- Jenni Hill - April 17th, 2012
Last week we showed you the first part of this interview, in which Helen Lowe interviewed Ian Irvine about the publication of his brand new epic fantasy series, The Tainted Realm. This week the tables have turned! Click through to the interview to read more . . .
Ian: I haven’t done an interview swap with another author before, and it’s been a challenging experience to be put on the spot by Helen Lowe, who also writes epic fantasy and loves it as much as I do. But now I get to ask her the hard questions!
Read the rest of this entry »
by Jenni Hill • 2 Comments • Categories: Interviews, New Titles, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK • Tags: fantasy, Helen Lowe, Ian Irvine, Interviews, The Gathering of the Lost, The Heir of Night, The Wall Of Night
- James Long - April 16th, 2012
Jon Courtenay Grimwood is a familiar name to SF fans; the author of ten previous novels, he’s been nominated for the Arthur C. Clarke award twice and the British Science Fiction Association award no less than seven times, winning twice.
For his eleventh novel, Jon decided to strike out in a fresh direction and write a historical fantasy novel. And where better to set the story than in the endlessly fascinating city of Venice?
As Jon himself explains: ‘It’s a cliché to say Venice is the city of sex and death but it is. Venice is dying and has been dying for over a thousand years. It’s layered with history, one era on top of another. And it’s made with pillars and windows and statues stolen from other cities the Venetians looted. To write Venice I just had to open my eyes and carry a notebook.’
The result of Jon’s three trips to Venice, hours spent pouring over dusty old maps and many months of writing, is THE FALLEN BLADE (UK | US | ANZ): a dark, gritty tale of passion and politics in 15th-century Venice – a powerful city with powerful enemies.
Duke Marco has the throne, but his ruthless aunt and uncle rule in his stead, scheming against their enemies and each other. The pawn at the heart of their struggle is the duke’s young cousin, Lady Giulietta. When she is abducted by Mamluk pirates, it is an outrage that will trigger war.
As the German emperor and Mamluk sultan gather their forces against the city, Venice is heading for a battle it will surely lose. Its only hope lies in a mysterious boy possessed of inhuman strength and speed – and a past wrapped in mystery.
Praise for THE FALLEN BLADE:
Gritty, grimy, decadent and compelling” – SUNDAY TIMES
“His Venice is a dangerous place of dank, cut-throat malevolence, peopled by leap-off-the-page characters . . . a page-turning read” – GUARDIAN
“Dark and majestic” – FINANCIAL TIMES
“Grimwood creates a fascinating world and involving characters – most importantly, he makes us want to read the next two volumes of the trilogy” – INDEPENDENT
“The writing is elegant, the dialogue is sharp, the characters economically but well drawn, the action unrelenting” – SCI-FI NOW
THE FALLEN BLADE is out now in mass market paperback in the UK and ANZ, and in trade format in the US. The second novel in the Assassini trilogy, THE OUTCAST BLADE, will be published in May.
Jon Courtenay Grimwood can be found online at his website, as well as on Twitter.
by James Long • 1 Comment • Categories: New Titles, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Orbit US • Tags: historical fantasy, Jon Courtenay Grimwood
author post
Gail Martin joins us on the blog today to share her recent experiences from the Arizona Renaissance Festival and tons of great photos from the event. If you’ve never been to a Renaissance Festival it’s a pilgrimage every fantasy fan should make at least once. So check out what Arizona has to offer or let us know which festivals you frequent.
***
This was my fifth year as a guest author at the Arizona Renaissance Festival, and from having been a guest author equally long at the Carolina festival, I’ve gotten to know many of the vendors, performers and artists. So going is always like an extended book signing plus old home week.
Ann Chamberlain hosted me at her marvelous bookshop near the joust, where I greeted passers-by, offered them a free bookmark, and managed to fry my cleavage (ouch!) despite what I thought had been good application of SPF 70 sunscreen. It’s fun to see readers whom I’ve met from previous years and chat about the books, life, and in many cases, their writing projects which are still works in process (keep on writing!).
Read the rest of this entry »
by Gail Z. Martin •2 Comments • Posted in: Guest Post, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Orbit US
- Anna Gregson - April 13th, 2012
We invite you to be so kind as to look below for some more entries to our competition to celebrate Gail Carriger‘s UK tour. What these lovely beauties are all hoping to win is a beautiful teapot or one of two tea strainers, which Gail signed for us when she graced the UK office with her presence on Wednesday. Be sure to send in your entry by 5pm UK time today to be in with a chance of winning. More entries and winners will be posted next week!
