In the comments on my article over at Feminist SF Niall Harrison mentioned that Gwyneth Jones’ wonderful novel, Spirit, is now available as a free ebook (PDF format, DRM-free). From a Hugo point of view this was interesting, because a freely downloadable ebook is most definitely available in the USA which should give Spirit an extra year’s eligibility (it missed out badly last year due to being published in the UK only late in December 2008). As it turned out, the ebook did not go online until January 2010, so it won’t be Hugo-eligible again until Reno (assuming that the usual eligibility extension gets passed). However, that gives plenty of time for US readers to download and enjoy it.

As a reminder, Spirit is set in the same world as the Aleutian Trilogy, and I believe after the events in the short stories that make up The Buonarotti Quartet. My review is here.