[Free eBook] Lunar Vengeance: A Collection of Science Fiction Stories by John Russell Fearn [Vintage Science Fiction]

Lunar Vengeance: A Collection of Science Fiction Stories by the late British author John Russell Fearn, edited by British author Philip Harbottle, is a collection of his vintage golden age science fiction stories, free for a limited time courtesy of publisher Endeavour Press’ Venture imprint.

This new collection reprints six tales from the 1940s-1950s, apparently with a theme of exploring civilization (or the lack of it) on various settlements within our solar system, and includes a brief introduction to the author and his works by science fiction author and editor Philip Harbottle.

The title story was originally published in Amazing Stories magazine in 1943 under the pseudonym Thornton Ayre, and the other stories also appeared credited as by Vargo Statten, Mark Denholm, Volsted Gridban, as well as Fearn’s own name (mostly during reprints and translations).

Offered worldwide, available at Amazon.

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[Free eBook] The Cloud by Ray Hammond [Science Fiction Technothriller]

The Cloud by British author Ray Hammond, a science journalist and futurist, is his standalone science fiction technothriller, free for a limited time courtesy of publisher Endeavour Press’ Venture imprint.

This was originally published in 2006 by Pan Books.

The story is set in the near future of the mid-21st century, as humanity begins receiving and responding incomprehensible alien radio transmissions which eventually result in a reply in the form of a mysterious encroaching cloud on a collision course with Earth, prompting the panicked preparation of an armed response even as the code is finally cracked, to startling revelations.

Offered worldwide, available at Amazon.

[Free eBook] The Secret Lives of Teachers by Anonymous [Education Professional Memoir]

The Secret Lives of Teachers by Anonymous is a combination professional memoir cum analysis, free for a limited time courtesy of the University of Chicago Press.

This is their featured Free Book of the Month selection for September.

This anonymous memoir, written from the perspective of an educator at an elite private school in New York, provides an uncensored inside look at the professional experience and varying challenges within it.

Offered worldwide through September, available directly via the university’s website.

[Free eBook] Seven Views of Olduvai Gorge by Mike Resnick [Award-Winning Science Fiction]

Seven Views of Olduvai Gorge by Mike Resnick, prolific Hugo & Nebula Award-winning author, is a standalone novella in his Birthright Universe setting of far future science fiction, free for a limited time courtesy of publisher Phoenix Pick Press.

This was originally published in 1994 by Pulphouse Publishing’s Axolotl Press imprint, and also appeared in the Magazine of Science Fiction & Fantasy and won both the Nebula & Hugo Awards, as well as receiving a number of other prize nods.

The story is set in the very far future, starring aliens archaeologists visiting Earth long after humanity and its Empire are gone, and making discoveries which tell them things about various eras of the long-vanished world, from the artifacts they find.

Offered DRM-free worldwide through September as their featured Free eBook of the Month selection, available directly from the publisher.

[Free Audiobook] A Strangeness in My Mind by Orhan Pamuk [Award-Winning Turkish Literary Novel]

A Strangeness in My Mind by Turkish author Orhan Pamuk, recipient of the 2005 Nobel Prize for Literature, is his standalone literary fiction novel, free for a limited time courtesy of publisher Penguin Random House Audio.

The novel is set in and around the city of Istanbul, Turkey, and is a coming of age journey of self-discovery tale, taking place over the course of four decades from 1969 to 2012. It was shortlisted for the 2017 International Dublin Literary Award, and also won two Turkish literary awards, the Erdal Öz Prize and the Aydın Doğan Foundation Award in 2015, as well as Russia’s Yasnaya Polyana Literary Award in the Foreign Literature category in 2016.

The story uses a cast of characters to tell from different viewpoints the core story of a misfit boy who grows to manhood through various experiences and mishaps, never ceasing to restlessly wander the streets and ponder the feeling of difference which sets him apart from everyone else, until he finally uncovers what it is he has always truly wanted out of life.

Offered worldwide until 11:59 AM Eastern Time on September 29th, available as a DRM-free MP4 download directly from the publisher and in their app.

