Short, weird, fun!

In case you’re interested in further options for fiction to read online, here are a few that are either favorites or sites that I intend to look into. I’ll be adding to the list as time goes on, so if you have any favorites you’d like to see added, feel free to email me.

Free Novels and Short Stories:

East of the Web offers a wealth of classic and contemporary short stories. Many of them are mainstream, but they also have a “sci-fi” category that seems to include all sorts of speculative fiction.

Holly Lisle, one of my all-time favorite authors, provides links to sample chapters and two full novels from her website. She has also written a TON of writing workshops and essays, which have helped me get to where I am today.

She also has an ongoing project, offering a glimpse at the writing process by serializing the novel Talysmana as she writes the first draft. Sign up to have the story emailed to you one scene at a time.

(Yes, yes I am a raving fan-girl. But now it’s time to move on to other treats you can read online!)

The Baen Free Library includes full novels from the Baen backlist.
and, of course, you can also read sample chapters for Baen new releases.

Go to Hurog.com (Hurog means dragon, you know) for sample chapters from Patricia Briggs’ fantasy and urban fantasy novels. Fair warning, though – you might find yourself running out to buy or borrow them!

Tor.com has more free fiction on their website than you can shake a stick at. Depending on your stick-shaking abilities, of course.

Science fiction author Peter Watts has published his backlist, including both novels and short stories under a creative commons license.
I haven’t read through much of his work yet, but what I have read is intriguing dystopian SF.

Science fiction author David D. Levine offers links to several of his stories on his website, including the excellent, Hugo-winning, short story Tk’Tk’Tk.

An award-winning short story by James Alan Gardner can be found at: The Ray Gun: A Love Story

And of course, no list of places to read fiction online for free would be complete without a link to Project Gutenberg!

As they note on their main page, their collection consists of books that are free in the US because the copyright has expired, and the collection is constantly growing. (I must check out the Jack London entries at some point – I loved Call of the Wild.)

Webcomics:

I highly recommend Girl Genius, by Phil & Kaja Foglio – Mad scientists, steampunk, and amazing storytelling. Be sure to check out Othar’s Twitter once you’ve gone through the archives!

Buck Godot: Zap Gun For Hire, also by Phil & Kaja Foglio – Classic science fiction, always with a sense of humor!

Dominic Deegan, by Michael Terracciano – Magic, puns and epic storylines.

Nodwick, by Aaron Williams – The trials and tribulations of a henchman, generally caused by his adventurers.

PS 238, by Aaron Williams – Elementary school for super-heroes, by the author of Nodwick.

Something Positive, by R.K. Milholland – The author’s sense of humor isn’t for everyone, but I enjoy it.