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- Anne Clarke - June 13th, 2013
It is my great delight to reveal the cover for the book that everyone will be talking about in 2014.
Melanie is a very special girl. Dr Caldwell calls her ‘our little genius’.
Every morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for class. When they come for her, Sergeant keeps his gun pointing at her while two of his people strap her into the wheelchair. She thinks they don’t like her. She jokes that she won’t bite, but they don’t laugh.
Melanie loves school. She loves learning about spelling and sums and the world outside the classroom and the children’s cells. She tells her favourite teacher all the things she’ll do when she grows up. Melanie doesn’t know why this makes Miss Justineau look sad.
The Girl With All the Gifts will be published by Orbit worldwide in 2014.
by Anne Clarke • 2 Comments • Posted in: Art, Covers, Fiction, New Titles, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Orbit US, Uncategorized
- The Orbit Team - June 9th, 2013
We are incredibly sad to report that our beloved author, Iain Banks, died on Sunday, 9th June, following his cancer diagnosis in March. It has been Orbit’s great privilege to publish all of Iain’s SF works. Over the course of 25 years since the publication of CONSIDER PHLEBAS, we have been dazzled, entertained, heart-broken, inspired, exhilarated and – on a number of occasions – horrified, by the stories, characters (human and otherwise) and words that he has shared with us. As a person, and a writer, Iain’s generosity was boundless; his imagination spectacular; his intelligence piercing; and his spirit irresistible. The science fiction genre has lost one of its greatest and most original voices and we have lost one of our heroes. We will miss Iain enormously, and we extend our deepest sympathies to his family and friends.
The Orbit Team
by The Orbit Team • 11 Comments • Posted in: Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Orbit US, Uncategorized
- James Long - May 24th, 2013
Next month sees the release of ABADDON’S GATE [UK | US | ANZ], the third novel in the Expanse series that began with the critically acclaimed LEVIATHAN WAKES [UK | US | ANZ] and was continued in CALIBAN’S WAR [UK | US | ANZ].
io9 described the series as being ‘as close as you’ll get to a Hollywood blockbuster in book form’ and they’re absolutely right. This is a space opera series that incorporates everything that we love about this subgenre: epic space battles, a terrifying alien menace and a healthy dose of mystery and intrigue. And of course, spaceships.
It’s a spaceship that actually kickstarts the entire story in the Expanse series – or to be more precise, an abandoned spaceship issuing a distress call (which I think we can all agree is never a good sign). Captain Jim Holden and his plucky crew investigate, and what they find quickly sends the entire solar system into chaos.
This got us thinking about creepy, abandoned spaceships (or not-so-abandoned-spaceships, as the case may be). Here’s our top five.
The Engineer ship from Alien
Thanks to Prometheus we now know a lot more about this spooky abandoned spaceship and its infamous sole inhabitant, the Space Jockey. But back when Alien was released, we knew no more than the doomed crew of the Nostromo, who decided – in true horror movie style – that going inside the creepy spaceship was a Really Good Idea. The gloomy interior of the ship, not to mention the discovery of its long-dead inhabitant, fuels a growing sense of tension and unease that makes this sequence one of the most gripping of the entire film. Read the rest of this entry »
by James Long • 3 Comments • Posted in: Commentary, New Titles, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Orbit US, Uncategorized
- The Orbit Team - May 19th, 2013
We’re thrilled to congratulate Kim Stanley Robinson, whose 2312 won the Nebula Award for Best Novel of 2012.
Visit our 2312 page to read an extract from the book and explore a visual guide to terraforming an asteroid.
The Nebula Awards are selected and presented by the members of the SFWA, and honor the best in science fiction and fantasy across a number of categories. The awards were announced over the weekend at the Nebula Awards Banquet in San Jose, CA. Visit the SFWA for a complete list of the nominees and winners.
by The Orbit Team • Post a Comment • Posted in: All posts, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Orbit US, Uncategorized
- Ellen Wright - May 7th, 2013
In two weeks, the Nebula Awards Weekend will be taking place in San Jose, CA. Best of luck to all the nominees, but especially Kim Stanley Robinson and N.K. Jemisin, who both have works nominated for Best Novel this year! Here are some of the other conventions and events where you’ll find Orbit authors this month.
May 18-19: John R. Fultz @ Big Wow Comicfest, San Jose, CA
May 22: Catch Mur Lafferty, author of The Shambling Guide to New York City, in an online event at Shindig! More details here.
