TURN COAT and CHANGES by Jim Butcher – free extracts and info

We recently published the hardback of Changes by Jim Butcher, the latest instalment of the eagerly awaited Dresden Files series, and we’ve been blown  away by the response so far. And to see what all the fuss is about, read a few chapters of the book here. Below is just a bit of the early praise this book has received as PI Harry Dresden, the only wizard in the Chicago phonebook, goes from strength to strength.

Fast-paced and compelling … Butcher throws one high-stakes curveball after another at his hero”
Publishers Weekly

“Changes is a compelling installment in what continues to be an outstanding series … A can’t-miss entry in one of the best urban-fantasy series currently being published” Booklist (starred review)

“If you’re only going to read one Dresden Files novel, this is the one to read, as it’s got all the aspects that make the series great, with magic thrown around, lots of characters from both the worlds Dresden inhabits and wonderful pacing” TheBookbag.co.uk

“Changes is yet another excellent instalment in what is arguably the finest urban fantasy series being written at the moment” Bookgeeks.co.uk

“I am always delighted by these books and always taken by surprise but this one. Damn. Really that’s about all I have to say. This is a fantastic series with a brilliant lead and awesome cast of supporting characters” Un:bound blog

“It doesn’t stop til the OH MY GOD moment at the end of the book.  It’s an emotional, engaging, gritty ride that doesn’t really let up apart from the laugh out loud sections that Butcher has such a talent for … Jim Butcher at his very best” Bookthing.co.uk

 We also published Turn Coat  just ahead of Changes, this being Harry Dresden’s previous outing. It was out in hardback last year, but SFX had this to say on release of the recent paperback edn “The Dresden Files are the best novels in the supernatural PI subgenre, and Turn Coat is more of the same — and a very welcome return it is too”. Here is a sample extract of this too for your delectation — and Harry Dresden will be back next year with Ghost Story!

DUE NUNAVUT: Part 1

Ten years ago, I went up to Rankin Inlet in 2000 with the hope that I’d get to teach, and I did (at the Adult Learning Center there), but as with most teaching opportunities, when done with the right spirit, you are the one that ends up being taught, and that was certainly the case with me. There have been many times since the great opportunity to work and live up North that I’ve thought about it. I’ve had dreams about it. It’s a place that even ten years later hasn’t left me. I wrote in a paper journal at the time, but documented my thoughts and impressions mostly through emails to my friends and family…

…then my emails were deleted by no fault of my own and I’ve lost those records. (more…)

Cover Launch: Hull Zero Three by GREG BEAR

Welcome back to your Monday morning installment of Orbit Cover Launch. This week I’m very excited to launch the cover of a brand-new book by science fiction great Greg Bear. Orbit is really excited to start publishing Greg Bear and we’re even more excited about starting with Hull Zero Three. It’s a fast-paced space thriller and a real page-turner. It’s definitely of the ilk of Aliens and Event Horizon, and I could totally picture it as a film as I was reading. It’s also a great place to start if you’ve never read Greg Bear before.

This cover was a little tough because although it does happen in space we didn’t want to give it that space opera kind of feel – it’s smart, but also much more immediate and suspenseful than operatic. It’s a much more in your face page-turning thriller, so I kind of tried to design a hybrid of scifi and big thriller book. The texture is SO much better in person, but for now you’ll have to make due with just a screen image. (more…)

When Will You Rise?

www.theFEEDBOOK.com
FEED has arrived and with it all the zombie noshing, political savvy, and smart-assed badassery you can handle. This isn’t your parent’s zombie story, although we’re pretty sure Mira Grant knows where the bodies are hidden…

The year was 2014. We had cured cancer. We had beaten the common cold. But in doing so we had created something new, something terrible that no one could stop. The infection spread, virus blocks taking over bodies and minds with one, unstoppable command: FEED.

Now, twenty years after the Rising, Georgia and Shaun Mason are on the trail of the biggest story of their lives– the dark conspiracy behind the infected. The truth will out, even if it kills them.