And don’t forget that tonight there will be a Steampunk Extravaganza held in Gail’s honour at the Waterstones in Nottingham. It looks like it’s turning out to be quite a party indeed . . .
The alluring Jennifer Arnold
The heroic Valerie Hernandez
The charming Rebecca Campbell
The mystical Sarah E. Miller
The surperb Janet Smith and handsome hubby
by Anna Gregson • Post a Comment • Categories: Contests, Giveaway, Orbit Australia, Orbit France, Orbit UK, Orbit US, Signings and Events, Uncategorized • Tags: Gail Carriger, parasol protectorate, Steampunk, Timeless
author post
If I was castaway on that mythical desert island with a single palm tree beloved of cartoonists I’d want to be washed ashore with a crate of books. But that shouldn’t be taken as an admission that I regard other mediums, such as movies, and in particular comicbooks, as any less legitimate. Which is why I was so thrilled at the prospect of an Orcs graphic novel.
I owe artist and film director Joann Sfar my thanks for kicking it off. Joann, a leading light in the new wave of French comicbook creators, recommended my Orcs novels to Mark Siegel, Editorial Director of First Second Books, an imprint dedicated to publishing high-quality graphic novels. I loved the idea of moving my concept and characters into a different medium, and Mark suggested that rather than adapt any of the existing novels I might like to come up with a new story.
While I was putting it together, Mark was busy auditioning artists, and eventually choose Joe Flood, best known for his HELLCITY strip.
I’d worked on two graphic novels before, back in the ’90s, when I adapted David Gemmell’s LEGEND AND WOLF IN SHADOW into graphic novel form. I also wrote a handful of short strips for comicbooks. What I did then was write scripts in the traditional way. I described what a panel should show and what should go in dialogue balloons and captions of exposition. But this wasn’t an adaptation like the Gemmell books; it was an original story. I had to assume that at least a portion of the graphic novel’s readership would be coming to my orcs universe for the first time. I felt I needed to introduce new readers to the set-up and the point of view I was adopting. I also had to convey to Joe the feeling I wanted to put over – the texture of the story, if you like. So I decided to write the thing as a short story, a fully rendered piece of fiction, as I might if it was intended to be published in an anthology. It ended up running to over 20,000 words, and was called FIT FOR PURPOSE at that stage. Later, it became ORCS: FORGED FOR WAR.
Read the rest of this entry »
by Stan Nicholls •Post a Comment • Posted in: Guest Post, Orbit US
- Anna Gregson - April 11th, 2012
The cake selection on offer at the steampunk soiree - photo courtesy of Meg at http://bowtiesare.blogspot.co.uk/
Reports confirm that Ms. Gail Carriger, author of the Parasol Protectorate series, is having a terribly splendid time here in the British Isles.
Gail Carriger in fine attire at The Steampunk Soiree
The Steampunk Soiree held at Foyles in London on Monday night was a deliciously delightful affair, with many a cup of tea supped and innumerable French fancies nibbled.
In addition to the guest of honour – Gail herself – the charming Lauren O’Farrell, author of Stitch London, was also in attendance – displaying her crafty knitting talents in all their glory.
Gail’s reading from Soulless ( UK | US | ANZ) was a glory to behold, and many a question from inquisitive fans meant that we were all gossiping late into the evening. The Soulless Manga Edition (UK | US | ANZ) seemed a particularly popular subject of conversation.
You can see more photos of this splendid event right here.
And we simply cannot wait for Friday’s event at Waterstone’s Nottingham!
* * *
But enough of this tittle-tattle, and on to the very important matter of our teapot competition.
We have had entries flying in thick and fast. Be sure to send in yours by 5pm UK time this Friday 13th April if you’d like to be in with a chance of winning this darling teapot or these twee tea strainers as runner-up prizes, all signed by Gail’s fair hand.
And in the meantime, please see below for just a small selection of some of the fabulous entries so far. We shall be posting more of these in due course!
