The sorceress Emma Bannon and the deductive genius Archibald Clare will return for a second steampunk adventure this month in THE RED PLAGUE AFFAIR (UK | US | ANZ), released next week on 21st May!
With the RED PLAGUE audiobook coming out on the same day, and the audiobook of THE IRON WYRM AFFAIR (UK | US | ANZ) – Bannon and Clare’s first adventure – also coming to the UK and Australia on the 21st, we thought we’d share a treat with you to whet your appetite for some Victorian mystery-solving, magic-wielding action!
For newcomers to the series who want to stay spoiler-free, here’s the prologue to THE IRON WYRM AFFAIR . . .
And for everyone who’s read IRON WYRM, here’s the first chapter of THE RED PLAGUE AFFAIR. Enjoy!
The Center for the Study of Science Fiction at the University of Kansas has announced the finalists for the 2013 John W. Campbell Memorial Award. Here’s the full slate:
The Hydrogen Sonata, by Iain M. Banks (US | UK | ANZ)
Congratulations to Orbit authors Iain M. Banks, David Brin, Ken MacLeod, and Kim Stanley Robinson, as well as to the rest of the finalists! The winner will be announced during the Campbell Conference in Lawrence Kansas on June 14th.
The Dagger and Coin series continues in the third installment, THE TYRANT’S LAW (US |UK | AUS) — available now. Familiar characters will face new challenges, alone, and nothing can stop the great war now. Read an excerpt here or start from the beginning of the series with THE DRAGON’S PATH (US | UK | AUS).
There have been a lot of great things said about the latest novel so far. Here are a few highlights.
Praise for THE TYRANT’S LAW
“The third novel in the Dagger and the Coin quintet (after The King’s Blood) undermines expectations in the most satisfying ways. This smart, absorbing, fascinating military fantasy, exciting and genuinely suspenseful, will keep readers on their toes.” – Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“The time taken has worked to perfect effect in this third book, wherein each character is crafted to perfection and the story comes to its own monumental, glorious peak….Easily the best of the series, and perhaps the best book this reviewer has read in the last 12 months.” – RT Book Reviews (4.5 Stars)
“Daniel Abraham continues to write quality novels that feel familiar and yet entirely unique at the same time, and The Tyrant’s Law is a fine addition to one of fantasy’s strongest series.” – A Dribble of Ink
“For folks who have to discover him, kindly do so at the earliest as the Dagger and the Coin quintet is epic fantasy handled by an exquisite writer who is at the top of his writing game.” – Fantasy Book Critic
“…it is difficult to distill into one review the pure enjoyment the settles into me when I read these books (or as I’m coming to realize, anything Daniel Abraham writes).” – Robert H. Bedford
You meet a lot of interesting characters in New York City as Zoe will tell you. Watch the trailer below for Mur Lafferty’s upcoming novel THE SHAMBLING GUIDE TO NEW YORK CITY (US | UK | AUS) .
Ready for more? Head on over to Mur’s website to listen to the first and second chapters of THE SHAMBLING GUIDE TO NEW YORK CITY in an ongoing audio serialization of the novel. Don’t feel like waiting? Pre-order the entire audio book today from your favorite retailer. This book releases on May 21st!
Locus has just announced the finalists for the 2013 Locus Awards, and we’re thrilled to see some familiar names on the list! Congratulations to Iain M. Banks, James S.A. Corey, and Kim Stanley Robinson for their nominations in the Science Fiction Novel category; and to N.K. Jemisin and Charles Stross for their nominations in the Fantasy Novel category.
Below are the full lists of nominees for those two categories.
SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL
The Hydrogen Sonata, Iain M. Banks (US | UK | ANZ)
In two weeks, the Nebula Awards Weekend will be taking place in San Jose, CA. Best of luck to all the nominees, but especially Kim Stanley Robinson and N.K. Jemisin, who both have works nominated for Best Novel this year! Here are some of the other conventions and events where you’ll find Orbit authors this month.
On May 28th Mur Lafferty’s debut novel THE SHAMBLING GUIDE TO NEW YORK CITY (US | UK | AUS) will be hitting shelves everywhere; however, I’m here to tell you how you can listen to a portion of it – early. Yeah!
