- DongWon Song - August 6th, 2010
Trent Jamieson, in addition to writing an incredibly fun debut, has taken the time to carefully craft a book trailer that far outstrips any I’ve encountered in my days as an editor.
Seriously, do yourself a favor and go check it out on his site.
by DongWon Song • 2 Comments • Posted in: All posts, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Orbit US
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I’ve got this book out. It’s called Death Most Definite (UK | US | AUS), and it’s about Death and it’s set in Brisbane and Hell. That’s Brisbane, Australia (not Brisbane, North Dakota, which Wikipedia informs me is a ghost town, so it would have been kind of appropriate).
Most of you have an idea of where the Hell is, but, probably, not so many would know about Brisbane.
So here’s what you need to know.
It’s Australia’s third most populous city.
The outer eastern suburbs rub up against the coast, the inner suburbs cluster around Mt Coot-tha (a low mountain, really more of a hill, that I can see from my window as I type this). And all through it the Brisbane River winds– a tributary of the River Styx, but then all rivers are. Read the rest of this entry »
by Trent Jamieson •Post a Comment • Posted in: Guest Post, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Orbit US
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Firstly, so far so good. Stormlord Rising has been selling well in US, an indication that readers of The Last Stormlord want to know what happens next. I have my first Amazon reviews, and — as I am totally into watching Amazon ratings because I’m ridiculously pathetic — I am delighted that they are 5 stars; as are the ratings over at Barnes&Noble. (Yeah, I look at those too. Didn’t I just say I’m pathetic?)
So, for those of you haven’t read it yet, what’s Stormlord Rising all about?
It continues the story of Terelle and Shale/Jasper, as Terelle is caught up in the coercion of waterpainter magic and Shale is trapped by his nemesis, Taquar. Book 1 ended with a siege and a war, you may remember. Stormlord Rising also ends with a war and a battle — although a very different sort of battle employing a great deal more water magic.
But in many ways, this is Ryka Feldspar’s story. In many ways it is also (I hope) a touching love story, although not a romance…
Imagine this: you are a privileged woman aged about 29 or so, newly married and expecting your first child, when your entire world is turned upside down. You see your husband fall in a battle, and have good reason to think he is dead. Your side loses the battle, your home and family are destroyed, your whole life has vanished into the maws of your enemies. You see and experience unspeakable things. Read the rest of this entry »
by Glenda Larke •2 Comments • Posted in: All posts, Guest Post, New Titles, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Orbit US
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It’s been a while since I posted on the Orbit blog. Running three separate websites of my own has kinda sapped my blogging energies. However, Aussie Con 4 is just around the corner, and down here we’re very excited to be getting the opportunity to meet visiting Orbit-ites Charlie Stross, Kate Elliot, Mira Grant, Gail Carriger, Helen Lowe, and of course Kim Stanley Robinson.
So … I’m delighted to say that Mira Grant has guest blogged at my main site on pseudonyms and things. Charlie Stross has promised me a post when he’s finished eating “yesterday’s stone cold vomit” (*Facebook reference on edits). And I’m about to email Gail, Kate and Helen (fell free to beat me to it gals!) in the hope that they’ll also drop by and say hello.
And while you’re floating around my blog enjoying Mira Grant’s post, you can back track to Jon Courtenay Grimwood ruminating articulately about repeating yourself in your writing.
Stay shiny, y’all.
Marianne de Pierres
by Marianne de Pierres •2 Comments • Posted in: Guest Post, News, Orbit Australia, Orbit France, Orbit UK, Orbit US
- DongWon Song - August 4th, 2010
For a while now, Philip Palmer has been asking various SF/F luminaries what their choice for best science fiction or fantasy song is. I, for one, have been constantly surprised by the never-ending back-catalog of SFF-themed songs. This week, Philip returns to the well with Brian Ruckley who called our attentions to the inestimable Queen a few months back.
My personal pick has already been taken by TV and film producer Archie Tait: Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots by the Flaming Lips
He’s pestered more than a few Orbit authors for answers including
Mike Carey
Mike Cobley
Jesse Bullington
Jon Courtenay Grimwood
Nicole Peeler
Jennifer Rardin
Lilith Saintcrow
Pop over to his site (http://www.philippalmer.net) to get the full list and check back every week for more awesome SFF musical action.
by DongWon Song • Post a Comment • Posted in: Orbit UK, Orbit US
- DongWon Song - August 4th, 2010


NPR ran a listener contest to determine the best 100 thriller novels of all time and we are absolutely delighted to announce that our own Mira Grant made it on the list at a very respectable #74! When your competition is Stephen King, Dashiell Hammett, and Stieg Larsson, #74 is killer indeed…
Check out the full list here!
And pop over to congratulate Mira on her twitter feed: @MiraGrant (aka @seananmcguire)
by DongWon Song • Post a Comment • Posted in: Awards, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Orbit US
- Anna Gregson - August 4th, 2010
Out this month is the gun-blazing, throat-slitting, hover-riding, brain-augmenting THE TERMINAL STATE (UK/ US/ ANZ), the fourth book in Jeff Somers’ near-future thriller series, the Avery Cates sequence.
To celebrate its release, you might remember that Jeff Somers ran a competition to give his readers the chance to act out the roles of their favourite characters, by providing voiceovers for several videos based on the book. Jeff obviously managed to get people’s creative juices flowing, and received some highly inspired entries. The winners have now been chosen and they are the following:
Canny Orel – read by Ben Linford
Wa Belling – read by Tyrel Devlin from Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
The Poet – read by Jeffrey Lamar from Chandler, Arizona
Mara - read by Patty Blount from Framingville, New York
The videos, with readers’ voices added, are now up on the site right here: www.theterminalstate.com (roll over the images to find the hidden footage).
If you haven’t checked out the Avery Cates novels and want to find out why SFX has called them ‘brash, brutal, [and] brilliant’, and the Guardian ‘an exhilarating example of powerful and entertaining storytelling’ then you can read an extract from the first book here.
by Anna Gregson • Post a Comment • Posted in: Commentary, Contests, Extracts, New Titles, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Orbit US, Videos
- Alex Lencicki - August 2nd, 2010
Brent Weeks kicks off a video blog tour today — answering questions from John at graspingforthewind.com about his forthcoming book, THE BLACK PRISM. Find out how THE BLACK PRISM is different from the Night Angel Trilogy, where the inspiration for the color magic system came from, and why Kip isn’t your typical fantasy hero.

Stay tuned over the next few weeks for more video interviews from some of your favorite sff sites!
by Alex Lencicki • 1 Comment • Posted in: All posts, New Titles, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Orbit US, Uncategorized, Videos
- Devi Pillai - July 29th, 2010
THE BLACK PRISM is coming out August 25, (US | UK | AUS) and to help introduce you to the amazing new world Brent has created we’ve just launched the “What Color is Your Magic?” quiz on www.brentweeks.com. Take the quiz and find out what kind of drafter you’d be.
Me?

I’m a yellow magic drafter!
Take the quiz at Brent Weeks.com
It seems that I like to blow things up. Hm…Don’t know if that surprises anyone. But wait, it gets better! “Yellows tend to be clear thinkers, intellect and emotion in perfect balance.”
Whoa. Thanks Brent! I am in perfect balance:)
by Devi Pillai • 5 Comments • Posted in: All posts, New Titles, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Orbit US
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The other day I happened to be reading through Janet Fitch’s post on 10 Writing Tips That Can Help Almost Anyone. The list is worth reading, but I was particularly struck by Tip #7: Smarten up your protagonist.
Fitch writes, “The more observant [your protagonist] can be, the more vivid will be the world you’re creating.” This is no doubt true, but it’s not what leaps to my mind when I think about smart protagonists. Read the rest of this entry »
by Rachel Neumeier •4 Comments • Posted in: All posts, Commentary, Guest Post, Orbit UK, Orbit US