WHITE NIGHT by Jim Butcher: a Dresden Files reread

 Mark Yon has been a reviewer and web administrator at SFFWorld, one of the world’s biggest genre forum sites, for nearly ten years. He has also been on the David Gemmell Awards organisation committee for the last two years. In this series of rereads, Mark will guide us below through the whole of Jim Butcher’s fabulous Dresden Files series as we count down to the new hardback Ghost Story at the end of July.
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White Night takes place fairly soon after the events of Proven Guilty. We find that Molly, Harry’s trainee from Proven Guilty, is developing really well. And Harry’s growing relationship with Molly has given him, though he might be shocked to realise it, a much more positive and enthusiastic response to life. Some (but not all!) of that weariness and cynicism he experienced in Dead Beat and Proven Guilty seems to have gone, and it’s clear that the apprenticeship, for all its difficulties, actually quite suits Harry.

Having said that, it’s clear that the dramatic events of this book are really cathartic experiences for Harry. White Night is about pain and facing up to your responsibilities, however awful they may be and whatever consequences may result. It is about death and regret, and how we resolve these issues.

Here we’re back to the good ol’ fast-paced murder-mystery tales of the earlier books. Harry is asked by Karrin Murphy (now demoted from Lieutenant to Sergeant) to have a look at a murder that may be more mysterious than it seems. It’s then discovered that a number of women have been killed around Chicago, with no apparent link or motive in common. However, Harry finds clues that can only be read by those with a background in magic – and it seems that someone is hunting down witches and then making sure Harry sees the grim results. (more…)

Heartless is out!

Alexia Tarabotti-Maccon is back in her newest adventure! And this time she’s on the warpath.  With an assassination attempt on the Queen, and dealing with a pregnancy, Alexia has more than enough to keep her occupied.

A bit more about Heartless:

Lady Alexia Maccon, soulless, is at it again, only this time the trouble is not her fault. When a mad ghost threatens the queen, Alexia is on the case, following a trail that leads her deep into her husband’s past. Top that off with a sister who has joined the suffragette movement (shocking!), Madame Lefoux’s latest mechanical invention, and a plague of zombie porcupines and Alexia barely has time to remember she happens to be eight months pregnant.

Will Alexia manage to determine who is trying to kill Queen Victoria before it is too late? Is it the vampires again or is there a traitor lurking about in wolf’s clothing? And what, exactly, has taken up residence in Lord Akeldama’s second best closet?

We’re releasing the first chapter of Heartless on Facebook and you can find Gail on twitter @gailcarriger.

And for those of you who have yet to read the first three– we’ll be doing an ebook bundle of the first three books at $9.99 in the US.  So that’s Soulless, Blameless and Changeless in one bundle starting July 5th!

Timeless is the final book in the Alexia Tarabotti-Maccon series and it will be published in March 2012. If you’d like a sneak peak at the cover of Timeless, find it here.

Robert Jackson Bennett on the Point(s) of Plot

Robert Jackson Bennett’s most recent novel, THE COMPANY MAN, published by Orbit in April, has been receiving rave reviews across the board:

“Bennett does the seemingly impossible here. He’s written an alternate-history novel that measures up in every respect to Philip K. Dick’s masterful The Man In the High Castle.” — Booklist

“The novel is a genuine original, something like an episode of ‘The X-Files’ written by Clifford Odets. Strongly recommended.” —Michael Berry, San Francisco Chronicle

“THE COMPANY MAN made me realize how far sci-fi has come in my lifetime.” —Tom Shippey, Wall Street Journal

Robert knows plenty about plot. On his blog he has just posted a piece in which he talks about the point of plot, expressing his forthright opinions on the academic’s view of plot as opposed to the reader’s; the different uses of plot, character, and voice; and how and for what reason spoilers can be advantageously ignored.

“The very best novels are a space in your head, a secret little corner only you know about, and you want to return to that place and spend a few hours enjoying yourself. What goes on in that place could matter less.”

Check out Robert’s thoughts at his blog; and if you haven’t yet read THE COMPANY MAN or his first novel, the critically acclaimed, multiple award-nominated MR. SHIVERS — do.

Cover Launch: THE BUSINESS OF DEATH by Trent Jamieson

People often ask me, how do I find artists for books. And there’s never one good answer…I try to stay on top of established scifi and fantasy artists through places like Spectrum and assorted illustration annuals. I also like to keep an eye on people working more in the fine-art and urban art realm thru mags like Juxtapoz and Hi Fructose. I have a long history in comics (yes I was a Comic Shop Girl) and I pull artists across the divide between comics and books. Agents send me updated work from artists constantly. And facebook, believe it or not, has been a great tool for me to find emerging artists.

