeness, cussing, illicit grave digging, and other assorted wholesome fun.

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Jason Stoddard‘s Eternal Franchise continues with chapter 8.3

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This week’s Shadow Unit DVD Extra: “Tactics”

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COSMOS Magazine presents: “The Noise Machine” by V G Kemerer

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Free fiction from Jeff VanderMeer: “The Goat Variations Redux”

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The brilliantly-monikered Angry Robot Books are offering a free PDF sample of their new title, Moxyland by Lauren Beukes

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SF Signal are continuing their quest to make this weekly round-up redundant by posting daily round-ups through the week; maybe soon I’ll be able to regain five hours a week by quitting the Friday free fiction collections here? Also mentioned was the following:

Plots with Guns is running an all-sf issue of “crime stories set in the year 2509” called Plots with Rayguns, featuring fiction by Kyle Minor, Fred Zackel, Jimmy Callaway, Cameron Ashley, Pinckney Benedict, Garnett Elliott, Richie Narvaez, and Kieran Shea

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And finally a couple of Friday Flash Fiction pieces for you:

• “A Rose at Callanish” by Gaie Sebold
• “28 Daytrips Later” by Sumit Dam

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There you go – that should keep you busy for a while. Our trained operators are waiting for your tip-offs and plugs all week round, so get in touch – but in the meantime, have a great weekend!