diff --git a/src/calibre/db/cache.py b/src/calibre/db/cache.py
index 149205a4d6..c4f351a4a0 100644
--- a/src/calibre/db/cache.py
+++ b/src/calibre/db/cache.py
@@ -131,6 +131,10 @@ class Cache(object):
     def new_api(self):
         return self
 
+    @property
+    def library_id(self):
+        return self.backend.library_id
+
     @property
     def safe_read_lock(self):
         ''' A safe read lock is a lock that does nothing if the thread already
diff --git a/src/calibre/srv/books.py b/src/calibre/srv/books.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5e2f0b938b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/calibre/srv/books.py
@@ -0,0 +1,128 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python2
+# vim:fileencoding=utf-8
+# License: GPLv3 Copyright: 2016, Kovid Goyal <kovid at kovidgoyal.net>
+
+from __future__ import (unicode_literals, division, absolute_import,
+                        print_function)
+from hashlib import sha1
+from functools import partial
+from threading import RLock
+from cPickle import dumps
+import errno, os, tempfile, shutil
+
+from calibre.constants import cache_dir, iswindows
+from calibre.customize.ui import plugin_for_input_format
+from calibre.srv.render_book import RENDER_VERSION
+from calibre.srv.errors import HTTPNotFound
+from calibre.srv.routes import endpoint, json
+from calibre.srv.utils import get_library_data
+
+cache_lock = RLock()
+queued_jobs = {}
+failed_jobs = {}
+
+_books_cache_dir = None
+def books_cache_dir():
+    global _books_cache_dir
+    if _books_cache_dir:
+        return _books_cache_dir
+    base = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(cache_dir(), 'srvb'))
+    for d in 'sf':
+        try:
+            os.makedirs(os.path.join(base, d))
+        except EnvironmentError as e:
+            if e.errno != errno.EEXIST:
+                raise
+    _books_cache_dir = base
+    return base
+
+
+def book_hash(library_uuid, book_id, fmt, fmt_metadata):
+    raw = dumps((library_uuid, book_id, fmt.upper(), fmt_metadata['size']), RENDER_VERSION)
+    return sha1(raw).hexdigest().decode('ascii')
+
+staging_cleaned = False
+
+def safe_remove(x, is_file=None):
+    if is_file is None:
+        is_file = os.path.isfile(x)
+    try:
+        os.remove(x) if is_file else shutil.rmtree(x, ignore_errors=True)
+    except EnvironmentError:
+        pass
+
+
+def queue_job(ctx, copy_format_to, bhash, fmt, book_id):
+    global staging_cleaned
+    tdir = os.path.join(books_cache_dir(), 's')
+    if not staging_cleaned:
+        staging_cleaned = True
+        for x in os.listdir(tdir):
+            safe_remove(os.path.join(tdir, x))
+    fd, pathtoebook = tempfile.mkstemp(prefix='', suffix=('.' + fmt.lower()), dir=tdir)
+    with os.fdopen(fd, 'wb') as f:
+        copy_format_to(f)
+    tdir = tempfile.mkdtemp('', '', tdir)
+    job_id = ctx.start_job('Render book %s (%s)' % (book_id, fmt), 'calibre.srv.render_book', 'render', args=(pathtoebook, tdir, bhash),
+                           job_done_callback=job_done, job_data=(bhash, pathtoebook, tdir))
+    queued_jobs[bhash] = job_id
+    return job_id
+
+def job_done(job):
+    with cache_lock:
+        book_hash, pathtoebook, tdir = job.data
+        queued_jobs.pop(book_hash, None)
+        safe_remove(pathtoebook)
+        if job.failed:
+            failed_jobs[book_hash] = (job.was_aborted, job.traceback)
+            safe_remove(tdir, False)
+        else:
+            try:
+                dest = os.path.join(books_cache_dir(), 'f', book_hash)
+                safe_remove(dest, False)
+                os.rename(tdir, dest)
+            except Exception:
+                import traceback
+                failed_jobs[book_hash] = (False, traceback.format_exc())
+
+@endpoint('/book-manifest/{book_id}/{fmt}', postprocess=json, types={'book_id':int})
+def book_manifest(ctx, rd, book_id, fmt):
+    db, library_id = get_library_data(ctx, rd)[:2]
+    if plugin_for_input_format(fmt) is None:
+        raise HTTPNotFound('The format %s cannot be viewed' % fmt.upper())
+    with db.safe_read_lock:
+        fm = db.format_metadata(book_id, fmt)
+        if not fm:
+            raise HTTPNotFound('No %s format for the book %s in the library: %s' % (fm, book_id, library_id))
+        bhash = book_hash(db.library_id, book_id, fmt, fm)
+        with cache_lock:
+            mpath = os.path.join(books_cache_dir(), 'f', bhash, 'calibre-book-manifest.json')
+            if iswindows:
+                mpath = '\\\\?\\' + os.path.abspath(mpath)
+            try:
+                os.utime(mpath, None)
+                return lopen(mpath, 'rb')
+            except EnvironmentError as e:
+                if e.errno != errno.ENOENT:
+                    raise
+            x = failed_jobs.pop(bhash, None)
+            if x is not None:
+                return {'aborted':x[0], 'traceback':x[1], 'job_status':'finished'}
+            job_id = queued_jobs.get(bhash)
+            if job_id is None:
+                job_id = queue_job(ctx, partial(db.copy_format_to, book_id, fmt), bhash, fmt, book_id)
+    status, result, tb, aborted = ctx.job_status(job_id)
+    return {'aborted': aborted, 'traceback':tb, 'job_status':status, 'job_id':job_id}
+
+@endpoint('/book-file/{book_hash}/{name}')
+def book_file(ctx, rd, book_hash, name):
+    base = os.path.join(books_cache_dir, 'f')
+    mpath = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(book_hash, name))
+    if not mpath.startswith(base):
+        raise HTTPNotFound('No book file with hash: %s and name: %s' % (book_hash, name))
+    try:
+        return rd.filesystem_file_with_custom_etag(lopen(mpath, 'rb'), book_hash, name)
+    except EnvironmentError as e:
+        if e.errno != errno.ENOENT:
+            raise
+        raise HTTPNotFound('No book file with hash: %s and name: %s' % (book_hash, name))
diff --git a/src/calibre/srv/handler.py b/src/calibre/srv/handler.py
index b7630a148e..8a9ecba584 100644
--- a/src/calibre/srv/handler.py
+++ b/src/calibre/srv/handler.py
@@ -93,8 +93,8 @@ class Context(object):
         self.ignored_fields = frozenset(filter(None, (x.strip() for x in (opts.ignored_fields or '').split(','))))
         self.displayed_fields = frozenset(filter(None, (x.strip() for x in (opts.displayed_fields or '').split(','))))
 
-    def start_job(self, name, module, func, args=(), kwargs=None):
-        return self.jobs_manager.start_job(name, module, func, args, kwargs)
+    def start_job(self, name, module, func, args=(), kwargs=None, job_done_callback=None, job_data=None):
+        return self.jobs_manager.start_job(name, module, func, args, kwargs, job_done_callback, job_data)
 
     def job_status(self, job_id):
         return self.jobs_manager.job_status(job_id)
@@ -188,7 +188,7 @@ class Handler(object):
             prefer_basic_auth = {'auto':has_ssl, 'basic':True}.get(opts.auth_mode, 'digest')
             self.auth_controller = AuthController(user_credentials=ctx.user_manager, prefer_basic_auth=prefer_basic_auth)
         self.router = Router(ctx=ctx, url_prefix=opts.url_prefix, auth_controller=self.auth_controller)
-        for module in ('content', 'ajax', 'code', 'legacy', 'opds'):
+        for module in ('content', 'ajax', 'code', 'legacy', 'opds', 'books'):
             module = import_module('calibre.srv.' + module)
             self.router.load_routes(vars(module).itervalues())
         self.router.finalize()
diff --git a/src/calibre/srv/jobs.py b/src/calibre/srv/jobs.py
index 68587a04ae..392bb0eba8 100644
--- a/src/calibre/srv/jobs.py
+++ b/src/calibre/srv/jobs.py
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ from calibre import detect_ncpus, force_unicode
 from calibre.utils.monotonic import monotonic
 from calibre.utils.ipc.simple_worker import fork_job, WorkerError
 
-StartEvent = namedtuple('StartEvent', 'job_id name module function args kwargs')
+StartEvent = namedtuple('StartEvent', 'job_id name module function args kwargs callback data')
 DoneEvent = namedtuple('DoneEvent', 'job_id')
 
 class Job(Thread):
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ class Job(Thread):
         self.job_name = start_event.name
         self.job_id = start_event.job_id
         self.func = partial(fork_job, start_event.module, start_event.function, start_event.args, start_event.kwargs, abort=self.abort_event)
+        self.data, self.callback = start_event.data, start_event.callback
         self.result = self.traceback = None
         self.done = False
         self.start_time = monotonic()
@@ -54,6 +55,10 @@ class Job(Thread):
     def was_aborted(self):
         return self.done and self.result is None and self.abort_event.is_set()
 
+    @property
+    def failed(self):
+        return bool(self.traceback) or self.was_aborted
+
     def remove_log(self):
         lp, self.log_path = self.log_path, None
         if lp:
@@ -95,7 +100,7 @@ class JobsManager(object):
         self.shutting_down = False
         self.event_loop = None
 
-    def start_job(self, name, module, func, args=(), kwargs=None):
+    def start_job(self, name, module, func, args=(), kwargs=None, job_done_callback=None, job_data=None):
         with self.lock:
             if self.shutting_down:
                 return None
@@ -104,7 +109,7 @@ class JobsManager(object):
                 t.daemon = True
                 t.start()
             job_id = next(self.job_id)
-            self.events.put(StartEvent(job_id, name, module, func, args, kwargs or {}))
+            self.events.put(StartEvent(job_id, name, module, func, args, kwargs or {}, job_done_callback, job_data))
             self.waiting_job_ids.add(job_id)
             return job_id
 
@@ -214,6 +219,12 @@ class JobsManager(object):
     def job_finished(self, job_id):
         with self.lock:
             self.finished_jobs[job_id] = job = self.jobs.pop(job_id)
+            if job.callback is not None:
+                try:
+                    job.callback(job)
+                except Exception:
+                    import traceback
+                    self.log.error('Error running callback for job: %s:\n%s' % (job.name, traceback.format_exc()))
         self.prune_finished_jobs()
         if job.traceback and not job.was_aborted:
             logdata = job.read_log()
diff --git a/src/calibre/srv/render_book.py b/src/calibre/srv/render_book.py
index a9f51881fe..964485f493 100644
--- a/src/calibre/srv/render_book.py
+++ b/src/calibre/srv/render_book.py
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ from calibre.ebooks.oeb.polish.utils import guess_type
 from calibre.utils.short_uuid import uuid4
 from calibre.utils.logging import default_log
 
+RENDER_VERSION = 1
 
 def encode_component(x):
     return x.replace(',', ',c').replace('|', ',p')
@@ -41,10 +42,9 @@ def decode_url(x):
 
 class Container(ContainerBase):
 
-    RENDER_VERSION = 1
     tweak_mode = True
 
-    def __init__(self, path_to_ebook, tdir, log=None):
+    def __init__(self, path_to_ebook, tdir, log=None, book_hash=None):
         log = log or default_log
         book_fmt, opfpath, input_fmt = extract_book(path_to_ebook, tdir, log=log)
         ContainerBase.__init__(self, tdir, opfpath, log)
@@ -53,10 +53,11 @@ class Container(ContainerBase):
             name == self.opf_name or mt == guess_type('a.ncx') or name.startswith('META-INF/')
         }
         self.book_render_data = data = {
-            'version': self.RENDER_VERSION,
+            'version': RENDER_VERSION,
             'toc':get_toc(self).as_dict,
             'spine':[name for name, is_linear in self.spine_names],
             'link_uid': uuid4(),
+            'book_hash': book_hash,
             'is_comic': input_fmt.lower() in {'cbc', 'cbz', 'cbr', 'cb7'},
             'manifest': {name:os.path.getsize(self.name_path_map[name]) for name in set(self.name_path_map) - excluded_names},
         }
@@ -133,5 +134,8 @@ class Container(ContainerBase):
         escape_cdata(root)
         return tostring(root, encoding='utf-8', xml_declaration=True, with_tail=False, doctype='<!DOCTYPE html>')
 
+def render(pathtoebook, output_dir, book_hash=None):
+    Container(pathtoebook, output_dir, book_hash=book_hash)
+
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     c = Container(sys.argv[-2], sys.argv[-1])
diff --git a/src/calibre/srv/routes.py b/src/calibre/srv/routes.py
index 3229b6303c..1da306a659 100644
--- a/src/calibre/srv/routes.py
+++ b/src/calibre/srv/routes.py
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ default_methods = frozenset(('HEAD', 'GET'))
 
 def json(ctx, rd, endpoint, output):
     rd.outheaders.set('Content-Type', 'application/json; charset=UTF-8', replace_all=True)
-    if isinstance(output, bytes):
+    if isinstance(output, bytes) or hasattr(output, 'fileno'):
         ans = output  # Assume output is already UTF-8 encoded json
     else:
         ans = jsonlib.dumps(output, ensure_ascii=False)