Author Archive

Heir of Night Released Today!

the mass market cover for fantasy debut The Heir of NightHelen Lowe’s brilliant debut fantasy novel, THE HEIR OF NIGHT (UK|ANZ), comes out today in mass market paperback.

A DARK ENEMY. AN ANCIENT WAR. A NEW CHAMPION.

Young Malian is being trained to rule. Her people garrison the mountain range known as the Wall of Night against an ancient enemy, keeping a tide of shadow from the rest of their world. Malian is expected to uphold this tradition, yet she’s known little of real danger until the enemy attacks her fortress home and the Keep of Winds becomes a bloodbath.

Malian flees deep into the Old Keep – and when the danger is greatest her own hidden magic flares into life. But if she accepts its power, she must prepare to pay the price.

THE HEIR OF NIGHT by Helen Lowe is a richly told tale of strange magic, dark treachery and conflicting loyalties, set in a well realized world.”
– Robin Hobb

the cover for 'The Gathering of the Lost', the second book in Helen Lowe's fantasy series The Wall of Night

THE HEIR OF NIGHT is the first novel in Helen’s skillfully weaved epic fantasy series, The Wall of Night. The second volume in this series, THE GATHERING OF THE LOST, (UK|ANZ)  will be released from Orbit UK on the 5th of April this year. Only three months to wait now!

 

Gathering of the Lost – We Unveil the Cover!

We’re really pleased to reveal the cover for the second volume of Helen Lowe ‘s epic fantasy series, THE GATHERING OF THE LOST, (UK|ANZ) which will be out this April! Click on the images below for the super high-resolution versions…

The cover for Helen Lowe's second Wall of Night novel, Gathering of the Lost. Shows a girl standing against a forest background, holding a sword, with the rain beating down and the moon shining through the trees.

The covers have been designed by Duncan Spilling, one of our in-house designers here at Orbit, and we feel that they really get across the spirit of this fantastic series. The first book in the Wall of Night series, HEIR OF NIGHT (UK|ANZ), is coming out in paperback next week, on January 19th! HEIR OF NIGHT has also got a beautiful cover, we’re sure you’ll agree… 

the cover for the heir of night - a girl stands in a castle doorway, surrounded by fire and smoke

Silver-Tongued Devil: Out Now!

The cover to Jaye Wells' Silver-Tongued devil, showing a red-headed woman holding a gun

SILVER-TONGUED DEVIL is the fourth novel in the Sabina Kane series by Jaye Wells, and it’s OUT NOW to buy as a paperback or ebook.

The series that Sookie Stackhouse author Charlaine Harris called ‘fast-paced and fun’, these novels follow the assassin Sabina Kane as she tries to end the war between the vampire and mage races. In SILVER-TONGUED DEVIL, a series of sadistic murders threaten to stop peace talks between the vampires and the mages, but Sabina’s investigation soon has her questioning everyone she thought she could trust…

We really enjoy this series at Orbit, and we think that you’ll also love its mixture of humour, action and truly captivating characters. (My personal favourite? The demon ‘Giguhl’, trapped in the form of a hairless cat!) If you haven’t yet managed to read RED-HEADED STEPCHILD, THE MAGE IN BLACK, and GREEN-EYED DEMON, here are several more people who think you should…

covers for the three Sabina Kane books out before silver tongued demon

A fast-paced trip through a dark and dangerous landscape featuring an unusual take on vampires, mages, faeries, and demons. It hooks you on page one and takes you for a great ride!” – Kat Richardson, author of the Greywalker series

The series is truly fab… a great urban fantasy I would definitely recommend.” – Book Chick City

Wells burns up the pages as if they were soaked in gasoline. Jaye Wells is the next coming of LKH and Kim Harrison.” – Paul Goat Allen, Barnes & Noble Explorations

A seriously wild ride.” (Top Pick!) – RT Book Reviews

Plenty of humour alongside the action and suspense’ – Deathray

Helen Lowe Wins Creative Writing Residency

a photo of the fantasy author helen lowe in conversationOur congratulations go to Helen Lowe, author of epic fantasy series THE WALL OF NIGHT, who has been awarded The Ursula Bethell Residency in Creative Writing by the University of Canterbury!

Helen says: “I’m absolutely delighted – not least for the recognition for speculative fiction, and I’m really looking forward to working exclusively on THE WALL OF NIGHT series!”

the cover to The Heir of Night, the first novel in the fantasy series The Wall of Night. A girl stand in a fiery doorway, looking determinedThe Ursula Bethell Residency in Creative Writing was founded by the University in 1979 to promote and provide support for New Zealand’s many talented writers. Helen will hold the residency until July 31 2012; the project she will be working on during the residency is THE WALL OF NIGHT Book Three, DAUGHTER OF BLOOD. She shares the prize with the poet David Eggleton.

Book One, THE HEIR OF NIGHT (UK/ANZ) will be out in Mass Market Paperback on the 19th of January 2012.

The Kitschies’ Steampunk Night

Big thanks to Anne C. Perry, Jared Shurin and Den Patrick of Pornokitsch for the stellar steampunk night organised at Blackwells, Charing Cross Road, London yesterday! Orbit team members Anna Gregson, James Long and I had a wonderful time chatting to all the talented guests Pornokitsch had invited. Here are a few photos from the event:

a pile of steampunk novels at Blackwells

Gail Carringer’s PARASOL PROTECTORATE novels and Paolo Bacigalupi’s THE WIND-UP GIRL sitting proudly among the steampunk titles picked out for the evening.

A photograph: Mark de Jager, James Long and Den Patrick hold up steampunk style gunsThe boys compare gun sizes. Mark de Jager, Orbit’s James Long and Pornokitsch’s Den Patrick.

The poster advertising the Kitschies' steampunk evening, featuring a giant squid logo

The Guardian at the gate! This squid guarded the entrance to the evening…

A photograph of a large crowd watching as Jared gives his opening speech

You can just about see Jared giving his welcome speech, over the heads of the large crowd the event attracted!

Fortune Favours the Thief: Michael J. Sullivan’s Rise of Empire Out This Month

The book cover for Michael J. Sullivan's 'Rise of Empire', showing a hooded, roughly shaven man and the text 'Fortune Favour the Thief'
UK Cover
US Cover

You’ve read Theft of Swords, which came out from Orbit last month, and now we’re proud to announce the release of Rise of Empire, [US | UK | ANZ] the second installment in the Riyria Revelations epic fantasy series.

The birth of the Nyphron Empire has brought war to Melengar. To save her kingdom, Princess Arista runs a desperate gamble when she defies her brother and hires Royce and Hadrian to perform a dangerous mission behind the enemy’s lines. As the power of the Nyphron Empire grows, so does Royce’s suspicion that the wizard Esrahaddon is using the thieves as pawns in his own shadowy struggle for power. To find the truth, he must unravel the secret of Hadrian’s past. What he discovers leads the thieves to the ends of the world on a journey amid treachery and betrayals, forcing Hadrian to face a past he hoped never to see again.

We know you’ll be pleased to see these characters back again, though perhaps not quite as pleased as the author’s wife (Michael recently wrote a guestpost for the Proud Book Nerd entitled ‘Why My Wife’s Love Affair is Entirely My Fault’).

Here’s what reviewers have had to say about the series:-

 “I couldn’t get enough of ‘Theft of Swords’ and there is no way that I won’t be following this series through to its conclusion.” – Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review

“Great Fun and a romp end to end… highly recommended” – Fantasy Book Critic

You can find Michael on twitter @author_sullivan, and find out more about him and the Riyria Revelations at his website.