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The April issue of Locus magazine carries its annual “British Book Summary” – a report on SFF publishing in the UK. I admire and appreciate Locus’s amazingly comprehensive reporting on all things SFF-y from around the world, but as somebody in the publishing industry I have to say that this survey always bothers me. (more…)

With EMPRESS marching up the bestseller charts, My Book The Movie asks Karen Miller who she would cast to play Hekat, Nagarak, and others. Karen is adamant that the movie will never get made … but with a cast like this, we sure want to see it!

Over at John Scalzi’s legendary Whatever blog, Orbit author Kate Elliott explains the genesis of the ‘eagle reeves’ - the Big Idea in her latest series, Crossroads - and how a certain Swedish pop combo may have had far more to do with it than anyone previously realised…

The first two volumes of Crossroads - Spirit Gate and Shadow Gate - are available now from Orbit UK.

Orbit UK & US author Jennifer Rardin posted an interview with Orbit US author Robert Buettner, over at her blog just yesterday.

They talk about Robert’s ‘Jason Wander’ series, what he sees as the main differences between science fiction and urban fantasy, his life in interesting times as “soldier, Spook, palaeontologist and lawyer” and his approach to world-building. Plus, Robert offers his advice to aspiring writers.

That’s not the only interview Robert has given recently; he’s also chatted to SciFi.com’s John Joseph Adams for a piece that was posted on the site today.

Find out more about Robert Buettner’s ‘Jason Wander’ series at www.robertbuettner.com, and Jennifer Rardin’s ‘Jaz Parks’ books at www.jenniferrardin.com.

We’ve just this minute unveiled the brand new Orbit Facebook page.

If you’re a Facebook user, please feel free to head on over and sign up as a fan. We’ll be posting a range of regular updates, including news updates from the main website, as well as monthly cover galleries of our new releases, details of forthcoming Orbit-related events, exclusive previews and giveaways, along with anything else we can think of that’s relevant and interesting to Orbit Books fans.

If you have any suggestions for additional content you’d like to see on the page, please do drop us a line via the contact page of the Orbit site.

Following our exciting Codex Alera acquisition, we have more great Jim Butcher news. This week Small Favour hits a fantastic (yet very much grounded in reality) No.2 spot in the New York Times bestsellers chart!

In the UK’s Nielsen BookScan listings, Small Favour is also showing a great third week in the top 10, on the SFF hardback bestsellers chart. Oh, and there’s yet another listing to report, a bullish No.1 at Publisher’s Weekly. All good to see, and I’ll certainly be getting out my special inspecting-monocle to scrutinise next week’s charts …

Fantasy fiction mega-blogger Pat St. Denis, of Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist fame, is currently running a sweepstake to win one of two copies of Small Favour, the brand new Dresden Files novel by Jim Butcher.

The entry conditions are simplicity itself: all you have to do is send Pat an email with your postal address. Just the once, though; he’s very strict about disqualifying multiple entrants (and quite right, too).

Full details can be found over at fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com.

This year’s James Tiptree Jr Award - the annual literary prize for science fiction or fantasy that expands or explores our understanding of gender - was announced this week.

Alongside the winner, the award committee also announced the 2007 Honor List and Orbit authors Charles Stross and Karen Miller were both named, for (respectively) Glasshouse and Empress / The Riven Kingdom (which we’re publishing in October) .

Many congrats to Charles and Karen! Visit sfawardswatch.com for the full details of this year’s award.

Fantasy Book Critic has just posted a great interview with Kate Elliott, author of Shadow Gate, over at his site:

For someone who hasn’t read any of your titles, how would you describe your writing style and where would you recommend they start?

I write lurid adventure fiction.I write historical novels set in imaginary worlds.I write HBO-style fantasy and SF, heavy on the characterization and detail with a big canvas and complex narrative. Take your pick, or ask me to come up with a different description.
While there are many “traditional” elements to the novels I write, I also work to bring stories and characters into the epic fantasy (and epic space opera, when I’ve written it) that are normally not considered to be part of “the tradition”. Whose lives are “worth” examining? Whose stories get neglected or overlooked because they aren’t deemed “important enough”? Who decides what matters? As a writer, I get to decide for my own books, and I always try to challenge my own expectations and assumptions about who needs, and gets, a voice.

Read the rest >

We’re thrilled to announce the acquisition of Jim Butcher’s Codex Alera sequence in a major four book deal.

Jim Butcher is the bestselling and critically-acclaimed author of the Dresden Files series, featuring wizard-detective, Harry Dresden, which has sold over 150,000 copies for Orbit and was recently televised by the SciFi Channel.

The Codex Alera is a series of epic fantasy novels set in a world where courage and ingenuity may yet triumph over magic and power. For a thousand years, the people of Alera have united against the aggressive races that inhabit the world, using their unique bond with the furies - elementals of earth, air, fire, water, and metal. But now, Gaius Sextus, First Lord of Alera, grows old and lacks an heir. Ambitious Lords manoeuvre to place their Houses in positions of power, and a war of succession looms on the horizon.

Far from city politics in the Calderon Valley, young Tavi struggles with his lack of furycrafting. At fifteen, he has no wind fury to help him fly, no fire fury to light his lamps. Yet as the Alerans’ most savage enemy - the Marat - return to the Valley, his world will change. Caught in a storm of deadly wind furies, Tavi saves the life of a runaway slave. But Amara is actually a spy, seeking intelligence on possible Marat traitors to the Crown. And when the Valley erupts into chaos - when rebels war with loyalists and furies clash with furies - Amara will find Tavi invaluable. His talents will outweigh any fury-born power - and could even turn the tides of war.

