With sinister echoes of 1984 and Brave New World, this original novel features a near-future city where medical science invents a single-dose pill for eradicating many common genetic defects . . .
Read a sample
The time has come. . . Orbit is once again presenting you with three books in three months. So from October to December if you’re hungry for your fix of adventure fantasy, please run or log online to get these three new fantasies from Rachel Aaron.
But if you’re super lucky, you might be able to get one for free! Rachel is giving away 20 copies of The Spirit Thief here.
Eli Monpress is talented. He’s charming. And he’s a thief.
But not just any thief. He’s the greatest thief of the age – and he’s also a wizard. And with the help of his partners – a swordsman with the most powerful magic sword in the world but no magical ability of his own, and a demonseed who can step through shadows and punch through walls – he’s going to put his plan into effect.
The first step is to increase the size of the bounty on his head, so he’ll need to steal some big things. But he’ll start small for now. He’ll just steal something that no one will miss – at least for a while.
Like a king.
We also have a few awesome quotes in for The Spirit Thief:
“A romp of a lighthearted fantasy starring an absolutely darling rogue.” – Publishers Weekly
“Wry humor, engaging characters and full-tilt action plus an inventive twist on magic make for an exciting adventure.” — Gail Z. Martin
“Witty, smart, snappy, sassy, fast, furious and let’s not forget fun… Rachel Aaron isn’t so much knocking at the door as kicking it down.” — Tom Holt
“The Spirit Thief is a delightfully giddy romp of a novel.” — Karen Miller
Read the first two chapter of The Spirit Thief here.
This month Chaosbound (UK /ANZ) is out – book eight in David Farland’s Runelords series. It’s already had some top-notch reviews, such as: ‘Chaosbound is a profound fantasy that explores deep complex philosophical issues . . . with timely applications for our world’ from Harriet Klausner in SFRevu and ‘Stark, dark and elegiac’ from Publishers Weekly.
You may have heard of this series, and some impressive names raving about it (see below), but have you spotted what’s special about the covers of our UK editions? Designed by the highly talented Paul Young, it just so happens that when you put the covers side by side they form a continuous fantasy landscape . . .
We are hereby exceptionally proud to announce that Gail Carriger’s exquisitely charming Parasol Protectorate series has finally found its way to the seat of the empire – the green and pleasant lands of the British Isles. Delivered via dirigible direct into Hyde Park’s airfield, all three titles have arrived just in time to stem the Commonwealth’s desperate need for treacle tart, parasols and lessons in vampire social etiquette.
If you perchance found yourself at Britain’s most glorious festival of steampunk this weekend – the so-called Weekend at the Asylum - then you will undoubtedly be acquainted with Miss Alexia Tarabotti already.
With the gift that she has bestowed upon every privileged guest, she has imparted the vital knowledge of how best to protect the Commonwealth on behalf of Her Majesty Queen Victoria. And that’s not to mention her terribly useful tips on which hats are to be avoided this season if one is to protect one’s reputation in polite society. Please do take heed of her sage advice.
So this is it . . . the final countdown. Witness how events came to a head. I think it’s safe to assume that Philip Palmer and Jeff Somers are no longer on speaking terms.
So it’s come to this . . . Jeff Somers and Philip Palmer arguing over whose character is better with the laaaaadies.
Again, Philip Palmer has resorted to getting a scientific expert involved – a certain Dr Paul Bostock (according to Phil, a ‘Professor in Protagonism and Genre Conflict at the Heinlein University, Colorado’ – this hasn’t yet been verified).
Ladies – judge for yourself.
(And mind the spoilers if you haven’t read Jeff’s previous 3 books yet!)
The squaring off continues between Jeff Somers and Philip Palmer. This time they pitch the plots of The Terminal State and Version 43 against one another. Seriously guys – it’s not a competition . . .
Here on Planet Orbit we generally think there’s a pretty good community spirit – both in the office and amongst all our authors out there. But sometimes – just sometimes – those good times go bad.
Believing Jeff Somers and Philip Palmer to both be “team players” and decent, honourable gentlemen, we thought it might be a good idea to ask them to discuss and compare, in a series of videos, and in a sensible and controlled manner, their newest science fiction titles and their protagonists. But APPARENTLY that wasn’t possible. We’re still going to post the footage – if only to be an example to you all.
I was 13 years old when I first fell head over heels in love with Kate Elliot’s Jaran. I still remember sitting on the floor of my local library one minute, and being transported to another world the next. Over the years, I’ve gone back and read the series again and I still love it as much today as I did then. So it is an absolute privilege and a pleasure for me to welcome Kate Elliott to the Orbit list on both sides of the Atlantic now. Read the rest of this entry »
Phew! September is a busy month — fighting off Zombies, preventing the zombie Apocalypse, you know, the usual. But not to worry. To prep you for the uprising we give you MARRIED WITH ZOMBIES by Jesse Petersen. Yes, run out and buy it now in stores! Before you get eaten!
The book is about two unlikely heroes — a couple on the verge of divorce. On their way to marriage counseling, they notice a few odd things: a missing guard, a lack of cars on the freeway, and their counselor ripping out the throat of her previous client.
Now it’s up to David and Sarah to work together, save their marriage — and survive in the middle of a zombie apocalypse.
The Crowded Shadows (UK | US), book two in Celine Kiernan’s Moorehawke trilogy, is officially out in the UK today ( following the US date) and there’s a free extract here. Then in October we’ll release The Rebel Prince (UK | US) in both the UK and US, so the author has a packed few months coming up. But despite this, Celine has kindly said she’ll visit our blog over the next few weeks to say a few words about her work, writing fantasy, wolves and other things not necessarily beginning with ‘w’. Her first post was an insight into illustration, Celine being a classical character animator by trade.
Celine told us that a few years ago she had a shoebox filled with the usual myriad rejection slips that all writers collect. Holding down two jobs with two children, she would secretly write at night. But much hard work later she’s now the proud owner of a finished trilogy with some very shiny covers! She’s also accumulated two nominations for the Irish Book awards and a raft of great reviews for The Poison Throne (UK | US), book 1 of the trilogy:
‘Marvellous, vivid writing, and storytelling at its absolute best . . . I was utterly engrossed’ Roddy Doyle
‘Atmospheric, complex, and intense … this epic starts strong and doesn’t falter one iota’ Publishers Weekly (starred review)
‘All the ingredients of an international bestseller: political skulduggery, passion, violence, loyalty and betrayal’ Irish Independent
‘Told with great assurance … this is an exciting, fast-paced story’ SFX
‘Kiernan will stun you with her debut … sure to captivate’ Romantic Times
‘A complex and original story… Kiernan has created a world that fascinates’ Bookgeeks.co.uk
So, with further books hitting shelves internationally over the next few months, we’ll look forward to hearing more from the the author over the next few weeks. Watch this space!
- - October 1st, 2010
The Crowded Shadows (
