Posts Tagged ‘Michael Cobley’

Michael Cobley’s shiny new website and video

Mike has had his shiny new website just long enough to move in and add a little content, so without any further ado …

CLICK HERE (for exploding space ships, politics and scientifical things that catch the Cobley eye).

The Orphaned Worlds (bk2, UK|ANZ) will be out in mass market paperback in the Spring next year, then a few months afterwards bk3,  The Ascendent Stars, will complete the trilogy. So to keep you going, get an Orphaned Worlds screen saver HERE and a free extract of Seeds of Earth (bk1, UK|ANZHERE. Get both, don’t be shy!

And saving the best until last, you can watch the illustrious Mike Cobley in action as he answers Orbit’s probing questions below.

New Wallpaper Day: The Orphaned Worlds

For our Orbit UK fans, we have a fresh new wallpaper taken from the cover of The Orphaned Worlds by Michael Cobley, the sequel to Seeds of Earth. (You can read more about the book and Michael Cobley here.) I am loving the series illustrations being done by an Orbit favorite Steve Stone and I can’t wait to see the art plastered on all your assorted screens and digital devices. I’ve tried to cover all the standard display aspect ratios and devices (and yes, even the new iPad), but let me know if I’ve missed any important ones.

Enjoy the wallpapers, and don’t forget to pick up The Seeds of Earth and The Orphaned Worlds, both available now!

1024 x 768 |1280 x 800 | 1440 x 900 | 1680 x 1050 | 1920 x 1200 | iPhone | iPad | PSP

Mike Cobley’s SF news frenzy

To follow on from Darren’s post, Michael Cobley has started his year with a bit of a roar. The mass market of Seeds of Earth was out yesterday. Then book two of this trilogy, The Orphaned Worlds is out in April (see the amazing cover, right) and Michael’s not slowing down any time soon …

He has a short story, Black Fragmentia, out in the latest edition of PS Publishing’s Postscripts Quarterly (PS 20/21). Then The Maker’s Mark (set in the Seeds of Earth universe) is to appear in Newcon Press’s Conflicts short story anthology, due out in February/March 2010. March will also see Michael at  Glasgow’s Aye Write festival as one of their featured authors. Amongst other things, he’ll be participating in a panel entitled ‘The Early Days of a Better Future’, along with other genre authors Ken Macleod, Richard Morgan, Hal Duncan and Debbie Miller. Then, in April, Michael will be at this year’s annual SF/F Eastercon convention where he’ll be chairing a couple of panels.

And lastly, as a treat for his fans, Michael is running a little competition to give away copies of the Seeds of Earth mass market edn. On ruminating his test question, Michael says he swung ‘between absurdly easy (how many letters are there in Greg’s surname and can you chew gum and walk at the same time?) or arcanely obscure (what is the Irish Gaelic translation of the 5th word on the 9th line on page 156?)’ but ultimately he went for something inbetween, and see here for more details. The deadline is 28th Jan … unless he changes it.

Looks like Michael has a busy Spring season ahead, and we’ll be keeping an eye on his rather stellar trajectory. Go Mike!

C is for Cobley

C is for Cobley. Michael Cobley‘s Seeds of Earth, the opening volume of his Humanity’s Fire series, was published last year to great acclaim and a very gratifying response from the reading public, whose voracious demands sent it back for multiple reprints.
The mass market paperback is now unveiled for your reading pleasure – and a pleasure it is, indeed. The great Iain M. Banks thought well of it, calling Seeds of Earth:

‘Proper galaxy-spanning Space Opera with lots of weird aliens, secret ancient technologies and mysterious hyperweapons – a worthy addition to the genre’

Volume two, The Orphaned Worlds, will be published in trade paperback in April, giving you ample opportunity to addict yourself to this wonderful new series. 

You can read an extract from Seeds of Earth here.

Palmer and Cobley are the latest thing …

We were delighted to see not just one, but two fabulous Orbit books in the Guardian’s stylish Saturday supplement. The Gadgets Fiends piece presented us with a photograph of the bookshelf of the future, dripping with must-have gadgets, alcohol extraction devices (ahem, fancy bottleopeners) and e-items of various sorts. And although the futuristic bookshelf was rather short on books, we spotted Mike Cobley’s trailblazing Seeds of Earth at no.5 on the legend and Philip Palmer’s explosive Red Claw (UK | US) was a shelf or so below at position 8. Please see the image below for what our future holds …

… after a selected couple of quotes for those books:

For Seeds of Earth:

‘Proper galaxy-spanning Space Opera . . . a worthy addition to the genre’ Iain M. Banks

‘A tightly plotted, action packed epic that leaves you wanting more’ SciFi Now

For Red Claw:

Red Claw is that rare treat, an intelligent action adventure replete with intellectual rigour, human insight and superb storytelling’ – Guardian

‘Philip Palmer has crafted a novel that is brimming with promise… a refreshing and alternative read’ – SciFi Now

Click on the image for a larger and slightly more readable version:

The Guardian Lifestyle, November 28, 2009

Win a copy of SEEDS OF EARTH

Seeds of Earth by Michael Cobley, UK large paperbackSeeds of Earth hits bookstores this week and, to celebrate, author Michael Cobley is giving away five free copies of the book on his website.

Seeds of Earth has been getting some great review coverage at BookGeeks, Fantasy Book Critic and Concept SciFi and Mark from Walker of Worlds has just posted an interview with Michael Cobley.

It’s a fantastic story of first contact, a flight for survival and some very big space ships. You can read an extract from Seeds of Earth here.