Category: Orbit UK
- Jenni Hill - December 13th, 2011
Our congratulations go to Helen Lowe, author of epic fantasy series THE WALL OF NIGHT, who has been awarded The Ursula Bethell Residency in Creative Writing by the University of Canterbury!
Helen says: “I’m absolutely delighted – not least for the recognition for speculative fiction, and I’m really looking forward to working exclusively on THE WALL OF NIGHT series!”
The Ursula Bethell Residency in Creative Writing was founded by the University in 1979 to promote and provide support for New Zealand’s many talented writers. Helen will hold the residency until July 31 2012; the project she will be working on during the residency is THE WALL OF NIGHT Book Three, DAUGHTER OF BLOOD. She shares the prize with the poet David Eggleton.
Book One, THE HEIR OF NIGHT (UK/ANZ) will be out in Mass Market Paperback on the 19th of January 2012.
by Jenni Hill • 5 Comments • Posted in: Awards, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK
- Rose Tremlett - December 12th, 2011
To celebrate some of the amazing books Orbit have launched during 2011 (and taking a sneaky peak at 2012) we are having a giveaway – but it’s a giveaway with a difference! We have 5 sets of Advance Reading Copies up for grabs. Obviously they are not so much in advance any more, but they are exclusive, limited editions that money can’t buy – and they are a great sampling of some of Orbit’s biggest and best titles of the year!
That’s five sets of the following titles:
THE FALLEN BLADE by Jon Courtenay Grimwood
LEVIATHAN WAKES by James S. A. Corey
THE DRAGON’S PATH by Daniel Abraham
THE EDINBURGH DEAD by Brian Ruckley
SEVEN PRINCES by John R. Fultz (New! Publishing this Jan. 2012)
The competition is open to the UK and US. Full terms and conditions below. Complete the following form for your chance to win one of the sets! Read the rest of this entry »
by Rose Tremlett • Post a Comment • Posted in: Contests, Giveaway, Orbit UK, Orbit US
- Jenni Hill - December 10th, 2011
Big thanks to Anne C. Perry, Jared Shurin and Den Patrick of Pornokitsch for the stellar steampunk night organised at Blackwells, Charing Cross Road, London yesterday! Orbit team members Anna Gregson, James Long and I had a wonderful time chatting to all the talented guests Pornokitsch had invited. Here are a few photos from the event:
Gail Carringer’s PARASOL PROTECTORATE novels and Paolo Bacigalupi’s THE WIND-UP GIRL sitting proudly among the steampunk titles picked out for the evening.
The boys compare gun sizes. Mark de Jager, Orbit’s James Long and Pornokitsch’s Den Patrick.
The Guardian at the gate! This squid guarded the entrance to the evening…
You can just about see Jared giving his welcome speech, over the heads of the large crowd the event attracted!
by Jenni Hill • Post a Comment • Posted in: Orbit UK
- Ellen Wright - December 9th, 2011
Daniel Abraham, author of The Dragon’s Path (US | UK | ANZ) and the upcoming The King’s Blood (US | UK), among others, has a guest post up at SF Signal today called “A Private Letter from Genre to Literature.”
Please, please, darling let us stop this. This artificial separation between us is painful, it is undignified, and it fools no one. In company, we sneer at each other and make those cold, cutting remarks. And why? You laugh at me for telling the same stories again and again. I call you boring and joyless. Is it wrong, my dear, that I hope the cruel things I say of you cut as deeply as the ones you say of me?
Check it out, and don’t miss all the related letters others are adding in the comments.
by Ellen Wright • Post a Comment • Posted in: Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Orbit US
- Anne Clarke - December 9th, 2011
And here it is in all its beauty – the cover for the second book in the Assassini trilogy by Jon Courtenay Grimwood. We showed you the new cover for THE FALLEN BLADE (US | UK | ANZ) earlier this week – now here, as promised, is the cover for the sequel THE OUTCAST BLADE, coming from Orbit in trade paperback in May 2012. If you haven’t read THE FALLEN BLADE yet, try the first chapter here. Enjoy!
by Anne Clarke • Post a Comment • Posted in: Art, Covers, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Orbit US, Uncategorized
- Anna Gregson - December 9th, 2011
Hype continues to build for the movie adaptation of Orson Scott Card’s classic novel Ender’s Game. It’s due for release in 2013 and will be directed by Gavin Hood, whose previous work includes X-Men Origins: Wolverine. This is one of the most highly anticipated book-to-movie adaptations ever – and all over the interwebs fans have been getting excited that this book will finally be reaching the big screen.
