Presenting: Matthew Stover’s ACTS OF CAINE novels

- Anna Gregson - May 2nd, 2013

One of the most highly regarded fantasy series EVER is finally coming to the UK.

Presenting a gritty action fantasy series like no other. Welcome to the world of Caine: Assassin. Hero. Superstar. . .

Several huge names in the fantasy world have been shouting from the rooftops about the sheer brilliance of this series by New York Times bestselling author Matthew Stover. Par exemple:

SCOTT LYNCH says:

‘Oh, you fortunate people. HEROES DIE and BLADE OF TYSHALLE directly informed the writing of THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA . . . I’d dare say they were what taught me how to craft a novel. Matt is criminally underrated, and these books are bog standard for him, which is to say ‘brilliant.’ They’re bold, startling, multi-layered, humane, and laugh-out-loud wonderful at frequent intervals . . .

. . . A gritty, bloody, deeply touching work of genius’

JOHN SCALZI says:

‘A heaping plate of kickass kickassery with a side of kickass sauce . . .

If you are a fan of the meaty, bloody but smart fantasy of which authors like Joe Abercrombie and Richard K. Morgan currently traffic, you really do owe it to yourself to check out the whole Caine series . . . I doubt very seriously you will be disappointed, and if you are, well, I don’t know what to do with you, except maybe wonder if your brain chemistry is off in some unique and disturbing way. But I’m willing to bet your brain is fine and you’re going to eat this stuff up.

So: fans of  fantasy, this is my recommendation. Get this one. Get them all’

FELICIA DAY says:

‘Talk about a dark anti-hero. Talk about a cool alt-SF/Fantasy world. Talk about some violent assholes who populate BOTH universes. I mean Hari is one of the biggest badasses I’ve read in a LONG time. Seriously flawed, very nihilistic world/WORLDS really he’s involved in. And yet, his journey is so full of emotion, you root for him every step of the way. This is an Alpha male you can get behind. Damn. Hot damn.

Don’t read if you don’t like profanity, unlikeable characters and awesome fight scenes. :D

THIS WAS FANTASTIC! . . . If you like really really gritty, dark fantasy like George RR Martin, Richard Morgan (Takashi Kovaks books) or ESPECIALLY Joe Abercrombie, you should get this book’

Not convinced yet? What’s wrong with you?!

All four books in the Acts of Caine series – HEROES DIE, BLADE OF TYSHALLE, CAINE BLACK KNIFE and CAINE’S LAW – will be released digitally in the UK & ANZ on 27th May 2013.

Pre-order now for a special introductory price on book one, HEROES DIE.

by Anna Gregson • 9 Comments • Posted in: Art, Commentary, Covers, Ebooks, Fiction, New Titles, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Reviews

Hear from the Orbit team why you need to read Ian Tregillis’s Milkweed Trilogy

- Anna Gregson - April 30th, 2013

Today week we’re releasing NECESSARY EVIL (UK | ANZ) by Ian Tregillis, the conclusion to the spectacular Milkweed Triptych. The series began with BITTER SEEDS (UK | ANZ) and THE COLDEST WAR (UK | ANZ).

It’s hard to express just how much we are all head-over-heels in love with this series. This time, it’s not just me, Ian’s editor, who’s wanting to tell you how great the books are. The whole Orbit team has been clamouring to tell everyone just how much these books will blow your mind:

James Long, Orbit Editorial Assistant

“The Milkweed Triptych is simply one of the best trilogies I’ve ever read. These books are beautifully written, meticulously plotted and tell an incredible story built around a host of wonderfully-drawn characters. At heart these books tell an exciting adventure story about British warlocks fighting a secret war against Nazi supersoldiers, and are appropriately packed with explosive action sequences. Yet they’re also deeply moving, intelligent novels that will repeatedly shatter your expectations and make you ponder all sorts of questions about the power of love and the nature of evil. Quite simply, they’re brilliant and utterly unmissable.”

Felice Howden, Little, Brown Marketing

“I was initially enamoured by this series from the description: X-Men meets Inglorious Basterds. When I opened the first page to a Nietzsche quote and a scene where one child cunningly engineers the death of another, I knew it was something special. Then I discovered one of the main characters was a prescient German girl; a puppeteer manipulating the others on her choice of path through wars, births, deaths, friendships and hatred; making moves calculated years in advance with unimaginable consequences; throwing stones that rippled through the lives of everyone around her. And I was in love.”

Anne Clarke, Orbit Editorial Director

“I love the way the plot threads around and twists back on itself, just when you think you’ve got it all worked out, both within the books and between them. Every new page gives you another thread to pull. The writing itself is phenomenal, but it’s the characters and the plot – my god, the plot! – that have got me so hooked. I can’t wait to read Necessary Evil and find out how Ian manages to resolve such a tangled web. Ian’s poor protagonists dance like puppets for the unbearably sinister Gretel, but there must be a master plan behind it all. I can’t believe she doesn’t have one – though I do hope poor Raybould foils it and that he finds the redemption he so desperately wants. He deserves a break after all he’s been through!”

