Archive for News

2018 Locus Awards Nominations

The 2018 Locus Awards nominations are in and we’re excited to announce seven Orbit books made the list!

Science Fiction

PERSEPOLIS RISING cover Paperback cover of Kim Stanley Robinson's NEW YORK 2140

PERSEPOLIS RISING by James S. A. Corey [US | UK | ANZ]

PROVENANCE by Ann Leckie [US | UK | ANZ]

NEW YORK 2140 [US | UK | ANZ]

Fantasy

THE STONE SKY by N. K. Jemisin [US | UK | ANZ]

JADE CITY by Fonda Lee [US | UK | ANZ]

THE DELIRIUM BRIEF by Charles Stross [UK | ANZ]

First Novel

AUTONOMOUS by Annalee Newitz [UK | ANZ]

Orbit is also among the top ten publishers nominated in the best publisher category! Check out the full list of nominees here. Winners will be announced during the Locus Awards Weekend in Seattle WA, June 22-24, 2018. Congratulations to all of the nominees.

2018 Gemmell Award Nominations

We’re happy to announce that five Orbit titles are nominated for the 2018 Gemmell Awards!

Vote for your favorites now.

Voting closes June 1st. The winners will be announced July 14th. Congratulations to all the nominees.

Legend Award (Best Fantasy Novel of 2017)

THE FALL OF DRAGONS by Miles Cameron [US | ANZ]

 

Morningstar Award (Best Fantasy Debut of 2017)

KINGS OF THE WYLD by Nicholas Eames [US | UK | ANZ]

THE TETHERED MAGE by Melissa Caruso [US | UK | ANZ]

AGE OF ASSASSINS by RJ Barker [US | UK | ANZ]

THE COURT OF BROKEN KNIVES by Anna Smith Spark [US]

 

Ravenheart Award (Best Fantasy Book Cover Art of 2017)

KINGS OF THE WYLD by Nicholas Eames [US | UK | ANZ]

Cover Launch: THE HOD KING by Josiah Bancroft

Josiah Bancroft’s stellar debut series, The Books of Babel, began with Senlin Ascends (US | UK | ANZ), which was called “a modern book that feels like a timeless classic” (Pierce Brown), and the sequel Arm of the Sphinx (US | UK | ANZ) publishes in March. But today we can’t wait to show you the cover for book three, The Hod King.

Senlin’s journey up the dangerous and labyrinthine world of the Tower continues in December.

Art by Ian Leino with design by Lauren Panepinto.

Praise for The Books of Babel:

“I’m wildly in love with this book.” – Pierce Brown, author of Red Rising

“One of my favorite books of all time.” – Mark Lawrence, author of Prince of Thorns

“Senlin is a man worth rooting for, and his strengthening resolve and character is as marvelous and sprawling as the tower he climbs.” – The Washington Post

“What is remarkable about this novel, quite apart from its rich, allusive prose, is Bancroft’s portrayal of Senlin, a good man in a desperate situation, and the way he changes in response to his experiences in his ascent.” – The Guardian

Senlin Ascends crosses the everyday strangeness and lyrical prose of Borges and Gogol with all the action and adventure of high fantasy. I loved it, and grabbed the next one as soon as I turned the last page.” – Django Wexler, author of The Thousand Names

“With deceptive simplicity Bancroft brings this gothic place and its denizens to a colourful life…I loved it!” — Adrian Selby, author of Snakewood

Senlin Ascends is an adventure rife with character, voice and beauty – a well-polished knife drawn out slowly.” – Sam Sykes, author of The City Stained Red

Senlin Ascends is a unique masterpiece. A brilliant debut. Highly recommended!” – Michael R. Fletcher, author of Beyond Redemption

“This is fantasy storytelling of a high order.” – The Toronto Star

“Brilliant debut fantasy . . . This novel goes off like a firework and suggests even greater things in the author’s future.” – Publishers Weekly

“Like a blend of Kafka’s The Castle and Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast, Josiah Bancroft’s ambitious first chapter in his The Books of Babel series is an impressive display of imagination and humor.” — SciFiNow

Acquisition Announcement: EMPIRE OF SAND by Tasha Suri

As announced in Publishers Weekly, Orbit has acquired World English rights to debut author Tasha Suri’s EMPIRE OF SAND, a captivating epic fantasy inspired by Mughal-Indian history. If you loved City of Brass, Uprooted, or The Wrath & the Dawn, EMPIRE OF SAND is your new must-read.

A nobleman’s daughter with magic in her blood. An empire built on the dreams of enslaved gods. 

The Amrithi are outcasts; nomads descended of desert spirits, they are coveted and persecuted throughout the Empire for the power in their blood. Mehr is the illegitimate daughter of an imperial governor and an exiled Amrithi mother she can barely remember, but whose face and magic she has inherited. Unbeknownst to her, she can manipulate the dreams of the gods to alter the face of the world.