Some of you are already familiar with Mur and her fabulous I Should Be Writing Podcast, and if you aren’t, you should really give it a listen. There is a ton of great information there for aspiring new writers. And right now, Mur is serializing the audio edition of THE SHAMBLING GUIDE TO NEW YORK CITY on her podcast. Visit The Murverse Annex to subscribe for new episodes every week.
The print, ebook, and downloadable audio editions will be available on the 28th of May.
Hot on the heels of an exciting April which included some gut-wrenching moments in Game of Thrones and several great new fantasy novels to read, this May gives us every reason to continue celebrating. THE TYRANT’S LAW (US | UK | AUS), Daniel Abraham’s latest novel in the Dagger and Coin series, will be available for purchase next week!
Here’s an excerpt from the third novel in the series which RT Book Reviews called “easily the best of the series, and perhaps the best book this reviewer has read in the last 12 months!”
Read an excerpt from the novel or start from the beginning of the series with THE DRAGON’S PATH (US | UK | AUS).
Prologue
Milo of Order Murro
Milo slipped in the darkness, falling to one knee. The stones of the beach cut his skin, and the blood darkened the oiled wool of his leggings. The old fisherman, Kirot his name was, paused and looked back at him, lifting his lantern and one white eyebrow in query. Are you coming, or staying here? To the north, the waves cracked with ice. To the south, the deep darkness of the village waited for their return. Milo forced himself to stand. A little more blood would do him no harm. He’d lost enough, God knew. Kirot nodded and turned back to the long, slow trudge along the shore.
The rhythm of their steps sounded against the waves like the complex patterns of a marriage dance. Milo could almost conjure up the thrill of the violins and the tapping of the shell drums. He had heard it said that of all the thirteen races of mankind, the Haaverkin had the most exquisite sense of music. In fairness, he’d only heard this said by other Haaverkin. A woman’s voice rose in the music, ululating in a sensual harmony with the strings, and Milo recognized that he was hallucinating. The voice of the water, his father called it. He’d heard it before sometimes when he’d been out on the boats in the dim light before dawn or limping back in to shore after a long day on the cold northern waters. Sometimes it was music, other times voices in conversation or argument. Some of the very old or very young claimed that the sounds were real, that they were the Drowned calling out to their brother race. Milo’s father said that was rot and piss. It was only a man’s mind playing tricks on itself, and the roar of ice and water to give it ground to play on. And so that was what Milo believed.
The coast nearest his village was ragged. Cliffs and stony beach, fat green crabs and snow-grey gulls. Some nights the aurora danced green and gold in the sky, but tonight it was low dark cloud and the smell of snow coming. The moon struggled now and again through the cover, peeping down at the two men and then looking shyly away. No, not two men. Not yet. One man and one nearly so. Milo had been a boy that morning, and would be a man before he slept, but he was still in the dangerous place between places, neither one thing nor another. It was why. he was here.
New York City. It’s a city that those of us in the US offices are really quite fond of as you might imagine, and it’s a city that has a personality like no other.
This May, we’re really excited to be publishing Mur Lafferty’s THE SHAMBLING GUIDE TO NEW YORK CITY (US | UK | AUS). The terrific cover by Jamie McKelvie has personality in spades—not unlike Zoe, the intrepid, young journalist and recent New York transplant who stars in THE SHAMBLING GUIDE TO NEW YORK CITY. Here is a set of wallpapers for your computer and electronic devices to tide you over until the big release day. Enjoy!
“The hip, knowing and sometimes hysterically funny narrative, interspersed with excerpts from the guide of the title, lurches along in splendid fashion. Combine wit, style and acute observation: The result is irresistible.” - Kirkus (starred review)
“Lafferty, a 2012 nominee for the John W. Campbell Award for best new writer, introduces a spirited, indomitable heroine who is bound to be a favorite of urban fantasy devotees.” – Library Journal
If you think dating is hard now, I hate to tell you this, but it’s only going to get worse. Based on the Hugo-winning story, Bridesicle, LOVE MINUS EIGHTY (US | UK | AUS) is a cold and yet stirring look at the search for true love in the future. What is already a difficult task for us now becomes even more complicated in this twisted and poignant story penned by Will McIntosh.
Praise for LOVE MINUS EIGHTY:
“This is speculative fiction at its most personal and powerful, extrapolating current social and technological trends and exploring how they would affect future people simply trying to live their lives and make their existence matter to someone.” – Kirkus (Starred Review)
- - May 16th, 2013
