Category: Orbit UK
- The Orbit Team - October 3rd, 2008
Plenty of Orbit author-related online activity to tell you about this week, so without further ado:
- Kelley Armstrong is writing a new ‘Otherworld’ story for the mini-anthology A Fantasy Medley, which was recently announced by US indie press Subterranean.
- Blogger Liz thoroughly enjoyed Marie Brennan‘s Midnight Never Come and says so over at myfavouritebooks.blogspot.com.
- Robert Buettner has been interviewed for the Fandomania Podcast.
- Michael Cobley is pleased as punch with the Steve Stone artwork we’re putting on his new novel The Seeds of Earth when we publish next March.
- Jennifer Fallon has been reading some odd stuff in the name of “food-based research” – readers with a delicate constitution may want to look away now…
- David Farland will be teaching two writing workshops in Saint George, Utah next April.
- Jo Graham presents an introduction to her next novel, Hand of Isis, which will be published in the US and UK by Orbit in March 2009.
- Charlie Huston presents The Book of All Future Names, part the VIIth.
- And speaking of Charlie Huston: reviewer Paul Stotts was greatly impressed with Every Last Drop (due from Orbit UK in Feb 2009), whilst Matt Staggs presents an enthusiastic overview of the Joe Pitt series to-date.
- Empire Online presents its essential guide to Twilight, The Movie, which is of course based on Stephenie Meyer’s debut novel.
- Karen Miller offers writing advice on the topic of finding the moments.
- Over at BookGeeks.co.uk, reviewer Simon Appleby says good things about K.J. Parker‘s new novel, The Company.
- Jennifer Rardin has posted parts I – III of When Vayl Met Jaz. Coming next week: When Jaz Met Vayl.
- Lilith Saintcrow offers some sage advice on the subject of how to get an agent.
- Jeff Somers muses on including modern technology in fiction and thereby running the risk that it subsequently loses its modernity.
- Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist is running an email sweepstake to win one of four copies of The Way of Shadows, part one of the brand new Night Angel trilogy by Brent Weeks.
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…)
by The Orbit Team • Post a Comment • Posted in: All posts, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Orbit US
- The Orbit Team - October 3rd, 2008
The Orbit UK Schedule page has just been updated with details of the three great new titles that we’ll be publishing in the first week of December 2008:
- The Stupidest Angel by Christopher Moore – Chaos ensues as the none-too-bright Archangel Raziel attempts to make a young boy’s Christmas wish come true.
- Dark Heart by Russell Kirkpatrick – The second part of the Husk trilogy sees continents torn apart by cataclysm and war.
- Beyond the Shadows by Brent Weeks – the concluding volume of the Night Angel trilogy, from a new author who’s set to take the fantasy genre by storm.
Click the titles to read the trailer text over at the UK schedule page. Don’t forget, they’ll all be available from early December from all good bookstores and online retailers.
by The Orbit Team • Post a Comment • Posted in: New Titles, Orbit UK
- The Orbit Team - October 3rd, 2008
Attention all fans of Karen Miller! Sign up for Karen’s new newsletter – the first place to find out about exclusive giveaways, extracts and pub info – now at her website.
And be sure to check out The Riven Kingdom, (UK/US) available now at a bookstore near you!
by The Orbit Team • Post a Comment • Posted in: All posts, Contents, News, Orbit UK, Orbit US
- The Orbit Team - October 2nd, 2008
Karen says:
One of the major themes I want to explore in the Godspeaker trilogy is the use and abuse of power.
In book one, Empress, with Hekat you’ve got a woman whose childhood experiences of powerlessness drive her to extraordinary abuses, once she has power to wield. But in book two, The Riven Kingdom, much of the action shifts to a new location and we meet another young woman, Rhian, who was born into power … and then learns, through personal tragedy, how much of an illusion that power really was.
Then the question becomes: how far will she go to get it back? What lines will she cross? Does all power corrupt, or is it possible to wield it for the greater good and remain untouched by brutality, or evil? And what happens when she realises that perhaps the only way to save her kingdom is to fight fire with fire, and become as ruthless as the enemy she’s trying to defeat?
These are the questions I was wrestling with, writing The Riven Kingdom – and I hope the answers I came up with will keep readers entertained.