The wonderful Elisabeth Weigel
The adorable Galena Ostipow
The ravishing Jaime Rainwater
The lovely Caroline Laronze
The stylish Sernella Volpe and Stek from Steampunkitalia
by Anna Gregson • Post a Comment • Categories: Contests, Events, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Orbit US, Signings and Events • Tags:
- James Long - April 11th, 2012
Whether it’s writing urban fantasy as M. L. N. Hanover, epic fantasy under his ‘real’ name, or space opera as one half of James S. A. Corey (the ‘James’ part, apparently), there’s no doubt that Daniel Abraham is a man of many talents – and many guises.
This invariably leads to two questions: why the various names, and where should you begin your Daniel Abraham experience?
We can help you with the second question, but first let’s have Daniel himself answer the first:
I recognize that my take on working with a different name for each different project is a little idiosyncratic, but it’s not exactly unprecedented. Richard Stark and Donald Westlake, for instance, were openly the same guy writing very different kinds of books. The name on the cover is one of the best ways to let people know what kind of ride they’re signing on for, and that can avoid a lot of disappointment later. There’s a price to pay in that folks who like the things I do under one name might have to dig a little to find all the other stuff, but in the age of the Internet, it’s a pretty low investigative bar to clear. I think the tradeoff’s worth it.
There are also writers I know, like, and admire who don’t like the idea of putting a name on their work that isn’t the one they go by in the world. Now, I know all writers are egoists, myself very much included, but that particular kink isn’t one I have. I don’t care what name we put on the cover as long as I can be proud the work that went into it.
There is another idea that if you know you like Stephen King (or Jeanette Winterson or Sebastian Junger — the model holds true for everyone), you’re already better primed to like one of their books when you pick them up. I think that if the name of the author is what makes a book good, it isn’t a good book.
Many thanks to Daniel for the explanation! Now to the second question: which Daniel Abraham book is best for you? Read on and find out. Read the rest of this entry »
by James Long • Post a Comment • Categories: Commentary, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Orbit US, Uncategorized • Tags: Daniel Abraham, epic fantasy, space opera, urban fantasy
- Jenni Hill - April 10th, 2012
April’s such a great month for epic fantasy fans, with the release of both Ian Irvine’s VENGEANCE and Helen Lowe’s THE GATHERING OF THE LOST! We wanted to celebrate by doing something a bit different on the blog – and we thought: ‘Who better to interview a fantasy author than another fantasy author?’
This is the first part of that interview, in which Helen interviews Ian about his new series The Tainted Realm. Look out for the second part, when Ian interviews Helen, this time next week!
Click through to hear all about Ian’s pet hates in fantasy, how his background as a marine scientist affects his writing, and also just what’s wrong with magic in Harry Potter…
Read the rest of this entry »
by Jenni Hill • 7 Comments • Categories: Interviews, New Titles, Orbit Australia, Orbit France, Orbit UK, Orbit US, Uncategorized • Tags: epic fantasy, eurocentrism in fantasy, fantasy, Harry Potter, Helen Lowe, Ian Irvine, new fantasy, The Tainted Realm, Ursula Le Guin, Vengeance, women in fantasy
- The Orbit Team - April 9th, 2012
The nominations for the Hugo Award, one of science fiction and fantasy’s biggest, were announced this weekend. Congratulations to all the nominees! We’re especially pleased to note the following Orbit books on the shortlist.
For the Hugo Award for Best Novel:
LEVIATHAN WAKES
James S.A. Corey
(US | UK | AUS)
|
DEADLINE
Mira Grant
(US | UK | AUS)
|
For the Hugo Award for Best Novella:
COUNTDOWN
Mira Grant
Originally published on orbitshortfiction.com
Along with the Hugos, the nominees for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer were announced, and this year’s list includes Mur Lafferty – whose novel THE SHAMBLING GUIDE TO NEW YORK CITY will be coming out from Orbit in 2013.
The Hugo Awards will be presented during Worldcon in Chicago, IL, this fall.
by The Orbit Team • Post a Comment • Categories: Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Orbit US • Tags:
- The Orbit Team - April 7th, 2012
Simon Morden’s THE SAMUIL PETROVITCH TRILOGY has won the 2012 Philip K. Dick Award. Special citation was given to Robert Jackson Bennett’s THE COMPANY MAN. Congratulations to both authors from Orbit!
Full details at the official PKD award site.
by The Orbit Team • Post a Comment • Categories: Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Orbit US • Tags:
