Archive for Orbit US

Why Pamela Freeman hates the olden times…

Blood Ties by Pamela Freeman When Pamela Freeman was in the UK recently, we had a fascinating conversation about technology in fantasy (I felt quite awed at her knowledge!). And Pamela promised to write down some of her thoughts on the subject for our blog. So, in honour of Blood Ties (UK/US), her debut fantasy out this month, here it is:

Do you ever get the feeling that most epic fantasy is set in the same time? Olden times – vaguely pre-industrial, vaguely medieval, vaguely Dark Ages … often a bit of each. One example I read recently – a society which had tailored jackets but no socks!

So often, fantasy authors stick technologies from widely different times together as though every culture prior to the invention of the steam engine was the same. The point of history is that things change – and this includes technology.

Technology! I hear you exclaim. They didn’t have technology then!

But they did. It didn’t use electricity, but it was technology nonetheless.

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Brian Ruckley Facebook comp winner #2

The dice-of-randomness have spoken again and we’ve drawn weekly winner #2 in our Brian Ruckley Facebook competition. This week’s lucky winner is – Jan Ove B from Norway – who will be receiving a signed, personalised copy of Brian’s brand new novel, Bloodheir [UK/US] in the near future.

There are now just two more chances to win during June, folks. To be in with a shout, you’ll need to sign up as a Fan of Brian’s Winterbirth Facebook Page in time for the remaining draws at lunchtime on June 20 and 27.

Orbit Links for June 13 2008

Here’s another quick round-up of links of interest featuring Orbit authors that we’ve spotted (or have been pointed in the direction of) online this week:

If you see any online articles, reviews or interviews that feature an Orbit author, please feel free to drop us a line and let us know!

MNC poses questions three…

Marie Brennan - Midnight Never Come (UK)The third of six cryptic clues linked to the world of Marie Brennan‘s Midnight Never Come [UK/US] has been revealed today, over at the Competition Gallery page of www.midnightnevercome.com.

Remember, correctly answering all three questions gives you a triple chance of winning the first prize of £250 / $500 of vouchers from your favourite book retailer. And with another three conundrums to come next week, that will give you a half-dozen chances to win… tell me, what could you possibly be waiting for?

Oh, and have you made your way to Invidiana’s court yet? You haven’t? Well then, perhaps you should look to the night sky..?

In Their Own Words: Brian Ruckley on ‘Bloodheir’

Brian says:

Bloodheir by Brian RuckleyMy new book – Bloodheir – is book two in my Godless World trilogy. It’s been entertaining to write, and will hopefully be entertaining to read, in part because it tracks the rise to power of the main villain in my story, and everyone likes writing and reading about the bad guys, right?

Bloodheir is where we get to see just how much trouble my invented world might be in. The battles are bigger, the stakes are getting higher, pretty much all the characters are learning just how easily things can run out of control, and I’m afraid one or two of them are heading for an untimely end…

In other words: all good, clean, honest fun.

Bloodheir is the second volume of Brian’s epic fantasy saga The Godless World and is out now in the UK and US. You can read the whole story so far by picking up a copy of Winterbirth [UK / US] and starting your journey there.

Find out more about Brian and his writing over at his official website, www.brianruckley.com, where he also writes a regularly-updated blog.

In Their Own Words: Pamela Freeman on ‘Blood Ties’

Pamela says:

Blood Ties by Pamela FreemanBlood Ties is the first volume of an epic fantasy about dispossession, trust, enchantment, revenge and the unreliability of history. It’s also about the Eleven Domains – created by invasion, ruled by warlords – where it is possible to foretell the future… accurately.

An unusual element in Blood Ties is that, interspersed in the larger adventure, you’ll find minor characters’ own stories, told in their own words, and will learn about daily life in the Domains, which is mixed with magic and love and sorrow and joy and death.

I hope you’ll like the book because of its characters, especially Bramble and Ash, and because the world of the Eleven Domains has more surprises in store with each turn in the Road…

Blood Ties is the first book of the Castings trilogy and is available now in the US and UK.

You can find out more about Pamela Freeman and the Castings trilogy at www.castingstrilogy.com.

New OrbitBooks.net feature: ‘In Their Own Words’

We’re delighted to announce the launch of a new feature series for OrbitBooks.net – ‘In Their Own Words’ – in which we’ll be presenting a selection of short guest blog pieces by Orbit authors, introducing their brand new Orbit titles in (you guessed it) their own words.

We’ll be kicking off shortly with posts from Pamela Freeman (Blood Ties), Fiona McIntosh (Goddess), Brian Ruckley (Bloodheir) and Sean Williams (Saturn Returns).

We’re hoping that this will become a regular feature, and we invite you to leave your own feedback in the comments section of the individual articles.

‘Midnight Never Come’: Guest Blog and Reviews

Marie Brennan - Midnight Never Come (UK)Marie Brennan, author of Midnight Never Come (UK/US) is guest blogging over at miladyinsanity about the perks of being a writer:

Then — cue the world’s smallest violin — the travel stopped. Well, not stopped, precisely; there was a stretch of time in graduate school where I averaged one out-of-state trip every month for a year and a half. But this wasn’t the exciting travel I’d done before, colorful places with fascinating sights. These were weekend jaunts to conventions or academic conferences, where I saw the exciting interiors of one hotel after another….

Last year, I figured out the best scam EVER for getting travel back into my life.

You can also read miladyinsanity’s fantastic, four star review of Midnight Never Come here.

In other great reviews, Fantasy Book Critic says:

Historical fantasies are hit-or-miss for me, so I was a little wary when starting Marie Brennan’s “Midnight Never Come”, but it wasn’t long before the book had me entranced and by the time the ending was in sight, I was doing everything in my power to make the novel last as long as possible. Spectacularly researched, beautifully imagined, and utterly charming, “Midnight Never Come” is as magical and spellbinding as the fae inhabiting Marie Brennan’s Onyx Court…(Read more)

Interested in finding out what all the fuss is about and getting a chance to win £250/$500 in book vouchers? Check out the Midnight Never Come site at www.midnightnevercome.com

‘Midnight Never Come’ £250 / $500 voucher competition

Marie Brennan - Midnight Never Come (UK)Midnight Never Come, Marie Brennan‘s novel of suspense, intrigue and fae magic at the court of Queen Elizabeth I, is now available in both the UK and the US. To celebrate we’ve launched a micro-site, packed with background information on the characters and locations in the novel, over at www.midnightnevercome.com.

And as of today, there’s another reason to visit the site: the first phase of our prize competition – in which you could win £250 / $500 (or the local equivalent) of vouchers to spend with your chosen book retailer, with ten runners-up each receiving a signed copy of the UK edition of the book – has now gone live.

Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for the next two weeks a new cryptic question will be posed via the Competition Gallery page of the site. Solving each puzzle will result in your being invited to submit your email address to enter the competition (so by answering all six questions correctly, you’ll be able to enter a total of six times). Full entry instructions, rules and regulations are available on the site and the usual entry restrictions (employees of the Hachette Book Group are unable to enter, etc.) apply.

The competition will be open for entries until Midnight (GMT) on June 30 and the overall winner and the ten runners-up will be announced by the end of that week.

So, what are you waiting for? Head on over to www.midnightnevercome.com, dust off your thinking cap and by the end of the month, £250 / $500 worth of book vouchers might very well be yours…

And meanwhile, in other Marie Brennan news, Marie has been interviewed by SF CrowsNest and we recently posted excerpts from a couple of great reviews of the book.