Author Archive

Orbit Summer Signing in London!

                             

Orbit UK have gathered together some of our authors with books publishing this June-Aug, and are holding a BIG SUMMER SIGNING!

Come to Forbidden Planet, London on Saturday 30th July, 3-4pm, to meet…

TIM LEBBON, PHILIP PALMER, SIMON MORDEN and NICOLE PEELER

Four brilliant authors, loads of fantastic books and an entire shop worth of other exciting distractions.  What better way to spend a Saturday afternoon?

Full details on the Forbidden Planet events page, here.

                                      

Iain M. Banks tour

Iain M. Banks will be appearing at several events around the UK during June, to celebrate the publication of his latest Culture novel, Surface Detail, in paperback (on sale 26th May).

* Friday 3rd June: Alt.Fiction, Leicester

Phoenix Square, 7pm – more information

* Sunday 5th June: Hay Festival, Wales

Elmley Foundation Theatre, 7pm – more information

* Monday 6th June: British Library, London

Utopias and Other Worlds, 6.30pm – more information

* Tuesday 7th June:Birmingham SF Group

Birmingham Library Theatre, 7pm – more information

* Saturday 11th June: The Sage Gateshead

Presented with New Writing North, 7pm – more information

Tickets are needed for all events.

Free discussion event at the LSE with Jon Courtenay Grimwood and Ken MacLeod

 

Jon Courtenay Grimwood and Ken MacLeod will be taking part in a panel discussion on ‘Science Fiction and International Orders’ at the London School of Economics on Thursday 17th February.  The event will look at what scholars in the social sciences can learn from the imagined worlds of science fiction and fantasy.  Tickets are free but must be registered for here and the event is from1.15-2.45pm.

Full details can be found here.

The Windup Girl: SF at its very best

The winner of an extraordinary five of 2010’s major international SF awards, and named by Time Magazine as one of the top ten novels of the year, The Windup Girl has garnered Paolo Bacigalupi incredible critical acclaim since UK publication in December:

The Windup Girl embodies what SF does best of all: it remakes reality in compelling, absorbing and thought-provoking ways, and it lives on vividly in the mind’ – Guardian

‘Vigorous and compelling… the action scenes, related in taut, breathless prose, can be stunning.  Tremendous entertainment’ – Independent on Sunday

‘Pitch-perfect writing… It’s science-fiction as warnings of the future, as social commentary, and as just bloody good storytelling… SF at its very best’ – SFX

‘Deserves all of the critical adulation already heaped upon it… one of the finest SF books we’ve read’ – SciFi Now

‘One of the best debut novels of recent years’ – Salon Futura

International praise

‘Bacigalupi is a worthy successor to William Gibson: this is cyberpunk without computers’ – Time Magazine

‘Clearly one of the finest science fiction novels of the year’ – Publishers Weekly

‘An exciting story about industrial espionage, civil war, and political struggle, filled with heart-thudding action sequences, sordid sex, and enough technical speculation for two lesser novels’ Cory Doctorow

‘It’s ridiculous how good this book is’ Techland

‘Postmodern Bangkok springs to life in Bacigalupi’s brilliant dystopian tale of culture clash, recalling the best of China Mieville and Neal Stephenson’ Library Journal

Conjures up Venice so vividly you can almost smell it…

Jon Courtenay Grimwood‘s latest novel hits the shelves today, and marks a major change of genre for the critically acclaimed science fiction author.  The Fallen Blade is a meticulously researched and extremely compelling fantasy thriller, set in an alternate 15th century Venice – a city in the grip of corrupt politics, a decadent age, and under threat from a mysterious assassin… 

So far the consensus is that Jon definitely hasn’t lost his touch, and that this is not your average vampire novel!

‘A fantastic evocation of Renaissance Venice, both the atmosphere and architecture of the city, the beauty of the culture it gave birth to and the merciless, brutally violent and Machiavellian politics that ran alongside it … Grimwood has made [a] fusion of genre energy and literary depth his calling card.’ – Damien G. Walter, Guardian Online

‘Conjures up Venice so vividly you can almost smell it… Impressive, but not nearly so impressive as the way Grimwood draws Tycho, essentially a vampire teenager subject to fierce emotion because he doesn’t even realise yet that he craves blood.  He’s a figure both frightening and yet also, at different moments, pitiable and even downright noble…  Reinventing the Vampire myth. Never, ever let it be said that Jon Courtenay Grimwood lacks for ambition.’ – Jonathan Wright, SFX 

