Archive for June, 2007
- The Orbit Team - June 30th, 2007
Today’s edition of The Times includes their choice of best summer reads, including an SF selection from critic Lisa Tuttle. There’s a good representation of Orbit UK titles: the ubiquitous Charles Stross picks up a fantastic recommendation for Glasshouse, which “twists and surprises in impressively mind-bending style.”
Meanwhile, Laurell K. Hamilton, whose latest Anita Blake novel The Harlequin is published by us this month was described as “the queen of erotic vampire thrillers . . . increasingly baroque, but still a hardcore guilty pleasure.”
Finally, two books published by our sister imprint Atom, which publishes for young adult readers, were also chosen: Scott Westerfeld’s Parasite Positive is described as “the best of the many vampire books around”, while Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight is recommended for “those who prefer the more romantic idea of the sexy vampire . . . an old-fashioned love story in modern dress.”
by The Orbit Team • Post a Comment • Posted in: Contents, Orbit UK, Reviews
- The Orbit Team - June 29th, 2007
Hot on the heels of the coverage in the latest issue of Death Ray, the new issue of SFX just arrived. Like their rivals at Death Ray, they had good thing to say about Christopher Moore’s A Dirty Job: “The real joy . . . comes from the way that, rather than relying on the central premise to carry him through, Moore wrings so many laughs from the incidental stuff. This contrast of the domestic with the demonic draws comparisons to Buffy the Vampire Slayer but, as well as matching Joss Whedon’s whip-smart dialogue joke for joke, Moore is an exceptional novelist. At times, his prose exudes the quality of John Irving.”
They also review Charlie Huston’s new book No Dominion, the second outing for vampyre private eye Joe Pitt, of which they write: “You’ll like this . . . it’s a damn fine read and, crucially, a very interesting new take on vampires.”
by The Orbit Team • Post a Comment • Posted in: Contents, Orbit UK, Reviews
- Alex Lencicki - June 27th, 2007
Jeff Somers, author of The Electric Church (Orbit US and UK Sept. 07) has been blogging (reluctantly and hilariously) at Jeffreysomers.com/blather.
Before being ‘compelled’ to blog, Jeff was a long-time zine publisher, running the The Inner Swine since 1995. (The Inner Swine has the kind of cult following that posts videos of dogs eating the latest issue.)
In his latest posts, Jeff writes about the economics of zine publishing, the mixed blessing of telecommuting, and the lengths Orbit goes to encourage our authors to blog.
by Alex Lencicki • Post a Comment • Posted in: Commentary, Contents, Orbit US
- The Orbit Team - June 27th, 2007
I’ve just received my copy of issue 3 of Death Ray, a startup glossy SF magazine. It’s good to report that there are some nice reviews of Orbit UK titles, especially Allen Steele’s Spindrift — “an interesting, entertaining, well-told tale” — and Christopher Moore’s A Dirty Job, described as “an insightful piece on the nature of death, and grief, how we deal with such things and find the strength to go on. Christopher Moore is adept at making such points even while making the reader laugh out loud at the absurdity of life in general. And that’s his greatest strength.”
There’s also an interesting feature on the young adult/SF crossover, with contributions from Orbit’s Publishing Director Tim Holman and Editorial Director Darren Nash. And though we don’t publish either of these authors, I really enjoyed the extended piece on Neil Gaiman and a shorter article on Samuel R. Delaney’s Babel-17. Death Ray is available through newsagents in the UK, and readers in the US can find it at branches of Barnes & Noble and Borders.
by The Orbit Team • Post a Comment • Posted in: Commentary, Contents, Orbit UK, Reviews
- The Orbit Team - June 26th, 2007
There’s a terrific interview on Fantasy Book Critic with Mike Carey, whose series of novels featuring freelance exorcist Felix Castor is published by Orbit in the UK: The Devil You Know and Vicious Circle were published to massive acclaim last year, and the third book, Dead Men’s Boots, is due in September. Readers in America can discover just how dark and irresistible Castor’s world is in July, when our sister company Grand Central Publishing releases The Devil You Know in the US.
by The Orbit Team • Post a Comment • Posted in: Contents, Interviews, Orbit UK, Orbit US
- Bella Pagan - June 22nd, 2007
Philip Palmer is the author of the fabulous debut Debatable Space, to be published by Orbit in January. He is also a dramatist of some note, and his short play Gaza is being recorded today to be broadcast on Radio 4 tomorrow at 7pm. Philip imagines what it’s like for ordinary people caught up in the violence and in-fighting in Gaza City, as well as portraying the reactions of British nationals working in the region.
The play will be repeated on Sunday, and you can catch it for a further week on the Listen Again section of the BBC website.
Do have a listen if you get the chance!
by Bella Pagan • Post a Comment • Posted in: Audio, Contents, News, Orbit UK, Orbit US
- Tim Holman - June 20th, 2007
The launch of Orbit in the US is only a few months away, but it was off to Australia last week, with Orbit UK Editorial Director Darren Nash, for Convergence — the 46th Australian National SF Convention in Melbourne — and a week with our sister company Hachette Livre Australia in Sydney.
Read the rest of this entry »
by Tim Holman • Post a Comment • Posted in: All posts, Commentary, Contents, Orbit UK, Orbit US
- The Orbit Team - June 18th, 2007
Marc Andreessen is one of the major figures of the Internet age — a founder of Netscape, he was a co-author of Mosaic, the first widely used web browser. Andreessen recently published his selection of the top ten SF authors this decade on his blog, and I was really pleased to see two of Orbit UK’s authors on the list.
Andreessen describes Charles Stross as ‘first among equals — the single best emerging talent’. Stross is a prolific writer: we published his acclaimed novel Glasshouse in March, and we’re due to publish his supernatural spy thriller The Atrocity Archives next month.
The other Orbit UK author picked is Ken MacLeod, of whom Andreessen writes: ‘MacLeod is incredibly creative — his imagination is second to none — and he’s a superb writer. [H]is novels certainly qualify as dizzyingly inventive and frequently rewarding.’ His most recent book, The Execution Channel, was published by us in April.
by The Orbit Team • Post a Comment • Posted in: Commentary, Contents, New Titles, Orbit UK
- Alex Lencicki - June 15th, 2007
Alex Lencicki, Jennifer Flax, Tim Holman, and Devi Pillai at BEA
Orbit launched in the US at Book Expo America in New York. Thanks to everyone who stopped by to say hello. We still have ten messenger bags left, so we’re giving one to the first ten people to email us at orbit at hbgusa.com with the words “gimme one of those bags!” in the subject line. (This offer is only available to US residents.)
by Alex Lencicki • Post a Comment • Posted in: Conventions, Orbit US
