diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index e45e65f..851fabc 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
-source :rubygems
+source 'https://rubygems.org'
 gemspec
diff --git a/Gemfile.lock b/Gemfile.lock
index 52df18e..61deeae 100644
--- a/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/Gemfile.lock
@@ -7,24 +7,32 @@ PATH
       nokogiri
 
 GEM
-  remote: http://rubygems.org/
+  remote: https://rubygems.org/
   specs:
-    diff-lcs (1.1.3)
+    asciidoctor (1.5.2)
+    coderay (1.1.0)
+    diff-lcs (1.2.5)
     grit (2.5.0)
       diff-lcs (~> 1.1)
       mime-types (~> 1.15)
       posix-spawn (~> 0.3.6)
-    liquid (2.3.0)
-    mime-types (1.19)
-    nokogiri (1.5.5)
-    posix-spawn (0.3.6)
-    rake (0.9.2)
-    test-unit (2.3.2)
+    liquid (3.0.2)
+    mime-types (1.25.1)
+    mini_portile (0.6.2)
+    nokogiri (1.6.6.2)
+      mini_portile (~> 0.6.0)
+    posix-spawn (0.3.11)
+    power_assert (0.2.3)
+    rake (10.4.2)
+    test-unit (3.0.9)
+      power_assert
 
 PLATFORMS
   ruby
 
 DEPENDENCIES
+  asciidoctor
+  coderay
   git-scribe!
   rake
   test-unit
diff --git a/README.asciidoc b/README.asciidoc
index 2931d09..2d99308 100644
--- a/README.asciidoc
+++ b/README.asciidoc
@@ -3,8 +3,7 @@ Git Scribe
 
 image::https://travis-ci.org/schacon/git-scribe.png[Build Status,link="https://travis-ci.org/schacon/git-scribe"]
 
-The git-scribe tool is a simple command line toolset to help you use Git, GitHub and Asciidoc
-to write e-books.  This provides tools for setting up the structure, collaborating with co-authors, doing technical and copy-editing, handling translations, taking errata, as well as publishing online, pdf, mobi (Kindle) and epub (iBooks, Nook) versions.
+The git-scribe tool is a simple command line toolset to help you use Git, GitHub and AsciiDoc to write e-books.  This provides tools for setting up the structure, collaborating with co-authors, doing technical and copy-editing, handling translations, taking errata, as well as publishing online, pdf, mobi (Kindle) and epub (iBooks, Nook) versions.
 
 The project is targeted for writing books of any length, but should also be usable for articles and stuff too, though for a while you'll have to just do it as a really short book.
 
@@ -20,9 +19,9 @@ Eventually, these are the feature goals for the project:
 * Translation workflow tools
 * Selling (possibly): Kindle, iBooks, Lulu, Pledgie(?)
 
-The idea is that you use the tool to generate a known structure, write in asciidoc and let the tool handle everything else for you.  I want authors to be able to focus on writing and not have to worry about anything else (website, multiple format generation, etc).
+The idea is that you use the tool to generate a known structure, write in AsciiDoc and let the tool handle everything else for you.  I want authors to be able to focus on writing and not have to worry about anything else (website, multiple format generation, etc).
 
-A good AsciiDoc cheat sheet: http://powerman.name/doc/asciidoc#_text
+A good AsciiDoc cheat sheet: http://asciidoctor.org/docs/asciidoc-syntax-quick-reference/
 
 Disclaimer
 ==========
@@ -41,8 +40,10 @@ For local generation (eventually pushing to GitHub will handle gen for you), it
 * Git
 * Ruby
 * asciidoc, a2x (8.6.4)
+** asciidoctor can be used in place of asciidoc
 * xsltproc
 * source-highlight (3.1)
+** coderay is required when using asciidoctor
 * FOP (1.0) - for PDF generation
 
 Usage
diff --git a/docbook-xsl/fo.xsl b/docbook-xsl/fo.xsl
index 99fa754..02f2875 100644
--- a/docbook-xsl/fo.xsl
+++ b/docbook-xsl/fo.xsl
@@ -155,4 +155,6 @@
   <xsl:attribute name="keep-together.within-column">auto</xsl:attribute>
 </xsl:attribute-set>
 
+<xsl:template name="root.messages"/>
+
 </xsl:stylesheet>
diff --git a/docbook-xsl/fo/highlight.xsl b/docbook-xsl/fo/highlight.xsl
index 1be5d9c..6d53f39 100644
--- a/docbook-xsl/fo/highlight.xsl
+++ b/docbook-xsl/fo/highlight.xsl
@@ -15,10 +15,18 @@
 
      ******************************************************************** -->
 
+<xsl:template match='xslthl:keyword' mode="xslthl">
+  <fo:inline font-weight="bold" color="blue"><xsl:apply-templates mode="xslthl"/></fo:inline>
+</xsl:template>
+
 <xsl:template match='xslthl:string' mode="xslthl">
   <fo:inline font-weight="bold" font-style="italic"><xsl:apply-templates mode="xslthl"/></fo:inline>
 </xsl:template>
 
