diff --git a/ui/src/app.css b/ui/src/app.css
index e7bc911..c106a57 100644
--- a/ui/src/app.css
+++ b/ui/src/app.css
@@ -53,3 +53,13 @@ html {
 	margin: 2em 0;
 }
 
+/* ── Navigation progress bar ───────────────────────────────────────── */
+@keyframes progress-bar {
+	0%   { width: 0%; opacity: 1; }
+	80%  { width: 90%; opacity: 1; }
+	100% { width: 100%; opacity: 0; }
+}
+.animate-progress-bar {
+	animation: progress-bar 8s cubic-bezier(0.1, 0.05, 0.1, 1) forwards;
+}
+
diff --git a/ui/src/routes/+layout.svelte b/ui/src/routes/+layout.svelte
index 0553763..7014c0d 100644
--- a/ui/src/routes/+layout.svelte
+++ b/ui/src/routes/+layout.svelte
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 <script lang="ts">
 	import '../app.css';
-	import { page } from '$app/state';
+	import { page, navigating } from '$app/state';
 	import { goto } from '$app/navigation';
 	import type { Snippet } from 'svelte';
 	import type { LayoutData } from './$types';
@@ -197,6 +197,12 @@
 ></audio>
 
 <div class="min-h-screen flex flex-col" class:pb-24={audioStore.active}>
+	<!-- Navigation progress bar — shown while SSR is running for any page transition -->
+	{#if navigating}
+		<div class="fixed top-0 left-0 right-0 z-[100] h-0.5 bg-zinc-800">
+			<div class="h-full bg-amber-400 animate-progress-bar"></div>
+		</div>
+	{/if}
 	<header class="border-b border-zinc-700 bg-zinc-900 sticky top-0 z-50">
 		<nav class="max-w-6xl mx-auto px-4 h-14 flex items-center gap-6">
 			<a href="/" class="text-amber-400 font-bold text-lg tracking-tight hover:text-amber-300">
diff --git a/ui/src/routes/api/chapter-text-preview/[slug]/[n]/+server.ts b/ui/src/routes/api/chapter-text-preview/[slug]/[n]/+server.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6b46c9d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ui/src/routes/api/chapter-text-preview/[slug]/[n]/+server.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+import { error } from '@sveltejs/kit';
+import type { RequestHandler } from './$types';
+import { env } from '$env/dynamic/private';
+import { log } from '$lib/server/logger';
+
+const SCRAPER_URL = env.SCRAPER_API_URL ?? 'http://localhost:8080';
+
+/**
+ * GET /api/chapter-text-preview/[slug]/[n]
+ * Proxies to the scraper's /api/chapter-text-preview endpoint.
+ * Used client-side when the normal chapter path returns no content
+ * (chapter indexed but not yet scraped to MinIO).
+ */
+export const GET: RequestHandler = async ({ params, url }) => {
+	const { slug, n } = params;
+	const chapter = parseInt(n, 10);
+	if (!slug || !chapter || chapter < 1) {
+		error(400, 'Invalid slug or chapter number');
+	}
+
+	// Forward optional query params (chapter_url, title) if present
+	const qs = new URLSearchParams();
+	const chapterUrl = url.searchParams.get('chapter_url');
+	const title = url.searchParams.get('title');
+	if (chapterUrl) qs.set('chapter_url', chapterUrl);
+	if (title) qs.set('title', title);
+
+	const scraperRes = await fetch(
+		`${SCRAPER_URL}/api/chapter-text-preview/${encodeURIComponent(slug)}/${chapter}?${qs.toString()}`
+	).catch((e) => {
+		log.error('chapter-preview', 'scraper fetch failed', { slug, chapter, err: String(e) });
+		return null;
+	});
+
+	if (!scraperRes || !scraperRes.ok) {
+		const status = scraperRes?.status ?? 502;
+		log.error('chapter-preview', 'scraper returned error', { slug, chapter, status });
+		error(status as Parameters<typeof error>[0], 'Chapter preview not available');
+	}
+
+	const data = await scraperRes.json();
+
+	return new Response(JSON.stringify(data), {
+		headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' }
+	});
+};
diff --git a/ui/src/routes/books/[slug]/+page.svelte b/ui/src/routes/books/[slug]/+page.svelte
index 752f059..f461c5f 100644
--- a/ui/src/routes/books/[slug]/+page.svelte
+++ b/ui/src/routes/books/[slug]/+page.svelte
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 <script lang="ts">
+	import { onMount } from 'svelte';
+	import { invalidateAll } from '$app/navigation';
 	import type { PageData } from './$types';
 
 	let { data }: { data: PageData } = $props();
@@ -15,9 +17,18 @@
 	const genres = $derived(parseGenres(data.book.genres));
 
 	// Paginate chapter list — show 100 at a time
-	let page = $state(0);
 	const PAGE_SIZE = 100;
 
+	// Start on the page that contains the current chapter (if any)
+	function pageForChapter(chapterNum: number | null, list: typeof chapterList): number {
+		if (!chapterNum || list.length === 0) return 0;
+		const idx = list.findIndex((c) => c.number === chapterNum);
+		if (idx === -1) return 0;
+		return Math.floor(idx / PAGE_SIZE);
+	}
+
+	let page = $state(pageForChapter(data.lastChapter, data.inLib ? data.chapters : (data.previewChapters ?? [])));
+
 	// Use preview chapters if the book is not in the library
 	const chapterList = $derived(
 		data.inLib
@@ -29,6 +40,26 @@
 		chapterList.slice(page * PAGE_SIZE, (page + 1) * PAGE_SIZE)
 	);
 
