Archive for Deals and Deliveries

Winter in Australia…an ideal time for writing & reading fantasy

We are delighted to announce that we have signed with Trent Jamieson for a series of three loosely linked, edgy urban fantasy novels, set in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The books in his Death Works series will be released concurrently by Orbit in Australia, the UK and the US, starting with ‘Death Most Definite’ in August 2010. Sam Bowring’s first novel in his Broken Well Trilogy, ‘Prophecy’s Ruin’, will be in the ANZ bookshops in October and he is about to deliver the second manuscript this week. Look out for the striking cover on ‘Prophecy’s Ruin’. Pamela Freeman concludes the Castings Trilogy in September with the release of ‘Full Circle’, and Joel Shepherd is now writing the last book in his Trial of Blood and Steel quartet. That’s what we’re up to this winter.

The zombies aren’t coming… they’re already here.

I’m very pleased to announce that we have acquired a new science fiction trilogy from new author Seanan McGuire writing as Mira Grant. The first book in the series, called FEED, tells the story of a small group of journalists living in an America infested with zombies. Twenty years after The Rising, Georgia and Shaun Mason are invited to cover a rising political star in the race for the White House and find themselves on the trail of the biggest story of their lives. This is a delightful, action-packed read that presents a fully-realized dystopia—a future America ruled by fear where the people don’t leave their houses and the truth is harder to find than ever before.

Mira Grant is an amazing new talent and we are delighted to be publishing her. We’ve barely announced and already the buzz is rolling: Look for this in stores in the US and the UK in Summer 2010.

DEALS AND DELIVERIES — The Unit

I’m very pleased to announce that we have acquired Terry DeHart’s debut novel, THE UNIT. Set in Northern California just after the bombs fall, the Sharpe family takes up arms to defend themselves in a world gone mad. This is the gripping story of one suburban family fighting off a band of savage opportunists, struggling to survive a nuclear winter, and testing the limits of family bonds. Terry shows us a global catastrophe through the eyes of the smallest players and the bloody struggle of survival in the actions of the most ordinary, nuclear family.

We have acquired two books from Terry DeHart and will be publishing in Summer of 2010.

Deals and Deliveries: THE POISON THRONE by Celine Kiernan

Ever since I read The Poison Throne I’ve been wanting to share my great enthusiasm for this book, so I’m delighted to pass on news of our deal for the Moorehawke trilogy. Betrayal, torture, murder, an emerging rebellion and a beautifully pitched emerging romance all make for a robust, absolutely compulsive and beautifully written fantasy adventure. Without doubt, this is an Absolutely Compelling Read and I finished it in almost one sitting. So I was pretty hungry when I’d finished, I don’t mind telling you.

And to the plot … we follow young Wynter Moorehawke as she returns to Court with her dying father, finding her old home shadowed with fear and riddled with dangerous secrets. King Jonathan has become a violent despot, terrorising those he once loved, and his son Alberon has fled into exile to plan a royal coup. Meanwhile, Wynter’s half-brother Razi has been elevated to heir, and struggles to meet King Jonathan’s increasingly untenable commands while retaining his sanity. And at the heart of matters lies a war machine so lethal that no one dares speak of it. The kingdom would belong to the machine’s master, yet the consequences of using it are too appalling to consider.

The talented Celine Kiernan trained as an animator and has spent most of her career in the film business. She’s also a freelance illustrator – and writer of course! We’ll be launching this series internationally in the States and Australia as well as in the UK and we’ll be going out in mass market paperback with book one being scheduled for April 2010. Can’t wait!

Deals and Deliveries: Jim Butcher’s Codex Alera series – plus cover art news!

On the subject of the talented Jim Butcher, we’ve just acquired the last two books in his traditional fantasy series.

The Codex Alera sequence is set in a colourful Roman-esque world, where Alerans fight against the aggressive races that inhabit this world and against each other, helped by their unique bonds with elemental creatures of fire, water, earth and air. It’s a brutal land at times, the action being set against a background of ambition and power as the First Lord of Alera grows old and lacks an heir. Noble houses manoeuvre to place their people in influential positions, and a war of succession looms on the horizon.

