Ebooks round-up (original) (raw)

Shorts, or singles – those pamphlet-style ebooks of between 5,000 and 30,000 words – are for me the most exciting feature of our evolving literary landscape. Their brevity (and accessible prices) make a refreshing change from traditional print nonfiction, with writers struggling to pad out ever more esoteric subjects and readers struggling to find the time (and money) to read about them.

The speed at which they can be published is also a boon, reflected in three new shorts on foreign affairs: James Harkin's excellent eye-witness account, War Against All: The Struggle for Northern Syria (Kindle Singles £1.32), The Rise and Fall of the House of Bo: How a Murder Exposed the Cracks in China's Leadership by John Garnaut (Penguin Specials £1.99) and Libya: Murder in Benghazi and the Fall of Gaddafi by Luke Harding and Martin Chulov (Guardian Shorts £2.99).

Newly released "e-novellas" include "Hello Everybody" by AM Homes and "Shakedown" by James Ellroy (Byliner Originals £1.90). Margaret Atwood's dystopian thriller "I'm Starved for You" began life as a short but was so popular she's turned it into a serial called Positron. The second instalment, "Choke Collar", is out now (both Byliner £1.95).

In other ebooks news, a heads-up for sci-fi fans: Finches of Mars by Brian Aldiss won't be published in print till next June, but is available for download from 22 November (The Friday Project £7.99). And finally, several Angela Carter novels, including Nights at the Circus, are now available as ebooks. Wise Children, with an introduction by Ali Smith, will be released on 30 November (Vintage Digital £8.05).