+	// ── Chapter list polling ──────────────────────────────────────────────────
+	// When the book was just added to the library via preview (inLib=true but
+	// no chapters yet), poll until the background WriteChapterRefs completes.
+	let pollingChapters = $state(data.inLib && data.chapters.length === 0);
+
+	onMount(() => {
+		if (!pollingChapters) return;
+		let attempts = 0;
+		const MAX_ATTEMPTS = 20; // ~10 seconds
+		const timer = setInterval(async () => {
+			attempts++;
+			await invalidateAll();
+			if (data.chapters.length > 0 || attempts >= MAX_ATTEMPTS) {
+				pollingChapters = false;
+				clearInterval(timer);
+			}
+		}, 500);
+		return () => clearInterval(timer);
+	});
+
 	// ── Admin: rescrape ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 	let scraping = $state(false);
 	let scrapeResult = $state<'queued' | 'busy' | 'error' | ''>('');
@@ -274,7 +305,21 @@
 		</div>
 	{/if}
 
-	{#if chapterList.length === 0}
+	{#if pollingChapters}
+		<!-- Chapter list is being indexed in the background -->
+		<div class="flex items-center gap-3 py-4 text-zinc-500 text-sm">
+			<svg class="w-4 h-4 animate-spin flex-shrink-0" fill="none" viewBox="0 0 24 24">
+				<circle class="opacity-25" cx="12" cy="12" r="10" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="4"></circle>
+				<path class="opacity-75" fill="currentColor" d="M4 12a8 8 0 018-8V0C5.373 0 0 5.373 0 12h4z"></path>
+			</svg>
+			Indexing chapter list…
+		</div>
+		<div class="grid grid-cols-1 sm:grid-cols-2 gap-1 opacity-40 pointer-events-none">
+			{#each Array(8) as _}
+				<div class="h-9 rounded bg-zinc-800 animate-pulse"></div>
+			{/each}
+		</div>
+	{:else if chapterList.length === 0}
 		<p class="text-zinc-500 text-sm">No chapters available yet.</p>
 	{:else}
 		<div class="grid grid-cols-1 sm:grid-cols-2 gap-1">
diff --git a/ui/src/routes/books/[slug]/chapters/[n]/+page.svelte b/ui/src/routes/books/[slug]/chapters/[n]/+page.svelte
index d30d545..2e80a87 100644
--- a/ui/src/routes/books/[slug]/chapters/[n]/+page.svelte
+++ b/ui/src/routes/books/[slug]/chapters/[n]/+page.svelte
@@ -2,20 +2,47 @@
 	import { onMount } from 'svelte';
 	import AudioPlayer from '$lib/components/AudioPlayer.svelte';
 	import type { PageData } from './$types';
+	import { marked } from 'marked';
 
 	let { data }: { data: PageData } = $props();
 
-	// Record reading progress when the chapter is opened (skip for preview chapters)
+	// ── Live-fetch fallback when chapter text is missing in storage ───────────
+	let html = $state(data.html);
+	let fetchingContent = $state(!data.isPreview && !data.html);
+	let fetchError = $state('');
+
 	onMount(async () => {
-		if (data.isPreview) return;
-		try {
-			await fetch('/api/progress', {
-				method: 'POST',
-				headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
-				body: JSON.stringify({ slug: data.book.slug, chapter: data.chapter.number })
-			});
-		} catch {
-			// Non-critical — silently ignore
+		// Record reading progress (skip for preview chapters)
+		if (!data.isPreview) {
+			try {
+				await fetch('/api/progress', {
+					method: 'POST',
+					headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
+					body: JSON.stringify({ slug: data.book.slug, chapter: data.chapter.number })
+				});
+			} catch {
+				// Non-critical — silently ignore
+			}
+		}
+
+		// If the normal path returned no content, fall back to live preview scrape
+		if (!data.isPreview && !data.html) {
+			try {
+				const res = await fetch(
+					`/api/chapter-text-preview/${encodeURIComponent(data.book.slug)}/${data.chapter.number}`
+				);
+				if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`status ${res.status}`);
+				const d = (await res.json()) as { text?: string };
+				if (d.text) {
+					html = await marked(d.text, { async: true });
+				} else {
+					fetchError = 'Chapter content not available.';
+				}
+			} catch (e) {
+				fetchError = 'Could not fetch chapter content.';
+			} finally {
+				fetchingContent = false;
+			}
 		}
 	});
 </script>
@@ -85,13 +112,21 @@
 {/if}
 
 <!-- Chapter content -->
-{#if !data.html}
+{#if fetchingContent}
+	<div class="flex flex-col items-center gap-3 py-16 text-zinc-500 text-sm">
+		<svg class="w-6 h-6 animate-spin" fill="none" viewBox="0 0 24 24">
+			<circle class="opacity-25" cx="12" cy="12" r="10" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="4"></circle>
+			<path class="opacity-75" fill="currentColor" d="M4 12a8 8 0 018-8V0C5.373 0 0 5.373 0 12h4z"></path>
+		</svg>
+		Fetching chapter…
+	</div>
+{:else if !html}
 	<div class="text-zinc-500 text-center py-16">
-		<p>Chapter content not available.</p>
+		<p>{fetchError || 'Chapter content not available.'}</p>
 	</div>
 {:else}
 	<div class="prose-chapter mt-8">
-		{@html data.html}
+		{@html html}
 	</div>
 {/if}