We are delighted that two Orbit titles have been shortlisted for this year’s Kitschies - awards that celebrate the most ‘progressive, intelligent and entertaining works of genre literature’, run by the excellent Pornokitsch website.

Jesse Bullington’s The Enterprise of Death is a finalist for the Red Tentacle for best novel, and the cover for Simon Morden’s Equations of Life is a finalist for the Inky Tentacle for best cover.  Congratulations to Jesse and our very own designer Lauren Panepinto!

To celebrate we want to give you the opportunity to read these great books and judge for yourselves.  We have 10 copies of each to give away.  Just fill in your details below and we’ll pick the winner in two weeks time, the day before the winners are announced at the SFX Weekender 3 Kitschies Award Ceremony (sponsored by Kraken Rum, making it even more certain to be a great event).

Please read the full terms and conditions.

cforms contact form by delicious:days

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Following the news that the role of Ender will be played by Asa Butterfield, star of Martin Scorsese’s Hugo,  rumours are circulating about who will feature alongside him. The Hollywood Reporter announced recently that True Grit’s Hailee Steinfeld is likely to play the role of Petra, and just today we’ve heard the news that Ben Kingsley, known for movies such as Schindler’s List, Shutter Island and Species, is also in talks to star in the movie. Even Harrison Ford has been mentioned as a possible Colonel Hyrum Graff.

We here at Orbit just can’t wait to see how it turns out, and I’m sure Card’s legion of fans can’t either. But who else would you like to see starring in this movie? Personally, I’m intrigued to see who will play Valentine and Peter . . .

In the meantime, look out for our reissue of Ender’s Game the novel (UK / ANZ), released this month in a shiny new package, and with a boy on the cover who looks not too dissimilar to Asa Butterfield coincidentally . . . (we must be psychic)

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It’s a fantastic ending to a knock-out series and, as a massive Tad Williams fan, I must say this is certainly not to be missed. A few other people think so too:

‘Rich in detail and exploding with imagination. Dive in there and lose yourself’ SFX

‘It’s always bittersweet to see a series come to an end; as fans, we are always eager to find out what happens to our heroes and heroines, but, equally, we don’t want them to ever leave our lives . . . Williams convinced me to care utterly for his characters and there’s a hole now in my life where they once lived. Few storytellers can do that. Williams does it with alarming regularity’ A Dribble of Ink

‘Shadowrise and Shadowheart are as good an ending to a fantasy saga as I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading . . .’ Fantasy Book Critic

Read an extract right here. Tad Williams has also been under the Orbit spotlight this month, so if you haven’t tried Tad yet, go here to see just what you’re missing.

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Bitter Seeds is an audacious fantasy retelling of the events of World War II – where Nazis create superhumans that can throw fire, see the future and turn invisible, whilst the British warlocks use dark magics to hold back the German invasion. I was totally wowed by the deliciously sinister atmosphere of this novel, with its endlessly imaginative plot twists and awesome superhero-like characters. Ian has a very bright future ahead of him and I’m so glad that we’ve been able to take him on in the UK.

Bitter Seeds was released in the US last year to huge acclaim – here’s what people have said so far:

‘A major talent… I can’t wait to see more’ George R. R. Martin

‘Mad English warlocks battling twisted Nazi psychics? Yes please, thank you. Tregillis’s debut has a white-knuckle plot, beautiful descriptions, and complex characters– an unstoppable Vickers of a novel’ Cory Doctorow
 
‘Tregillis delivers a dynamite first novel in Bitter Seeds’ SFRevu.com
 
‘Bitter Seeds is hands down the best debut of 2010 so far’ Fantasy Book Critic
 
‘The crème de la crème of SFF debuts this year!’ Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist

Look out for Bitter Seeds in December next year! Its sequels The Coldest War and Necessary Evil will be released in February 2013 and April 2013 respectively.

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In Remic’s future vision of Earth, nuclear warheads can be hidden in a suitcase, bio-plagues can be held in a teardrop . . . and the elite organisation known as Spiral is humanity’s last line of defence against global armageddon. Operating in secret, Spiral fights a constant war against rogue states, deadly assassins and ruthless dictators that will not stop at anything to get what they want – even if it means the Earth’s destruction.

Praise for Andy Remic’s Spiral trilogy:

Hugely entertaining and packed with more explosive action scenes than is probably decent, SPIRAL starts off loud and ends in a bang” WATERSTONE’S BOOKS QUARTERLY

“Spiral is certainly chock full of action … ideal summer reading if you’re looking for something filmic” SFRevu

“A new writer who knows what a regular reader sitting on the bus wants - action . . . Pure Die Hard, pure Rambo. This has got to be a film, surely!” LADSMAG 

“Fans of the action adventure genre will not be disappointed by SPIRAL . . .  A light, fast read with quick action” THE REVIEWS PAGE

About the author:

ANDY REMIC is a larger-than-life action man, chainsaw warrior and chef. He has written a variety of thriller, SF and fantasy novels, and sometimes delves into the murky underworld of teaching. If pushed to describe himself, Remic claims to have a love of extreme sports, violent computer games and kickass bikes. Andy is also married and has sired two strapping young boy cubs. Remic is now working on various new SF and fantasy projects, and threatens he will never stop writing.