The real problem isn’t finding good artists, it’s wishing I had enough good projects for all the fabulous artists I know of! And I love getting people who haven’t worked on a lot of book covers to work on a cover for me, I think it keeps the art really fresh. So I am always walking around with a “dream team” list in the back of my head. And David Seidman was on that list for a while…until I heard that we were going to do an omnibus edition of Trent Jamieson’s Deathworks Series, and I knew he would be perfect for it. I’m not sure where I first saw David’s work. It was either on facebook or it was his Coheed and Cambria picture disk. Either way I just had a gut feeling he would have a fabulous take on these books, which is kind of a little Constantine by way of The Office. Or Office Space, actually. We really wanted to capture the bored sick-of-this-damn-cubicle attitude, while showing a bit of the supernatural. If you want to get a good intro you can read the opener here.

As you’ve been reading over the last few cover posts, I love doing omnibus editions. I like them as a fan, there’s nothing better than getting a big honking bible-sized edition of a series, and as an art director, I love getting a chance to reinvent a character. This redesign started with shooting the right photo reference with Shirley Green. (Often an artist shoots his own reference photo, but the editors and I had such a strong sense of what we wanted that I art directed the shoot then sent the images we picked to David). We had a heck of a time finding the right model. We knew we wanted someone out of the vein of beefcake, someone cool, who could look so very fed up and a bit pissed. And look good in a suit, of course! But we settled on Jonathan Taylor and he was a great model, and totally a geek too, which makes it all so much more fun. Anyway then we picked poses we liked in-house, then sent the winner to David. He & I went back a bunch talking about tone and color, and he produced this fabulous illustration. So enjoy BIG after the jump, along with some shots of the various stages. And a teaser, of course…

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Cover Launch: THE LEGEND OF ELI MONPRESS by Rachel Aaron

One of the best parts of my job is getting to collaborate with fantastic artists on covers. And one of Orbit’s favorites is the stellar Sam Weber. When I heard we were going to collect the first three Spirit Thief books into an omnibus edition I knew I wanted to give Sam a crack at creating his version of the incorrigible rogue & sorcerer Eli Monpress. So here it is, The Legend of Eli Monpress by Rachel Aaron. It’s out in February in satisfying tome-size trade paperback. This edition collects The Spirit Thief, The Spirit Rebellion, and The Spirit Eater, and set’s the scene for the next story, The Spirit’s War, out in June 2012.

And speaking of The Spirit’s War, we know you guys are going to love this cover so much that we already have Sam working on the cover for the new book. And Art Director Kirk & I snuck out of the office for a few hours and went to visit Sam at his studio and see the cover-in-progress! We also took along our trusty cameraman Eric Westpheling to tape a studio tour and chat with Sam about his process. That video will debut with the cover launch of The Spirit’s War in a few months, but for now, here are some images of our visit and a SNEAK PEAK at the next cover!

I don’t remember the first time I saw Sam’s art but here at Orbit we love that he can capture such a strong feeling of fantasy and adventure, yet in a fresh way and in his unique style. Our first project together was The Gaslight Dogs, which was a stunning cover, but I have of course also been jealous of all the lovely work he’s been doing for other clients as well. Especially that drop-dead-gorgeous Ender’s Game ebook. And I have to say I was curious to see exactly what his process was…the transparency & textures he gets in his illustrations just blows my mind. I definitely learned a lot. I guess you’ll just have to wait for the cover launch of The Spirit’s War to hear him explain it himself…

Meanwhile, after the jump you can see a few more still shots of Sam in action, as well as this cover BIG, and a better shot of the art-in-progress…and if you haven’t had the chance to “meet” Eli Monpress yet, do yourself a favor and download the first two chapters as a free pdf here. I know I’m not supposed to have favorites and all, but this series is definitely on my list of manuscripts that I bug the editors about when I know it might be coming in…My early comparisons to The Princess Bride and Locke Lamora are completely on-target with everyone I’ve recommended this book to. Eli is a fantastic antihero, and, guy or girl, you can’t help fall in love with him a bit. (more…)

PROVEN GUILTY by Jim Butcher: Dresden Files reread

Mark Yon has been a reviewer and web administrator at SFFWorld, one of the world’s biggest genre forum sites, for nearly ten years. He has also been on the David Gemmell Awards organisation committee for the last two years. In this series of rereads, Mark will guide us below through the whole of Jim Butcher’s fabulous Dresden Files series as we count down to the new hardback Ghost Story at the end of July.
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Proven Guilty takes place about a year after the events of Dead Beat, and is a really terrific read in terms of both plot complexity and pace. It is here that the war (between the wizard White Council and the vampire Red Court) is at its bloodiest so far. Interestingly, things are not going well for Harry’s side, and thousands have been killed. This makes Harry feel guilty because, after all, it was Harry who (albeit reluctantly) started the War in the first place. And to his dismay, Harry has been made an active Warden, responsible for justice and giving out death sentences.

Consequently, the Harry here is a very different one from the person we first encountered in Storm Front. He’s more experienced, yet also a bitter and crippled Harry, a Harry with secrets and a darkness which threatens his life – or at least his sanity. He also feels conflicted by his conscription to Warden status, where the lines between good and evil are definitely blurred. At the beginning of Proven Guilty, Harry feels uncomfortable with the execution of a young man whose involvement with black magic was discovered. This reminds Harry of his own past, and although the punishment is perhaps deserved here, Harry clearly has divided loyalties. (more…)

THE DREAD by Gail Z. Martin – the cover launch

We are very excited to unveil, at last, the stunning cover for The Dread (US | UK | ANZ). The Dread is the epic concluding volume in Gail Z. Martin’s Fallen Kings Cycle and is fantasy adventure at its most adventuresome. We published the first book, The Sworn (US | UK | ANZ), in February 2011 and The Dread will be available from February 2012. Both covers have been illustrated by talented fantasy artist Steve Stone and Peter Cotton developed the designs to great effect.

Today’s cover launch comes as part of Gail Z. Martin’s annual summer solstice online book ‘event’ . So please do check out her site for details of a sneak peek from the new book itself, plus there will be giveaway contests, interviews and online goodies spread across her website, blog, social media pages and also on other selected host sites.

And for a little look at just some of the great quotes we’ve had in for The Sworn, see below, a taster of what’s to come!

Top notch, engrossing fantasy”
SFRevu.com
“Very well-written and intricately plotted…I can’t wait for the second book in the cycle, The Dread”
The Civilian Reader blog
“I found myself caught up in the story and the characters almost from the first page …very enjoyable”
Bookgeeks.co.uk
“Those who enjoy the large-scale fantasy of George R.R. Martin and Robert Jordan should enjoy this”
Library Journal

“Hollywood Blockbuster in Book Form”

Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey is out this week in stores! Jimmy Corey is, of course, the pseudonym for the highly acclaimed fantasy author Daniel Abraham and a newcomer to the SFF scene, Ty Franck. Both are writers of astonishing talent, imagination, and enthusiasm. They are also some of the hardest working men in the business. I highly recommend you pop over to John Scalzi’s Big Idea feature where I think James Corey lays out exactly what it is in his (their) writing that readers connect with. And it is, in short, an absolute dedication to delivering the most awesome story possible.

Writing genre fiction is undignified. Reading genre fiction is undignified. If we’re going to do this, it should be joyful. We should create a little literary pocket universe where we can shuck off the irony and defensiveness and care about these imaginary people, and weep for them, feel awe when they’re awed, triumph with them when they win, and grieve with them when they fail. If there is any sense of wonder to be had, it’s there. Wonder is what we come here for.

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New authors!

In recent months, we’ve acquired two new authors  — and I’m excited to introduce both of them to you!

Orbit US has also acquired GOD SAVE THE QUEEN plus two others from author Kate Locke, a pseudonym for Kathryn Smith. It’s an urban fantasy novel set in our time period — but with a twist.  Queen Victoria still rules 175 years after her ascension. This is the world that half-blood Alexandra has been born into — a world where horse-drawn carriages, ballgowns, and corsets mesh with the modern fashions of the humans outside of the vampire aristocracy. We’re publishing GOD SAVE THE QUEEN in July 2012 — and trust me it’s worth the wait.

Orbit worldwide has acquired Amanda Carlson in a new three-book deal. She’s a brand new debut author from Minnesota. I had the privilege of meeting her at the Romantic Times convention (and yes, forgetting to post about that too…). Her three novels: FULL BLOODED, HOT BLOODED, and COLD BLOODED will be out in September 2012, March 2013 and August 2013 respectively. Jessica is the only female werewolf born to a race of males. And prophecy claims that her birth will signal the end of their race. Who said it was easy being a girl?