Author Archive

Cover launch: BREAKS, an enemies-to-lovers comic by Emma Vieceli and Malin Rydén

As launched today at Bleeding Cool News, we’re excited to share the cover of upcoming Orbit graphic novel, Breaks: Volume One!

With millions of views and thousands of subscribers on webcomic platforms, Breaks is ‘a high school love story, but a little bit broken’.

In 2024, Orbit UK are proud to be bringing the complete three volumes from Emma Vieceli and Malin Rydén into print for the first time. Look out for vol. 1 in February, and the others to follow later in the year.

Before Heartstopper, there was Breaks . . . the enemies-to-lovers queer comic book sensation.
Cortland Hunt has made some dangerous mistakes. Now he’s waiting quietly for those mistakes to catch up with him. Ian Tanner coasts through life denying the spark of anger beneath his laid back exterior. When school politics and personal lives become a battleground, the pair find that what they share may just be their only safe haven. Breaks is the story of two young men discovering who they were, who they are, and who they will become.

This gorgeous cover is drawn by Breaks artist Emma Vieceli, with art direction by Ella Garrett (Little, Brown Book Group).


The cover for the romance comic BREAKS: Volume One

Cover launch: FATHOMFOLK by Eliza Chan

We are delighted to launch this gorgeous cover for Orbit debut Eliza Chan’s lush and folkloric fantasy novel, FATHOMFOLK! Coming February 2024…

The cover art is by Kelly Chong and cover design is by Ella Garrett at L,BBG.

This is the front cover for the novel Fathomfolk by Eliza Chan. It shows the author name and title, as well as two mermaids, a kelpie, a water dragon and crashing blue waves over an ornate, red building

Welcome to Tiankawi. Revolution is brewing and tensions are rising like the tide…

The semi-flooded city is a shining pearl of human civilization and a safe haven for those fleeing civil unrest. Or at least, that’s how it first appears. But in Tiankawi, humans are, quite literally, on top: peering down from shining towers and aerial walkways on the fathomfolk – sirens, seawitches, kelpies and kappas – who live in the polluted waters below.

For half-siren Mira, promotion to captain of the border guard means an opportunity to help her downtrodden people. But if earning the trust of her human colleagues wasn’t hard enough, everything Mira has worked towards is put in jeopardy when Nami, a know-it-all water dragon and fathomfolk royalty, is exiled to the city. When extremists sabotage the annual boat race, violence erupts, as does the clampdown on fathomfolk rights. Both Nami and Mira must decide if the cost of change is worth paying, or if Tiankawi should be left to drown.

Cover Launch: An Inheritance of Magic by Benedict Jacka

Million-copy-bestseller Benedict Jacka is BACK this October! And today we can share with you the glitteringly gorgeous new cover to his brand new fantasy series.

This cover for AN INHERITANCE OF MAGIC is designed by the talented Ella Garrett at Little, Brown UK.

When it comes to writing fantasy, Benedict is known as the ‘master of magical London’, and his new series holds all of the excitement, adventure and magical mayhem of the Alex Verus series his fans know and love: with a richly dark academic twist. Read on below for more about AN INHERITANCE OF MAGIC . . .

the book cover for An Inheritance of Magic by Benedict Jacka, with heraldry showing a gold shield with three gold keys and gold flourishes underneath, on a dark blue background

 

ANYONE CAN USE MAGIC – IF THEY CAN AFFORD THE PRICE . . .

In a world where everything magical is bought up and controlled by the super rich – Stephen Oakwood has inherited a rare natural talent for magic. Plunged by his father’s disappearance into a glittering world of scheming dynasties, warring patriarchs and vicious scions, Stephen must navigate magical high society and learn to control his gifts.

Dangerous enemies await the Oakwood heir, and even more dangerous allies: if Stephen cannot master his magic quickly and learn to distinguish friend from foe, his name may end up on the missing persons list, just like his father.

‘Jacka has drawn a potent new world of magic controlled by a privileged few, and Stephen Oakwood is the sigl-wielding rebel we didn’t know we needed’ New York Times bestselling author Chloe Neill.

AN INHERITANCE OF MAGIC is book one in a new fantasy series of super rich magical dynasties and warring heirs – from the author of the million-copy-selling Alex Verus series. For readers of contemporary fantasy who enjoy the methods and magicians of dark academia.

