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Is it Friday already? This week has just flown by. Must be time for another round-up of Orbit Author online activity (try saying that ten times fast with a mouth full of toffee…)

Marianne says:

With Dark Space (Book One of the Sentients of Orion series), I began small. Most of the narrative focused on one planet with tantalizing glimpses (I hoped!) of a much grander storyline. In Chaos Space I step firmly into that wider landscape, delving deeper into the psyches of the less-developed characters and increasing the stakes for the heroine.

It was a planned seduction of the reader; become intimate with a couple of the players and perhaps, maybe … a little intrigued by the lesser known ones. For me then, the most satisfying and challenging thing about Chaos Space was bringing all those disparate strands together. Kind of like a dance.

Not so much a space opera as an interplanetary mambo…

Sentients of Orions book two: Chaos Space is out now from Orbit in the UK and Australia, as is the first part of the series, Dark Space [UK | AUS].

Marianne de Pierres is also the author of the Parrish Plessis novels, and you can find out all about her work at her official website, www.mariannedepierres.com as well as catching up with all her latest developments via her regularly updated blog.

It looks like we’ve been having some trouble with our contact forms since the end of last week, after we moved the site to the new server (which is somewhat galling as they were working perfectly when they were tested immediately after the move…)

Our webguy is looking into the issue and hopes to have the forms back up and running before too long, but in the meantime the Contact Us and email newsletter pages have been re-established with old-school lists of email addresses.

Sincere apologies for the inconvenience, but if you’ve tried to send an email to us since last Wednesday evening, or have asked to subscribe to or unsubscribe from any of our ebulletin lists, then please do visit the relevant page and try again!

Robert says:

An easy thing to tell you about Orphan’s Alliance is that Jason Wander - high school dropout, accidental Major General, terminal wise ass and reluctant hero - returns, and so do the Slugs. But Alliance shows you things military SF usually doesn’t, like Paleozoic swamps and monsters, and Parisian sidewalk cafés. Alliance also shows you things military SF often does, like gravity-bending fighters, vast battles for galactic crossroads, and trench warfare.

A hard thing to tell you is that Jason is growing up, and growth hurts.

C.S. Lewis, gravely wounded in World War I, wrote about soldiers who write about war that “We know how much of the reality the romantic view left out. But we also know that heroism is a real thing, that all the plumes and flags and trumpets … were not there for nothing [but] to honour … what is truly honourable … precisely because everyone knew how horrible war is.”

Orphan’s Alliance is out now from Orbit US and will be published in January 2009 by Orbit UK and Orbit Australia. Orphan’s Alliance is the fourth of Robert’s Jason Wander novels, the first of which was Orphanage [UK | US | AUS].

You can find out more about Robert Buettner and Jason Wander at his website, www.robertbuettner.com and read his blog at robertbuettner.wordpress.com for all his latest news and developments.

Sean says:

From its conception, I pictured Astropolis as three fundamentally different books: Saturn Returns is about Imre putting the pieces of his mind and team back together; The Grand Conjunction is a chase novel ranging far and wide across the Milky Way. Earth Ascendant, then, is the “empire” section of Imre’s story, taking a long, hard look at how difficult it would be for someone like us to rule the galaxy, especially someone literally warring with another version of himself.

Like Saturn Returns, this draws inspiration from one of my favourite Gothic classics, this time: ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ by Edgar Allen Poe. The image of a fractured façade made it irresistible, along with many other wonderful aspects of that story. Astropolis is a Gothic tale, and a wildly anachronistic one, so it made sense to trawl for inspiration in the works of the masters. Any excuse.

The same goes with Render, Imre’s friend who speaks solely in Gary Numan lyrics. You won’t find much of me in the gender-bending sex scenes, but in the nerdy stuff, definitely.

Earth Ascendant (UK | AUS) is out now from Orbit and is available from all good booksellers. The first part of the Astropolis series, Saturn Returns, is also available from Orbit [UK | AUS].

You can find out more about Sean Williams‘ work at his website, www.seanwilliams.com, and keep up with his latest news and developments via his blog at ladnews.livejournal.com.

Brent says:

Shadow’s Edge is a much more ambitious book than The Way of Shadows. If you look at the map at the beginning of TWoS, that whole book takes place within about one square centimeter on the map. In Shadow’s Edge, you’re going to get a fuller sense of this huge world. More cultures, more people. The surprises definitely continue. In fact, I can’t even say the two things I think readers are going to love most because they’re both spoilers.

This much I can say: deep, conflicted characters who continue to grow throughout the whole trilogy, impossible dilemmas, truly awful bad guys, more magic, more surprises, and a huge battle that changes everything. But this book IS a complete story that has an actual ending - no lame cliffhangers just to squeeze another eight pounds out of you.