[Free eBook] Envy of Angels by Matt Wallace [Supernatural Foodie Urban Fantasy]

Envy of Angels by Matt Wallace is the 1st novel in his Sin Du Jour series of satirical urban fantasy, free for a limited time courtesy of publisher Tor Books.

This is a special flash giveaway, being made free to promote the upcoming 6th novel in the series, which comes out later this year. The series is centred around the adventures of a supernatural catering company in New York City.

This story involves a foodie challenge to create a dinner with a unique ingredient for a high-stakes diplomatic banquet, under the pressure of defusing a potential war between two rival demon gangs.

Offered DRM-free through 12 PM EST on September 29th, available worldwide, directly from the publisher.

[Free eBook] Tradition and Agency: Tracing cultural continuity and invention [Academic Anthropology Essays]

Tradition and Agency: Tracing cultural continuity and invention edited by Ton Otto, a Professor in the School of Culture and Society at Aarhus University, & [Poul Pedersen][coeditor-link], an associate professor at the same, is a collection of anthropology essays, free for a limited time courtesy of Aarhus University Press in Denmark.

This is their featured English-language Free Book of the Month selection for September.

This anthology of ethnographic essays looks at various contemporary cultures around the world, covering both traditions maintained throughout the generations as well as nearly-forgotten ones revived in modern times and/or invented to fill a cultural need, with case studies as diverse as Papua New Guinean artifacts to cheesemaking in France.

Offered DRM-free worldwide through September, available directly from the university’s website.

[Free eBook] Antikkens verden: Videnskab, kultur, myter, religion og de fremmede [Danish Classical Western Antiquity History & Culture Overview]

Antikkens verden (The Ancient World: Science, culture, myths, religion, and strangers) edited by Birte Poulsen & Ole Høiris is a volume in the Verdensboger (World Book) series of Danish-language self-contained titles which provide a comprehensive introductory overview to particular cultural and historical periods, free for a limited time courtesy of Aarhus University Press in Denmark.

This is their featured Danish-language Free Book of the Month selection for September. The Danish-language series is fully equivalent in style and content to the Oxford University Press’ The Oxford Illustrated History of… or Routledge’s The World of… English series.

This volume contains a comprehensive introduction to the world of western classical antiquity, mostly in and around the Mediterranean and the Greek, Roman, and later Egyptian cultures that held sway, as well as some later “barbarians”, filled with essays on various cultural and historical topics, illustrated lavishly with many photographs of relevant artifacts from the corresponding places and times.

Offered DRM-free worldwide through September, available directly from the university’s website.

[Free eBook] The Classical Greek Reader by Kenneth J. Atchity [Ancient Greece Historical Source Texts Introduction]

The Classical Greek Reader by Kenneth J. Atchity, a former professor of comparative literature and classics who later became a film producer, introductory historical source text sampler, free for a limited time courtesy of publisher Story Merchant.

This was originally published in 1996 by Henry Holt & Co as part of their Henry Holt Reference Books line, credited as by Kenneth John Atchity, and later picked up by Oxford University Press as part of their Oxford Paperbacks line.

This introductory reader contains excerpted translated period writings from various sources, both well-known and obscure, across many topics throughout the classical era of Ancient Greece, accompanied by brief pieces about each author and giving more contextual information to aid in understanding their times.

Offered DRM-free worldwide, available at Amazon.

[Free eBook] The Last Walk Out: A Tribal Space Opera by David Helton [Science Fiction]

The Last Walk Out: A Tribal Space Opera by David Helton, a journalist and documentary scriptwriter, is his standalone post-apocalyptic science fiction novel with space opera elements, free for a limited time courtesy of publisher Endeavour Press’ Venture imprint.

This was originally published in 2014 by White Glove, according to the blurb at his literary agent’s, but that seems to have been a self-pub imprint that left no trace, and the Venture frontmatter copyright date is 2017, which may indicate significant revisions.

The story is set in a future a thousand years after a viral catastrophe devastated Earth’s population, leading humanity to flee to the rest of the solar system, leaving only a few naturally immune survivors behind, whose descendants are apparently secretly being watched as some sort of reality tv/nature entertainment programme, when one of the elders on the reservation leaves the settlement on a potentially society-changing adventure.

Offered worldwide, available at Amazon.