Following the news that the role of Ender will be played by Asa Butterfield, star of Martin Scorsese’s Hugo, rumours are circulating about who will feature alongside him. The Hollywood Reporter announced recently that True Grit’s Hailee Steinfeld is likely to play the role of Petra, and just today we’ve heard the news that Ben Kingsley, known for movies such as Schindler’s List, Shutter Island and Species, is also in talks to star in the movie. Even Harrison Ford has been mentioned as a possible Colonel Hyrum Graff.
We here at Orbit just can’t wait to see how it turns out, and I’m sure Card’s legion of fans can’t either. But who else would you like to see starring in this movie? Personally, I’m intrigued to see who will play Valentine and Peter . . .
In the meantime, look out for our reissue of Ender’s Game the novel (UK / ANZ), released this month in a shiny new package, and with a boy on the cover who looks not too dissimilar to Asa Butterfield coincidentally . . . (we must be psychic)
by Anna Gregson • Post a Comment • Posted in: News, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Uncategorized
- Devi Pillai - December 7th, 2011
The latest Kristen Painter title is now out! BAD BLOOD is now available (US/UK/AUS)!
We are super excited to publish Kristen — so excited that we decided to publish the first three of her quintet in three consecutive months. These novels are lush, fabulous and hearken back to classic vampire novels like Anne Rice — but with a Gothic, near-future edge that grabs readers from the get-go.
A bit about the story:
Samhain approaches, bringing with it the final melding of the mortal and othernatural worlds. No one knows just how much power the night holds…
Violent murders occur in Paradise City as counterfeit comarré are systematically hunted. The police and the Kubai Mata have more than enough trouble to keep themselves occupied. As war erupts at home, Malkolm and Chrysabelle head to New Orleans to recover the Ring of Sorrows. Chrysabelle is forced to make a life and death decision and will realize that her relationship to Malkolm may have fatal consequences.
The clock is ticking . . .
The full series is shown below:
Read an extract of Blood Rights (US/UK/AUS) here!
The fourth novel, Out For Blood, will be out in November 2012.
by Devi Pillai • Post a Comment • Posted in: Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Orbit US
- James Long - December 7th, 2011
‘Gritty, grimy, decadent and compelling’ the Sunday Times said of Jon Courtenay Grimwood’s fantasy novel THE FALLEN BLADE. The same can be said for the fabulous new cover art for the UK mass market paperback edition, created by our wonderfully talented in-house designer Emma Graves.
Emma kindly agreed to speak about her creation:
“To redesign the Grimwood series was an exciting and interesting project. We wanted a cover which gave the reader a taste of the gripping setting of this series as well as reflecting the dark and dangerous surroundings and characters. Having visited Venice myself, I knew the challenge was to find images and textures to project this captivating city with its narrow streets and alleys to the reader.
Before deciding what each cover in the series would feature, I set up mood boards of visual ideas, photographs, colours and typefaces inspired by the storylines and the atmosphere of the books.
We wanted the new style to be appealing to both existing Grimwood fans as well as new readers. By choosing sophisticated images and colours, and mixing this with typefaces with a historical feel, the design sits well both within its genre and the larger historical fiction market. The textured frames tie the books together as a series and I am really looking forward to getting my hands on the third book in the set and creating another cover to match the first two.”
Many thanks to Emma, whose cover we feel perfectly encapsulates the brooding atmosphere of Jon Courtenay Grimwood’s alternative Venice!
