Mr Shivers, the critically acclaimed horror debut from Robert Jackson Bennett, is released in paperback today. Chronicling one man’s journey through the Depression blighted Texan Dustbowl in search of the mysterious, scarred vagrant who murdered his daughter, the book is a must read for fans of old school horror, literary dystopia or anyone looking for something to knock their socks off this autumn. To celebrate the paperback release of Mr Shivers we have 10 copies of the book to giveaway. Read the rest of this entry »
Celine Kiernan is not only a talented author but also a gifted animator and illustrator — and she has done the most incredible illustration of her main protagonist Wynter Moorehawke for us. We have six super-limited edition prints, on cream canvas, to give away to readers. Email orbit@littlebrown.co.uk with your name and address to enter the draw, and get a chance to win this really incredible original artwork!
And if you have any interesting pictures of The Crowded Shadows (UK | US) in the wild to share with us (for example, at your local bookstore or courtesy of your own PhotoShop mash-up parlour) they would be gratefully received at the same email as above.
If you haven’t seen her post, Celine’s description of how she approaches illustrating is fascinating. And the animation of this Wynter drawing taking shape before your eyes in seconds is just amazing. And to see it again, click HERE.
When Orbit asked would I do some limited edition artwork for the UK release of The Crowded Shadows I was more than happy to oblige. I always draw when working on a book. I draw the characters, I draw scenes from the story, sometimes I even do wee comic strips. It’s my way of blowing off steam when writing is stressing me out. So, as you can imagine, I’ve been drawing the Moorehawke characters for years at this stage, and I’ve a pretty clear picture in my head of how they look.
If you’re interested, I thought I might walk you through the process of doing a drawing? Read the rest of this entry »
There are two simple rules for creating an image that won’t be easily forgotten. So if you want to know what they are — head on over and see if you agree, or disagree.
Mike has had his shiny new website just long enough to move in and add a little content, so without any further ado …
CLICK HERE (for exploding space ships, politics and scientifical things that catch the Cobley eye).
The Orphaned Worlds (bk2, UK|ANZ) will be out in mass market paperback in the Spring next year, then a few months afterwards bk3, The Ascendent Stars, will complete the trilogy. So to keep you going, get an Orphaned Worlds screen saver HERE and a free extract of Seeds of Earth(bk1, UK|ANZ) HERE. Get both, don’t be shy!
And saving the best until last, you can watch the illustrious Mike Cobley in action as he answers Orbit’s probing questions below.
Every year we ask our summer intern to do a survey of cover art elements for the top US fantasy novels published in the previous year. This year we looked at covers from 2009, and compared them against 2008′s findings. Read the rest of this entry »
I am very excited to have such a fine cover to show off for our wonderful new fantasy The Heir of Night (ANZ | UK), book 1 in The Wall of Night sequence by Helen Lowe. To reference Orbit’s new survey of cover art, there are no unicorns or dragons here, but instead see a seriously on-trend sword, and some fashion-forward, dark (and meaningful) mist. But the main thing is that it’s gorgeous, richly atmospheric and stand-out to go with the fast-paced breathtakingly good content inside.
The Heir of Night is Helen Lowe’s adult fantasy debut, and we enter a world where the violence of an age-old war casts a long shadow. There we meet Malian who, although she’s being trained to rule, is unprepared for the savagery of her people’s ancient enemy as they attack in the darkest part of the Night.
Helen may be new to adult fiction, but she’s already received critical acclaim for her previous YA novel Thornspell. Last year this won New Zealand’s prestigious Sir Julius Vogel award for Best Novel, Young Adult. Helen won the Vogel award for Best New Talent in the same year, so we are delighted she’s turned her hand to adult fantasy, and you can find a free advance extract for The Heir of NightHERE. The book will be out in Australia and New Zealand in Oct 2010 — and if you are going to WorldCon in September look out for Helen as she’ll be doing some panels and a pre-publication reading. UK readers will have to wait a little longer for the book until March 2011. But rest assured, it’ll be so worth the wait!
I’ll leave you with a quote from Robin Hobb, which perfectly encapsulates this wonderful adventure:
The Heir of Night by Helen Lowe is a richly told tale of strange magic, dark treachery and conflicting loyalties, set in a well realised world’ Robin Hobb
Every year we ask our summer intern to do a survey of cover art elements for the top fantasy novels published in the previous year. This year, our wonderful intern Jennifer looked at covers from 2009, and compared them against 2008′s findings. Over the next few days we’ll be releasing a number of charts that show what she found. After the jump, some initial observations on the data. And join us in the comments to talk about the trends. Read the rest of this entry »
The wallpaper all you Brent Weeks fans have been asking for is finally here, ready to take over your assorted computers, phones, portable-media-devices, facebook page, chat icons… ok I’m getting carried away. I’ve got the standard wallpaper sizes up for 99% of you to download, but if there’s a certain resolution/size you need that’s not there let me know in the comments, I’ll make it for you special.
Richard Jones did a great job with the in-your-face image of one of the awesome and unpredictable characters from the book.
The Black Prism has all the twists and turns readers have come to expect from Brent Weeks, along with a huge cast of characters whose reversals of fortunes and motivations will keep you guessing right up until the last page. Download links after the jump. Enjoy!
- - September 2nd, 2010
