What Makes a Genre?

Daniel Abraham recently put up a long and fascinating post regarding what defines a genre– any genre, from Westerns to Romance to Science fiction. And, frankly, he’s someone who knows a little something about what it means to work in a different genre since he is a wearer of many hats professionally. Daniel is the author of the critically acclaimed epic fantasy series The Long Price Quartet and the upcoming The Dragon’s Path as well as the urban fantasist MLN Hanover (author of The Black Sun’s Daughter series) and one half of James S.A. Corey, author of the upcoming space opera Leviathan Wakes. Like I said– he knows genre.

“I think that the successful genres of a particular period are reflections of the needs and thoughts and social struggles of that time.  When you see a bunch of similar projects meeting with success, you’ve found a place in the social landscape where a particular story (or moral or scenario) speaks to readers. You’ve found a place where the things that stories offer are most needed.“

Check out the whole thing on his blog.

Parasol Protectorate: More Covers!

Here’s the second “team” of the Parasol Protectorate covers for your judging pleasure. Please do remember, you’re voting on the awesomeness of the Steampunk attire, not on the background or title and especially not photo quality, which was entirely my doing…

Remember, if you miss a day you can definitely still vote for your favorite of each grouping — we’re not going to tally until monday morning, and then we’ll have a second round of voting.

Team #2 after the jump…

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Karen Miller and N. K. Jemisin – London signing!

Two of our wonderful Orbit authors are over in the UK this week and will be doing a joint signing at Forbidden Planet in London this Saturday 30th October.

Karen Miller , author of The Innocent Mage and the recently released The Reluctant Mage, will be joined by N.K. Jemisin, author of The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, and the soon-to-be-released The Broken Kingdoms.

Pop down to the Forbidden Planet store on Shaftesbury Avenue between 4 – 5pm this Saturday to meet the authors and get your exclusive signed copies!

Parasol Protectorate Covers: VOTE NOW!

Ladies and Gentlemen! After a short delay for design magicking, I am excited to present the first team of the new Parasol Protectorate covers! You may remember I was taking pictures of all the fabulous Steampunk costumes at New York Comic Con, and I promised to make them into Parasol Protectorate covers. I think they came out so fantastically, we shall have a CONTEST!

We will be releasing a group a day all this week, and I want you to vote for ONE cover in the comments for each day this week. On Monday we will tally the results and have a second round of the winners of each day, pitted against each other for Steampunk glory! And maybe a prize…I have to see what we’ve got around the office…I’ve got some post-it notes?

Anyway, enjoy today’s 5 covers in full size after the jump! (more…)

The Analytical Reader

I was just over at Gary Corby’s blog, simply checking in. Gary was giving a nod to his beta readers with comments such as, ‘Asks all the tough plot, theme and character questions that I really wish no one had noticed’ and ‘His critiques are always so depressingly right.”

Yes, yes, been there. I expect most writers have. This is exactly why good beta readers are so crucial, because they notice plot, theme and character problems and issue critiques that are ‘depressingly right’. I vividly remember, for example, my brother’s suggestion to cut a hundred or so pages out of the middle of one of my books (this advice was spot on, as it was [depressingly] obvious as soon as it was given). From time to time people tell me about the book they are writing or have written, and the best advice I can give them is: You need a beta reader and you need this person to be (a) widely read in your genre, and (b) HIGHLY ANALYTICAL. (more…)

The Spirit Thief & Exceptional Eyebrow Elevation

Has anyone else noticed that the raised eyebrow has truly become one of the staples of science fiction and fantasy entertainment?

The Spirit Thief (UK/US /ANZ) by Rachel Aaron is out this month – and since its protagonst is a scheming, devious and devastatingly charming rogue, we felt that only the most superb demonstration of singular suspension of the supercilium (yes, that’s ‘eyebrow’ in Latin) would do . . .

By being represented in this way, Eli Monpress is truly joining the ranks of heroes from science fiction and fantasy history who have excelled at exhibiting this particular brand of facial gymnastics. See the following examples for reference:

Exhibit A – Spock (though we must admit, he has a natural advantage over his human counterparts owing to his Vulcan genes)

Exhibit B – Wolverine (the classic ‘Don’t mess with me, even if my hair is a bit silly‘ eyebrow)

Exhibit C – David Tennant as Doctor Who (In fact, no one is allowed to play Doctor Who unless they can display an ability to get some impressive eyebrow height)

And Exhibit D – The Rock (only vaguely fantastical – for The Scorpion King perhaps? – but there was no way we weren’t including this picture) (more…)

Cover Launch: EQUATIONS OF LIFE by Simon Morden

We are exceptionally proud to present the covers for an explosive trilogy of near-future thrillers that will be storming onto the scene next year. Equations of Life, Theories of Flight and Degrees Freedom make up this bold, fast-paced and highly intelligent new series that is a real breath of fresh air. It’s unlike anything else on the market at the moment and we wanted a striking new cover style that would convey that very fact – so here they are for your viewing pleasure.

Simon Morden has impeccable SF credentials, having edited the BSFA’s Focus magazine and served as a judge for the Arthur C. Clarke Award. He’s also a bona fide rocket scientist, having degrees in geology and planetary geophysics . . . so we were obviously expecting great things! I’m very glad to say that when we first read his series we were all astonishingly impressed – totally blown away. And since we don’t think you should have to wait for the future, we’ve decided to publish three books in three months – April, May and June 2011.

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Memorial Mandelbrot Wallpapers: Surface Detail

As some sharp mathematical eyes have pointed out, There’s more to the design incorporated in the Surface Detail cover than just a random pattern—it’s a visualization of a Mandelbrot Set. For those of you who have been lucky enough to already read Iain M. Banks’ latest Culture Novel, you’ll know this kind of pattern of infinite intricacy is very important to the story. So important that we called out the pattern more clearly in fancy bonus endpapers in the hardcover edition. (For those of you who haven’t picked up Surface Detail yet, here’s the first chapter.)

The Mandelbrot Set is named for the mathematician Benoît Mandelbrot, who published his studies on mathematical objects like this in “The Fractal Nature of Geometry”,  and for those of us who aren’t up on our mathematical studies, the simple explanation is that Mandelbrot’s research helped predict natural phenomena like jagged coastlines and the formation of clouds. At the age of 85, he passed away this Thursday in Cambridge, Massachusetts. And in his honor I’ve designed up some cover wallpapers, with some bonus Mandelbrot Set action.

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A shining example of a science fiction novel…

We’re very proud to announce that Lightborn (UK / ANZ) has arrived in stores in all its shining glory. Tricia Sullivan, a former Arthur C. Clarke Award-winner, has been widely acknowledged as an audacious, original and exceptionally talented author – here are just a few of the quotes she has received:

‘A challenging, disturbing, often compulsive read’ Time Out

‘Tricia Sullivan returns to science fiction not a second too soon . . . I haven’t enjoyed a book so much in a long time’ Guardian

‘Painfully gripping throughout – read it if you dare’ The Times

So if you do dare . . . dip into the world of Lightborn and you shall be greatly rewarded. You’ll find a fantastic premise that revolves around ‘shine’ – a mind-altering technology that has revolutionised the modern world. It’s the ultimate in education, self-improvement and entertainment – beamed directly into the brain of anyone who can meet the asking price. But what happens when that ‘shine’ goes renegade and develops a mind of its own?

With its striking cover, this really has turned out to be a very exciting package – and you can take a sneaky peek at what’s inside by reading a free extract here.