The stormtroopers wasted no time in commandeering the decks . . .

After last year’s shenanigans at the SFX Weekender, we couldn’t wait to do it all over again. Excitement levels were therefore approaching unstable levels last Friday, as the Orbit UK team – along with THE FALLEN BLADE author Jon Courtenay Grimwood and FATED author Benedict Jacka – caught a train to Prestatyn, to attend the third SFX Weekender. The convention – run by top British science fiction magazine SFX – has quickly become one of the most anticipated events in British SFF, and this year was again well-attended by authors, editors, scriptwriters and journalists, as well as TV stars of shows such as Red Dwarf, Torchwood and Doctor Who – not to mention hundreds of happy fans and cosplayers!

Orbit's Anne Clarke on the publishing panel

After settling into our chalets (an upgrade on last year, as they had double-glazing!) we watched our very own Anne Clarke on the How To Get Published panel and enjoyed the Kitschies Awards presented by Pornokitsch’s Anne Perry and Jared Shurin. Later, we met up with INTRUSION author Ken MacLeod and SEEDS OF EARTH author Michael Cobley, and headed to a party thrown by our friends at Tor UK.

On the Saturday, once we’d recovered from our cake and alcohol intake from the previous night, we really got stuck in to the panels and signings. Mike, Ken and Benedict all signed books for fans at the Forbidden Planet booth, and took part in some pretty packed panel discussions! Benedict debated genre definitions with other urban fantasy authors on the What is Urban Fantasy? panel, Mike asked whether literature is the only place still flying the flag for space opera, and Ken MacLeod discussed apocalyptic fiction on the We’re All Doomed! panel, making interesting points about the class aspects of survivalist fiction and the ‘cosy catastrophe’.

Later on, we teamed up with our esteemed colleagues at Gollancz to throw a party (probably setting a world record for ‘number of people crammed into a Pontins chalet’ in the process), before heading to the main stage and throwing some very dubious moves to the legendary Craig Charles’s DJ set. The dancefloor was a surreal mix of fans, authors, and a diverse assortment of aliens, robots and superheroes.

We all had a terrific time, and here are some photos to prove it!

Mike Cobley signs books for fans (including Death apparently) at the Forbidden Planet stand

Benedict Jacka (far left) during his panel on urban fantasy

Ken MacLeod (second right) chats with a fan

James Long and Anna Gregson took time to hang out with some famous faces . . .

The Orbit/Gollancz party proved so popular that the crowd spilled out onto the balcony!

Somewhere in this press of partygoers, the Orbit UK team are shaming themselves on the dancefloor. We like to think what we lacked in style, we made up for in enthusiasm . . .

It's funny how quickly it becomes normal to find yourself rubbing shoulders with huge, scary robots

Orbit's Jenni Hill with one of Dr Who's uber-scary Weeping Angels. Fortunately, this one didn't come to life after the photo was taken!

All of us at Orbit UK extend our thanks to everyone at SFX magazine for organising such a fabulous weekend! Roll on SFX Weekender 4 . . .

Share/Bookmark

February 2-4th: SFX Weekender
This convention in Prestatyn Sands, North Wales, will play host to several Orbit authors. Jon Courtenay Grimwood, Benedict Jacka, Michael Cobley, and Ken MacLeod will all be on panels and signing books (full schedule) — and we will have exclusive early copies of MacLeod’s Intrusion and Jacka’s Fated available.  Plus, our own Anne Clarke will appear on the “How to Get Published” panel on Friday evening.

Saturday, February 4th
Gail Z. Martin at B&N Carolina Place Mall, Pineville, NC, 1 PM.
Mira Grant (with Stephen Blackmoore) at Borderlands Books, San Francisco, CA, 3 PM.

Friday, February 10th
Gail Z. Martin at B&N Morrison Place, Charlotte, NC.

Saturday, February 11th
Gail Z. Martin at Books-a-Million Concord Mills, Concord, NC.

Wednesday, February 15th
N.K. Jemisin (with Livia Llewellyn) at KGB Fantastic Fiction, New York, NY, 7 PM.

February 17-19: SheVaCon
Gail Z. Martin will be at this science fiction convention in Roanoke, VA.

Thursday, February 23rd
Kate Griffin & Benedict Jacka signing advance copies of their new books (both being published in March) at Forbidden Planet, Shaftesbury Avenue, London, 6pm

February 24-26th: MystiCon
Gail Z. Martin will be at this SFF and horror convention in Roanoke, VA — including a launch party for The Dread in the con suite at 7 PM on Friday.

