I was 13 years old when I first fell head over heels in love with Kate Elliot’s Jaran.  I still remember sitting on the floor of my local library one minute, and being transported to another world the next.  Over the years, I’ve gone back and read the series again and I still love it as much today as I did then.  So it is an absolute privilege and a pleasure for me to welcome Kate Elliott to the Orbit list on both sides of the Atlantic now.

Kate is known for her enormous epic fantasy tales, full of brilliant characterization, in-depth politics and mind-blowing plot twists and turns.  Now, in Cold Magic, she’s created an alternate Victorian England where airships rule the skies and Cold Mages will do anything to keep technology from getting into the wrong hands.  It’s a world where magic rules the day and science hides at night, and where one young woman must discover her destiny.

But if you need more convincing, Ms. Elizabeth Moon had some stuff to say on Cold Magic:  “It’s a definite hands-down great read. It’s a great story beyond the alternate-history setting–and that’s done extremely well. The whole cold magic concept got me shivering…I don’t think I’ve ever run across anything like it…but the characters, the mysteries, the background history, the cultural complexity,  were all so intriguing I couldn’t stop reading.  And a sense of humor, to boot.”

The history of the world begins in ice, and it will end in ice.

It is the dawn of a new age… The Industrial Revolution has begun, factories are springing up across the country, and new technologies are transforming the cities. But the old ways do not die easy.

Cat and Bee are part of this revolution. Young women at college, learning of the science that will shape their future and ignorant of the magics that rule their families. But all of that will change when the Cold Mages come for Cat.  New dangers lurk around every corner and hidden threats menace her every move.  If blood can’t be trusted, who can you trust?

You can find Kate on Facebook as Kate Elliott and on Twitter as KateElliottSFF.

Kate has an awesome website full of writerly advice here — but if you’re at World Con this weekend, stop by to meet her!