Archive for Orbit UK

‘Halting State’ on 2008 Locus Award shortlist

Halting State UK TPbHere at Orbit Towers we’re all absolutely delighted that Halting State [UK] by Charles Stross has been shortlisted in the ‘SF Novel’ category of this year’s Locus Awards.

In addition, Mr Stross has also been shortlisted in the Novelette category for ‘Trunk and Disorderly’ and Ken MacLeod has been shortlisted in the Best Short Story category for ‘Who’s Afraid of Wolf 359?’

The Awards were voted for via online poll and the winners will already be known to the organisers, but won’t be announced until the Locus Awards Ceremony takes place in Seattle on June 12th. We’ll be keeping our fingers very firmly crossed for Charles and Ken until then!

Best of luck, chaps!

The Digital Plague – Reviewed!

Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review has a great piece on Jeff Somers’ The Digital Plague (UK/US) today, where he calls it:

Last year I was lucky enough to get hold of a copy of Jeff Somers’ debut ‘The Electric Church’, a gritty ‘dystopian future’ thriller that (while by no means perfect) I had a lot of fun with and left me eagerly waiting for the sequel. Well, it’s ‘sequel time’! :o) Actually, it isn’t ‘sequel time’, it’s ‘great sequel time’…Highly recommended to anyone who likes their sci-fi mean, streetwise and drenched in bullets!

You can read the full review here.

Orbit Links for April 25 2008

Here’s a quick round-up of links of interest featuring Orbit authors, that we’ve found – or have been brought to our attention – this week:

If you spot an interesting online article featuring an Orbit author, please feel free to drop us a line and let us know!

Orbit Authors at Alt.Fiction

This Saturday, April 26th, the cream of the UK genre fiction crop will be heading to Derby’s Assembly Rooms for the third annual Alt.Fiction Festival.

Alt.Fiction is a one-day convention that brings together sf/f/h authors, readers and publishers for a series of panel sessions, workshops, readings and more. Think Eastercon or Fantasycon, condensed into a single day and organised to within an inch of its life by Alex Davis and his team of willing and enthusiastic volunteers from Derby City Council, and you’ll get the picture.

This year, several Orbit authors will be in attendance, including Mike Carey, Philip Palmer, Brian Ruckley and Charles Stross. The four of them will be appearing on various panels and reading sessions throughout the day; you can see which ones by checking out the schedule of events.

And yes, that is yours truly on a panel at 12.00 on the topic of ‘Writing and the Internet’, alongside Simon Spurrier and Hub Magazine editor Lee Harris. Hecklers welcome!

Tickets for Alt.Fiction are on-sale now at a very reasonable £20 from the Derby Assembly Rooms website.

You Say Data, I Say Dattah …

The April issue of Locus magazine carries its annual “British Book Summary” – a report on SFF publishing in the UK. I admire and appreciate Locus’s amazingly comprehensive reporting on all things SFF-y from around the world, but as somebody in the publishing industry I have to say that this survey always bothers me. (more…)

Robert Buettner talks to Jennifer Rardin

Orphan’s JourneyOrbit UK & US author Jennifer Rardin posted an interview with Orbit US author Robert Buettner, over at her blog just yesterday.

They talk about Robert’s ‘Jason Wander’ series, what he sees as the main differences between science fiction and urban fantasy, his life in interesting times as “soldier, Spook, palaeontologist and lawyer” and his approach to world-building. Plus, Robert offers his advice to aspiring writers.

That’s not the only interview Robert has given recently; he’s also chatted to SciFi.com‘s John Joseph Adams for a piece that was posted on the site today.

Find out more about Robert Buettner’s ‘Jason Wander’ series at www.robertbuettner.com, and Jennifer Rardin’s ‘Jaz Parks’ books at www.jenniferrardin.com.