Saturday, February 25th
Gail Carriger as keynote speaker at the inaugural Passion & Prose Conference, Long Beach, CA.
Walter Jon Williams at Page One Bookstore, Albuquerque, NM, 7 PM.

Sunday, February 26th
Gail Carriger at SF in SF, San Francisco, CA, 1 PM.
Gail Carriger at Borderlands Books, San Francisco, CA, 6 PM.

Monday, February 27th
Robert Jackson Bennett at Book People, Austin, TX, 7 PM.

Wednesday, February 29th
Yes, it’s a leap year! Gail Carriger will be kicking off her tour for Timeless at Powell’s Books at Cedar Hill Crossing, Beaverton, OR, 7 PM.

Share/Bookmark

Released 01/09/2011

This week Terry Brooks’ The Measure of the Magic (UK /ANZ) is released. It’s the striking conclusion to his Legends of Shannara duology, which began with Bearers of the Black Staff  (UK / ANZ) and explores the pre-history of Terry’s beloved Shannara world. You can read a sample chapter here.

To mark the occasion, we’d like to draw your attention to a special auction that is happening for a very good cause.

Stuart Finnie, who lives in Scotland and is undoubtedly one of Terry Brooks’ biggest ever fans, has been collecting Terry Brooks books and memorabilia of all kinds since age 11. From manuscripts, proof copies and first editions, to a spectacular sword and stunning maps, the collection is extremely extensive and wide-ranging, with almost all of the items included signed by Terry or the artists involved. The estimated value of Stuart’s entire collection, which he calls his “whole life”, is £30,000.

And Stuart has now decided to auction this whole collection off, with proceeds going to the cancer charity Macmillan. Having suffered from cancer himself, Stuart now wants to give back to the people who have helped him. We and Terry think this is a fantastically generous idea and wish Stuart all the best with the auction. You can read more about it in this article from the Evening Times.

Anyone who is interested in buying the collection or would like further information please contact April Andrews at Macmillan on 0141 952 0085 or e-mail westofscotland@macmillan.org.uk

Share/Bookmark

At the after-show party (it was as glamorous as it sounds, honest) the beer and conversation flowed, and a fine time was had by the authors, editors and bloggers who attended.

Here are some photos of the day – if you missed it, don’t worry: there will a bigger, even better event next year!

  So awesome was this haul of books that it had to have two guards protecting it at all times. The copies of EQUATIONS OF LIFE (UK | US | ANZ) were deliberately placed at the front to lure people in with their hypnotic covers. Dastardly, we know.

The fantastic four, bracing themselves for the coming signing.

Tim Lebbon (or ‘Le Bon’ as the PA announcer repeatedly called him, to everyone’s amusement) and Simon Morden. Note the essential book-signing survival kit: water, tea, sharpie pens . . . and books.

Nicole Peeler, proudly showing the stylish new cover for TRACKING THE TEMPEST (UK | US | ANZ), and Philip Palmer. And moments later . . .

. . . the floodgates opened, and the book-signing action began.

Nicole chatting with a fan, while Philip remorselessly defaces a copy of HELL SHIP (UK | US | ANZ) in the background.

Jared from UK genre blog Pornokitsch telling Tim what a great book ECHO CITY (UK | ANZ) is. Tim already knows this, since he wrote it.

Signing books is a tiring business. Disaster almost struck when Tim fell asleep in the middle of scrawling his name.

Fortunately, the after-show party provided much needed liquid refreshment. Here, two gentlemen discuss how brilliant Simon Morden’s EQUATIONS OF LIFE is (it’s not yet been established whether this was a genuine conversation, or if they were lulled into a trance by the book’s hypnotic powers). 

Thanks to everyone who attended and made this event such a success! Roll on the Orbit Summer Signing 2012 . . .

Share/Bookmark

The Hell Ship hurtles through space. Inside the ship are thousands of slaves, each the last of their race. The Hell Ship and its infernal crew destroyed their homes, slaughtered their families and imprisoned them forever. But one champion refuses to succumb. Sharrock, reduced from hero to captive in one blow, has sworn vengeance. Although Sai-as, head of the alien slave horde, will ruthlessly enforce the status quo. But help is close. Jak has followed the Ship for years and their battles have left Jak broken, a mind in a starship’s body, focussed only on destroying the Ship. Together, can hunter and slave end this interstellar nightmare?

