Books Set at Science Fiction Conventions

Anime convention circa 2001

I suppose the title of this post ought to be "Books Set at Science Fiction, Fantasy, Anime, Comic Book, etc. Conventions" but I thought that was a little too wordy. Every now and then I get on a kick of reading books with a similar theme. Recently I found myself nostalgic for the time in the distant past when I actually went to science fiction conventions. So instead of, you know, going to a con, I spent several days searching the web for novels and stories that take place at cons.

It was surprisingly hard to come up with the short list below so I thought I'd share it. Since I haven't read most of these books, don't think of this as a list of recommendations; it's more of a starting place to look if you're interested in the subject matter. If you know of any other books that belong on the list, please let me know in the comments.

Dramacon by Svetlana Chmakova (out of print)

An amateur writer goes to her first anime convention with her jerky boyfriend to promote their homemade manga and ends up falling for a hot but mysterious cosplayer. There are three graphic novels in the series.

The Spade/Paladin Conundrum by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (short stories)

In this series of short stories, Spade (a "Secret Master of Fandom" and private detective) and Paladin (a mysterious woman who tends to show up when trouble's afoot) solve crimes at science fiction conventions. The four stories published so far are Stomping Mad, The Case of the Vanishing Boy, The Karnikov Card and Pandora's Box.

Bimbos of the Death Sun by Sharyn McCrumb

A satirical story about an author with a reputation for being a jerk to his fans who is murdered at a convention. There's another book starring some of the same characters called Zombies of the Gene Pool.

Sci-Fi: A Yellowthread Street Mystery by William Leonard

Book six of sixteen in the series, this police procedural set in Hong Kong during British rule has the cops of the Yellowthread Police Station fighting crime at (yes, you guessed it) a sci-fi convention.

With Nine You Get Vanyr by Jean Marie Ward and Teri Smith

Nine women are transported from Dragon Con (a real convention in Atlanta) to the fantasy world of Domain where they find themselves in the middle of an endless war between hot, immortal guys.

One Con Glory by Sarah Kuhn

A fangirl goes on a quest at a comic book convention to find an elusive action figure of superheroine Glory Gilmore and experiences geekery, friendship and romance along the way.

Fantasti*Con by Rob Osterman

While at a convention, a college student and online gaming fan is stalked by a mysterious person. It starts out harmlessly enough but soon becomes threatening. Who is it and can she and her friends stop them before someone gets hurt?

Lost at the Con by Bryan Young

A drunken journalist and non-geek is sent to write a story about a scifi convention and discovers a "seedy underbelly of geeky debauchery, slash fiction, booze, sex, and drugs" (quoted from the book description).

Deep Secret by Diana Wynne Jones

After his mentor dies, a Magid (a kind of wizard) has to find a replacement while also searching for the heir to a massive empire in a parallel universe. When he brings together the new Magid candidates at a science fiction convention, things start to get weird.

Night of the Living Trekkies by Kevin David Anderson and Sam Stall

When a zombie virus hits a scifi convention in Houston and turns Trekkies into the living dead, a former Star Trek fan who has lost his faith in humanity must lead a ragtag group of con-goers to safety. Check out the nicely done book trailer below (makes me wish it was a real movie!).


Update  8/22/13: I guess my Googling skills were way off when I initially searched for books because I only just now found a discussion at RPG.net that mentions many of the books in my list plus a few others that aren't.