With sinister echoes of 1984 and Brave New World, this original novel features a near-future city where medical science invents a single-dose pill for eradicating many common genetic defects . . .
Read a sample
When Kelley Armstrong began writing her Women of the Otherworld series in 1999, there wasn’t even a widely accepted name for the genre she helped to create – the genre that would explode in popularity over the next decade and beyond – urban fantasy.
Now, on the day of the official release of Spell Bound (Women of the Otherworld Book 12), Kelley Armstrong looks back on her original and bestselling series, and explains why she chose now to bring all our favourite characters together for the first time.
Kelley also shares another exciting piece of news: Spell Bound (UK | ANZ) will be the penultimate book in the Women of the Otherworld series, and the final book will be called, fittingly, 13.
Calling all Kelley fans! It’s official: Waking the Witch (UK | ANZ) has arrived in a bookshop near you and it’s looking fantabulously gorgeous. It’s the brand new title in the Women of the Otherworld series from international bestseller Kelley Armstrong, and it’s the first hardback to be whipped out with Kelley’s striking new cover style.
During the author’s recent tour to the UK we managed to steal her away from her hectic schedule, corner her in a tiny, tiny room with a camera and throw some questions her way. We think she did exceptionally well considering the circumstances . . . Take a peek here for comments on her series and Urban Fantasy in general (after all, she was one of the ladies responsible for starting the whole genre off in the first place!):
And here’s a sneaky preview of Waking the Witchto tide you over until the book is safely in your hands . . .
Following Kelley Armstrong’s very successful trip to the UK, during which she had fans from as far as Germany queuing up to meet her, we thought we’d remind you just how busy she’s been on the writing front.
Last month saw the release of The Reckoning(UK /ANZ), the third book in Kelley’s Darkest Powers young adult series. This is definitely one to look out for, considering that the second book in this series was a No. 1 New York Times children’s bestseller, and that Charlaine Harris claimed about the series that ‘there’s never a slow moment in their journey or a false line in Armstrong’s writing’. Read the rest of this entry »
I made my first trip to the UK at the end of March. Before the volcanic ash problems, but during the British Airways strike. Is it always so hard to get into (and out of) the UK? I hope not, because I really would like to return! Read the rest of this entry »
Last weekend I attended the fabulous World Horror Convention in Brighton, a celebration of horror fiction from the Victorian age to the present, and the first time this event has been held outside North America.
Horror is a fascinating area and, as with SF and fantasy fiction, the definition seems interestingly fluid and has the capacity to evolve in new and exciting ways with each new generation of writers. We have the legacy of 19th century gothic horror (Mary Shelley, Edgar Allen Poe and Bram Stoker). This was followed by Lovecraftian horror, and more recently we have seen contemporary horror wordsmiths such as Stephen King, James Herbert and Ramsey Campbell.
One of the highlights of the convention was watching Neil Gaiman interview grand master of modern horror James Herbert (while I sat next to the agent who discovered him). Neil Gaiman appeared unannounced as a surprise guest interviewer, and it was as if Elvis had entered the building as news of his arrival rippled tantalisingly through the convention … James Herbert focused on his epic career and on his underprivileged East End origins which inspired him to write. It’s interesting to think how the supernatural thriller/disaster fiction of the 1970s and 80s, turbulent decades of wealth and deprivation lived under the shadow of the bomb, might differ to what is being produced today.
As a special treat, paperback copies of the beautifully re-jacketed Frostbitten will be exclusively available to buy two months in advance at the bookshop signings!
This month sees the re-release of The Summoning (UK/ANZ), the first book in Kelley Armstrong’s Darkest Powers series. It’s got a new cover to fall in line with the look we’ve given to its sequel The Awakening (UK/ ANZ), and we think it’s super-stylish. The reviewers have had some great things to say about what’s inside the covers too – here’s what Melissa Marr, author of Wicked Lovely has to say about the book:
Action, danger, supernatural secrets, and a hint of romance – Armstrong’s world is one in which trusting the wrong person can have dire consequences. You’ll be desperate for a sequel.
And DeathRay have been equally complimentary, calling it:
A punchy opening to the series, benefitting from strong characterisation and atmosphere.
The Summoning sees Kelley Armstrong returning to the Otherworld, but this time from a teenage perspective. Read the rest of this entry »
Where the fantastical and the occult are concerned three is undoubtedly the magic number. So when we were lucky enough to get not one, not two, but three of your favourite Orbit authors talking in their own words about, you’ve guessed it – their trilogies – well let’s just say we were happy!
In this bumper edition of ITOWs: Sean Williams talks candidly about the artistic influences, deep life questions (and of course the kick-ass space battles) that went into the writing of the finale of his Astropolis trilogy, Brian Ruckley speaks bloodshed, heroics, and the joys of treating his protagonists mean as he brings his Godless World trilogy to its epic conclusion, and Kelley Armstrong talks raising hell, writing for the young adult and the power of the ‘true trilogy.’
To quote Kelley ‘Happy Reading!’
All three titles are available from Orbit this month!
The Grand Conjunction: Book 3 of Astropolis [UK|AUZ], Fall of Thanes [UK|US|AUZ] The Awakening [UK]
Congratulations to Kelley Armstrong! According to official sales figures from Nielsen BookData, her brand new ‘Otherworld’ novel, Living With the Dead [UK] was the best-selling SF / Fantasy hardback in the UK last week.
Here’s the trailer-text to give you a flavour:
Robyn Peltier has always lived a normal life. So when her boss is murdered and she is named prime suspect, she is way out of her depth. As the bodies pile up only her friend Hope, and Hope’s somewhat spooky boyfriend Karl, are on her side.
Hope, meanwhile, has a few secrets of her own. Namely that she is half-demon, and her ‘spooky’ boyfriend is actually a werewolf. Hope also knows that Robyn has accidentally stumbled into a bloody supernatural turf war. And the only way she can keep her friend alive is by letting her enter a world she’s safer knowing nothing about …
We recently posted Kelley’s own thoughts on Living With the Dead, and you can find plenty more information on all her books, as well as background material and short fiction set in the ‘Otherworld’ milieu, at Kelley’s official website: www.kelleyarmstrong.com.
This is a story I’ve wanted to tell since I first decided that Bitten would launch a series, rather than be the stand-alone novel I originally intended. In the Otherworld, I’ve introduced a lot of women, and they’ve all had one thing in common: they’re supernaturals. But what about the humans? What if a human woman was thrown into this universe? It’s taken nine books, but here I finally get to tell that story. Robyn Peltier is the very human friend of Hope Adams (from Personal Demon). Robyn knows nothing about her friend’s secret life … but she’s about to find out, as she becomes embroiled in a supernatural murder.
Living With the Dead, the brand new novel in Kelley Armstrong‘s best-selling Otherworld series, is out now from Orbit in the UK and is available now from all good bookstores and online retailers.
And don’t forget to check out Kelley’s official website at www.kelleyarmstrong.com for loads of background information on her Otherworld series, including a number of serialised novellas and short stories set in the same world that haven’t been published elsewhere… just yet.
- - August 4th, 2011
When Kelley Armstrong began writing her Women of the Otherworld series in 1999, there wasn’t even a widely accepted name for the genre she helped to create – the genre that would explode in popularity over the next decade and beyond – urban fantasy.
Following Kelley Armstrong’s very successful 
This month sees the re-release of The Summoning (