Cover Launch: GODS OF THE WYRDWOOD by RJ Barker

You asked, and we answered… the British Fantasy Award-winning RJ Barker is back!

RJ has taken us to a castle filled with assassins hunting other assassins (The Wounded Kingdom Trilogy) and to high seas adventures on ships made of dragon bones (The Tide Child Trilogy). Now he’s heading into the woods. The Wyrdwoods, to be precise.

GODS OF THE WYRDWOOD is epic fantasy set within the bounds of a forest straight out of darkest folklore – with outlaws fighting an evil empire and dangerous deities at war. It’s coming to all good bookshelves on the 29th June, so get preordering!

“Ours is a land of many gods, and we are a people with the ability to pick the worst of them.”

Cahan du Nahare is known as the forester – a humble man who can nonetheless navigate the dangerous Deepforest like no-one else. But once he was more. Once he was a warrior.

Udinny serves the goddess of the lost, a goddess of the small and helpless. When she ventures into the Deepforest to find a missing child, Cahan will be her guide.

But in a land at war, in a forest full of monsters – Cahan will need to choose between his past life and the one he leads now – and his choice will have consequences for his entire world.
The cover for RJ Barker's fantasy novel GODS OF THE WYRDWOOD shows the author name and title, as well as a woodland pattern, with a rusted sword and shield on top of a knarled and creepy tree design. Eyes lit with green glowing magic peer out from the tree.

Cover design by Duncan Spilling at L,BBG.

GODS OF THE WYRDWOOD begins the Forsaken trilogy – a series with great appeal to fans of Jay Kristoff’s Empire of the Vampire, as well as fans of the gruff warrior protagonist and dark folkloric worldbuilding of The Witcher. And fans of RJ’s previous work will have a riotously fantastic time, of course!

Acquisition Announcement: LONG LIVE EVIL by Sarah Rees Brennan

Sarah Rees Brennan, the author of Long Live Evil, stands in a yellow dress, matching her yellow and black pixie haircut, holding a pen with her hand on her hip. She wears a necklace that reads ‘antagonist’Time to prepare for your villain era – in the best possible way. We’ve just added the first adult novel from Sarah Rees Brennan to our list for 2024, and it’s her most villainous yet!

Orbit pre-empted world rights in three fantasy novels from cult favourite YA author Sarah Rees Brennan. Suzie Townsend at New Leaf Literary sold world rights to Editorial Director Jenni Hill at Orbit UK, and Nivia Evans has acquired for Orbit US.

The first adult novel from Sarah is Long Live Evil, in which a young woman wakes in the dangerous fictional world of her favourite fantasy novel. The book will appeal to fans of romantic fantasy and has already won praise from authors such as Leigh Bardugo and Holly Black. Orbit plan to publish in summer 2024.

Long Live Evil is a fantasy novel for everyone who ever rooted for the bad guy.

Editorial Director, Jenni Hill says: “I’ve followed Sarah’s career for a long time and admired her fantasy worldbuilding, her audacious wit and her ability to create romances you can’t tear yourself away from. If you’ve ever been too obsessed with a fantasy TV show, read fanfiction, or wished that a fictional man was real, Long Live Evil is the book for you.”

Agent Suzie Townsend says: “Long Live Evil is clever, funny, romantic and page-turning. It’s one of those perfect books for anyone who loves fantasy tropes and enjoys seeing them subverted. Most of all, it’s a fun ride and is simply a joy to dive into amid everything going on in real life. This novel was a joy to share with editors and I am so thrilled that Jenni and the Orbit team love these characters as much as Sarah and I do.”

Sarah Rees Brennan says: “After a life-threatening illness and during Europe’s longest lockdown, I had to write about escaping into the wild joys and perils of fiction. In my first adult work a dying young woman is offered the chance to live by stepping into the world of her favourite fantasy novel, where she must unite its villains in a scheme that will challenge our perception of evil. Long Live Evil asks why we laugh and weep with villains, why we desire them… and why we become them. I’ve read ground-breaking books from Orbit ever since I learned to read, and couldn’t be more thrilled to be published by the perfect partners.”

 

And now hear from some happy readers – whose names you may recognise!