‘Sick to death of vampires?  Take heed, because Grimwood’s take on the subject is leagues away from your average fangbanger… The writing is elegant, the dialogue is sharp, the characters economically but well drawn, the action unrelenting, and the story moves – to pardon a phrase – like shit off a shovel…  Hits all the right notes.’  – Alastair Reynolds, SciFi Now

‘It’s too early to start dealing in hyperbole about fantasy books of the year, so let’s just say this one is a very good start.  It’s a novel you can gorge yourself on; a fast-paced, swashbuckling adventure of the old school, full of fire and brimstone thrills and rich flavours.  Yet, unlike many such page-turners, it doesn’t leave a bad aftertaste.  Rather, it leaves plenty to ponder… I’d recommend this book to anyone.’ – Sam Jordison, Salon Futura

Events

Signing at Forbidden Planet, London this evening (Thurs 3rd Feb) with Kate Griffin, 6pm

SFX Weekender – various panels and signing, Sat 5th Feb

Discussion event at the London School of Economics with Ken MacLeod, Thurs Sat 17th Feb

 

Kate Griffin and Jon Courtenay Grimwood at Forbidden Planet in London and SFX Weekender

 

Kate Griffin and Jon Courtenay Grimwood will both be signing at Forbidden Planet London on Thursday 3rd Feb to launch their new books: The Neon Court and The Fallen Blade.  Shaftesbury Avenue, 6-7pm.

They will also both be at the SFX Weekender in Camber Sands for panels on Saturday 5th Feb. Here’s their schedule:

11am: Main Void – Essential SF, fantasy and horror classics – with Jon Courtenay Grimwood, Joe Abercrombie, David Wingrove, Peter F Hamilton, Adrian Tchaicovsky and Kevin J Anderson.

11.45: Screening Zone – Dual Brittania: creating alternate Englands – with Kate Griffin, China Mieville, Al Ewing and Stephen Baxter.

12.30: Main Void – What’s next for TV vampires?  Pitching a new vampire show – with Jon Courtenay Grimwood, Toby Whithouse and Sarah Pinborough.

(Exact schedule and line-ups all subject to possible change)

Busy publication week for Iain M. Banks

Mr Banks has had a busy publication week for Surface Detail – and he’s not going to be relaxing any time soon!  He spent last week being interviewed by all sorts of national and regional press – appropriately including the New Scientist and BBC TV filming him at the Science Museum.

Iain’s first event on the eve of publication at the Round House was a sell out, and he answered the audience’s questions for nearly 2 hours!  Then on Thursday he signed for a great crowd at Forbidden Planet.

If you haven’t managed to attend any of the events so far, Forbidden Planet, Blackwells in London and Foyles all have signed first editions of Surface Detail (though probably not for long!) (more…)

SFX Summer of SF Reading launch event, Monday 10th May

Orbit authors Michael Cobley, Mike Carey, Philip Palmer and Kate Griffin will be attending the SFXSummer of SF Readinglaunch event at Waterstone’s Piccadilly on Monday 10th May.

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…

One of the most captivating new voices in fantasy…

Not only is N. K. Jemisin‘s The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms one of the most beautiful books I’ve seen for a while, it’s had some of the most stunning reviews too:

‘Jemisin’s first novel has a wistful, lyrical tone, and the intrigue – both romantic and political – is skilfully handled. Book one in the Inheritance Trilogy is sensitive, restrained high fantasy.’ – The Guardian, Eric Brown

‘…a story that manages to be both fantastically grand and very personal. Definitely recommended.’ – Waterstone’s Books Quarterly

‘More than the sum of its parts… Jemisin is well worth keeping an eye on.’ – SFX, Guy Haley [also included in the SFX books of 2010 round-up]

‘Extremely well-written, imaginative, emotionally gripping, and featuring a compelling narrator, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is an almost perfect debut… and could end up being one of the best fantasy releases of the year.’ – Fantasy Book Critic, Robert Thompson

‘Convoluted without being dense, Jemisin’s engaging debut grabs readers right from the start… a complex, edge-of-your-seat story with plenty of funny, scary, and bittersweet twists.’ – Publishers Weekly

‘Debut author Jemisin creates a mesmerizingly exotic world where fallen gods serve as slaves to the ruling class and murder and ambition go hand in hand… an engaging heroine and a fresh take on traditional dynastic fantasy make this trilogy opener a delight for the fantasy reader and introduce a strong new voice to the genre.’ – Library Journal

(more…)