Blondesweeper

Blonde BombshellTom Holt’s Blonde Bombshell (UK | US | ANZ) – the intergalactic comedy about blonde bombshell Lucy Pavlov – blasted into UK bookstores last week, with US and Australia hot on their heels for a June/July publication.

To celebrate, we’ve created a game based on the Windows95 classic, Minesweeper, or Blondesweeper in this case.

We’ll also be giving away a collection of Tom Holt‘s books to the person with the highest score, so be sure to make the most of the game’s Twitter sharing function and tweet your high score @orbitbooks!  The high score winner will be announced on the US pub date of June 10.

Good luck!

Cover launch: COLD MAGIC by Kate Elliott

We’ve spent a long time working on this wonderful visual for Cold Magic (US I UK I ANZ), first in a fabulous new trilogy by Kate Elliott. Kate has created something special,  a fantasy advenure with a Victorian-era feel and a dash of steampunk — featuring mages, dragons and two girls who’ll decide the fate of their world. I think the illustrator Larry Rostant and designer Peter Cotton have done a great job in capturing these elements, showing a moment in time where ancient magic and new technologies meet, generating powerful individual dramas.

And here’s a bit more on Cold Magic, book 1 of the Spiritwalker trilogy, out from Orbit in September.

As they approach adulthood, Cat Barahal and her cousin Bee think they understand the society they live in and their place within it. At a select academy they study new airship technologies and the dawning Industrial Revolution, but magical forces still rule. Drawn into a labyrinth of politics involving blood and old feuds, Cat is betrayed by her family and forced to marry a powerful Cold Mage. As she is carried away to live a new life, fresh dangers threaten her every move and secrets form a language she cannot read. At least, not yet.’

DUE NUNAVUT: Part 3

Thursday, September 14, 2000.
1:40PM

Yesterday was quiet. It started out very sunny in the morning… around dinner Joanna and Sam, two midwives from Ontario…invited me out to walk Sam’s Labrador. It was great talking to them. By then it was drizzling rain but we walked down to the rocky shore—seaweed abounded. Rocks. We saw an abandoned boat that someone had spraypainted “Love Boat” on the side. …I went over to their apartment for tea and ginger cookies and we talked about any number of things. They asked me a lot about my novel. …This morning [I went] to see the Northern store. Pretty much like any other store. Life here really doesn’t seem all that different though I suppose come winter I will really see the difference then. …The people seem to be generally very friendly. The noise of the ATVs going past my window during the day. You get used to it, like the airplanes over us [back home].
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Cover Launch: THE ENTERPRISE OF DEATH

The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart had one of my all-time favorite Orbit covers, and I was thrilled to work with Keith Hayes from the Little Brown Art dept. and the illustrator Istvan Orosz on the design. So when I saw that a new Jesse Bullington book was on this list I was  really excited at the challenge — and really curious to see where Bullington would go after his violent, revolting, sensibility-offending debut novel (and I mean that all in a good way!)  Well, let’s just say The Enterprise of Death does not disappoint on any count — you’ll either love this book, or you’ll want to burn it at the stake.

Like Brothers Grossbart, the story takes place in a specific historical place and time — this time during the height of the Inquisition and Moorish expulsion from Spain in the late 1400s. Not only are there real-life historical characters in the  story, there’s also real-life art that’s critical to the story. That’s actually a challenge for a cover designer. Sometimes when you use fine art on a cover it can give the design a very quiet, even  static feel. Luckily for me, I don’t think anyone would call Death and the Maiden by Niklaus Manuel Deustch quiet or static.

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The Hunter Kiss Bookcasts

The Iron Hunt follows the adventures of Maxine Kiss, a woman who is covered in living, breathing, demonic tattoos passed down from mother to daughter. Nomad and fighter, she exists in a world influenced by my obsessions with C. S. Lewis, Hans Christian Anderson, and Jorge Luis Borges. Orphans. Magic. Destiny. Labyrinths. An alien race that treats genetic manipulation like a divine art. Urban fantasy with its own dark mythology.

Over the next three months, Orbit will be releasing the entire Hunter Kiss series, starting with The Iron Hunt. To celebrate, I’ve been asked to do a series of video “Bookcasts” about the novels, and what it was like writing them.

Here, today, I’m kicking things off at the Great Wall of China Simatai, an old section of the wall that requires a bit of a climb to reach — though the view is certainly worth defying a fear of heights, sore muscles, and burning lungs! The Great Wall is also no respecter of acoustics, so please bear with me when the winds at the top compete with sound a little. (more…)

DUE NUNAVUT: Part 2

(Ed: Karin’s first post on her experiences in Nunavut in the Arctic north may be found here.)

Tuesday, September 12, 2000.

Well isn’t this the perfect page to begin my journals? A compass and I am heading DUE NORTH … It’s 10:45AM right now. I am in the airport—Pearson International … I guess it hasn’t hit me yet that I won’t be returning in a few days or a week or even two weeks…it’s like going off to university or something. Three months is not a long time [I ended up staying nine months] and I will be doing things—teaching, writing… But I know this is a great experience and I am excited about it… (more…)

SFX Summer of SF Reading launch event, Monday 10th May

Orbit authors Michael Cobley, Mike Carey, Philip Palmer and Kate Griffin will be attending the SFX ‘Summer of SF Reading‘ launch event at Waterstone’s Piccadilly on Monday 10th May.

It all kicks off with a signing at 5.30pm so do come along to meet our great authors!  There are VIP drinks and a panel event after and SFX are running a competition to win tickets to this.

Even if you can’t make it, why not check out their latest books…

THE ORPHANED WORLDS storms into existence

The Orphaned Worlds is now out and available for just a few earth pounds from a book vendor near you. Or have a taster first with this entirely free extract or perhaps a free Orphaned Worlds wallpaper. But Michael Cobley can tell you more about the masterwork himself, as he will be taking part in the SFX Summer of SF Reading event and signing on 10th May, at Waterstone’s London Piccadilly store. For SFX competition winners (closing date is tomorrow) the open signing will be followed by a VIP party and panel discussing why more fans of SF on TV/in films don’t also read the books, also featuring the talented Mr Cobley. Signed copies of the book will also be available soon from The Forbidden Planet‘s London branch.

So, to go back to the book itself, The Orphaned Worlds is a rip-roaring ride and we’ve had a lot of great review coverage from fans. We’re lucky to count the Guardian, Waterstone’s Books Quarterly and also SFX amongst those fans. Bloggers have also been very supportive and good things have been said by Bookgeeks (win a copy of the Orphaned Worlds comptition currently running) and Walker of Worlds.

So, all in all, hooray for the book!

FROSTBITTEN: The Book Trailer

It’s been a Kelley Armstrong kind of month. Two weeks ago, Kelley shared her first trip across the pond for World Horror Con with us, and we heard about her new books last week.  So, in the balance of thirds, we thought we’d cap it off with a bang.

We’ve got an exciting new book trailer for Frostbitten, out this Thursday in the UK, and while there are book trailers, there are also BOOK TRAILERS!!!! We tend to think that this one falls into the latter category, but we’ll let you be the judges of that, as always. . .

Commercially Yours

Call me naive if you want, but I don’t think there has to be a conflict between artistic integrity and commercial success.  If anyone should know, it’s probably me because, miracle of miracles, I’ve managed to achieve no small degree of financial stability by writing about vampires, robots, demon ducks, and cannibal witches.  I did believe that it was possible to get paid to write those stories, but I never hoped on being anything more than a guy who wrote obscure fantasy novels.  Even that, I now realize, was ridiculously optimistic.

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