+<xsl:template match='xslthl:comment' mode="xslthl">
+  <fo:inline font-style="italic" color="grey"><xsl:apply-templates mode="xslthl"/></fo:inline>
+</xsl:template>
+
 <xsl:template match='xslthl:tag' mode="xslthl">
   <fo:inline font-weight="bold"><xsl:apply-templates mode="xslthl"/></fo:inline>
 </xsl:template>
@@ -31,14 +39,6 @@
   <fo:inline font-weight="bold"><xsl:apply-templates mode="xslthl"/></fo:inline>
 </xsl:template>
 
-<xsl:template match='xslthl:keyword' mode="xslthl">
-  <fo:inline font-weight="bold" color="blue"><xsl:apply-templates mode="xslthl"/></fo:inline>
-</xsl:template>
-
-<xsl:template match='xslthl:comment' mode="xslthl">
-  <fo:inline font-style="italic" color="grey"><xsl:apply-templates mode="xslthl"/></fo:inline>
-</xsl:template>
-
 <!--
 <xsl:template match='xslthl:html'>
   <span style='background:#AFF'><font color='blue'><xsl:apply-templates/></font></span>
@@ -70,6 +70,4 @@
   <fo:inline font-weight="bold"><xsl:apply-templates mode="xslthl"/></fo:inline>
 </xsl:template>
 
-
 </xsl:stylesheet>
-
diff --git a/example/book/book.asc b/example/book/book.asc
index 362ac72..5c607be 100644
--- a/example/book/book.asc
+++ b/example/book/book.asc
@@ -51,10 +51,10 @@ WARNING: This is a warning.
 
 CAUTION: Tread lightly.
 
-[c]
-source~~~~
+[source,c]
+----
 include::include/hello.c[]
-source~~~~
+----
 
 == Source Code Highlighting
 
diff --git a/git-scribe.gemspec b/git-scribe.gemspec
index 7f03924..be6de6c 100644
--- a/git-scribe.gemspec
+++ b/git-scribe.gemspec
@@ -23,6 +23,9 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |s|
   s.add_dependency('grit')
   s.add_development_dependency("rake")
   s.add_development_dependency("test-unit")
+  # optional
+  s.add_development_dependency("asciidoctor")
+  s.add_development_dependency("coderay")
 
   s.executables       = %w( git-scribe )
 
diff --git a/lib/git-scribe.rb b/lib/git-scribe.rb
index 627c8aa..bf293c5 100644
--- a/lib/git-scribe.rb
+++ b/lib/git-scribe.rb
@@ -29,6 +29,21 @@ def initialize
     @args = []
     @options = {}
     @config = YAML::parse(File.open(local('.gitscribe'))).transform rescue {}
+    unless @config['asciidoc']
+      if check_can_run('asciidoctor --version')
+        @config['asciidoc'] = 'asciidoctor'
+      else
+        @config['asciidoc'] = 'asciidoc'
+      end
+    end
+
+    unless @config['source-highlighter']
+      if @config['asciidoc'] == 'asciidoctor'
+        @config['source-highlighter'] = 'coderay'
+      else
+        @config['source-highlighter'] = 'source-highlight'
+      end
+    end
   end
 
   ## COMMANDS ##
diff --git a/lib/git-scribe/check.rb b/lib/git-scribe/check.rb
index 3c8b12e..fc384d3 100644
--- a/lib/git-scribe/check.rb
+++ b/lib/git-scribe/check.rb
@@ -4,13 +4,21 @@ module Check
     def check(args = [])
       status = {}
 
-      # check for asciidoc
-      if !check_can_run('asciidoc')
-        info "asciidoc is not present, please install it for anything to work"
-        status[:asciidoc] = false
+      asciidoc_cmd = nil
+      # check for asciidoc or asciidoctor
+      if !check_can_run('asciidoctor --version')
+        if !check_can_run('asciidoc')
+          info "neither asciidoc or asciidoctor are present, please install one of these for anything to work"
+          status[:asciidoc] = false
+        else
+          info "asciidoc - ok"
+          status[:asciidoc] = true
+          asciidoc_cmd = 'asciidoc'
+        end
       else
-        info "asciidoc - ok"
+        info "asciidoc (using asciidoctor) - ok"
         status[:asciidoc] = true
+        asciidoc_cmd = 'asciidoctor'
       end
 
       # check for xsltproc
@@ -31,16 +39,25 @@ def check(args = [])
         status[:a2x] = true
       end
 
-      # check for source-highlight
-      if !check_can_run('source-highlight --version')
-        info "source-highlight is not present, please install it for source code highlighting"
-        status[:highlight] = false
+      # check for source-highlight or coderay
+      if asciidoc_cmd == 'asciidoctor'
+        if !check_can_run('coderay --version')
+          info "coderay is not present, please install it for source code highlighting"
+          status[:highlight] = false
+        else
+          info "highlighting (using CodeRay) - ok"
+          status[:highlight] = true
+        end
       else
-        info "highlighting - ok"
-        status[:highlight] = true
+        if !check_can_run('source-highlight --version')
+          info "source-highlight is not present, please install it for source code highlighting"
+          status[:highlight] = false
+        else
+          info "highlighting - ok"
+          status[:highlight] = true
+        end
       end
 
-
       # check for fop
       if !check_can_run('fop -v -out list')
         info "fop is not present, please install for PDF generation"
diff --git a/lib/git-scribe/generate.rb b/lib/git-scribe/generate.rb
index 397181e..81866bb 100644
--- a/lib/git-scribe/generate.rb
+++ b/lib/git-scribe/generate.rb
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ def a2x_wss(type)
     def do_docbook
       return true if @done['docbook']
       info "GENERATING DOCBOOK"
-      if ex("asciidoc -b docbook #{BOOK_FILE}")
+      if ex("#{@config['asciidoc']} -b docbook #{BOOK_FILE}")
         @done['docbook'] = true
         'book.xml'
       end
@@ -96,8 +96,12 @@ def do_html
       return true if @done['html']
       info "GENERATING HTML"
       # TODO: look for custom stylesheets
-      stylesheet = local('stylesheets') + '/scribe.css'
-      cmd = "asciidoc -a stylesheet=#{stylesheet} #{BOOK_FILE}"
+      if @config['asciidoc'] == 'asciidoctor'
+        cmd = "asciidoctor -a source-highlighter=coderay -a icons=font -a sectanchors #{BOOK_FILE}"
+      else
+        stylesheet = local('stylesheets') + '/scribe.css'
+        cmd = "asciidoc -a stylesheet=#{stylesheet} #{BOOK_FILE}"
+      end
       if ex(cmd)
         @done['html'] == true
         'book.html'
@@ -108,7 +112,7 @@ def do_site
       info "GENERATING SITE"
       # TODO: check if html was already done
 
-      ex "asciidoc -b docbook #{BOOK_FILE}"
+      ex "#{@config['asciidoc']} -b docbook #{BOOK_FILE}"
       run_xslt "book.xml #{base('docbook-xsl/xhtml/chunk.xsl')}", "html.stylesheet" => 1
 
       source = File.read('index.html')
@@ -354,12 +358,12 @@ def classpath_delimiter
     end
 
     def run_xslt(jar_arguments, java_options)
+      # xslthl config must be passed as an xsl param (highlight.xslthl.config), not a system property (xslthl.config)
       ex <<-SH
         java -cp "#{base('vendor/saxon.jar')}#{classpath_delimiter}#{base('vendor/xslthl-2.0.2.jar')}" \
-             -Dxslthl.config=file://"#{base('docbook-xsl/highlighting/xslthl-config.xml')}" \
              #{java_options.map { |k, v| "-D#{k}=#{v}" }.join(' ')} \
-             com.icl.saxon.StyleSheet \
-             #{jar_arguments}
+             com.icl.saxon.StyleSheet #{jar_arguments} \
+             highlight.xslthl.config="file://#{base('docbook-xsl/highlighting/xslthl-config.xml')}"
       SH
     end
   end
diff --git a/template/book/book.asc b/template/book/book.asc
index dde2962..b8abd31 100644
--- a/template/book/book.asc
+++ b/template/book/book.asc
@@ -36,10 +36,10 @@ CAUTION: Tread lightly.
 If you need to embed source code, you can do so from external files
 like this:
 
-[c]
-source~~~~
+[source,c]
+--
 include::include/hello.c[]
-source~~~~
+--
 
 === Source Code Highlighting
 
diff --git a/template/book/chapter2.asc b/template/book/chapter2.asc
index fa46082..f9793c4 100644
--- a/template/book/chapter2.asc
+++ b/template/book/chapter2.asc
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 This is a second chapter.
 
-For more information and a fairly nice Asciidoc cheat sheet, see: 
+For more information, and a nice AsciiDoc syntax quick reference, see: 
 
-http://powerman.name/doc/asciidoc
+http://asciidoctor.org/docs/asciidoc-syntax-quick-reference/
 
diff --git a/test/check_test.rb b/test/check_test.rb
index 7359bf0..7b32f89 100644
--- a/test/check_test.rb
+++ b/test/check_test.rb
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
   # see http://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/xmlgraphics/fop/trunk/src/java/org/apache/fop/cli/CommandLineOptions.java
   test "scribe should correctly check fop availability" do
     assert_equal @scribe.check_can_run('fop -v -out list'), true
-    assert_equal @scribe.check_can_run('fop -v'), false
+    assert_equal @scribe.check_can_run('fop -version'), true
     assert_equal @scribe.check_can_run('fop -failboat'), false
   end
 end