Author Archive

Epic Fantasy at its Finest – BLOOD SONG is out today!

BloodSongToday sees the publication of BLOOD SONG [UK | ANZ], Anthony Ryan’s superb debut novel which is set to be this summer’s blockbuster epic fantasy release.

I’ve been a huge fan of this genre for many years and, as both reader and editor, I’m not easy to please. I know exactly what I want from an epic fantasy novel: memorable characters (of both genders, thank you), a vivid setting and gripping action sequences balanced against razor-sharp intrigue.

BLOOD SONG offers all of these, and so much more.

One particular line jumped out at me when I was reading the novel on submission, and it still resonates in my mind now: “We have fought battles that left more than a hundred corpses on the ground, and not a word of it has ever been set down. The Order fights, but often it fights in shadow, without glory or reward. We have no banners.”

I love this line not just because it’s a great piece of dialogue, but also for the reason that it really represents the novel as a whole – it encapsulates both the story’s strong martial element as well as the healthy dose of intrigue that provides a perfect counterpoint to all the action.

Anthony Ryan’s writing carries echoes of the great David Gemmell, partly in his crisp prose and visceral action sequences, but mostly in how conflicted his protagonist is (Anthony himself talked more about Gemmell’s heroes in his recent article). Vaelin al Sorna is a classic Gemmellian hero: charismatic and courageous, very handy with a blade, and torn between his duty to the Realm and his loyalty to his friends.

BLOOD SONG is Vaelin’s story. About how he rose through the Sixth Order’s ranks to become their most feared warrior, how he became the focus of a war between powers both known and unknown, and how he learned that sometimes the truth can cut more deeply than any blade.

It’s a novel about loyalty, love and sacrifice – and it’s simply brilliant.

Praise for BLOOD SONG:

Blood Song is a tremendous debut . . . fast-paced, action-packed and character-driven” – FANTASY BOOK CRITIC

“A top contender for most impressive debut of the year . . . Blood Song is a powerful epic that, while ending with a sense of closure, hints at more to come” – SFFWORLD

“An utterly engrossing high-fantasy epic from a major new talent that explores themes of war, faith, and loyalty amidst incredible action scenes and artfully developed characters” – BUZZFEED

“I still love – and want – that feeling of completely absorbing escapism that good fantasy can supply – and Blood Song brings it in force” – PORNOKITSCH

“Ryan hits all the high notes of epic fantasy – a gritty setting, ancient magics, ruthless intrigue, divided loyalties and bloody action” – PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

“A new master storyteller has hit the scene” – Michael J. Sullivan

BLOOD SONG is out now in hardback (UK), trade (ANZ) and ebook. Anthony Ryan can be found online at both his website and on Twitter.

ABADDON’S GATE and our Top Five Scary Spaceships!

Abaddon's GateNext month sees the release of ABADDON’S GATE [UK | US | ANZ], the third novel in the Expanse series that began with the critically acclaimed LEVIATHAN WAKES [UK | US | ANZ] and was continued in CALIBAN’S WAR [UK | US | ANZ].

io9 described the series as being ‘as close as you’ll get to a Hollywood blockbuster in book form’ and they’re absolutely right. This is a space opera series that incorporates everything that we love about this subgenre: epic space battles, a terrifying alien menace and a healthy dose of mystery and intrigue. And of course, spaceships.

It’s a spaceship that actually kickstarts the entire story in the Expanse series – or to be more precise, an abandoned spaceship issuing a distress call (which I think we can all agree is never a good sign). Captain Jim Holden and his plucky crew investigate, and what they find quickly sends the entire solar system into chaos.

This got us thinking about creepy, abandoned spaceships (or not-so-abandoned-spaceships, as the case may be). Here’s our top five.

The Engineer ship from Alien

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Thanks to Prometheus we now know a lot more about this spooky abandoned spaceship and its infamous sole inhabitant, the Space Jockey. But back when Alien was released, we knew no more than the doomed crew of the Nostromo, who decided – in true horror movie style – that going inside the creepy spaceship was a Really Good Idea. The gloomy interior of the ship, not to mention the discovery of its long-dead inhabitant, fuels a growing sense of tension and unease that makes this sequence one of the most gripping of the entire film. (more…)

Why BITTER SEEDS blew me away

Bitter SeedsAs an editor, there’s no better feeling than reading a submission that blinds you with its sheer brilliance. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does it’s one of the most exciting things about working in publishing.

Bitter Seeds was one of those submissions. I’d heard some positive murmurings coming out of the US about Ian Tregillis’s debut novel, but began reading the book with no particular expectations – and was left amazed by its vivid prose, bold action sequences and the wonderful depth of its characterisation. Not to mention the underlying plot that regularly crosses into the realms of sheer genius.

