I’m sure there are at least a few of you who have seen ABC’s show Castle: it’s about the writer who follows the cop and writes books about her, with Nathan Fillion (that guy from Firefly and Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-long Blog). I think the show is clever and I’ve really enjoyed, however, the powers that be have taken it a little too far. My roommate and I were browsing at Barnes and Noble when her eye caught on a book with the author’s name blown up on the cover, “RICHARD CASTLE” and below it the title, “HEAT RISES.” For those aficionados of the show, you know that this was the third book he wrote on Kate Beckett. I had assumed, like most people that his works of fiction were also fictional given that he isn’t a real person. However, ABC has taken his character one step further and published all three of the books that he’s published on the show.

You can now buy all three books on Amazon or at your local bookstore. I read a bit of it and frankly it’s awful. I can’t see how anyone would want to read it, despite it’s miraculous existence. Marketing-wise, this was a brilliant move by ABC. On both the front and the back covers it says “Watch Castle on ABC.” However, this step up in fandom is slightly disturbing. The dedication was to Captain Roy Montgomery, who recently died on the show. In the acknowledgements, he thanks all the characters on the show and the actors who played them (though it doesn’t say that, it just lists them all by first name). In a society where we confuse actors with characters, is this healthy? Nathan Fillion can no longer walk the streets as Nathan Fillion. He will now be known as Richard Castle, not just by confused TV-watching fans, but also by those who think that he really is a famous (albeit horrid) author.

All three books have made it to the top of the New York Times Best-sellers list. I’m not sure whether to be disgusted or impressed. I think I’m both.