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
From the acclaimed author of Mr. Shivers and The Company Man comes a new tale of gothic intrigue set during the Vaudeville era.
Visit the book site
by - August 5th, 2010
It’s been a while since I posted on the Orbit blog. Running three separate websites of my own has kinda sapped my blogging energies. However, Aussie Con 4 is just around the corner, and down here we’re very excited to be getting the opportunity to meet visiting Orbit-ites Charlie Stross, Kate Elliot, Mira Grant, Gail Carriger, Helen Lowe, and of course Kim Stanley Robinson.
So … I’m delighted to say that Mira Grant has guest blogged at my main site on pseudonyms and things. Charlie Stross has promised me a post when he’s finished eating “yesterday’s stone cold vomit” (*Facebook reference on edits). And I’m about to email Gail, Kate and Helen (fell free to beat me to it gals!) in the hope that they’ll also drop by and say hello.
And while you’re floating around my blog enjoying Mira Grant’s post, you can back track to Jon Courtenay Grimwood ruminating articulately about repeating yourself in your writing.
Stay shiny, y’all.
Marianne de Pierres
- - July 21st, 2010
The August pick for io9.com’s Book Club is N.K. Jemisin’s THE HUNDRED THOUSAND KINGDOMS! Click here to read the first chapter.
We’re excited for Nora, especially because you can look forward to reading the second book, The Broken Kingdoms in November 2010. Read the rest of this entry »
- - June 23rd, 2010
Tweet it from the rooftops, a new Culture novel by Iain M. Banks will be released in October.
The title is SURFACE DETAIL, which refers to a number of things, not least one of the principal characters, who is covered, externally and internally, with congenitally administered tattoos.
Here’s the cover:
Here’s the blurb:
It begins in the realm of the Real, where matter still matters.
It begins with a murder.
And it will not end until the Culture has gone to war with death itself.
Lededje Y’breq is one of the Intagliated, her marked body bearing witness to a family shame, her life belonging to a man whose lust for power is without limit. Prepared to
risk everything for her freedom, her release, when it comes, is at a price, and to put things right she will need the help of the Culture.Benevolent, enlightened and almost infinitely resourceful though it may be, the Culture can only do so much for any individual. With the assistance of one of its most powerful – and arguably deranged – warships, Lededje finds herself heading into a combat zone not even sure which side the Culture is really on. A war – brutal, far-reaching – is already raging within the digital realms that store the souls of the dead, and it’s about
to erupt into reality.It started in the realm of the Real and that is where it will end. It will touch countless lives and affect entire civilizations, but at the centre of it all is a young woman whose need for revenge masks another motive altogether.
Orbit will be publishing SURFACE DETAIL worldwide in print and e-book editions this October.
- - June 3rd, 2010
The griffins have landed in the UK! Here’s one of the majestic beasts caught on camera causing havoc in London just today. With the arrival of these ferocious creatures of fire, it may be that half of the city will turn to desert by this evening . . .
We’re wondering if you’ve spotted any griffins in your local vicinity? Send your reports and photos to orbit@littlebrown.co.uk and we’ll reward the five most vigilant (and creative) people with copies of the first two books in the Griffin Mage series: Lord of the Changing Winds (UK/US/AUS) and Land of Burning Sands (UK/ US/ AUS). They’re released this month and next month in the UK, and are already available in the US.
The author, Rachel Neumeier - a long-term griffin observer and specialist - may be able to offer some helpful advice for dealing with any griffin nuisances in your local area. You can read Rachel’s account of what happens when griffins and humans clash on the SFX website. And for further information on the author, see her brand new website, launched just last week: www.rachelneumeier.com
- - April 30th, 2010
FEED has arrived and with it all the zombie noshing, political savvy, and smart-assed badassery you can handle. This isn’t your parent’s zombie story, although we’re pretty sure Mira Grant knows where the bodies are hidden…
The year was 2014. We had cured cancer. We had beaten the common cold. But in doing so we had created something new, something terrible that no one could stop. The infection spread, virus blocks taking over bodies and minds with one, unstoppable command: FEED.
Now, twenty years after the Rising, Georgia and Shaun Mason are on the trail of the biggest story of their lives– the dark conspiracy behind the infected. The truth will out, even if it kills them.
Head on over to www.theFEEDBOOK.com where you can learn the history of The Wall, find out more about the bloggers who saved the world when the mainstream media fell apart, get a glimpse of the web circa 2040, and read the first chapter! Plus keep an eye on our Twitter feed @orbitbooks for chances to win a copy of the book all day.
After the jump, have a look at some zombieriffic ads from 2040! Read the rest of this entry »
- - April 27th, 2010
Ever think you know exactly how a character in a novel should sound? Think you could put on a good performance of playing that character yourself?
Well Jeff Somers has set up a competition in which you have the chance to do just that. For the official website of his next novel, The Terminal State (UK/ US), Jeff is creating four mini video clips to represent four different characters from his series. He’s already provided some superb images to depict the nature of each character, and mini excerpts from the book have been supplied as scripts.
All that’s missing is you - the reading public - to put on your best acting voices and provide voiceovers for the videos. Whichever voice clip that Jeff feels best represents each character will be used on the final site. Visit this site to hear some examples that Jeff has provided himself, such as the one below. There, you’ll also find more information on how you can get creative and start sending in your own voiceover submissions.
- - April 14th, 2010
We just sent out a press release announcing a digital short fiction publishing program from Orbit (US). We’re aiming to launch in the fall with short fiction from some of your favorite authors. You can read the press release here . If you’d like to get updates about digital fiction from Orbit, sign up to our mailing list below!
- - April 7th, 2010
Changeless by Gail Carriger just hit the New York Times best seller list at #20!
Congratulations to Gail!
Whoo hoo!! We’re over the moon over here and hope you share in our excitement! I need to go find a football team so I can practice chest bumping!
You can check out the first chapter here or check out the video on how we made the cover for the upcoming Blameless here.
- - April 1st, 2010
Orbit is delighted, excited and not a little proud to announce the development of the world’s first 100% biodegradable ebook. As you all know (Bob), the problem with the current crop of ebooks is that the electrons that make up the work have a carbon cost. Certainly, the environmental impact of ebooks is much lower than for traditional publishing, but it is a finite and measurable amount.
An electron, yesterday
Not anymore! Orbit’s proprietary new ‘Brigadoon’ e-formatting allows for a 100% carbon-free reading experience. By exposing the ebook file to a short burst of Cherenkov Radiation upon delivery, the electrons composing the file actually decay into lower-energy electrons and tachyons after the first reading. The new, low-powered electrons return to the environment at a net carbon cost of practically zero, while the tachyons, as is their nature, travel backwards in time to replace the ebook file that has just disappeared during the decay of the electrons that formed it.
To explain in layman’s terms: the electrons return to the environment and the ebook effectively travels backwards in time, reinventing itself before each reading causes it to cease to exist. With reference to Clarke’s Third Law, we hope you’ll forgive us a triumphant ‘Hey, presto!’
All of Orbit’s April titles will be available in Brigadoon as well as epub format from all good replicators.
- - March 15th, 2010
Event dates are confirmed for Kelley Armstrong’s UK visit:
Tuesday 23rd March – Forbidden Planet, London
Wednesday 24th March – Waterstone’s Deansgate, Manchester
Friday 26th March – World Horror Con, Brighton
As a special treat, paperback copies of the beautifully re-jacketed Frostbitten will be exclusively available to buy two months in advance at the bookshop signings!
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