Anna Gregson, Orbit Commissioning Editor

“After having devoured the entire Milkweed Triptych at the speed of light, I can only conclude is that Ian Tregillis is an absolute genius. The Milkweed books are simply one of the cleverest, most engrossing series I’ve ever read. I often found myself chuckling out loud in public places at the pure brilliance of the plotting, the devious intellect of the protagonists, and the masterful skill of the author’s turn of phrase… Ian Tregillis takes an idea which is already hugely exciting in a very superhero-comic kind of way (mad warlocks fighting scientifically-enhanced Nazi übermensch), but then delivers the concept with such intelligence, such emotional power and such literary flair that you cannot help but fall head-over-heels for him as a writer.”

***

If you haven’t started this series yet and want to find out just why we’re going so crazy about it, you can get a taster with a free extract of BITTER SEEDS here.

by Anna Gregson • Post a Comment • Posted in: Commentary, Ebooks, Fiction, New Titles, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK

Video: PROMISE OF BLOOD – The Age of Kings is dead…

- Laura Fitzgerald - April 18th, 2013

Field Marshal Tamas has a message for the aristocracy of Adro. Watch the trailer below and prepare for the coming revolution.

PROMISE OF BLOOD (US | UK | AUS) is available everywhere in hardcover, ebook, and audio formats. Read the first four chapters here or become a fan of the series on Facebook.

*Footage by Gene Mollica and Michael Frost

by Laura Fitzgerald • Post a Comment • Posted in: Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Orbit US, Videos

The Age of Kings is dead, but The Powder Mage Trilogy has just begun!

- Laura Fitzgerald - April 16th, 2013

PROMISE OF BLOOD (US | UK | AUS) is out today in hardcover, ebook, and audio formats. This is the first book of an exciting epic fantasy trilogy by debut author, Brian McClellan. In the video below, Orbit editor Devi Pillai is going to tell you about what’s so great about The Powder Mage Trilogy and why we can’t wait for you to get your hands on it, dear readers. Enjoy!

More Stories: 

Read the first four chapters from PROMISE OF BLOOD
Become a fan of The Powder Mage Trilogy on Facebook
Request a signed book plate from Brian McClellan (while supplies last)
“The Difficulty of Names”
Listen to an audio excerpt from PROMISE OF BLOOD
“Researching Realty for a Fantasy World”
Download a wallpaper for your computer and favorite electronic devices
Goodreads interviews Brian McClellan
Check out the cover of book 2: THE CRIMSON CAMPAIGN
“Learning to Write from Brandon Sanderson”
Mark your calendars: on April 23rd Brian will be on reddit/r/fantasy answering your questions.

by Laura Fitzgerald • Post a Comment • Posted in: New Titles, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Orbit US

‘Sorcerous action, skilled characterizations, and rapid-fire storytelling’

- Anna Gregson - March 28th, 2013

Terry Brooks‘s latest epic fantasy book BLOODFIRE QUEST (UK | ANZ) has been released this month. It’s the second book in The Dark Legacy of Shannara series and is delighting fans everywhere:

‘Nearly every page is filled with tension and passionate storytelling . . . Bloodfire Quest is a fine follow-up to Wards of Faerie and continues to prove that The Dark Legacy of Shannara is one of the most exciting and satisfying trilogies that Brooks has written in years’  A DRIBBLE OF INK

‘Shannara fans will delight in Brooks’s twists, sorcerous action, skilled characterizations, and rapid-fire storytelling ‘ PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

‘Shannara continues to deepen, and Brooks continues to color his world with new hues . . . BLOODFIRE QUEST is an epic adventure packed into 350 pages, delivering more of a punch than many trilogies provide in three books’ BOOK REPORTER

Don’t forget that if you live in the UK, there’s just under a week until Terry visits for the first time in over 5 years. There’s a facebook group here for his signing on 3rd April at 6pm at Forbidden Planet London.

And don’t fear if you can’t make it – UK fans still have time to submit questions and will receive an awesome dragon skull badge at the same time…

by Anna Gregson • Post a Comment • Posted in: Ebooks, Events, Fiction, New Titles, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Signings and Events

My First Time: The Magic of Terry Brooks

- James Long - March 12th, 2013

Everyone remembers their first time.

Mine was back in the mid-1990s. A close friend excitedly showed me a book called THE SWORD OF SHANNARA (UK | ANZ) that his jetsetting pilot father had picked up for him from a bookstore in America. I remember being impressed at its sheer size and being immediately drawn to both the cover (a glowing magic sword, what more could a thirteen-year-old boy want?) and the gorgeous interior illustrations by the brothers Hildebrandt. I forget what gushing eulogy my friend gave about the book, yet it was positive enough for the novel to stick in my mind. Faced with the horrors of a two-week family holiday a short time later, I purchased a copy of THE SWORD OF SHANNARA, thinking it might prove a decent distraction for a fortnight.

It didn’t – because I burned through the novel in two days. I was already a fan of fantasy, having devoured Fighting Fantasy gamebooks and the late Brian Jacques’s much-loved Redwall series, but this was the first time I’d read an adult book – and I was hopelessly smitten. I loved every page, every word. For hours at a time I lost myself in this mythical world, enthralled by the plucky heroes’ dangerous adventure to save the land from darkness. I may not have realised it at the time, but that reading experience was a watershed moment in not just my reading tastes, but my entire life. Read the rest of this entry »

by James Long • 4 Comments • Posted in: Commentary, New Titles, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Signings and Events

Terry Brooks UK signing!

- 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