And of course, there’s one more thing that’s brilliant: you don’t have to wait five years to get your hands on the next book. If you like the first one, you can grab this one right away, and if you like this one, at most you have to wait a month for the last one. You also have the assurance that it’s going to be a trilogy and be finished…

Shadow’s Edge (UK | US | AUS) is out now and you can find it at all good high street and online booksellers.

Don’t forget to read book one, The Way of Shadows before you start on this one. You can get a taste of how the series starts by reading an extract here and see what Brent had to say about the first instalment here.

The final part of the Night Angel Trilogy, Beyond the Shadows, will be published next month, so look out for one more ITOW from Brent Weeks in a few weeks . . .

Hello again and welcome to another weekly Orbit Author links round-up. Without further ado:

As always, if you see any online articles, reviews or interviews that feature an Orbit author, please feel free to drop us a line and let us know! We’ll happily name-check your website or blog with a heads-up credit in return (please remember to provide us with a link…)

Hello and a very Happy Hallowe’en / All Hallows’ Eve / Stuff-Your-Face-With-Candy Night to you all. Here are a few online treats (no tricks, we promise!) featuring Orbit Authors or coverage of their books:

As always, if you see any online articles, reviews or interviews that feature an Orbit author, please feel free to drop us a line and let us know! We’ll happily name-check your website or blog with a heads-up credit in return (please remember to provide us with a link…)

Welcome once again to our weekly round-up of links to various bits of Orbit Author-related online activity that we’ve spotted over the course of the past week:

As always, if you see any online articles, reviews or interviews that feature an Orbit author, please feel free to drop us a line and let us know! We’ll happily name-check your website or blog with a heads-up credit in return (please remember to provide us with a link…)

We are very excited to report that we’ve bought three sharp new urban fantasies by the talented Marjorie M. Liu. These feature an enticingly different slant on the supernatural and we’re starting off in Spring 2010 with The Iron Hunt …

During the day, Maxine’s tattoos are her armour and she is invincible. At night they peel from her skin to take on forms of their own, leaving her human and vulnerable and revealing themselves to be demons sleeping beneath her skin. But these demons are the best friends and bodyguards a woman could have. And Maxine needs bodyguards. She is the last in a line of woman with power in their blood, trained to keep the world safe from malignant beings who would do us harm. But ten thousand years after its creation, the prison dimension that kept the worst of these from us is failing, and all the Wardens save Maxine are dead. She must bear the burden of her bloodline and join the last wild hunt against the enemy.

So, watch this space for more information.

Welcome once again to our weekly round-up of links to various bits of Orbit Author-related online activity that we’ve spotted over the course of the past week:

As always, if you see any online articles, reviews or interviews that feature an Orbit author, please feel free to drop us a line and let us know! We’ll happily name-check your website or blog with a heads-up credit in return (please remember to provide us with a link…)

Welcome once again to our weekly Orbit Author links round-up.

As always, if you see any online articles, reviews or interviews that feature an Orbit author, please feel free to drop us a line and let us know! We’ll happily name-check your website or blog with a heads-up credit in return (please remember to provide us with a link…)

We’ve just published The Way of Shadows, the first part of brand new fantasy series The Night Angel Trilogy by debut author Brent Weeks, in the US, the UK and Australia.

The story of street urchin Azoth’s apprenticeship to Durzo Blint, the most highly-skilled and widely-feared contract killer of the age, has already been generating some significant online buzz. Here are a few examples of the coverage we’ve seen so far:

From Grasping For The Wind:

“What Brent Weeks has done is fill his story with very human, very flawed characters. Each and every one has motivations that stem from their own involvement in law-breaking dealings. Even the most righteous of characters turns out to have made mistakes. That type of characterization makes this story very unlike traditional epic fantasies, adding a depth of character those stories often lack.”

From Civilian Reader:

“Weeks has created a vivid new world full of political intrigue, individual struggle, a dark and gritty complexity, and superb characters … Solid, extremely well written, and deftly plotted, The Way Of Shadows is a promising debut from a talented new voice in urban fantasy fiction.”

From fantasybookreviewer.blogspot.com:

“Overall, I was more than pleasantly surprised by this book. I actually loved it. The characters, the plot, and the quick pacing really worked for me. About halfway through the book I thought I would name it my debut novel of the year, but after finishing the book, I’m not sure if that claim is enough. The Way of Shadows is definitely in my top 5 novels of the year, and might even hold the top spot.”

From fantasyscifibookreview.blogspot.com:

“What you get … is a suspenseful, quick-reading action adventure. You have assassins, mad kings, crime lords, prostitutes and nobles all taking on major roles. You see Azoth’s development from a desperate child on the street to an accomplished killer. You see Durzo fight his need to connect to other human beings while being convinced that he’s better off alone. And even after almost 700 pages, I can’t wait to get my hands on the next book.”

If you’d like to check out the very start of the series for yourself, you can read the first chapter of The Way of Shadows here on the Orbit website.