‘Funny, audacious, and supremely satisfying, LONG LIVE EVIL is the chosen one we’ve been waiting for… Get ready to laugh out loud, cry in public, and cheer on the villains as Brennan smashes through tropes with witty, wild glee in this delicious, subversive treat of a book’ Leigh Bardugo

‘Utterly brilliant. I can’t stop thinking about LONG LIVE EVIL, which has rocketed to the top of my list of all time favorite fantasy novels. Pick this up immediately’ C.S. Pacat

‘Brennan’s brilliant Long Live Evil harnesses clever banter, delightful turns of phrase, and epic backdrops in the service of exploring the nature of stories and the freedom that comes with embracing being named a villain — and maybe actually becoming one’ Holly Black

 

About the author: Sarah Rees Brennan was born in Ireland by the sea. After world travel and surviving stage 4 cancer, she settled there in the shadow of a 300 year old library. Writing young adult fiction, she was a Lodestar, Mythopoeic and World Fantasy finalist, Carnegie nominee and New York Times bestseller. Long Live Evil is her first adult work.

 

Cover Launch: SOME DESPERATE GLORY by Emily Tesh

The book cover for Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh, showing a pastel scene of a planet, a moon and a spaceship in orbit

We’re delighted to share the cover for Emily’s Tesh’s debut novel, SOME DESPERATE GLORY.

While we live, the enemy shall fear us.

All her life Kyr has trained for the day she can avenge the destruction of planet Earth by an all-powerful, reality-shifting weapon known as the Wisdom. Raised in the bowels of Gaea Station alongside the last scraps of humanity, she is one of the best warriors of her generation, the sword of a dead planet.

Then Command assigns her brother to certain death and relegates her to the nursery to bear sons and she knows she must take humanity’s revenge into her own hands. But she soon learns that not everything she’s been raised to believe is true, and the Wisdom is far more complex and dangerous than she could ever have imagined.

Coming April 2023, SOME DESPERATE GLORY is a thrillingly told space opera about the wreckage of war, the family you find and who you must become when every choice is stripped from you.

 

Cover artwork by Tegnemaskin.no, Cover design by Duncan Spilling – LBBG

Acquisition Announcement: Eliza Chan’s Fathomfolk Makes a Splash at Orbit

An author photo of Eliza Chan, she is holding a notebook and looking into the camera. Photo by Sandi Hodkinson
Photo Credit: Sandi Hodkinson

DEEPLY IRRESISTIBLE DEBUT FANTASY DUOLOGY ACQUIRED IN COMPETITIVE AUCTION

We are delighted to announce that Orbit has acquired two books in a highly-anticipated fantasy series inspired by East Asian mythology and watery folk tales from British debut author Eliza Chan. Eliza has published various pieces of short fiction but Fathomfolk will be her first novel.

Alexander Cochran (C&W) sold world rights to Editorial Director Jenni Hill at Orbit, Little, Brown Book Group. Brit Hvide has acquired for Orbit US.

In Eliza’s duology, revolution is brewing in the semi-submerged city of Tiankawi, between humans and the fathomfolk—sirens, sea witches, kelpies, and kappas—who live in its waters. This debut fantasy is perfect for fans of Fonda Lee’s Jade City and Sarah J. Maas’s House of Earth and Blood.

 

Eliza says: “I am thrilled that Fathomfolk has found a home with Orbit. They have published so many groundbreaking, cherished favourites of mine over the years and I am gobsmacked to be within that number. I am looking forward to working with Jenni and Brit, knowing my flooded world is in the best hands.”

Jenni says: “Eliza is such a find, and I am so glad that she decided to choose Orbit as the home for her debut! Fathomfolk is simply irresistible: we loved Eliza’s charming characters, her depth of worldbuilding: there were literal squeals of glee in the Orbit editorial meeting when we discussed her work, from team members who will remain anonymous for dignity’s sake…”

Alex says: “I loved the rich and beautifully drawn world of Fathomfolk from the first moment I read Eliza’s work, and I’m absolutely delighted that she’s found such a brilliant editor and home in Jenni and the team at Orbit.”

 

For more information about Fathomfolk, please contact Orbit publicist Nazia Khatun (nazia.khatun@littlebrown.co.uk).

Translation rights enquires should go to Jessica Perdue at Little, Brown Book Group (jessica.purdue@hachette.co.uk).