Head on over to www.theFEEDBOOK.com where you can learn the history of The Wall, find out more about the bloggers who saved the world when the mainstream media fell apart, get a glimpse of the web circa 2040, and read the first chapter! Plus keep an eye on our Twitter feed @orbitbooks for chances to win a copy of the book all day.

After the jump, have a look at some zombieriffic ads from 2040! (more…)

THE POISON THRONE – ‘Story telling at its absolute best’

It sometimes feels like you have to wait SO long from when a book is acquired until you can share it with other readers (probably because this process does take, oh, around two years…). But I am now delighted to say The Poison Throne (UK I US) was released this month at a bookstore or via an online retailer near you — and you can get an advance peek via an extract here!

We knew the author Celine Kiernan was chock-full of talent, and here are just a couple of quotes from a mountain of early praise.

“Marvellous, vivid writing, and story telling at its absolute best … I was utterly engrossed” Roddy Doyle

“Told with great assurance and attention to detail, this is an exciting, fast-paced story” SFX

“Atmospheric, complex, and intense … this epic starts strong and doesn’t falter” Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Eloquent, sharp and lush…set to surprise a lot of readers” SFRevu.com

And Celine has of course visited the Orbit site already, with her really insightful (plus amusing) article on the perils and wonders inherent in being translated, and she’s discussed our covers and what she makes of them, always an interesting subject. We’ll have more Celine Kiernan news in the form of a new and exciting competition which is a bit of an Orbit first, but news to come next week!

Truth

The other day a reader asked me, “How much of your historical novels are true? How much did you make up?”

It’s a complicated question, and it deserves a complicated answer!

There is not one word of my historical fantasy novels that I know to be false. (more…)

Houston Hi-jinx!

Tweet-log of  Gabriella Gossip, Houston’s top social columnist-on-the-move. She snarks directly at the source, so you don’t have to! Last Saturday, we sent Gabriella to check out some of the hottest writers in the hottest new genre around . . . Urban Fantasy! It’s . . . um . . . urban! And fantasy!

[@gabgoss Sat 24 April 4:45 via TweetGasm] I’ve been sent to Murder By The Book to attend @GailCarriger, @JayeWells, and @NicolePeeler’s signing. No real celebs in town, obviously.

[@gabgoss Sat 24 April 4:50 via TweetGasm] Yawn. Do people even read books anymore?

[@gabgoss Sat 24 April 4:58 via TweetGasm] I want a drink. Oh wait, the shindig is finally beginning. Thank the lawd.

[@gabgoss Sat 24 April 5:01 via TweetGasm] Wells and Carriger look nice, but I’m not feeling Peeler’s bouffant. Is she channeling Wilma Flintstone? (more…)

Lend your voice to the cast of the Avery Cates series

Ever think you know exactly how a character in a novel should sound? Think you could put on a good performance of playing that character yourself?

Well Jeff Somers has set up a competition in which you have the chance to do just that. For the official website of his next novel, The Terminal State (UK/ US), Jeff is creating four mini video clips to represent four different characters from his series. He’s already provided some superb images to depict the nature of each character, and mini excerpts from the book have been supplied as scripts.

All that’s missing is you – the reading public – to put on your best acting voices and provide voiceovers for the videos. Whichever voice clip that Jeff feels best represents each character will be used on the final site. Visit this site to hear some examples that Jeff has provided himself, such as the one below. There, you’ll also find more information on how you can get creative and start sending in your own voiceover submissions. 

 

New titles from Kelley Armstrong

Following Kelley Armstrong’s very successful trip to the UK, during which she had fans from as far as Germany queuing up to meet her, we thought we’d remind you just how busy she’s been on the writing front.

Last month saw the release of The Reckoning (UK /ANZ), the third book in Kelley’s Darkest Powers young adult series. This is definitely one to look out for, considering that the second book in this series was a No. 1 New York Times children’s bestseller, and that Charlaine Harris claimed about the series that ‘there’s never a slow moment in their journey or a false line in Armstrong’s writing’. (more…)