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!

Ah, Friday afternoon – the sweet smell of impending freedom from the workplace. And the appetising aroma of all the free genre fiction the web has to offer, too! Get busy with the buffet…

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A trio in the inbox from Manybooks.net:

• “Pandemic” by Jesse F Bone
• “The Star Hyacinths” by James H Schmitz
• “Next Door, Next World” by Robert Donald Locke

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Feedbooks‘ science fiction output has this week consisted entirely of rolling out stories from the Futurismic back-catalogue in useful formats (as mentioned earlier), so stock up on some of our greatest hits for your commute:

• “Real Death” by Terry Hayman
• “The Existential Cure” by Will McIntosh
• “Better Sweets To Prove Than Sleep” by Lisa Mantchev
• “Strike A Pose” by Donnárd Ricardo Sturgis
• “Push Patterns” by Jay Campbell
• “His Whore The Vector” by David McGillveray (who has a fresh story about to appear next month)
• “The Rivers of Eden” by Jay Lake and Ruth Nestvold

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The latest dose from Apex Online is from George Mann, top dog at Solaris Books, no less: “The Nature Of Blood“.

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Small Beer Press are on the give-away tip once more; right now you can get the entirety of The Ant King and Other Stories by Benjamin Rosenbaum in digital format over there.

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John Joseph Adams is celebrating the release of his new Seeds Of Change anthology by releasing a bunch of stories and excerpts from it for free on its website. You can find links to them all in various convenient formats like PDF and MobiPocket, but here are links direct to the HTML versions of the full stories to be getting on with:

• “The Future by Degrees” by Jay Lake
  
• “Arties Aren’t Stupid” by Jeremiah Tolbert
  
• “Resistance” by Tobias S. Buckell
  

I might point out that all three of those writers have worked with Futurismic; Jay Lake has a story here co-written with Ruth Nestvold, and both Tobias and Jeremy have been bloggers here. A lot of talent passes through this site, y’know. 🙂

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Via the Scalzi:

Mary Robinette Kowal has a page that will point you to some of her fiction online. Find out why she’s this year’s Campbell Award winner, and enjoy!

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There’s yet more “deleted scenes” in the seemingly endless stream of DVD extras from the production team at Shadow Unit.

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Via Nathan Lilly, here’s what’s new at SpaceWesterns.com:

• “The Hard Deal” by John M. Whalen – A young man plans revenge on a rich industrialist for the death of his father, but his plans go awry when he encounters an indigenous life form.
• “Corazón”—Part 2 by Jens Rushing – Jens Rushing brings us a Space Western/Fantasy, in three parts. In Part 2 Dixie O’Dell winds her way along the Ghost Trail to track down Gomez.
• Space Western Senryū Contest Winners by Alana Joli Abbott, Mark L. Van Name & Seamus Kevin Fahey

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Email from Lise Andreasen in Copenhagen:

Here is Chapter 4 in my Intervention story.

And as you’re supposed to do with chapter 4 of an SF story, it’s animated. So… does 23 pictures qualify as flash? Oh no, wait. A picture is worth a 1000 words.

Thanks, Lise!

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And finally, a trio of Friday Flashes:

• Greg O’Byrne doesn’t supply a pronunciation guide for “Patselonkaloman“
• Phred Serenissima discusses “A Public Matter“
• Gareth L Powell is hanging out in “Roswell“

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There we go – should keep you busy for a while. In the meantime, we need your plugs and tip-offs; deadline is 1800 GMT on Friday, as always. Have a great weekend!