With sinister echoes of 1984 and Brave New World, this original novel features a near-future city where medical science invents a single-dose pill for eradicating many common genetic defects . . .
Read a sample
Hundreds of entries have been submitted for the first annual Moby Awards for Book Trailers, a contest to select both the best and the worst of the past year’s book trailers sponsored by MobyLives.
I have to addendum this “last” entry. I hadn’t written much about it in my paper journal because it was late, I had to be up early the next morning for work, and I ended up gushing over email to my family and friends [which was lost]. To this day I still starkly remember how I ran out of my apartment to a rocky rise behind the building so I could get as close to the sky as possible. I was in my pajamas, boots, and a parka, but didn’t feel the chill at all. In some way that single new discovery encapsulates so much of what I feel when I think of my experience there—maybe because the Lights are such an indelible image of the North as well. Read the rest of this entry »
Tom Holt’sBlonde Bombshell(UK | US | ANZ) – the intergalactic comedy about blonde bombshell Lucy Pavlov – blasted into UK bookstores last week, with US and Australia hot on their heels for a June/July publication.
To celebrate, we’ve created a game based on the Windows95 classic, Minesweeper, or Blondesweeper in this case.
We’ll also be giving away a collection of Tom Holt‘s books to the person with the highest score, so be sure to make the most of the game’s Twitter sharing function and tweet your high score @orbitbooks! The high score winner will be announced on the US pub date of June 10.
We’ve spent a long time working on this wonderful visual for Cold Magic (US I UK I ANZ), first in a fabulous new trilogy by Kate Elliott. Kate has created something special, a fantasy advenure with a Victorian-era feel and a dash of steampunk – featuring mages, dragons and two girls who’ll decide the fate of their world. I think the illustrator Larry Rostant and designer Peter Cotton have done a great job in capturing these elements, showing a moment in time where ancient magic and new technologies meet, generating powerful individual dramas.
And here’s a bit more on Cold Magic, book 1 of the Spiritwalker trilogy, out from Orbit in September.
As they approach adulthood, Cat Barahal and her cousin Bee think they understand the society they live in and their place within it. At a select academy they study new airship technologies and the dawning Industrial Revolution, but magical forces still rule. Drawn into a labyrinth of politics involving blood and old feuds, Cat is betrayed by her family and forced to marry a powerful Cold Mage. As she is carried away to live a new life, fresh dangers threaten her every move and secrets form a language she cannot read. At least, not yet.’
Yesterday was quiet. It started out very sunny in the morning… around dinner Joanna and Sam, two midwives from Ontario…invited me out to walk Sam’s Labrador. It was great talking to them. By then it was drizzling rain but we walked down to the rocky shore—seaweed abounded. Rocks. We saw an abandoned boat that someone had spraypainted “Love Boat” on the side. …I went over to their apartment for tea and ginger cookies and we talked about any number of things. They asked me a lot about my novel. …This morning [I went] to see the Northern store. Pretty much like any other store. Life here really doesn’t seem all that different though I suppose come winter I will really see the difference then. …The people seem to be generally very friendly. The noise of the ATVs going past my window during the day. You get used to it, like the airplanes over us [back home]. Read the rest of this entry »
The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart had one of my all-time favorite Orbit covers, and I was thrilled to work with Keith Hayes from the Little Brown Art dept. and the illustrator Istvan Orosz on the design. So when I saw that a new Jesse Bullington book was on this list I was really excited at the challenge — and really curious to see where Bullington would go after his violent, revolting, sensibility-offending debut novel (and I mean that all in a good way!) Well, let’s just say The Enterprise of Death does not disappoint on any count — you’ll either love this book, or you’ll want to burn it at the stake.
Like Brothers Grossbart, the story takes place in a specific historical place and time — this time during the height of the Inquisition and Moorish expulsion from Spain in the late 1400s. Not only are there real-life historical characters in the story, there’s also real-life art that’s critical to the story. That’s actually a challenge for a cover designer. Sometimes when you use fine art on a cover it can give the design a very quiet, even static feel. Luckily for me, I don’t think anyone would call Death and the Maiden by Niklaus Manuel Deustch quiet or static.
The Iron Hunt follows the adventures of Maxine Kiss, a woman who is covered in living, breathing, demonic tattoos passed down from mother to daughter. Nomad and fighter, she exists in a world influenced by my obsessions with C. S. Lewis, Hans Christian Anderson, and Jorge Luis Borges. Orphans. Magic. Destiny. Labyrinths. An alien race that treats genetic manipulation like a divine art. Urban fantasy with its own dark mythology.
Over the next three months, Orbit will be releasing the entire Hunter Kiss series, starting with The Iron Hunt. To celebrate, I’ve been asked to do a series of video “Bookcasts” about the novels, and what it was like writing them.
Here, today, I’m kicking things off at the Great Wall of China Simatai, an old section of the wall that requires a bit of a climb to reach — though the view is certainly worth defying a fear of heights, sore muscles, and burning lungs! The Great Wall is also no respecter of acoustics, so please bear with me when the winds at the top compete with sound a little. Read the rest of this entry »
(Ed: Karin’s first post on her experiences in Nunavut in the Arctic north may be found here.)
Tuesday, September 12, 2000.
Well isn’t this the perfect page to begin my journals? A compass and I am heading DUE NORTH … It’s 10:45AM right now. I am in the airport—Pearson International … I guess it hasn’t hit me yet that I won’t be returning in a few days or a week or even two weeks…it’s like going off to university or something. Three months is not a long time [I ended up staying nine months] and I will be doing things—teaching, writing… But I know this is a great experience and I am excited about it… Read the rest of this entry »
It all kicks off with a signing at 5.30pm so do come along to meet our great authors! There are VIP drinks and a panel event after and SFX are running a competition to win tickets to this.
Even if you can’t make it, why not check out their latest books…
The Orphaned Worlds is now out and available for just a few earth pounds from a book vendor near you. Or have a taster first with this entirely free extract or perhaps a free Orphaned Worlds wallpaper. But Michael Cobley can tell you more about the masterwork himself, as he will be taking part in the SFX Summer of SF Reading event and signing on 10th May, at Waterstone’s London Piccadilly store. For SFX competition winners (closing date is tomorrow) the open signing will be followed by a VIP party and panel discussing why more fans of SF on TV/in films don’t also read the books, also featuring the talented Mr Cobley. Signed copies of the book will also be available soon from The Forbidden Planet‘s London branch.
So, to go back to the book itself, The Orphaned Worlds is a rip-roaring ride and we’ve had a lot of great review coverage from fans. We’re lucky to count the Guardian, Waterstone’s Books Quarterly and also SFX amongst those fans. Bloggers have also been very supportive and good things have been said by Bookgeeks (win a copy of the Orphaned Worlds comptition currently running) and Walker of Worlds.
- - May 17th, 2010
Tom Holt’s
