Orbit Books

The Heir of Night

The Heir of NightHelen Lowe

In the mountains the Wall of Night protects them from an ancient enemy, but who will protect them from each other?
Read a sample


Theft of Swords

Theft of Swords Michael J. Sullivan

They killed a king. They pinned it on two men. They chose poorly.
Read a sample

Archive for March, 2011

  1. Pages:
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. 3

Orbit acquires three new Charles Stross novels

- - March 4th, 2011

I’m delighted to announce our acquisition of three wonderful new books by the award-winning Charles Stross, and there’s been a big buzz of excitement at Orbit HQ over this new deal. I’ve loved Charles Stross’s books for years and always enjoy his wit, his storytelling wizardry and his playful familiarity with the cutting edge of technology. The new novels are The Apocalypse Codex, Neptune’s Brood and The Lambda Functionary and span the full range of Stross’s work – from Lovecraftian horror to space opera to near-future crime. And we’ll be publishing these in the UK/ANZ from Summer 2012.

Here’s just a snapshot of the great things that have been said about Charles Stross’s work:

As keenly observant of our emergent society as it is of our emergent technologies …one extremely smart species of fun” William Gibson
“Not only edgy and smart but grounded in human concerns” Wired
“Stretches the limits of narrative to make us see how wonderful ideas can be”
Time Out
“Stross is an author who anyone interested in SF should read and relish” SFX
“The cutting edge of modern science fiction” SFSite.com

by • 1 Comment • Posted in: Deals and Deliveries, New Titles, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK

Tricia Sullivan’s Lightborn on Arthur C. Clarke award shortlist

- - March 4th, 2011

We’re delighted to see Tricia Sullivan’s novel Lightborn make the shortlist for this year’s Arthur C. Clarke award - one of the UK’s most prestigious awards for SF literature. Everyone at Orbit extends  their congratulations to Tricia, and to all of the other finalists.

It’s a finely balanced shortlist this year, with no publisher having more than one book on the list. There’s already been plenty of enthusiastic debate on twitter, with readers discussing the merits of the various novels. It seems the list sprung one or two surprises – needless to say, no one won the competition on the Torque Control blog for guessing the shortlist. That’s how hard it is to predict!

Here’s the shortlist in full:

Zoo City by Lauren Beukes (Angry Robot)
The Dervish House by Ian McDonald (Gollancz)
Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness (Walker Books)
Generosity by Richard Powers (Atlantic Books)
Declare by Tim Powers (Corvus)
Lightborn by Tricia Sullivan (Orbit)

The winner – picked by a panel of judges – will be announced at SciFi London on 27 April 2011. Naturally, the Orbit UK team will be in attendance and suitably glammed up for the occasion (though on our best behaviour, promise).

by • 1 Comment • Posted in: Awards, Orbit UK

author post

The Heir of Night – today’s UK release

by - March 3rd, 2011

Up until a week ago, I was really looking forward to the UK release of The Heir of Night (The Wall of Night, Book One) today and was busy making plans around how to best celebrate on my blog. But I live in Christchurch, New Zealand, and just over one week ago we were hit by a massive and destructive earthquake. Although fortunate enough to survive, and very well off compared to many, it does not seem like the right time for the usual release day celebrations.

The road to publication—from the original idea, through giving effect to it on paper, the production process and finally printing and distribution—is a long one and release day is the obvious time to celebrate your book finally getting to the shelves and the public, and party up. But release day also gives you the opportunity simply to hold the book in your hands and enjoy the tangible sense of completion that gives you, even if there is no opportunity for fanfare.

And I do love this UK edition of the book: the starkness of the black-on-red colour scheme and the way the cover image captures both the strength and vulnerability of the central character of Malian, the Heir of Night. Most of all though, holding The Heir of Night in the context of the last week’s terrible events has made me reflect on the story being told inside the dramatic cover. The Heir of Night is epic fantasy, and in this case, an epic that speculates on both the grand sweep of events and their catastrophic consequences for the individuals and societies caught up in them. Love and hate, fear and courage, struggle, friendship and people choosing to support or undermine each other—this may be epic fantasy, but it is also absolutely the stuff of real life as it has played out in Christchurch over the past week.

