Archive for Orbit Australia

Gathering of the Lost – We Unveil the Cover!

We’re really pleased to reveal the cover for the second volume of Helen Lowe ‘s epic fantasy series, THE GATHERING OF THE LOST, (UK|ANZ) which will be out this April! Click on the images below for the super high-resolution versions…

The cover for Helen Lowe's second Wall of Night novel, Gathering of the Lost. Shows a girl standing against a forest background, holding a sword, with the rain beating down and the moon shining through the trees.

The covers have been designed by Duncan Spilling, one of our in-house designers here at Orbit, and we feel that they really get across the spirit of this fantastic series. The first book in the Wall of Night series, HEIR OF NIGHT (UK|ANZ), is coming out in paperback next week, on January 19th! HEIR OF NIGHT has also got a beautiful cover, we’re sure you’ll agree… 

the cover for the heir of night - a girl stands in a castle doorway, surrounded by fire and smoke

Three Orbit books nominated for 2012 Philip K. Dick Award

The nominees for the 2012 Philip K. Dick Award, for science fiction paperback originals, were announced today, including three books from Orbit: The Company Man (US | UK | ANZ) by Robert Jackson Bennett, Deadline (US | UK | ANZ) by Mira Grant, and the Samuil Petrovitch trilogy by Simon Morden (comprising Equations of Life [US | UK | ANZ], Theories of Flight [US | UK | ANZ], and Degrees of Freedom [US | UK | ANZ]).

The Company Man Deadline

Equations of Life  Theories of Flight Degrees of Freedom

The award will be presented by the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society and the Philip K. Dick Trust to the winner at Norwescon in Seattle on Friday, April 6, 2012. The full list of nominees appears below.

  • A Soldier’s Duty by Jean Johnson (Ace Books)
  • After the Apocalypse by Maureen F. McHugh (Small Beer Press)
  • Deadline by Mira Grant (Orbit)
  • The Company Man by Robert Jackson Bennett (Orbit)
  • The Other by Matthew Hughes (Underland Press)
  • The Postmortal by Drew Magary (Penguin Books)
  • The Samuil Petrovitch Trilogy by Simon Morden (Orbit)

Silver-Tongued Devil: Out Now!

The cover to Jaye Wells' Silver-Tongued devil, showing a red-headed woman holding a gun

SILVER-TONGUED DEVIL is the fourth novel in the Sabina Kane series by Jaye Wells, and it’s OUT NOW to buy as a paperback or ebook.

The series that Sookie Stackhouse author Charlaine Harris called ‘fast-paced and fun’, these novels follow the assassin Sabina Kane as she tries to end the war between the vampire and mage races. In SILVER-TONGUED DEVIL, a series of sadistic murders threaten to stop peace talks between the vampires and the mages, but Sabina’s investigation soon has her questioning everyone she thought she could trust…

We really enjoy this series at Orbit, and we think that you’ll also love its mixture of humour, action and truly captivating characters. (My personal favourite? The demon ‘Giguhl’, trapped in the form of a hairless cat!) If you haven’t yet managed to read RED-HEADED STEPCHILD, THE MAGE IN BLACK, and GREEN-EYED DEMON, here are several more people who think you should…

covers for the three Sabina Kane books out before silver tongued demon

A fast-paced trip through a dark and dangerous landscape featuring an unusual take on vampires, mages, faeries, and demons. It hooks you on page one and takes you for a great ride!” – Kat Richardson, author of the Greywalker series

The series is truly fab… a great urban fantasy I would definitely recommend.” – Book Chick City

Wells burns up the pages as if they were soaked in gasoline. Jaye Wells is the next coming of LKH and Kim Harrison.” – Paul Goat Allen, Barnes & Noble Explorations

A seriously wild ride.” (Top Pick!) – RT Book Reviews

Plenty of humour alongside the action and suspense’ – Deathray

Seven Days for SEVEN PRINCES: The Competition

This competition is now closed. Winners will be notified by email.

To celebrate this week’s release of the majestic epic fantasy adventure that is Seven Princes (UK | US | ANZ) by John R. Fultz, we’re giving  7 copies of this title away absolutely free. To enter, all you need to do is fill in the form for your relevant territory, and 7 winners will be picked at random worldwide next week. Good luck!