The Riven Kingdom, part two of Karen Miller‘s Godspeaker trilogy, has just been published in the UK and was published by Orbit in the US at the beginning of September. Part one, Empress is also available from Orbit in both the UK and US. The conclusion of the series, Hammer of God will be published in January 2009.
You can find out more about Karen Miller and her work at www.karenmiller.net and read her blog at karenmiller.livejournal.com.
by The Orbit Team • Post a Comment • Posted in: Orbit UK, Orbit US
- The Orbit Team - September 26th, 2008
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…)
by The Orbit Team • Post a Comment • Posted in: All posts, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Orbit US
- The Orbit Team - September 24th, 2008
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.
by The Orbit Team • Post a Comment • Posted in: Awards, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Orbit US
- The Orbit Team - September 23rd, 2008
The Little, Brown Book Group is looking for a new Commissioning Editor to join its Orbit UK editorial team.
For details of how to apply for this frankly rather fantastic vacancy, please see our parent company’s website: www.littlebrown.co.uk.
by The Orbit Team • Post a Comment • Posted in: News, Orbit UK
- The Orbit Team - September 19th, 2008
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!
- Trudi Canavan will be one of the Guests of Honour at next year’s Swancon in Perth, April 9th – 13th.
- Felicia Day (Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog) caught up with Jacqueline Carey at Comic-Con and marked the occasion by posting a vid to YouTube.
- Writerly advice from Kate Elliott on the subject of how to avoid distraction when on a deadline.
- Charlie Huston has posted a few advance reviews of his new Joe Pitt novel, Every Last Drop, which we’ll be publishing early next year.
- Glenda Larke offers more writerly advice, this time on submitting a query letter to a potential agent.
- South African SFF blogger Dave Brendon has posted an interview with Karen Miller.
- Reviewer Mark Rose has good things to say about Orcs by Stan Nicholls, over at Bookgasm.com.
- Worldchanging.com has re-posted a piece that Charles Stross wrote for them in May 2007, entitled Predicting Possible Futures.
- This week’s tip for writers from Lilith Saintcrow: look for stories everywhere.
- Reviewer Rob H. Bedford takes a look at Saturn’s Children by Charles Stross, over at sffworld.com.
- Sean Williams is the guest and subject of the 62nd episode of the Adventures in Sci-Fi Publishing podcast.
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! ;)
by The Orbit Team • Post a Comment • Posted in: All posts, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Orbit US
- The Orbit Team - September 17th, 2008
We recently released all three books (to-date) in Robert Buettner‘s Jason Wander series in the UK (having first re-published them with new cover art in the US this April) and it’s lead to a definite resurgence of interest in the series.
Over at UK-based blog / webzine Concept SciFi, blogger Gary Reynolds has posted a detailed email interview with Robert, which covers a range of topics including the author’s inspiration for the series, his writing processes (“Compared to most writers, who are planners, I’m a duct tape improviser. I begin with an idea of where my story will end, and some idea of who will live it and how. But I don’t know exactly what has to happen next.”) and his current projects and plans for the future.
Meanwhile, over at Grasping For The Wind, John Ottinger has reviewed the first Jason Wander book, Orphanage [US / UK]. John explains that the book is a (freely-acknowledged by the author – see the ConceptSciFi.com interview, above) homage to Heinlein’s Starship Troopers and Haldeman’s The Forever War, but points out that Buettner also brings “post-9/11 sensibilities” to the classic ‘young man goes to war’ storyline. He also points out that whilst this isn’t a hard-sf novel, it’s a gripping and engaging one, summing it up by saying:
“Some suspension of disbelief will be required for those who like their science fiction to be based wholly in reality. But if you can let that go, you will end up with a deeply emotional and adventure filled novel of particularly high quality.”
We recently asked Robert to introduce the Jason Wander series in his own words, and this is what he told us.
The first three books in the series are currently available, as follows:
- – Orphanage [US / UK]
- – Orphan’s Destiny [US / UK]
- – Orphan’s Journey [US / UK]
Book four in the series, Orphan’s Alliance is scheduled for publication by Orbit US in late October 2008 and Orbit UK in January 2009. Book five in the series, Orphan’s Triumph is currently being finished.
by The Orbit Team • Post a Comment • Posted in: Interviews, Orbit UK, Reviews
- The Orbit Team - September 16th, 2008
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
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by The Orbit Team • 2 Comments • Posted in: Audio, Contents, Interviews, New Titles, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK
