books numbered 1.5, 2.5 and so on

[infael]

I've been seeing books numbered 1.5, .06, etc. Are these short stories or ebooks? How do I find these?

[[deleted user]]

These are usually spin-offs of side stories unrelated to the main plotline, but with the same characters.

[[deleted user]]

As Evgeny said, these are usually novella or short stories that relate to the series (whose full novels are assigned whole numbers in either story time-line order or publication order.) Extras for fans. The fractional numbers are usually chosen to reflect where the shorter work fits in the main series.

To use The Expanse Series as an example, there are 4 novels (1,2,3,4) and three shorter works. "0.5" is a prequel to the first story, while "2.5" is between novels 2 & 3. (That particular series seems to be set up in publication order, because The Churn is given "3.5"; it was published after the 3rd book, but it takes place before any of the other stories (in timeline order, it could be 0.2 or something.)

This is all informal; there are no fixed rules.

[infael]

Where do I find these novellas/short stories?

[[deleted user]]

infael wrote: "Where do I find these novellas/short stories?"

That depends on the specific story. In The Expanse Series I used as an example earlier, each of the 3 novella can be purchased as ebooks from Amazon or B&N, at least in the US, for $2-$3 each.

In some cases, the story is available on the author's website or publisher's website (sometimes even for free!) For example, Equoid, which is our group novella discussion topic this month, is "2.9" in the Laundry Files series. It's available for free on Tor.com, who is the publisher in this case. That URL link has been recorded on the Goodreads page describing the e-book edition (though you could also go to Amazon and purchase it for 99¢.)

Occasionally there is a hardcover edition, too, though that's usually pretty pricey and more a collectors item for trufen. If there is no electronic edition and the hardcover is fairly recent (within the year), chances are an ebook edition will be forthcoming. (E.g., Scalzi's The Sagan Diary, Old Man's War series "2.5", was first published as hardcover and later as an ebook.)

Usually the Goodreads page for the work will either link to Amazon or contain a official URL (sometimes it's worth checking out different editions just to see if there's a freebie version.)

[infael]

Thanks!