She has been getting some incredible advance praise in her native Australia:

“…a bold, inventively original world…a sweeping saga that unmistakeably marks her as one of Australia’s best speculative fiction writers.”

―Nexus, Issue 259, Dec 2009

“What a tale! Can’t wait for the next instalment. This is a GREAT book.”

―AurealisXpress, Aug 2009

“With this novel, (Larke) moves into a realm of sheer virtuosity… The plot is engrossing and the characters fascinating.”          

―The West Australian, 31^st Oct 2009

“…a fantasy novel in which everything about the world felt original and so utterly fascinating that even 640 pages didn’t seem enough.”

― Book Thingo, 10^th Sept 2009

Also, THE LAST STORMLORD has been selected in the UK as Waterstone’s SF/F Book of the Month. This is a tremendous accolade and we hope that it will get readers’ attention in Waterstone’s stores throughout the UK.

THE LAST STORMLORD is epic adventure of the first order…check it out for yourself and read the first chapter!

Robert Jackson Bennett’s stunning debut novel is finally here!

Publisher’s Weekly gave it a starred review and said that Mr. Shivers “read[s] like a collaboration between Stephen King and John Steinbeck… Bennett makes dark fantasy feel like gritty realism, achieving a rare laconic eloquence that will captivate horror readers hungry for new voices.”

Not to be outdone, Library Journal also gave it a starred review saying: “Readers who liked Neil Gaiman’s American Gods will find similar themes here, while the setting and bleak inevitability invoke a more readable Cormac McCarthy. Compelling and truly horrifying, this debut novel is highly recommended for all”

Amazon picked for their Best Books of the Month saying: “Sprinkled with hobo folklore, Bennett’s supernatural dust storm of a debut offers a killer premise and may remind readers of vintage Stephen King.”

And The Guardian in the UK weighed in with another stellar review: “Mr Shivers is a startling début, a deft amalgam of thriller, cerebral horror and American gothic, written with a stark and artful simplicity that complements the examination of struggling humanity pushed to its limits”

Find out more at www.mistershivers.com.

Mr. Shivers got a terrific starred review in this week’s Publishers Weekly! We think they hit the nail on the head– Robert Jackson Bennett is clearly channeling the spirits of other writers. No, seriously, we’re worried he’s stealing their souls. Someone should look into this…

“Set during the Great Depression and reading like a collaboration between Stephen King and John Steinbeck, this remarkably assured first novel relates a good man’s desperate travels through the ruins of the American heartland on the trail of his child’s murderer. ” You can find the full review here (scroll down to the SF/Fantasy/Horror Section.)

So, I’m happy to report back with my findings. It’s a pretty short list and really only consists of one item: I need a new liver.

Between the parties (our own and everyone else’s), the meetings, the socializing, the hazing—er, wait, I don’t think I’m supposed to talk about that one—I’m feeling a real need for some downtime to recharge.

But aside from the whingeing, the Orbit party was a classy shindig, if I may say so myself. I had a great time getting to know the authors I’ve been working with for over a year now and have never met face to face. I must say that each and every one of them was an absolute delight and I had a total blast hanging out with them. Robert Jackson Bennett’s got a fabulous pair of Texas cowboy boots and a bottle of suspect, hundred proof, hobo liquor to go with them. Amanda and her husband Stephen I’d had the pleasure of meeting before and it was great to catch up with them. Terry DeHart and I sat down over dinner to talk a little post-apocalypse and other cheerful, sundry matters. And I had a coffee with Seanan McGuire—er, excuse me, Mira Grant. We had a lovely chat about zombies and plagues and the general pleasures of killing off entire states (also unintentional interest from homeland security and generally the ability to terrify the face off of innocent bystanders). Jesse Bullington is the nicest man with the most twisted imagination you’ll ever meet and his friends are from my hometown which I eventually stopped holding against them.