Bitter Seeds – and the other two books in the Milkweed Triptych, The Coldest War and Necessary Evil – have something of the chameleon about them, in that their underlying plots are constantly shifting and evolving. Just when you think you might have figured them out, they’ll change direction and completely shatter your expectations (my jaw dropped so many times when reading this trilogy that I attracted more than one strange look from my fellow commuters).

These novels are also chameleonic (totally a word, I looked it up!) in the sense that they weave so many different elements together to form something unique. At heart, the books are adventure stories – Nazi superhumans battling British warlocks – with a dangerously high dosage of action and espionage. Yet these novels are also subtle and extremely intelligent, weaving plots that shock and delight in equal measure, not to mention packing a serious emotional punch when the stakes are at their highest.

There are a host of complex, memorable characters within the pages of these books, such as Raybould Marsh, who must constantly balance his loyalty to his country with his love for his family, and Will Beauclerk, whose powers may end the war but destroy him in the process. Yet most memorable of all is Gretel, a gypsy orphan who wields a manipulative power so great that life itself is just another pawn in her Grand Design – the ultimate outcome of which only she knows.

One thing is for sure: you’ll certainly never see it coming.

Bitter Seeds [UK | ANZ], The Coldest War [UK | ANZ] and Necessary Evil [UK | ANZ] are all available now in paperback and ebook.

Praise for Ian Tregillis and the Milkweed novels:

A confident and thrilling debut” – SFX

“An imaginative tour de force” – KIRKUS

“[An] astonishing, brilliant, pulse-pounding debut trilogy” – CORY DOCTOROW

“Compelling, fascinating and frighteningly convincing” – FANTASY FACTION

“Ian Tregillis is a major new talent . . . I can’t wait to see more” – GEORGE R. R. MARTIN

                          Coldest War Necessary Evil

War is Coming – Introducing BLOOD SONG by Anthony Ryan

“We have fought battles that left more than a hundred corpses on the ground and not a word of it has ever been set down. The Order fights, but often it fights in shadow, without glory or reward. We have no banners.”

We’re delighted to announce the upcoming publication of BLOOD SONG [UK | ANZ] – the brilliant epic fantasy debut by British author and self-publishing sensation Anthony Ryan. If you’ve not heard of Anthony yet, you soon will – and you’ll be hearing his name a lot over the coming months.

Here’s the fantastic cover, courtesy of our in-house designer Nick Castle and freelancer Nik Keevil.

BLOOD SONG FINAL

And here’s why you should be getting excited about this novel.

Vaelin Al Sorna’s life changes forever the day his father abandons him at the gates of the Sixth Order, a secretive military arm of the Faith. Together with his fellow initiates, Vaelin undertakes a brutal training regime – where the price of failure is often death. Under the tutelage of the Order’s masters, he learns how to forge a blade, survive the wilds and kill a man quickly and quietly.

Now his new skills will be put to the test. War is coming. Vaelin is the Sixth Order’s deadliest weapon and the Realm’s only hope. He must draw upon the very essence of his strength and cunning if he is to survive the coming conflict. Yet as the world teeters on the edge of chaos, Vaelin will learn that the truth can cut deeper than any sword.

BLOOD SONG quite simply blew us away when we read it on submission. It’s a hugely accomplished debut novel that has everything you can ask for in an epic fantasy: memorable characters, a wonderfully vivid world, gripping action sequences and a razor-sharp sense of intrigue – not to mention some shocking twists.

Anthony Ryan’s writing, particularly his sense of purpose and absorbing action sequences, has strong echoes of the great David Gemmell. There’s certainly something very Gemmellian about his protagonist, Vaelin Al Sorna, a conflicted hero who must make terrible choices to balance his loyalty to his friends and his duty to the Crown and Faith. It’s just as well he’s unmatched with a blade . . .

A tremendous debut; it has a fast-paced, action-packed and character-driven story . . . Simply the best book I’ve read in this year by a long way and as far as debuts go, it stands proudly among those by Scott Lynch and Patrick Rothfuss” – FANTASY BOOK CRITIC

“Anthony Ryan is a new fantasy author destined to make his mark on the genre. His debut novel, Blood Song, certainly has it all: great coming of age tale,  compelling character, and a fast-paced plot . . . A new master  storyteller has hit the scene” – Michael J. Sullivan, author of the bestselling Riyria Revelations

BLOOD SONG will be published in July 2013.

My First Time: The Magic of Terry Brooks

SwordEveryone remembers their first time.