May 24-26: Mira Grant (as Seanan McGuire) @ OASIS, Orlando, FL
May 24-27: Mur Lafferty @ Balticon, Baltimore, MD
May 30: Michael J. Sullivan @ Audie Awards Gala, New York, NY
May 31 – June 2: Gail Z. Martin @ ConCarolinas, Charlotte, NC
by Ellen Wright • Post a Comment • Posted in: Events, Orbit US, Uncategorized
- Jenni Hill - March 18th, 2013
The war is lost. The stone mage wakes. One slave will defy him . . .
Ian Irvine’s REBELLION (UK|US|ANZ) is released this week, an epic fantasy novel in which characters Tali and Rix lead the revolution against an evil sorcerer’s corrupt regime. In this second volume in Ian’s Tainted Realm trilogy, former slave Tali must return to her underground homeland to free her people, while Rix battles besieging armies above.
We thought we’d celebrate REBELLION with a post on the long tradition of rebellions in fiction – here are some of the most iconic rebels we’ve found . . . but who are your favourites?
Lucifer – Better to reign in Hell than to serve in Heaven.
Milton’s charismatic depiction of Lucifer battling his creator in PARADISE LOST caused strong feelings in all who read it –William Blake said he was ‘of the Devil’s party without knowing it’. Milton definitely gave Lucifer all the best lines! One of literature’s first anti-heroes, Milton’s Lucifer influenced writers from the Romantic Poets to modern fantasy authors such as Philip Pullman, Anne Rice and Neil Gaiman.
Robin Hood and the Merry Men – He was a good outlawe, and dyde pore men moch god.
Was this Nottingham-based outlaw actually fictional? Was he a peasant or disowned aristocrat? Did he prefer a sword or a bow? We can’t be sure – so much has been lost to history! Our first written record of ‘Robyn Hode’ is found in a ballad dated around 1450, and the tale has grown since then – it’s no wonder – an outlaw who steals from the rich to give to the poor is an attractive fantasy even now.
Friends of the ABC – Do you hear the people sing?
The resistance group in Victor Hugo’s LES MISÉRABLES has become something of a symbol for doomed and idealistic youth. These ill-fated young students ultimately die on the barricades, the June Rebellion in which they took part defeated by the soldiers of King Louis Philippe I. The group’s name is a pun on ‘abaissés’ – a word in French meaning lowly or abased, which when pronounced sounds much like the first three letters of the alphabet.
The Rebel Alliance – It’s a trap!
How could we leave out the ultimate sci-fi dissidents, The Rebel Alliance, a.k.a. ‘Rebel scum’? The Alliance to Restore the Republic numbers characters such as Luke, Leia and Han Solo among its members, and was formed by senators who disagreed with Emperor Palpatine’s power grabbing ways – although some versions of STAR WARS canon actually imply that the Emperor himself had a hand in making it, never imagining that it would become a serious threat…
V – Remember, remember the Fifth of November…
Alan Moore’s graphic novel V FOR VENDETTA featured this alphabet-obsessed anarchist, the valiant, violent and vengeful V. Corrupt politicians beware! Moore drew on influence such as George Orwell’s 1984 and the contemporary politics of Thatcher and Reagan in creating his dystopian Britain. The Guy Fawkes mask worn by this character has been adopted as a symbol by the activist group Anonymous, and the masks have been worn at political protests all around the world.
by Jenni Hill • Post a Comment • Posted in: Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Orbit US, Uncategorized
- Rose Tremlett - March 8th, 2013
If you could fix the world, with just one pill, how far would you go to force society to swallow?
Imagine a near-future London where advances in medical science have led to the development of a single-dose pill which, taken when pregnant, eradicates many common genetic defects from an unborn baby.
When Hope Morrison refuses to take the pill, is this a private matter of individual choice, or wilful neglect of her unborn child?
‘This near-future sci-fi novel could almost be a sequel to George Orwell’s 1984 – 2084, perhaps’ Sun
‘A disturbingly real socialist dystopia’ Guardian
‘Thoughtful, plausible and scary’ Sunday Telegraph
‘Excellent’ Daily Mail
‘Intrusion is a finely-tuned, in-your-face argument of a novel… MacLeod will push your buttons – and make you think’ SFX
‘The message is powerful and the warning crystal clear’ SciFi Now
‘MacLeod creates a frighteningly plausible dystopia’ Interzone
‘A twistedly clever, frighteningly plausible dystopian glimpse’ Iain M. Banks
‘A haunting, gripping story of resistance, terror, and an all-consuming state that commits its atrocities with the best of intentions’ Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing
‘MacLeod certainly delights in raising questions which creatively discomfort his fellow socialists’ Morning Star
‘It’s all so close to the bone it’s almost painful… Intrusion is a rather frightening vision of the road we are taking with our smoking bans and our obesity epidemics and our CCTVs. Particularly if you’re a woman’ Bookbag.co.uk
by Rose Tremlett • 1 Comment • Posted in: Orbit UK, Reviews, Uncategorized
- Anna Gregson - March 6th, 2013
This week sees one of the most important events in the urban fantasy calendar – the release of a new Mercy Thompson novel!