Princep’s Fury (book 5) will appear in the UK in December 2009 and First Lord’s Fury (book 6) will be out in May 2010.

And as a reminder, the first four books will appear in Orbit from May this year. There’s plenty of drama to come and click here for more on book one, plus see the fantastic cover art here!

Furies of Calderon - Codex Alera bk1Academ's Fury - Codex Alera bk2
Cursor's Fury - Codex Alera bk3Captain's Fury - Codex Alera bk4

Deals and Deliveries: new Runelords novels by David Farland

The Sum of All MenWe have just bought two new books in David Farland’s fabulously imaginative Runelords series, which began with The Sum of all Men. Berserker (Runelords book eight) and Runelords book nine continue the story of a world that was torn into damaged shadows of itself in ages past, creating a multitude of worlds all corrupted by darkness. Fallion, a powerful flameweaver, is trying to banish evils from his world by uniting these broken pieces. But the healing goes badly wrong. Instead of a harmonious binding of many lands, only two worlds are merged, with the greatest ills of each vying for supremacy. Now monstrous beasts known as wyrmlings haunt the nightmares of men.

We plan to publish Berserker in September 2010, and you can catch up on all previous Runelords books by clicking here.

New Book Deal with Leading Australian Author Ian Irvine

Hello and Greetings from Australia. This is my first contribution to the Orbit blog and I’m delighted to start with news of an exciting acquisition. We have bought the rights to Ian Irvine‘s new trilogy, which we’ll be publishing around the Orbit world, beginning in 2010.

Ian is an outstanding and well-loved author of bestselling fantasy novels and futuristic eco-thrillers, including the Three Worlds Cycle and the Runcible Jones Quintet. He is also a highly regarded marine scientist who has developed some of Australia’s national guidelines for the protection of the oceanic environment. You can check out his website at www.ian-irvine.com.

We’ll tell you more about the trilogy over the next few months, and let you know when the first book will be available.

Deals and Deliveries – Pamela Freeman

I’m delighted to say that we’ve bought ASH AND EMBER by the talented (and lovely!) Pamela Freeman. This atmospheric stand-alone adventure will feature ancient gods of lake, fire and river, and their clash with newer spirits. The people of the Twelve Domains will be caught in an escalating conflict governed by blood, belief and family loyalties shaped over ages past.

The new novel will be set in the same beautifully-crafted world of Pamela’s previous trilogy, which started with BLOOD TIES, but we will follow new protagonists. Plus the action will be set some time in the future of the Castings books. ASH AND EMBER is currently scheduled for publication in October 2010, so don’t forget – but we will remind you!

Deals and Deliveries — Walter Jon Williams

I’m very pleased to confirm that we will be publishing two stand-alone follow ups to the forthcoming THIS IS NOT A GAME from Walter Jon Williams! The first of the pair, tentatively titled DEEP STATE, follows our game producer heroine from THIS IS NOT A GAME, Dagmar as she finds new ways to push the boundaries of games and politics, facing off against terrorists and spies in a dangerous contest of governments. Williams’s prescient, chilling vision of our future finds ever broader and more exciting horizons for the crowd’s place in the world. The next book in the series will continue to explore Dagmar’s strange, exciting world and find new speculative heights for Walter’s imagination.

Deals and Deliveries: THE DROWNING CITY

I am pleased to announce our newest acquisition by debut author Amanda Downum in a three book deal with Jennifer Jackson of the Donald Maass Agency. The first book in the series, currently titled THE DROWNING CITY, will be published in the spring of 2010 on both sides of the Atlantic.

I was captivated by this book from page one. Amanda has created a lush, original setting that blends themes from all sorts of cultures and histories across Asia into one fantastical world. More than that, though, she has created a truly exciting story that interweaves the political machinations of a city in turmoil with the intrigue and action of an agent provocateur.

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