THE FALLEN BLADE (UK | US | ANZ) will be released in mass market paperback in the UK on 5 April 2012. The second novel in the trilogy, THE OUTCAST BLADE - with a similarly fantastic cover! – will follow in trade format everywhere in May 2012.
by James Long • Post a Comment • Posted in: Art, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Orbit US
- Jenni Hill - December 5th, 2011
You’ve read Theft of Swords, which came out from Orbit last month, and now we’re proud to announce the release of Rise of Empire, [US | UK | ANZ] the second installment in the Riyria Revelations epic fantasy series.
The birth of the Nyphron Empire has brought war to Melengar. To save her kingdom, Princess Arista runs a desperate gamble when she defies her brother and hires Royce and Hadrian to perform a dangerous mission behind the enemy’s lines. As the power of the Nyphron Empire grows, so does Royce’s suspicion that the wizard Esrahaddon is using the thieves as pawns in his own shadowy struggle for power. To find the truth, he must unravel the secret of Hadrian’s past. What he discovers leads the thieves to the ends of the world on a journey amid treachery and betrayals, forcing Hadrian to face a past he hoped never to see again.
We know you’ll be pleased to see these characters back again, though perhaps not quite as pleased as the author’s wife (Michael recently wrote a guestpost for the Proud Book Nerd entitled ‘Why My Wife’s Love Affair is Entirely My Fault’).
Here’s what reviewers have had to say about the series:-
”I couldn’t get enough of ‘Theft of Swords’ and there is no way that I won’t be following this series through to its conclusion.” – Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review
“Great Fun and a romp end to end… highly recommended” – Fantasy Book Critic
You can find Michael on twitter @author_sullivan, and find out more about him and the Riyria Revelations at his website.
by Jenni Hill • Post a Comment • Posted in: Fantasy, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Orbit US
author post
Artemis is the heroine of my fifth novel for Orbit Books, and she’s a lot like me in many ways. She’s a cool, sexy, superfit, ruthless, murdering bitch who loves reading books.
Okay, she’s a lot like me in ONE way. I also, um, love reading books.
I find I’m naturally attracted to characters with a hint of evil in their souls. Like Lena, or indeed Flanagan, in DEBATABLE SPACE. Or Saunders in RED CLAW. Even Sharrock in HELL SHIP is a warrior, and hence a cold blooded killer.
Some of the characters I’ve created in these books are, however, Good Guys. Version 43, for instance, in the novel called (would you credit it?) VERSION 43 is an honest cop in a dishonourable world. He may have flaws but he’s not corrupt. In fact his main flaw is that he’s not nearly corrupt enough. He is, exasperatingly, too good to be true; because he’s a cyborg and not a true human. But, as time goes by, he gets more and more human…and that makes him, in my view, easier to warm to. And he’s also very good at his job, of enforcing law and order, usually by killing people.
Artemis, though, is very much at the ultraviolet end of the spectrum of amorality. She is a one woman killing machine. But does that make her an unsympathetic character? Well, I’d argue not. Because she has reasons for what she does. Good reasons…
But she’s flawed, without a doubt. Highly flawed. Murderous – sometimes selfish – obsessive – and vengeful. I like characters with flaws; perhaps because I am myself a character with many flaws… And I believe firmly that characters who are nice and full of virtue aren’t the ones we root for when we read stories. That’s why Satan is the one we cheer on in Paradise Lost, not those wretched angels; certainly not God.
Mulling on this theme, I’ve coined the term ‘Rootability’, to refer to that special quality in a character that makes us want to root for him, or her. Tyrion Lannister (in George R. R. Martin’s Games of Thrones series) has it in abundance. Eddard Stark is far more heroic. Daenerys is more exotic, and has those wonderful dragons. But Tyrion is the evil dwarf we love to hate; he’s the underdog; he’s the smart one.
Harry Potter, for my money, DOESN’T have Rootability. He’s too powerful. He’s too nerdy. He has those glasses. I’d like those stories much more if Hermione were the heroine – the ‘little girl’ who no one takes seriously but who always wins the day. But then again I’m strange; and JK Rowling’s fans seem to like Harry’s books just the way they are. Read the rest of this entry »
by Philip Palmer •3 Comments • Categories: Guest Post, Orbit UK, Orbit US, Uncategorized • Tags:
