Civilisation: are we doomed? SKYFALL and 3 other ways of looking at it . . .

The poster for the latest Sam Mendes bond movie Skyfall, starring Daniel CraigLast weekend, along with millions of other people I’m sure, I went to see the latest Sam Mendes Bond movie, SKYFALL. I found the film highly entertaining – with some very impressive action scenes, a slickest of slick opening sequence, a surprisingly believable plot (for an action movie I mean…), and a rather irresistible performance from the easy-on-the-eye Daniel Craig.

But I also found it interesting (with my Orbit hat on) that this time, 007 wasn’t having to save the world by disarming a nuclear warhead (think MOONRAKER or THUNDERBALL) or stopping the spread of a deadly virus (think ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE) or prevent an evil communist plot (think CASINO ROYALE and a whole host of other Bonds).

This time, Bond’s role was to combat the destruction looming from the leak of confidential information – by the world’s most sophisticated cyber-terrorist. Highly believable in this age of Wikileaks and hackers being potentially extradited for infiltrating US military systems.

It seems that the disasters befalling the various James Bonds have been evolving through the years – seemingly to keep up with the ways in which our world, our technology and our political and social struggles have been constantly changing. Because it appears that as we progress as a species, the potential pitfalls waiting to bring down Western world and civilisation itself seem to be constantly evolving too – and growing dangerously more numerous by the day. (more…)

Ding Dong!: What the House of Comarré Characters Will be Handing Out To Trick-or-Treaters.

OUT FOR BLOOD by Kristen Painter4As Halloween approaches, so does the need for many of us to stock up on candy and other assorted treats in order to successfully bribe the neighborhood children into not TP-ing our houses or soaping our cars.

Paradise City is no different. Okay, maybe it’s a little different considering many of the inhabitants are creatures most likely to become Halloween costumes. Doesn’t mean they’re not in the Halloween spirit, though! Should you go trick-or-treating in Paradise City, here’s what my characters will be filling your goody bag with:

1. Malkolm, vampire – Let’s be honest. You can knock all you want. Mal’s not opening the door. If he does? Run.

2. Chrysabelle, comarré – If you can actually make it onto the private island where she lives, then past her estate’s security gates, you deserve a treat. Chrysabelle’s treats are the uber expensive Amedei Porcelana dark chocolate bars. She’ll then send someone along with you to make sure you don’t run into trouble the rest of the night.

3. Doc, varcolai (leopard-shifter) – Since juicy steaks are liable to ruin your other treats, Doc’s handing out packages of locally made gator jerky. Try it. You’ll like it. It bites back.

4. Fi, sometimes ghost – With Fi’s sense of humor, she’ll be stuffing your goody bag full of gummy spiders, severed finger cookies and skeleton bone lollipops. If you think that’s gross, you should see her ghost form. Mal’s the one who killed her, you know…

5. Dominic, vampire – Ever the entrepreneur, Dominic will be handing out coins good for one free entrance to Seven, his night club. Note I said entrance. Getting out of Seven is up to you.

6. Creek, Kubai Mata agent – Halloween isn’t really Creek’s thing, but his grandmother, Rosa Mae Jumper, has stepped in to help, providing him with enough raven feather charms for everyone. Put yours on immediately. You never know who might be trying to steal your soul.

7. Tatiana, evil vampiress – If you happen to be in the hidden city of Corvinestri, Romania and you’re unfortunate enough to knock on Tatiana’s door, that will probably be your last stop of the night. See, Tatiana isn’t known for her hospitality, but she loves humans. Mostly as a snack. On the off chance she does put something in your bag…trust me, the apple’s poison.

As you can see, the House of Comarré characters are an interesting bunch with different takes on the meaning of treat. If you want to see them in action, check out the next book in the series, OUT FOR BLOOD (UK | US | AUS), which is available now!

Press Release: Orbit UK to Publish Cassandra Clare’s Infernal Devices Manga

Tomorrow Orbit UK will publish the manga adaptation of Cassandra Clare’s New York Times bestseller CLOCKWORK ANGEL, the first book in her Infernal Devices series. The deal was agreed with leading US manga publisher Yen Press.

The manga tells the story of the London Institute of Shadowhunters, humans fighting against a supernatural menace in Victorian London. With another Shadowhunters series, The Mortal Instruments, being released as a movie next year, fans of Clare’s world have never been more numerous!

With a script adapted by the author herself and art by the phenomenal manga artist HyeKyung Baek (BRING IT ON! and GOSSIP GIRL), this series will appeal to new and established fans of Clare’s witty series and charm young adults and adults alike! 

The cover of the manga of Cassandra Clare's The Infernal Devices shows Shadowhunter Will Herondale

THE INFERNAL DEVICES: CLOCKWORK ANGEL

Cassandra Clare | 1st November 2012 | £7.99 | PB

 The first magical adventure in this manga set in Victorian London.  Tessa Gray thought that life would change when she moved to a new city, but kidnapped on arrival and rescued by the human warriors of the London Institute of Shadowhunters, she never could have anticipated how much! Possessed of strange abilities that allow her to talk to the dead, unlike her rescuers, Tessa is not human, and she must decide where she stands in the war between humans and supernatural creatures to come. This is the first volume adapting the New York Times bestselling series The Infernal Devices.  Art by HyeKyung Baek.

Look out for news of more steampunk manga from Orbit UK, with Gail Carriger’s SOULLESS: THE MANGA Volume 2 hitting the shelves in December!

OUT FOR BLOOD – The Wait is Over!!

OUT FOR BLOOD by Kristen Painter4After the first three explosive books in the House of Comarré series were released three months in a row, waiting a whole ten months for the next installment was pure TORTURE. But the time has finally come! Orbit is very excited to be releasing OUT FOR BLOOD (UK | US | AUS) this fall, book four in the House of Comarré series by Kristen Painter.

After nearly dying at the hands of the Aurelian, Chrysabelle finds new determination to move beyond life as a comarré. That is until the Kubai Mata bring a new task to her doorstep: rescue the child Tatiana has kidnapped, or Mal becomes enemy number one.

Magic, trouble, loss, and love (and of course the verydelectable Mal) await you in this fabulous next installment from Kristen Painter.  Enjoy and then join me in the count down (eight months until book five, eight months until book five, eight months until book five!)

Praise for the House of Comarré:

“Prophecy, curses, and devilish machination combine for a spellbinding debut of dark romance and pulse-pounding adventure.” — Library Journal (Starred Review)

“Painter scores with this one.  Passion and murder, vampires and courtesans — original and un-put-downable.  Do yourself a favor and read this one.” — Patricia Briggs, New York Times bestselling author

“Kristen Painter brings a sultry new voice to the vampire genre, one that beckons with quiet passion and intrigue.” — L.A. Banks, New York Times bestselling author of The Vampire Huntress Legends series

Check out the rest of the series!
   

 


 

STRAY SOULS by Kate Griffin: One Missing Soul, One Big Problem…

“Don’t look back. It wants you to look back.”

It’s not every day that London’s soul goes missing.

Yet this is exactly what happens in Kate Griffin’s superb new urban fantasy novel STRAY SOULS [UK | US | ANZ], out this month in paperback and ebook. The first book in Kate’s new Magicals Anonymous series, STRAY SOULS is set in the same ‘parallel and eldritch capital’ (SFX) as her critically acclaimed Matthew Swift novels.

While the Midnight Mayor himself makes an appearance, it’s very much Sharon Li – barista and shaman – who must take on the responsibility of tracking down London’s elusive soul and preventing the city from sliding towards its inevitable demise. Fortunately she’s got her friends from Magicals Anonymous – a self-help group for people with magical issues – to help her in the hunt.

To celebrate the release of STRAY SOULS, Kate will be appearing this evening at our multi-author signing at London’s Forbidden Planet.

Praise for Kate Griffin:

Shatteringly excellent’ – SCIFI NOW

‘Neverwhere for the digital age’ – SFX

‘Griffin weaves a powerful literary spell that continues to dazzle with its genius and its heart’ – ROB WILL REVIEW

‘You should be reading everything Griffin puts her pen to’ – FANTASY BOOK REVIEW

Kate Griffin can be found online at her website, where she maintains an active blog.

Talking whales? And David Brin on…MTV? Something’s up…

Is it just me, or is science fiction starting to get more of the attention it deserves? It’s great to see that even MTV are getting in on the action – by filming David Brin at WorldCon 2012.

The topic was: why haven’t more species on Earth naturally self-uplifted to full sentience? With dolphins and apes sharing a similar intelligence level, and with parrots, crows, sea lions . . . and even prairie dogs being not too far behind, is there some kind of sentience “glass ceiling” that prevents bright creatures breaking through? And, if so, how did humanity manage to break through it and progress so far?

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MTV Shows

 

The questions David Brin is asking are timely. Because a recent discovery suggests that perhaps certain animals have the ability to push their limits further…

Research shows that a beluga whale called NOC made vocalisations that sounded extremely close to human speech. What’s more – this wasn’t exactly easy for the whale involved. As an io9.com article explains further, it had to adjust its own vocal mechanics and inflate part of its blowhole (through which it usually breathes) to make these sounds.

Is this an example of a whale trying to reach out to us and meet us halfway? Could this open up possibilities for communication between different species?

And then that raises an even bigger question. Should it now be our duty and obligation to offer other “pre-sapient” species a helping hand? We do, after all, now seem to have the tools of science to be able to do so – as shown by this article on making monkeys smarter using brain implants. Or would that just be the ultimate form of arrogance?

These are among the questions being raised not just in the interview above, but also in David Brin’s classic and award-winning Uplift books, which are soon to be re-released in the omnibus editions UPLIFT (UK | ANZ) and EXILES (UK | ANZ). And he also portrays the beginnings of the uplift process in his latest book: EXISTENCE (UK | ANZ), released as a paperback this November.

EXISTENCE by the award-winning author of the Uplift novels, David Brin, a science fiction book featuring the beginnings of genetic uplift of animals by human beingsUPLIFT: an omnibus edition of the three science fiction novels SUNDIVER, STARTIDE RISING and THE UPLIFT WAR, by the award-winning author David Brin, and featuring genetic uplift of animals by human beingsEXILES: an omnibus edition of the three science fiction novels BRIGHTNESS REFF, INFINITY'S SHORE and HEAVEN'S REACH, by the award-winning author David Brin, and featuring genetic uplift of animals by human beings

 

On The Edge – a look at ICE FORGED

Gail Z. Martin’s Days of the Dead tour kicks off today! For exclusive excerpts from her upcoming novel, ICE FORGED (UK | US | AUS) and other literary goodies, keep an eye on www.ascendantkingdoms.com and her partner sites for the next week. Visit her website for further details or head on over to Goodreads and participate in a week-long Q & A with the author! 

…

Ice Forged, which debuts in January, is my seventh epic fantasy novel, and it’s definitely the darkest and edgiest so far.
My main character Blaine McFadden is exiled to a prison colony at the northernmost edge of his world, a place where the weather itself is a remorseless enemy.  Ice, snow, bitter cold and darkness pose as deadly a threat as the wild magic, assassins, and sadistic prison guards.  Extreme conditions tend to show what someone is really made of, because life or death hinge on luck and choices.

I suspect that Ice Forged feels edgier than some of my other books for a variety of reasons.  To some extent, that edginess is probably a product of our times, which have been tumultuous—to say the least.  I imagine it also reflects the changes I’ve experienced in the almost 10 years since I wrote my first novel—perhaps some of that “youthful enthusiasm” has worn thin on the edges.  Mostly, I feel that I’m bringing a different perspective to these books, one that’s a little grittier than before.  It’s a fitting feel for the book, which hinges on a few questions my characters have to answer—and ones that I hope my readers will also try on for size:

Who would you be, if everything you were and everything you had was stripped from you?

When there’s nothing left to lose, what would you do to survive?

How much would you give for a chance to put things right?

Blaine McFadden gets to find out.

(more…)

Orbit UK Multi-Author Signing – this Friday at Forbidden Planet London!

After the success of our summer signing last year, we’re delighted to be teaming up with Forbidden Planet once again for another big signing event.

This Friday (26 October) SF authors Charles Stross and Michael Cobley, and urban fantasy authors Kate Griffin and Benedict Jacka, will all be signing copies of their latest books at Forbidden Planet in London.

The signing will take place from 6 – 7 pm at Forbidden Planet’s flagship store on Shaftesbury Avenue. We look forward to seeing you there!

     

Are we alone in the universe? Alien Life, Alpha Centauri & The Fermi Paradox

David Brin, award-winning science fiction author of EXISTENCE and the UPLIFT novels
David Brin – photo by Cheryl Brigham

== Essential Questions About Alien Life ==

And now the news from Alpha Centauri . . . (oh, I’ve waited for so long to utter those words! News. From Alpha Centauri) . . .

After an incredible decade, in which the number of planets known beyond our solar system increased from zero to several thousand, astronomers have detected an Earth-sized world orbiting between the two stars nearest to our system, Alpha Centauri A and Alpha Centauri B. Much too hot to sustain life, it nevertheless will help in narrowing down the search space for others. Moreover, now we have a target for the first interstellar probes, which are already under discussion. Indeed, the youngest of you readers may live to see the launch.

Ah, but this raises the perennial question. If planets are more common than we ever thought, then what about life-worlds? And even alien intelligences?

EXISTENCE by the award-winning author of the Uplift novels, David Brin, a science fiction book about first contact, the near future and a possible coming apocalypseI have been involved in this topic all my life, having grown up in Southern California, the part of human civilization least rooted in the familiar, traditional or . . . perhaps . . . sane. I am best-known today as an author of novels and stories about our many possible-plausible futures, including some that explore a wide range of possible extraterrestrial civilizations. My scientific career, ranging from optics to astrophysics, led to papers about SETI in the 1980s that include what is still the only full review article in the field, compiling all then public theories for what I called The Great Silence, but that is now more widely known as the Fermi Paradox.

(See a collection of articles and speculations about the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI))

The Fermi Paradox refers to a question posed by the great physicist Enrico Fermi in the 1940s, demanding: “If it seems so likely the universe may host other life forms, how come we haven’t seen any signs?”  Not just of radio beacons, but of mighty structures that our own descendants might someday build out there in space. Or leakage from chatty commerce between civilizations. Or indeed, any trace that the Earth was visited during the 2 billion years that it was “prime real estate” with an oxygen atmosphere, but nothing higher than slime molds to defend it. (more…)

New Short Fiction: THE PERIMETER by Will McIntosh

In 2010, Will McIntosh astonished us with his Hugo Award-winning short story, “Bridesicle,” so we signed him up to write a couple novels for Orbit. But we never lost sight of the fact that McIntosh is a consummate short story writer, and we are thrilled to publish his new one on our Orbit Short Fiction program.

The Perimeter” is set in a human colony on a distant planet; beyond the colony’s borders, strange fauna with sinister agendas lurk. All this creepy tale needs is Rod Serling standing in the foreground, saying “Picture if you will …”

Buy it today at your favorite online retailer!