And don’t forget that once you’ve discovered The Way of Shadows and found yourself eager for more, you won’t have too long to wait for the next instalment: we’re publishing part two, Shadow’s Edge, in November and the conclusion of the series, Beyond the Shadows, in December. All three volumes will be available in the US, the UK and Australia.

Plus, visit Brent Weeks’ homepage at www.brentweeks.com to find out more about the author.

We’re delighted to be able to pass on a couple of items of film-related news from two of our urban fantasy authors: Patricia Briggs and Marianne de Pierres.

Firstly - as detailed in full in a press release posted over at PublishersWeekly.com - Patricia Briggs’ agent has sold option rights for the Mercy Thompson series (Moon Called, Blood Bound and Iron Kissed) to Mike Newell’s production company 50 Cannon Entertainment [IMDB] who are also behind a forthcoming adaptation of Terry Brooks’ The Elfstones of Shannara [IMDB].

Patricia is understandably delighted by the news, saying on her website: “Now, Hollywood options far more works than they ever make into movies, so there’s no guarantee that an actual movie will ever be made, but it’s still pretty exciting news. If we ever do hear that they’re going ahead with production we promise to pass the news on (just as soon as we quit squeeing and dancing around like crazy people!).”

Our second item of news is that Marianne de Pierres (author of the Parrish Plessis and Sentients of Orion series) and Lynne Jamneck’s SF movie script Stalking Daylight has been optioned by production company Enchanter, as per this press release on Marianne’s site.

Here’s what the release has to say about the concept: “Stalking Daylight tells the story of Dresher, a bright young gaming talent who is faced with some tough choices when her father contracts neuro-transmitter disease. The Earth has changed, and those inhabitants who worship technology are at odds with those who choose to live without it. Dresher must venture into Luddite territory to find the medication that her father needs to survive. But the cure comes at a terrible price.”

We’ll bring you more information on these two projects as we get to hear of it.

Plenty of Orbit author-related online activity to tell you about this week, so without further ado:

As always, if you see any online articles, reviews or interviews that feature an Orbit author, please feel free to drop us a line and let us know! We’ll happily name-check your website or blog with a heads-up credit in return (please remember to provide us with a link…)

Welcome once again to our weekly round-up of online Orbit author activity:

As always, if you see any online articles, reviews or interviews that feature an Orbit author, please feel free to drop us a line and let us know! We’ll happily name-check your website or blog with a heads-up credit in return (please remember to provide us with a link…)

The UK’s largest sci-fi magazine, SFX, has opened its annual reader’s poll - the SFX Awards - for online voting.

Along with all the film and tv-related categories, there’s also one for Best Novel and we’re delighted to note that three Orbit titles have been included in SFX’s drop-down selection of suggested titles:

• Matter [UK | US | Aus] by Iain M Banks
• The Escapement [UK | US | Aus] by K.J. Parker
• Halting State [UK | Aus] by Charles Stross

Visit the SFX website if you’d like to cast your votes for this year’s Awards.

Arrrrrr me hearties! Cap’n Orbit here, markin’ International Talk Like a Pirate Day wi’ another fine haul o’ Orbit Author Links, plundered from the briny depths of T’Interwebs! Arrrrrr!

As always, if you see any online articles, reviews or interviews that feature an Orbit author, please feel free to drop us a line and let us know! We’ll happily name-check your website or blog with a heads-up credit in return (please remember to provide us with a link…)

Arrrrrr!

You say ‘to-MAY-to’ and I say ‘to-MAH-to’,
You say ’shu-NAR-a’ and I say ‘SHAN-uh-ra’,
’shu-NAR-a’ . . . ‘SHAN-uh-ra’,
’shu-NAR-a’ . . . ‘SHAN-uh-ra’,
Let’s call the whole thing Geekspeak. . .

Behold! The Gods of Geek have seen fit to bestow upon me a brand new, super-shiny iPhone, and - lo! - I have become addicted to podcasts.

Hmm. So what does the above mock-portentous gibberish have to do with the ill-conceived George and Ira Gershwin pastiche that opened this blog post? I’m glad you asked! This morning on the train in to work, I passed the time standing up, plotting horrible deaths for the train company executives who can’t organise enough seats for paying customers listening to Terry Brooks discussing his career on Rick Kleffel’s excellent Agony Column podcast.

This particular episode is a ‘cast of Geekspeak, Santa Cruz public radio station KUSP’s live weekly show. Terry talks about how he got started as a writer, his Shannara series (the latest volume, The Gypsy Morph, is available now), Star Wars, writing the Episode One tie-in and a whole lot more.

Check it out here.

Welcome to our regular Friday lunchtime Orbit links round-up. Shake the rain from your coat, pull up a chair, put your feet up by the fire and enjoy a hot cuppa while we tell you what some our our authors have been up to online in the past week or so…

As always, if you see any online articles, reviews or interviews that feature an Orbit author, please feel free to drop us a line and let us know! We’ll happily name-check your website or blog with a heads-up credit in return (please remember to provide us with a link…)