When Mehr’s power comes to the attention of the Emperor’s most feared mystics, she is coerced into their service, as they are determined to harness her magic for the glory of the Empire. She must use every ounce of will, subtlety, and power she possesses to resist the mystics’ cruel agenda—and should she fail, the gods themselves may awaken seeking vengeance…

Look out for EMPIRE OF SAND this fall! While you’re waiting with bated breath, go say hello to Tasha on Twitter at @tashadrinkstea. Please give her a warm welcome to Orbit!

2017 Nebula Award Finalists

The 2017 Nebula Award Nominations are in and we’re excited to announce that FOUR Orbit titles have been nominated for Best Novel!

THE STONE SKY by N. K. Jemisin (US | UK | ANZ)

JADE CITY by Fonda Lee (US | UK | ANZ)

SIX WAKES by Mur Lafferty (US)

AUTONOMOUS by Annalee Newitz (UK | ANZ).

The awards will be presented in the 2018 SFWA Nebula Conference in Pittsburgh, PA on May 19th. Congratulations to all! Read the full list of nominees here.

Claire North’s 84K Optioned For Major International TV Series

Sound the ‘awesome news’ siren! We’re thrilled to confirm that Claire North’s astounding new novel 84K has been optioned for television by Tall Story Pictures.

The full press release is below. We publish 84K in hardback, trade format, ebook and audio on 24th May.

Rights for the award-winning Claire North’s new novel, 84K, have been optioned by Tall Story Pictures, an ITV Studios production company who plan to develop it as a major international television drama series.

Described by writer and activist Cory Doctorow as ‘an extraordinary novel that stands with the best of dystopian fiction, from 1984 to The Chrysalids, with dashes of The Handmaid’s Tale’, 84K [UK/US/ANZ] is a speculative fiction tale in which people’s lives are assigned a monetary value, based on how ‘useful’ they are deemed to society.

Claire North is a pseudonym for the author Catherine Webb, who wrote her first published novel when she was just fourteen years old. Her first book under the Claire North name was the word-of-mouth bestseller The First Fifteen lives of Harry August [UK/US/ANZ] – a Richard and Judy, Radio 2 and Waterstones book club title. Rights in Harry August are already under option with Blueprint pictures, the production team behind the film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri – winner of four Golden Globes and nominee in seven Oscar categories this year.

This rights deal news follows multiple accolades for Claire North over the past year, including her being shortlisted for the Sunday Times/PFD Young Writer of the Year Award for her novel The End of the Day [UK/US/ANZ], and winning the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel for The Sudden Appearance of Hope [UK/US/ANZ].

 

2018 Audie Awards Finalists

We’re thrilled to announce three Orbit audio books made it to the finals of the 2018 Audie Awards!

Best Female Narrator
THE STONE SKY by N.K. Jemisin (US), Read by Robin Miles

Science Fiction
PROVENANCE by Ann Leckie (US | UK), Read by Adjoa Andoh
THE STONE SKY by N.K. Jemisin (US), Read by Robin Miles
NEW YORK 2140 by Kim Stanley Robinson (US | UK), Read by Suzanne Toren, Robin Miles, Peter Ganim, Jay Snyder, Caitlin Kelly, Michael Crouch, Ryan Vincent Anderson, Christopher Ryan Grant, and Robert Blumenfeld

The winners will be announced at the Audie Awards Gala on May 31st.

Congratulations to our authors, Hachette Audio, and the rest of the nominees!

Listen to samples of our nominated audiobooks:

Listen to THE STONE SKY here.

Listen to NEW YORK 2140 here.

Listen to PROVENANCE here.

Acquisition announcement: Sebastien de Castell’s SPELLSLINGER

Orbit US has acquired North American rights to Spellslinger, a six book adventure fantasy series by Canadian author Sebastien de Castell from Bonnier Zaffre. In this fast-paced, humorous series, Kellen has to use his wits and learn a few tricks to survive as a mage without magic

The first four books will be out this year, starting with SPELLSLINGER in July followed by SHADOWBLACK, CHARMCASTER and SOULBINDER. The final two books in the series are due out in 2019. Please join us in welcoming Sebastien to Orbit. You can find him on Twitter at @decastell or learn more about him at his website, http://decastell.com/

A would-be mage with no magic of his own has to defeat powerful enemies with only cunning and deception in the first book of an exciting new adventure fantasy series from Sebastien de Castell.

Magic is a con game.

Kellen is moments away from facing his first mage’s duel and proving his worth as a spellcaster. There’s just one problem: his magic is fading.

Facing exile unless he can pass the mage trials, Kellen risks everything – even his own life – in search of a way to restore his magic. But when an enigmatic stranger arrives in town, she challenges Kellen to take a different path.