Orbit commissioning editor Bella Pagan said, ‘We are really delighted to be publishing Jim Butcher’s fabulous Codex Alera sequence. After the huge popularity of Jim’s ongoing Dresden Files series, it is exciting to have a new direction to offer fans. With its fast pace, fine world-building and compulsive plot twists, this more traditional fantasy series will also attract an army of new enthusiasts.’

The Codex Alera series will start with Furies of Calderon, to be published by Orbit in summer 2009.

And speaking of polls, you can vote for your favourite SF and Fantasy authors of all time over at SFX. There’s no suggested list, though we could think of a few (or many!) Orbit authors that fit the bill…

We’ve been checking out the 2008 Locus Poll & Survey in the office this week. This is the final voting poll, and you don’t actually have to be a Locus subscriber to register your vote.

In each of the categories there are a number of suggested titles, sourced from the 2007 Locus Recommended Reading List, or you can add your own titles via the write-in boxes on the form.

We’re particularly happy to see a number of Orbit’s lead publications for last year included in the recommendation shortlists, including:

• The Execution Channel by Ken MacLeod (Best SF Novel)
• Halting State by Charles Stross (Best SF Novel)
• Devices and Desires, Evil for Evil and The Escapement from The Engineer Trilogy, all of which we published in the US in 2007 by K.J. Parker (Best SF Novel… interestingly)
• A Betrayal in Winter, which we published as part two of The Long Price in the UK, by Daniel Abraham (Best Fantasy Novel)

Ken MacLeod and Charles Stross also have long-listed pieces in the Best Novella, Best Novelette and Best Short Story lists. And what’s that you say? Orbit are long-listed under Best Publisher? Well, yes, but we’re all far too polite to mention it…

Twice a year, Little, Brown Book Group, Orbit UK’s parent company, produces a catalogue presenting our upcoming titles.

As you can imagine, we’ve always been limited by just how many physical copies there were. But not anymore! For the first time the catalogue is online. So if you’re interested in what Orbit UK will be publishing this autumn you can check it out here.

Dark Wraith of Shannara, Terry Brooks’ brand new graphic novel and Orbit’s first foray into the genre, has been getting some great reviews:

‘Kept me entertained …This is one piece of fan service that Shannara fans won’t want to miss’ - A Dribble of Ink

‘A great way of attracting newcomers to Fantasy (and Terry’s work), of persuading some readers to look at a graphic novel for the first time and also keeping the Brooks’ faithful happy. Sounds difficult, but I think it manages it’ - Mark Yon, SFFWorld

‘A good read to get stuck into with a cast of characters that veterans of the series will instantly recognise but who also serve as a good introductory point for the casual reader. . .Fans of Terry Brooks will love this to pieces!’ - Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review

Interested in picking up a copy for yourself? It’s available at all good booksellers now. And you can check out some of Edwin David’s fantastic art below (click on images to enlarge).

Over at Adventures in Scifi Publishing, Shaun and Sam chat with Robert Buettner about his Jason Wander series, which continues this month with book three, Orphan’s Journey. Look for Orphan’s Journey, along with the reissues of books one and two, out now from Orbit. And visit Robert online at robertbuettner.wordpress.com/.

Karen Miller, the bestselling author of The Innocent Mage, talks about Empress, her writing and kitty litter over at The Book Swede:

Could you tell us a little about Empress? (I like to be original in my opening questions)…

Well, Empress is the first book in the Godspeaker trilogy (my first trilogy, yikes!). Actually, I tend to think of my stories in acts, like plays, so it’s Act 1 in a 3 act play.

It’s the story of a young girl from an exceedingly harsh background, who discovers the power that lies within her and rises to greatness against enormous odds. It’s the story of a young man, who’s also been touched by power and greatness. It’s about his relationship with her, and her relationship with the god they worship … which isn’t at all a kind or benevolent deity.

Read the rest of the interview here.

Publishers Weekly gives Marie Brennan’s Midnight Never Come a starred review in this week’s issue:

“Stunningly conceived and exquisitely achieved… Brennan’s myriad fantastical creations ring as true as her ear for Elizabethan and faerie dialogue.”

You can read the whole review here (with a bit of scrolling)

Over at Fantasy Book Critic, Robert reviews Blood Ties, book one in the Castings Trilogy and concludes:

“… Pamela Freeman’s “Blood Ties” will probably be one of my favorite fantasy novels of the year and I absolutely can’t wait to finish reading the trilogy…”

Read the whole review here. You can catch an interview with the author over at Grasping the Wind, and visit the author’s site at www.castingstrilogy.com.

Jennifer Rardin stops in at Scifi wire to talk about the latest in her Jaz Parks series, Biting the Bullet. Next up in the series is Bitten to Death, out in August, and One More Bite, out in January 2009.

Further to Bella’s post, below, on the 2008 Eastercon, I thought it worth mentioning that Eastercon returns to the Radisson Edwardian at Heathrow (amusingly nicknamed the “Radisson Non-Euclidean” by convention wags), in two years time. Even more exciting for us at Orbit Towers is that the convention committee have shown the great good taste to invite Mike Carey as one of their Guests of Honour.

First Charles Stross, now Mike Carey - they can hold Eastercons at Heathrow every year, as far as we’re concerned!