Read the rest of this entry »

by •6 Comments • Posted in: Guest Post, Orbit Australia, Orbit France, Orbit UK

Unveiling THE HEIR OF NIGHT

- - March 2nd, 2011

It’s almost time for us to release (tomorrow, in fact …) the truly wonderful epic adventure that is The Heir of Night by Helen Lowe. We’ve had fantastic advance praise for this book and can’t wait to see it on both real and virtual shelves in the UK. But to see for yourself, have a read of this dramatic and also free (!) extract.

Helen will be visiting our blog tomorrow and over the next couple of weeks, and here are just a few of the great things that have been said about the book so far:

The Heir of Night by Helen Lowe is a richly told tale of strange magic, dark treachery and conflicting loyalties, set in a well realized world’ Robin Hobb

‘It’s a well-told tale … an enjoyable read’ SFX

‘Appealing characters and a richly detailed world’ Library Journal

by • Post a Comment • Posted in: Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Uncategorized

Daniel Abraham Speaks

- - March 1st, 2011

“The characters and world in THE DRAGON’S PATH, for instance, are supposed to remind you of other characters you already know, so that by the time you meet them, you already have a little bit of a relationship with them. I want this to be a book you can fall into effortlessly.”

Daniel Abraham’s forthcoming novel is just one of many topics touched upon in a fascinating interview with Aidan Moher of A Dribble of Ink. He discusses, among much else, the value of pseudonyms, why fantasy is a safe place to explore exoticism, gender roles and writing from a woman’s perspective, and what makes a good story — any story — good.

“There is something at the base of genre – and it’s commercial and accessible and low-class and embarrassing – that brings people to what we do, and I think writers turn away from that at our peril.”

THE DRAGON’S PATH will be published by Orbit April 7, 2011.

by • Post a Comment • Posted in: In Their Own Words, Interviews, New Titles, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Orbit US, Syndicate

THE HAMMER has hit the mark

- - March 1st, 2011

It’s great to see that others share our extremely high opinion of K. J. Parker’s The Hammer (UK I US I ANZ) which has been getting some fantastic reviews below. K. J. tells a mean tale of justice, betrayal and how far a man will go for his cause. Gritty, tense, fabulously written and you can see for yourselves in our free extract.

Or take a look at what these people of good taste have to say …

This fantasy is less about wizards (of which there are none) and more about morality, family and notions of justice and duty … the small size of the stage makes the enormity of Gignomai’s actions all the more powerful’ SFX

“As a big fan of the author’s work, I had the highest expectations for The Hammer … it was as good as I expected and it’s an early candidate for my best of 2011″ SFFWorld.com

“The dark humor and superb style of the author are on display continually through the novel, while the twists, turns, jaw dropping moments characteristic of a K. J. Parker novel materialize often” FantasyBookCritic blog

“A story with guts, glory and above all else a principle character facing not only personal dilemmas but also overcoming the odds to succeed …  definitely beautifully written” The Falcata Times blog

“The Hammer is vintage Parker – a fascination with, and a central role for, made objects like swords and guns, a revenge plot carried out with clear-eyed viciousness … in a book steeped in moral ambiguity and the complex thought processes of realistic, not fantastical, characters” Bookgeeks.co.uk

by • Post a Comment • Posted in: Extracts, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Orbit US, Reviews

  1. Pages:
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. 3

You are currently browsing the Orbit Books | Science Fiction, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy blog archives for March, 2011.

Search
RSS Feeds
Orbit on the Web
Archives
Orbiteers
Author Links

Blogroll

Please note that though we make every effort to ensure the suitability of links, Orbit cannot be held responsible for the content of external sites.