Greg Bear and his lovely wife Astrid, both of whom I hadn’t seen in nearly a year, took the time to introduce me to Robert Silverberg and Tim Powers. They regaled us with stories of shotgun antics and convention derring-do after I unwisely admitted this was my first convention. I sat there listening to Robert Silverberg talk about working with Isaac Asimov and Tim Powers telling stories of Philip K. Dick and thought to myself, ‘hey, this thing is alright.’ I had a great time over breakfast with Greg and Astrid later talking about movies and the future of science fiction and I think we might have just about ironed out a plot to take the whole industry over.

I’ve been told that Gail Carriger’s party was the best suite party a con has ever seen—sadly for me that means it’s all downhill from there. All I know is that I was swilling some great home-brew gin and sneaking earl grey truffles when Victorian-dressed maids swept by with silver platters of finger food. I met Peter V. Brett there and saw Brent Weeks and didn’t realize my evening was about to take a turn for the rougher end of things… I’ll just point you back to Brent’s twitter stream, shall I?

Also, I got to sit down for a few minutes before dashing off to catch my plane to New York with Marc Laidlaw and geek out over Half Life. I might have gushed on him a bit there—sorry Marc!

Anyhow, thanks to everyone I met at World Fantasy this year: from Orbit authors to agents to living legends to aspiring writers. I had a fantastic time and look forward to seeing everyone again soon!

We’re delighted to welcome Gail on board. THE CHRONICLES OF THE NECROMANCER has been a terrific series with the last installment coming out in December of this year—THE DARK LADY’S CHOSEN. Check it out at www.chroniclesofthenecromancer.com!

Symir: The Drowning City. Home to exiles and expatriates, pirates and smugglers. And violent revolutionaries who will stop at nothing to overthrow the corrupt Imperial government.

Amanda Downum’s fantasy adventure debut is out this week in both the US and the UK. Set in the dark alleyways of a port city on the edge of a corrupt empire, Isyllt Iskaldur must find and finance the rumored revolutionaries on behalf of her country. A necromancer and a spy, she must find a way to complete her mission, topple the palaces of Symir, and prove herself to the crown. But in a land where even the dead are plotting, she will be lucky to escape with her own life intact.

“THE DROWNING CITY is a compelling fantasy in a richly imagined setting dripping with visceral detail, building to a conclusion at once unexpected, appropriate and moving.”
— Jacqueline Carey

“If you read only one first novel this year, read this one. I promise it’s good.”
— Elizabeth Bear

“Lush, evocative. Amanda Downum creates a richly realized, refreshingly Eastern world full of charms and spirits, espionage and intrigue and the wars of great powers fought by proxy.”
— Brent Weeks

“Amanda Downum may just be a force to be reckoned with.”
–fantasyliterature.com

“[A] complex and striking debut”
– Publisher’s Weekly

Mira Grant is an amazing new talent and we are delighted to be publishing her. We’ve barely announced and already the buzz is rolling: Look for this in stores in the US and the UK in Summer 2010.

We have acquired two books from Terry DeHart and will be publishing in Summer of 2010.

I was captivated by this book from page one. Amanda has created a lush, original setting that blends themes from all sorts of cultures and histories across Asia into one fantastical world. More than that, though, she has created a truly exciting story that interweaves the political machinations of a city in turmoil with the intrigue and action of an agent provocateur.

Isyllt is a spy and a necromancer, ensuring that the dead rest easy and bending those that don’t to her will. She comes to the port city of Symir to foment rebellion against the Empire that threatens her own independent homeland. When her contact is murdered and her bodyguard disappears into the jungle on her own mission of revenge, she must find a way to incite a revolt against the military might of the empire. Torn between rebel factions, her duty and her new friends, she must elude discovery and complete her mission without destroying the city she came to save.

Amanda Downum has been published in a number of short story venues, including Stranger Horizons, Realms of Fantasy, Weird Tales, and On Spec. Her stories “Dogtown” (Strange Horizons, June 2006) and “Snake Charmer” (Realms of Fantasy, Oct 2006) have garnered honorable mentions in the Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror 2007. She is also a writer for the online site Shadow Unit, a collaboration with authors Elizabeth Bear, Sarah Monette, Will Shetterly, and Emma Bull.