If there’s any group of readers who may be truly prepared to spend weeks sequestered alone by themselves or in small groups, it’s those of use who grew up on tales of interplanetary travel. There’s not a lot of extra room on spaceships, after all, and you can’t just run out to the movies or a coffee shop when you’re halfway through your burn to the mining colony on Ganymede.
Unlike our fictional heroes, though, we have a few advantages. When it’s warm enough, we can open our windows, for one, but also we have access to a pretty good range of free Speculative Fiction stories that we can access instantly.
The Libby App lets you use your library card to check out ebooks and audiobooks from your library’s digital collection. The app works for both IOS and Android and can be installed on most devices pretty easily. From there, you enter your information and can see what’s currently available to check out or put on hold.
If you’re a fan of the classics, Project Gutenberg has been creating an archive of works that have passed into the public domain. While you won't find anything recent on there, a lot of the best Science Fiction and Fantasy novels really have held up to the test of time, and you might also enjoy the chance to see what folks a century ago got right (and wrong) about the far off days of the 21st Century. If you need some help narrowing it down, and lean towards the Sci-fi end of things, Popular Mechanics made this list of some of their favorites.
Tor Books puts a lot of great Fantasy and Science Fiction short stories online for free, and also offers downloadable ebooks that are free for a limited time, including those from some of the most popular authors in the field.
If you’re a Kindle user, or use the Kindle app on one of your devices, Amazon has a lot of free Science Fiction and Fantasy ebooks available, often from up-and-coming authors or the first book in a series, to give you a chance to try something new.
If you want some fresh short works, check out Uncanny Magazine or Futurism, both of which put out new Fantasy, Science Fiction and science fact stories on a regular basis. Uncanny offers a well-reviewed Speculative Fiction podcase, as well, and Futurism features editorial staff from the short-lived revival of the famed OMNI Magazine.
Of course, you don’t have to stick to just reading, Dust, on Youtube features original short Science Fiction films. If you’re more into the history and analysis of your favorite stories, check out PBS Digital Studios’ channel Storied. Storied comprises two series, “Monstrum,” hosted by professor of literature Emily Zarka, which explores legendary creatures from around the world, including their origins and social context, and “It’s Lit” hosted by Lindsay Ellis and Princess Weekes, which takes a look at all different genres of fiction.
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