Archive for Reviews

Dark Space Review Redux

Dark Space by Marianne de PierresLast month, Paul Raven wrote a terrific review of Marianne de Pierres’ new book Dark Space for online magazine Scalpel, which sadly folded shortly afterwards. However, it’s good to report that Paul’s review has found a new home at T3A Space. Paul describes it as: “very dark. Unflinchingly so; it’s a complex and exciting novel, almost devoid of cheap sentiment and comfortable vindication. It’s not a cheerful read, but it is a very rewarding one. It’s always a joy to find intelligent and exciting space opera; to find it being written by a woman unafraid to bring her own perspective to a traditionally masculine genre, doubly so.”

Read the rest of the review here.

Best Summer Reads

Glasshouse by Charles StrossToday’s edition of The Times includes their choice of best summer reads, including an SF selection from critic Lisa Tuttle. There’s a good representation of Orbit UK titles: the ubiquitous Charles Stross picks up a fantastic recommendation for Glasshouse, which “twists and surprises in impressively mind-bending style.”

Meanwhile, Laurell K. Hamilton, whose latest Anita Blake novel The Harlequin is published by us this month was described as “the queen of erotic vampire thrillers . . . increasingly baroque, but still a hardcore guilty pleasure.”

Finally, two books published by our sister imprint Atom, which publishes for young adult readers, were also chosen: Scott Westerfeld’s Parasite Positive is described as “the best of the many vampire books around”, while Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight is recommended for “those who prefer the more romantic idea of the sexy vampire . . . an old-fashioned love story in modern dress.”

Orbit in SFX #159

No Dominion by Charlie HustonHot on the heels of the coverage in the latest issue of Death Ray, the new issue of SFX just arrived. Like their rivals at Death Ray, they had good thing to say about Christopher Moore’s A Dirty Job: “The real joy . . . comes from the way that, rather than relying on the central premise to carry him through, Moore wrings so many laughs from the incidental stuff. This contrast of the domestic with the demonic draws comparisons to Buffy the Vampire Slayer but, as well as matching Joss Whedon’s whip-smart dialogue joke for joke, Moore is an exceptional novelist. At times, his prose exudes the quality of John Irving.”

They also review Charlie Huston’s new book No Dominion, the second outing for vampyre private eye Joe Pitt, of which they write: “You’ll like this . . . it’s a damn fine read and, crucially, a very interesting new take on vampires.”

Death Ray Issue 3 Out

A Dirty Job by Christopher MooreI’ve just received my copy of issue 3 of Death Ray, a startup glossy SF magazine. It’s good to report that there are some nice reviews of Orbit UK titles, especially Allen Steele’s Spindrift — “an interesting, entertaining, well-told tale” — and Christopher Moore’s A Dirty Job, described as “an insightful piece on the nature of death, and grief, how we deal with such things and find the strength to go on. Christopher Moore is adept at making such points even while making the reader laugh out loud at the absurdity of life in general. And that’s his greatest strength.”

There’s also an interesting feature on the young adult/SF crossover, with contributions from Orbit’s Publishing Director Tim Holman and Editorial Director Darren Nash. And though we don’t publish either of these authors, I really enjoyed the extended piece on Neil Gaiman and a shorter article on Samuel R. Delaney’s Babel-17. Death Ray is available through newsagents in the UK, and readers in the US can find it at branches of Barnes & Noble and Borders.

Dark Space review and YouTube trailer

Dark Space book jacket

This month, Orbit UK is extremely excited to be publishing Dark Space, the new start of a new series from Marianne de Pierres.

As a sharply written space opera, it’s something of a departure for Marianne, who until now has been best known for her near future thrillers. It’s great to be able to report that reviewers seem to agree: in particular, there’s a great review of the book in Hub Magazine:

“This is serious modern space opera, grappling with big themes and painting on a broad canvas with a great eye for detail, and readers of simple spaceship adventure stories may wish to pass this title by. On the other hand, readers who hunger for perceptive, intelligent and unflinching literary science fiction should seek this book out as soon as possible.”

Here’s the trailer, and there’s more on Marianne’s official website.

Pressing buttons

Ken MacLeod’s The Execution Channel is published by Orbit in the UK next week, but has begun to hit bookstores. There’s a great buzz building around it: in a five star review, The Bookbag says:

“The SF elements . . . are subtle and muted, but undeniably there. The feel of the book, however, is that of a tense spy thriller. Cleverly too, although violence is all around, we don’t meet much of it head on. It’s all in the background, adding to a feeling of threat and menace in a world that has become so immersed in power games and double bluffs it lacks even the semblance of a moral framework on which to stand. The Execution Channel was easy to read and difficult to think about. And it pressed every single one of my buttons.”

You can read the rest of the review here. More information about the UK edition of The Execution Channel is available here.