It’s so hard having to wait for the next chapter in the lives of mechanic and shapeshifter Mercy and her Alpha lover Adam, but the time has finally come. FROST BURNED (UK | ANZ), from the bestselling, chart-busting Patricia Briggs is out now – and everyone is loving it:
Mercy is my favorite urban fantasy heroine, period . . . I truly enjoyed Frost Burned . . . I cannot wait for what comes next for Mercy, Adam and the gang – THE BOOK SMUGGLERS
Fabulous . . . Such a well done urban fantasy world – SMEXY BOOKS
Ms Briggs has penned another winner that once I started I didn’t want to put down – FICTION VIXEN
I’ll always want more Mercy, but I’m learning that however long it takes, Mercy Thompson books are always worth the wait – ALL THINGS URBAN FANTASY
The comments above make one thing very clear: what’s both wonderful and sad about Patty’s books is that they’re so addictive, it’s hard not to gobble them up straight away! Then comes a tough wait for the next one . . .
So if you’ve already read everything you can get your hands on from the worlds of Mercy Thompson and the Alpha and Omega books (how could we blame you??), don’t forget that there’s a little something special from Patty also out at the moment: the tale of ARALORN (UK | ANZ).
Aralorn has fled her noble birthright to become a mercenary spy, and she also happens to be a shapeshifter . . . Everyone who’s read Patricia Briggs knows that the characters and relationships she creates are deliciously compelling. The story between Aralorn and the enigmatic, powerful Wolf is no exception!
Check this out for another hit of Patty’s fantastic writing. And if you’d like to find out more about the story behind FROST BURNED, take a peek at this interview over at Badass Book Reviews.
by Anna Gregson • Post a Comment • Posted in: Ebooks, Fiction, New Titles, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Reviews, Uncategorized
- Rose Tremlett - March 4th, 2013
Orbit is so excited to announce that Terry Brooks will be visiting the UK for the first time in over 5 years! He will be in London on holiday but has spared an evening to schedule an event at Forbidden Planet – on Wednesday 3rd April at 6pm. He will be signing copies of the first in his new series, Wards of Faerie (now available in paperback) and his new hardback Bloodfire Quest (out 12th March). Like our Orbit UK Facebook page for full details and updates.
And for all Terry’s UK fans who can’t make it to London, never fear… whether you can attend the signing or not, every person who emails a question for Terry to orbit@littlebrown.co.uk will receive a Bloodfire Quest badge! We will film his answers so everyone gets to ‘meet’ him. Plus the top three questions will win a signed and dedicated book. (UK entrants only).
Join us to celebrate a great year for a legend of the fantasy genre! 2013 is an especially exciting year for Terry as his full Dark Legacy of Shannara series will available, with the last novel in the trilogy, Witch Wraith, publishing this July.
Wards of Faerie: The Dark Legacy of Shannara, Book One
Bloodfire Quest: The Dark Legacy of Shannara, Book Two
Witch Wraith: The Dark Legacy of Shannara, Book Three
by Rose Tremlett • 2 Comments • Posted in: Contests, Events, Giveaway, Orbit UK, Signings and Events, Uncategorized
- Anna Gregson - February 21st, 2013
Presenting the brand new cover for WITCH WRAITH (UK | ANZ), the third and final volume in the Dark Legacy of Shannara series by Terry Brooks.
Shannara fans are getting a real treat this year, since they’ll be able to get hold of all three books in this new series by mid-summer. (Thanks Terry!)
Book 1 in this series WARDS OF FAERIE (UK | ANZ) is already out in hardback, but the paperback releases next week on 26th February.
Book 2, BLOODFIRE QUEST (UK | ANZ), releases hot on its heels in a few short weeks on 12th March, and volume 3, WITCH WRAITH, on 16th July this year.
It’s a far faster publication schedule than usual, because we know just how hard it is to have to wait for the next Terry Brooks!
For anyone who’s new to the entrancing world of Shannara, the Dark Legacy trilogy is a fantastic place to start. Find out just why Christopher Paolini says: “If you haven’t read Terry Brooks, you haven’t read fantasy“.
See all three of the skull-tastic covers of the Dark Legacy of Shannara in their full glory below! Read the rest of this entry »
by Anna Gregson • Post a Comment • Posted in: Art, Covers, Ebooks, Fiction, New Titles, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Uncategorized