 

The cover for the debut fntasy Seven Princes by John R Fuktz

A Fiery New Deal for Michael Cobley with Orbit

SEEDS OF EARTH, the first book in Michael Cobley’s space opera trilogy Humanity’s Fire, was first published in the UK in March 2009. Since then, the series described by Iain M. Banks as “Proper, galaxy-spanning space opera” has kept readers glued to its pages and eager to read more. Given the outstanding quality of Michael Cobley’s science fiction and its major success so far in the UK, Orbit is thrilled to announce a worldwide deal for a new book by this bestselling author. Orbit have acquired World English rights from agent John Parker at the Zeno Agency for a new standalone novel by Michael Cobley, set in the Humanity’s Fire universe.

the three covers for Michael Cobley's Seeds of Earth science fiction trilogy

The new book, WARCAGE, is a high-action space adventure currently scheduled for worldwide hardback release in autumn 2013. Ahead of that publication, all three existing books in the Humanity’s Fire series will be published by Orbit US, who are releasing SEEDS OF EARTH in the US in October, ORPHANED WORLDS in November and THE ASCENDANT STARS in December 2012. Anne Clarke, Editorial Director for Orbit UK, says:

We’re all delighted with the continuing success of Michael Cobley’s superb Humanity’s Fire series, and we’re very excited about WARCAGE and looking forward to sharing it with Mike’s fans next year. Michael Cobley is becoming an increasingly important name in science fiction, so we’re extremely happy that our colleagues in the US will be on this adventure with us too.”

Seven Days for SEVEN PRINCES: The Horror/Fantasy Connection

7 days for SEVEN PRINCES

 “As a small child, I felt in my heart two contradictory feelings, the horror of life and the ecstasy of life.” — Baudelaire

In today’s world Fantasy fiction is split into many genres: Epic, High, Low, Heroic Urban, Suburban, Historical, Science, Weird, Dark…you’re likely to find any of these words in front of “Fantasy” these days. Many authors enjoy blending and “splicing” genres together, which can often lead to new sub-genres and even anti-genre approaches. There are two enduring genres that have always gone well together, seamlessly blending one into the other, and their combination continues to be a popular pairing.

Often Horror and Fantasy are lumped together like fraternal twins forced to wear the same plaid sweater. Many are the theories defining exactly what each one of the genres actually IS, and the closer you look at either, the more splintering you find, the more sub-genres, the more distinctions being made on the “microcosmic” level. Yet examples of Horror/Fantasy blends continue to amaze and terrify readers.  (more…)

Seven Days for SEVEN PRINCES: The Wallpapers

As part of our 7-day celebration of the epic fantasy Seven Princes (UK | US | ANZ) by John R. Fultz we’re giving away wallpapers of the awesome cover artwork to spruce up all your fancy devices. And I know we’ve had some gorgeous wallpapers, but I think the illustration for these is so much sexier BIG that trust me, you’re going to want it on every screen you have. The art is by the fantastic Richard Anderson and he really just knocked it out of the park. It’s like epic fantasy impressionistic, such a fresh style. (You can read an interview with him and John R. Fultz over at Black Gate.) Enjoy!

1024 x 768 | 1280 x 800 | 1440 x 900 | 1680 x 1050 |1920 x 1200 iPhone | iPad

 

(and yes I think we’ve finally mastered the iPad flippable art thing. ha!)

Seven Days for SEVEN PRINCES: The Inspiration

7 days for SEVEN PRINCESI’m proud to tell anyone who asks me about it that I write fantasy novels. The publication of SEVEN PRINCES represents many years of hard work, commitment and stubborn dedication to one man’s mad vision. Writers are obsessed with their ideas. They have to be.

I also write in the horror and sci-fi genres. Yet fantasy has always been my first love — specifically high fantasy, or epic fantasy, as some folks like to call it. Although the term dark fantasy is also one of which I’m rather fond. A lot of my favorite fantasies are indeed “dark,” and you will find some darkness in every fantasy — if only to provide contrast to the sweetness and light. The murkier the darkness, the brighter the light. (more…)

Seven Days for SEVEN PRINCES: The Significance of the Number 7

7 days for SEVEN PRINCESThere’s something strange about the number 7.

Something mystical. Something downright magical.

Looking back through history, literature, religion, and philosophy, one can see this number coming up again and again – usually with a significant aspect invoking holiness, mystery, power or prosperity.

A few examples:

– In Buddhist mythology the newborn Buddha took seven steps right after he was born, declaring “I alone am the World-Honored One.”

– In Christian mythology the Walls of Jericho fell seven days after seven priests marched around the city seven times with seven trumpets.

– In Islamic mythology there are seven heavens and seven hells. (more…)