Philip has been kind enough to put up a ‘moodboard‘ of what has influenced his writing journey (a.k.a. time spent exploring space) and will be unveiling further creativity on this site and his blog over the next few weeks. You can also meet the man in person at Orbit’s upcoming London Summer signing on 30th July, so please come along and say hello!

Philip’s previous books have received praise from all quarters and here’s just a smidgeon of the excitement his books have generated:

‘Well written, fast moving and defiantly weird in places’ Jon Courtenay Grimwood
‘Palmer’s lip-smackingly over the top exploration of crime and retribution will delight’ GUARDIAN
‘Playful prose and relentless, explosive action make for an exceptional piece of high-adventure SF’ FINANCIAL TIMES ‘Entertaining far-future thriller . . . packed to bursting with invention’ SFX
‘Brimming with promise’ SCIFINOW

Share/Bookmark

                             

Orbit UK have gathered together some of our authors with books publishing this June-Aug, and are holding a BIG SUMMER SIGNING!

Come to Forbidden Planet, London on Saturday 30th July, 3-4pm, to meet…

TIM LEBBON, PHILIP PALMER, SIMON MORDEN and NICOLE PEELER

Four brilliant authors, loads of fantastic books and an entire shop worth of other exciting distractions.  What better way to spend a Saturday afternoon?

Full details on the Forbidden Planet events page, here.

Share/Bookmark

* Friday 3rd June: Alt.Fiction, Leicester

Phoenix Square, 7pm – more information

* Sunday 5th June: Hay Festival, Wales

Elmley Foundation Theatre, 7pm – more information

* Monday 6th June: British Library, London

Utopias and Other Worlds, 6.30pm – more information

* Tuesday 7th June:Birmingham SF Group

Birmingham Library Theatre, 7pm – more information

* Saturday 11th June: The Sage Gateshead

Presented with New Writing North, 7pm – more information

Tickets are needed for all events.

Share/Bookmark

After a busy launch day and extended signing session in London’s Forbidden Planet last Thursday, Trudi was whisked away to sunny Dublin on Friday morning. First stop was Eason’s, who had this fantastic window in place…

…and a full house of over 80 fans for the evening event. Trudi read a passage from the book, did a Q&A, and then some signing:

On Saturday there was a quick run around some of the other stores, signing stock including pre-ordered dedications for her fans who couldn’t be there to meet her in person. After a lot more signings and interviews Trudi even managed to squeeze in a little sightseeing before flying back to London, where she has spent the afternoon today in the Orbit UK office doing a ‘twinterview’ with Waterstones – see #tcav on Twitter for the final list of questions and answers. Now our Marketing guys are making her answer yet another set of questions, after which we will be releasing her for a well-deserved evening off!

Thank you to all Trudi’s fans who have already been to an event or followed the interview on Twitter – and if you haven’t caught her yet, check the tour dates via the link on the right of this page to find out where she’ll be next.

Share/Bookmark

Pre-mayhem pose in Forbidden Planet, just before we let in the hordes:

 Hope your arm doesn’t fall off, Trudi – the queue doesn’t look like going down any time soon . . .

And here’s your first fan:

We’ve never had a request for an author to sign a Kindle before, but last night not one but two superfans were delighted when Trudi agreed to do just that – in permanent silver marker!

A close-up of the freshly autographed Kindle:

Finally, here’s a posh arty pic of Trudi signing a non-digital book:

All in all it was a great evening – over 200 books signed for the extremely happy fans, Trudi was touched and delighted to see everyone, and it was the best possible start to her first major UK and European tour. Trudi is off to Ireland today for some events in Dublin, then back to England next week where she will be meeting fans at Costa Coffee in The Peacock’s Centre, Woking on Monday 9^th May at 7pm – tickets are still available from Waterstone’s Woking.  She will also be on twitter for a Waterstone’s ‘twinterview’ at 4pm on Tuesday 10^th May.  Just tweet your questions using #tcav and there are signed copies of The Rogue for the best questions!

For a list of all Trudi’s other UK events, just click here or click the link on the right hand side of this page to find the one nearest you.

Share/Bookmark

Jon Courtenay Grimwood and Ken MacLeod will be taking part in a panel discussion on ‘Science Fiction and International Orders’ at the London School of Economics on Thursday 17th February.  The event will look at what scholars in the social sciences can learn from the imagined worlds of science fiction and fantasy.  Tickets are free but must be registered for here and the event is from1.15-2.45pm.

Full details can be found here.

Share/Bookmark