Author photo credit: Sandi Hodkinson

About the author: Eliza Chan is a Scottish-born Chinese-diaspora author who ‘writes about East Asian mythology, British folklore and madwomen in the attic, but preferably all three at once’. Eliza’s work has been published in The Dark, Podcastle, Fantasy Magazine and The Best of British Fantasy 2019. She lives in the North of England with her partner and young child. Fathomfolk is her first novel. @elizawchan

 

 

Cover launch: ONE FOOT IN THE FADE by Luke Arnold

We’re excited to launch the newest cover for the Fetch Phillips series! A world recovers from losing its magic in this brilliantly-voiced contemporary fantasy series by Luke Arnold – perfect for fans of Ben Aaronovitch or Terry Pratchett’s Discworld.

AN ANGEL FALLS IN SUNDER CITY…

In a city that lost its magic, an angel falls in a downtown street. His wings are feathered, whole – undeniably magical – the man clearly flew, for all that he plummeted to his death moments after.

The mystery will set Fetch – in his quest to bring magic back to his beloved city – on a journey involving necromancers, djinn and shadowy secret societies. Fetch will search Sunder’s wildest forests and dingiest dive bars for the answer, and when he finds it, nothing will ever be the same again.

The Book cover for One Foot in the Fade, a fantasy by Luke Arnold. Cover shows a corss section of a fantasy map

 

banner showing the three Fetch Phillips covers so far

The new cover art is by Patrick Knowles, and was designed at Little, Brown Book Group by Matt Byrne.

Praise for this series:

‘Verve and charm in abundance’ Andrew Caldecott, author of Rotherweird

‘The first instalment of an effortlessly readable series that could be the illegitimate love child of Terry Pratchett and Dashiell Hammett’ Kirkus

‘[A] standout debut . . . winningly combining the grit of Chinatown with the quirky charm of Harry Potter, this series opener is sure to have readers coming back for more’ Publishers Weekly

‘This book was a marvellous noir voice; Luke Arnold has captured the spirit of the genre perfectly and wrapped it around a fantasy setting with consummate skill’ Peter McLean, author of Priest of Bones

‘Sunder City [is] an evocative creation, it has echoes of Ankh-Morpork, but also a broken melancholy all of its own’ SFX

 

neon sign advertising character as a P.I.

Cover launch: Dead Water by C. A. Fletcher

Let your eyes drink in the cover for Dead Water, the upcoming folk horror novel from the author of A Boy and his Dog at the End of the World.

A water-borne blight hits a small community on a remote Scottish island. The residents are a mix of island-born and newcomers seeking a slower life away from the modern world; all have their own secrets, some much darker than others. Some claim the illness may be a case of mass hysteria – or even a long-buried curse – but when ferry service fails and phone towers go down, inconvenience grows into nightmarish ordeal as the outwardly harmonious fabric of the community is irreversibly torn apart.

Dead Water is an atmospheric, suspenseful tale of folk horror and isolation within a small island community – perfect for fans of Midnight Mass and The Pine. Available for preorder now.

Cover art is by kid-ethic and design is by Sophie Harris at L,BBG.

the cover for the horror novel DEAD WATER by C. A. Fletcher

 

 

Cover Launch: PEACE TALKS by Jim Butcher

HARRY DRESDEN IS BACK AND READY FOR ACTION!

Dresden Files fans rejoice! The thrilling sixteenth instalment in Jim Butcher’s no. 1 Sunday Times bestselling series is on its way!

PEACE TALKS (UK | ANZ) is out in July 2020 and available to preorder now.

the book cover for Peace TalksWhen the supernatural nations of the world meet up to negotiate an end to ongoing hostilities, Harry Dresden, Chicago’s only professional wizard, joins the White Council’s security team to make sure the talks stay civil. But can he succeed, when dark political manipulations threaten the very existence of Chicago — and all he holds dear?

Praise for the Dresden Files:

‘The Dresden Files is my favourite series ever’ Patrick Rothfuss, author of The Name of the Wind

‘Butcher’s storytelling is satisfying on a level that’s bone-deep’ io9

‘Harry Dresden has a vitality that few urban fantasy heroes can match’ SFX

‘The Dresden Files are addictive page-turners’ SciFiNow