Mine was back in the mid-1990s. A close friend excitedly showed me a book called THE SWORD OF SHANNARA (UK | ANZ) that his jetsetting pilot father had picked up for him from a bookstore in America. I remember being impressed at its sheer size and being immediately drawn to both the cover (a glowing magic sword, what more could a thirteen-year-old boy want?) and the gorgeous interior illustrations by the brothers Hildebrandt. I forget what gushing eulogy my friend gave about the book, yet it was positive enough for the novel to stick in my mind. Faced with the horrors of a two-week family holiday a short time later, I purchased a copy of THE SWORD OF SHANNARA, thinking it might prove a decent distraction for a fortnight.

It didn’t – because I burned through the novel in two days. I was already a fan of fantasy, having devoured Fighting Fantasy gamebooks and the late Brian Jacques’s much-loved Redwall series, but this was the first time I’d read an adult book – and I was hopelessly smitten. I loved every page, every word. For hours at a time I lost myself in this mythical world, enthralled by the plucky heroes’ dangerous adventure to save the land from darkness. I may not have realised it at the time, but that reading experience was a watershed moment in not just my reading tastes, but my entire life. (more…)

Our Top Five Monsters from Science Fiction and Fantasy

Seven PrincesThere’s a lot to love about John F. Fultz’s SEVEN PRINCES (UK | US | ANZ) which we published earlier this year, not least its impressively epic nature (io9.com certainly felt the same way – “It’s epic with a capital EPIC” they said in their excellent review). But one of the things we loved most about it are the terrifying monsters.

They’re everywhere in the world of Fultz’s Shaper series: giant serpents with teeth like swords, shadow bats as deadly as they are huge, and tentacled monstrosities from the depths who think nothing of pulling a ship or two under the waves. And the good news for fans of SEVEN PRINCES is that you’ve seen nothing yet: the beasts that lurk within the pages of SEVEN KINGS (UK | US | ANZ) – out in January – are even more fearsome.

Naturally this got us thinking about the various monsters in fantasy and SF films and literature,Seven Kings so we put together a list of some of our favourites!

The Balrog from The Lord of the Rings

There’s no doubt that Tolkien loved a monster or two – Middle Earth is full of them, from giant spiders to flame-breathing dragons to ferocious wargs. While the aquatic horror that is the Watcher in the Water ran it pretty close, the flame-tastic Balrog takes the accolade as our favourite Middle Earth monster. Just one was enough to put the entire Fellowship of the Ring to flight; Sauron’s predecessor Morgoth was said to have a ‘host’ of them that apparently flew on the backs of dragons. Now that is something we’d like to see. Make it happen, Mr Jackson. (more…)

The Hobbit Film and the Enduring Appeal of High Fantasy

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to attend a multimedia press screening of one of the most anticipated films of the year – The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – at the Odeon in Leicester Square, London. For a huge fantasy fan like myself, this is the sort of rare event that requires photographic evidence:

 As you would expect, there was a real buzz of excitement that began long before the queue of attendees even made it inside the cinema, with much of the talk focusing on The Hobbit being made into three films rather than two, and Peter Jackson’s much-debated decision to release the film in a higher frame rate than normal (48 FPS instead of 24). Once inside the cinema, the booming soundtrack from The Lord of the Rings and the 3D specs – a tasteful Hobbity green with the logo emblazoned on them, making them an instant collector’s item – only served to heighten the expectation level even more.

Fortunately the film itself more than lived up to my high expectations. The 3D is used well without being obtrusive, and the higher frame rate – while taking some getting used to – delivers a film experience unlike anything I’d ever seen before. In short, Middle Earth has never looked so good. From the panoramic landscape shots to the action sequences, this is epic fantasy the way it’s meant to be. Martin Freeman is excellent as Bilbo and the (large) supporting cast – featuring several familiar faces – are equally impressive. Ultimately the film successfully captures everything that’s wonderful about the high fantasy genre: large-scale action sequences, lighthearted moments and visually stunning landscapes. Not to mention a certain dragon . . . (more…)

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.

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!

     

Cover Launch: THE EXILED BLADE by Jon Courtenay Grimwood

Jon Courtenay Grimwood’s Assassini trilogy – described by the Sunday Times as “Gritty, grimy, decadent and compelling” – is a dark vision of a Venice in peril, and the rise of a young man cursed with amnesia and a taste for human blood. This epic tale began with THE FALLEN BLADE [UK | US | ANZ] and continued in THE OUTCAST BLADE [UK | US | ANZ]. 

The third and final instalment, THE EXILED BLADE, will be published in April 2013. For now, here’s the finished cover – courtesy of our talented designer Emma Graves – in all its grandeur.

If you’ve not yet delved into the depths of Grimwood’s dark, dangerous Venice, you can read a sample chapter from THE FALLEN BLADE here.