Andy can be found on the web at his personal website.

Keep your eyes peeled for a couple of articles from Andy in the near future!

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Everyone at Orbit extends their congratulations to Kelley for this much-deserved success.

SPELL BOUND is the penultimate title in Kelley’s hugely popular Women of the Otherworld series. The final book will be called 13 and is due to be released in summer 2012.

Kelley recently spoke more about the series here.

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And I know Jim likes to keep us guessing, but his plot twists in this are epic …

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And remember, you can read samples from all of the books at the new Parasol Protectorate Facebook page.

*Goes live on Sunday the 10th!

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Current US covers for Iron Druid series

I’m very pleased to announce that Orbit UK has acquired an imaginative, witty and action-packed new urban fantasy trilogy which is currently getting a huge buzz in the US.

The Iron Druid trilogy by Kevin Hearne is set in Arizona and introduces us to Atticus O’Sullivan. He’s a rare book salesman, herb peddler, and 2,000 year old druid – the last of his kind – who has been on the run for over two millennia from a very angry ancient Celtic god. The books are set in the modern day world, where gods, myths, and magic are very much alive.  The first book HOUNDED primarily features the many Celtic gods; HEXED will focus on Coyote and the Bacchants; HAMMERED will be about a plot against Thor. (Everybody hates Thor.)

Kevin Hearne was also excited about the deal, saying: ‘I’m thrilled to be with Orbit UK and hope people will enjoy this blend of history and legend dropped into the modern world. The rich mythology of the Irish is endlessly fascinating to me, and an allusion to British lore in HOUNDED will eventually become important later in the series as Atticus finds himself in trouble near Windsor Castle.’

I first read the manuscript for HOUNDED in 2009 but it was before I moved to Orbit, and although I loved the story, I couldn’t see a way to make it work on my list back then (I was mainly publishing crime thrillers). When I heard the Iron Druid series was still looking for a UK home I couldn’t believe my luck, and I’m delighted to be bringing Atticus to the UK after all. And since we’re publishing these books this September, October and November, I don’t have long to wait to share them with everyone else here too. You’re in for a treat!

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THE MAN

THE PLAN
You might wonder how fantasy writers do their worldbuilding, and Tim Lebbon will be gathering a LOT of new material this weekend. Today, Tim and four of his friends are driving to Fort William in Scotland, ready to begin the Three Peaks Challenge – the challenge being to scale all three peaks in three days. OMG.

The adventure will commence with the ascent of Ben Nevis tomorrow at 5pm, with the team hoping to descend before 11pm. This sounds dangerous enough already to me – mountaineering, in the dark?! But this is only the start. They next drive to Scafell Pike in Cumbria and start that climb early on Sunday morning, head-torches on full-beam. Then it’s on to Snowdon where, if everything goes to plan (…) they’ll finish their descent by 5pm, thus completing the challenge in 24 hours. Tim seemed very sure that no part of the climb would take place on the train either, definitely not. So, the group are aiming to collect some foot-miles of almost 10,000 feet of ascent and descent, with 27 miles walked, as well as about 500 miles in a mini-bus. As I write this, it’s thundering here in London, so fingers crossed for him up north.

THE CHALLENGE
Easy … or maybe not so much. At the foot of Ben Nevis it could be glorious sunshine, while at the top there could be white-outs. Snowdon has ‘snow’ in its name for good reason. And Scafell Pike has slopes of loose rock and shale. But Tim has trained for months and will be spurred on by the fact he’s doing it for charity — and here’s more on the St David’s Foundation and Tim’s just giving page here if you want to support the cause. Tim has also climbed a mountain a week for the last few weeks: the Blorenge, Sugarloaf, Skirrid and Pen-y-Fan – all in South Wales. He’s run more than fifteen miles per week, with cycling and walking every day too. But his training has taken place in reasonable weather, with no snowstorms, and he’s always known where he’s going.

But that’s (so I’ve been told) part of the fun. Five men against the wilderness (although there is a cafe on top of Snowdon). Five men battling the wild (although there are lots of food stops between mountains). But it will be one huge adventure, and upon Tim’s return I’ve been promised a full report, with photographs. This all sounds highly demanding and, all in all, rather dangerous. But that’s why it’s a ‘challenge’. Sometimes an author needs more than just a walk in the park.

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