Ferius Parfax is one of the elusive Argosi – a traveller who lives by her wits and the cards she carries. She’s daring and unpredictable, but she may be Kellen’s only hope.

Acquisition announcement: THE GREY BASTARDS by Jonathan French

Jonathan French, author of gritty fantasy The Grey Bastards

Orbit UK has acquired rights to The Grey Bastards plus a sequel by US author Jonathan French.

It’s a wild and gritty epic fantasy debut that invites you to enter the world of orcs and half-orcs – as you’ve never seen them before . . .

You might have heard of The Grey Bastards because it won Mark Lawrence’s Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off 2016 – meaning that a panel of ten top fantasy bloggers picked it as the winner out of hundreds of entries. And this win was thoroughly deserved . . . This fantasy debut is brimming with raucous energy.

It’s the story of Jackal – who is proud to be a Grey Bastard, a member of a sworn brotherhood of half-orcs. Unloved and unwanted in civilized society, the Bastards eke out a hard life in the desolate no-man’s-land called the Lots, protecting frail and noble human civilization from invading bands of vicious full-blooded orcs . . .

Jonathan’s voice stood out to us as one of the freshest we’ve read in years. The story overflows with crisp dialogue, blood-soaked action, an entertaining sardonic voice and a wonderfully compelling cast of characters. It’s an irresistible action tale that will thrill readers of fantasy such as Joe Abercrombie, Mark Lawrence, Stan Nicholl’s Orcs series and Markus Heitz’s Dwarves series.

And just look at the whole host of amazing reviews it’s already received!

‘Frankly excellent’ ~ Mark Lawrence, bestselling author of Prince of Thorns

The Grey Bastards dragged me in immediately. A bloody good tale of battles, intrigue, betrayal, duty and war pigs’ ~ Brian McClellan, author of Promise of Blood

‘A gritty adventure with a fantastic, foul-mouthed voice and filthy, lovable characters in a wonderfully original world of half-orcs on giant hogs.  Fans of Abercrombie’s The First Law or the soldierly banter of Erikson’s Malazan Book of the Fallen will like this a lot’ ~ Django Wexler

‘Jonathan French has to be lauded for his plot ingenuity, bawdy charm and vicious characters. The Grey Bastards has instantaneously catapulted him into my must-read list’ ~Fantasy Book Critic

‘I’d like to raise a tankard to The Grey Bastards’ brilliance’ ~ Fantasy Faction

‘I f*cking loved this book. The Grey Bastards went down like a shot of good top-shelf tequila: warm and smooth, but with one hell of a spicy kick’ ~ Bibliosanctum

These guys were all pretty darn excited about the half-orcs, and dammit – you should be too. Look out for The Grey Bastards in June 2018.

And as the Bastards say, LIVE IN THE SADDLE, DIE ON THE HOG!

Winner of Africa’s First Speculative Fiction Award Announced alongside Orbit Publishing Deal

 Tade Thompson, author of ROSEWATER (photo credit David Thompson)Please join us in welcoming Tade Thompson to the Orbit family! The news is out – we will be publishing his Rosewater trilogy next year.

Tade’s also just had another VERY exciting bit of news to announce, as Rosewater was awarded Best Novel today at the inaugural Nommo Awards. These are the first awards ever given for African speculative fiction or science fiction – a landmark moment for the genre and for Tade!

The winners were announced as part of the Ake Arts and Book Festival in Abeokuta, Nigeria, and also included Nnedi Okorafor’s Binti winning Best Novella and a tie between Lesley Nneka Arimah and Tendai Huchu for Best Short Story. The awards were set up by the African Speculative Fiction Society.

While Rosewater was originally published by indie press Apex Book Company agent Alexander Cochran (C+W Agency ) sold world rights in this and two more novels in the trilogy to Orbit last month. The trilogy will chronicle the effects and aftereffects of a biological catastrophe first on an individual, then on a community and finally the world.

Rosewater is a town on the edge. A community formed around the edges of a mysterious biodome, its residents comprise the hopeful, the hungry and the helpless – people eager for a glimpse inside the dome or a taste of its rumoured healing powers.
Kaaro is a government agent with a criminal past. He has seen inside the biodome, and doesn’t care to again – but when something begins killing off others like himself, Kaaro must defy his masters to search for an answer, facing his dark history and coming to a realisation about a horrifying future.

Tade Thompson is the author of Rosewater, a John W. Campbell Award finalist and Best Novel winner for the inaugural 2017 NOMMO Awards for African speculative fiction. His novella The Murders of Molly Southbourne has recently been optioned for screen adaptation. He also writes short stories, notably ‘The Apologists’ which was nominated for a British Science Fiction Association award. Born in London to Yoruba parents, he lives and works on the south coast of England where he battles an addiction to books.