Free Sci-Fi for Our Soldiers in Iraq

By Neal 

Science fiction novelist John Scalzi has made arrangements with Tor Books to release free electronic versions of The Ghost Brigades for soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. All they need to do to get their copies is email Scalzi with a .mil address, and he’ll send them an RTF file. This is actually the second time Scalzi’s done a giveaway of this nature; last year, he offered active military personnel his Hugo-nominated debut novel, Old Man’s War, and received “a few hundred” requests. “Since we told folks in Iraq/Afghanistan that they were free to make copies for others over there,” he observes, “it’s possible the number of copies in circulation increased over there; it’s easier to make a copy off your friend’s laptop than to send me an e-mail and have me mail you a copy, after all.”