Orbit’s Top Five Cyborg Heroes and Villains

The Curve of the Earth, a new Samuil Petrovitch near-future science fiction novel from Philip K. Dick award-winner Simon Morden - perfect for fans of Richard MorganThis month, we’re publishing THE CURVE OF THE EARTH (UK|US|ANZ) by Philip K. Dick award-winning author Simon Morden. It stars one of the best and baddest cybernetically-modified Russians around.

If you’ve not met him yet, super-genius Samuil Petrovitch sits on that fine line between man and machine. He is essentially still human, but having been rather blown to sh*t by an endless succession of people trying to kill him, he’s had more or less every body part replaced with robo-limbs. Not to mention his brain is awesome because he has an artificially intelligent, all-knowing computer uploaded into it. Pretty cool.

Being both a hero to the Freezone and public enemy number one to Reconstruction America, it’s sometimes hard to tell whether we should trust cyborgs to be our überstrong protectors, or melt their parts down for scrap metal before they destroy the human race. We took a look at some well-known cyborgs to find out.

Samuil Petrovitch: Angry; Russian; prone to swearing; has saved the world at least twice and is Reconstruction America’s enemy of the state. He has instant access to the Freezone information network that spans the globe, and can fly pretty much any highly complex aircraft the US military can create.

Plus, when his adopted daughter goes missing (yes, adopted, that’s how much of a good guy he is), he puts his own life in the firing line to save her. As long as you don’t mind sentences punctuated by expletives, we think Petrovitch is one of the good ones.
Verdict: Hero

RobocopRobocop: Soon to be re-made starring Gary Oldman and Samuel L. Jackson, there is nothing not good about a partially-wounded cop being kitted out with full body armour to fight crime.
Verdict: Hero (more…)

First Looks: Fall 2013 – Winter 2014 US Covers

Winter 2013/Fall 2014

A new season of books is inbound, and it sure looks like it’s going to be an exciting one! Here’s the first crop of covers from the Fall 2013 – Winter 2014 season. We’re still putting the finishing touches on a few more, but you’ll be seeing them soon.

Because the smaller scale doesn’t do any of these fantastic covers justice, click on the images below to see a larger version. So pin, tweet, and comment to your heart’s content and tell us which books are already on your “Must have!” lists!

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Cover Preview UK: 2013 July to December

covers updatedSpring is almost here but we’re already looking forward to summer and autumn 2013! That’s because we’ve got some amazing books coming up for the rest of this year with freshly designed covers to share with you. This isn’t our whole list of published titles for the year – just the covers we think you might not have seen before.

Click on the individual cover images below to see the larger version and let us know your favourites!

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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…)

Read an excerpt from REBELLION by Ian Irvine

Rebellion

This week, the follow-up to VENGEANCE (US | UK | AUS) releases everywhere.  Magic is failing and there are dark days ahead for the land of Hightspall . . .

If you haven’t picked up the first book of The Tainted Realm series, you can check our the first chapter here or find out what fans are already saying about it on Ian’s Facebook page.

The action does not let up in the latest novel, REBELLION (US | UK | AUS). From the first pages you’ll be caught up in the epic struggle as Rix and Tali fight against a villain hellbent on destroying the world in order to rebuild it according to his desires. Read an excerpt below.

Chapter 1

“Lord Rixium?” Her voice was desperate. “You gotta get up now. The enemy are coming. Coming fast.”

Rix’s right wrist throbbed abominably, and so did the back of his head. He groaned, rolled over and cracked his ear on a stone edge. His cheek and chest were numb, as if he’d been lying on ice.

“What . . . ?” he mumbled. “Where . . . ?” His eyes were gummed shut and he didn’t want to open them. Didn’t want to see.

“Chancellor’s stolen Tali and Rannilt away, to milk their healing blood.”

Click to continue reading.

 

Ken MacLeod… A modern-day George Orwell?

If you could fix the world, with just one pill, how far would you go to force society to swallow?

Imagine a near-future London where advances in medical science have led to the development of a single-dose pill which, taken when pregnant, eradicates many common genetic defects from an unborn baby.

When Hope Morrison refuses to take the pill, is this a private matter of individual choice, or wilful neglect of her unborn child?

intrusion frame

‘This near-future sci-fi novel could almost be a sequel to George Orwell’s 1984 – 2084, perhaps’ Sun

‘A disturbingly real socialist dystopia’ Guardian

‘Thoughtful, plausible and scary’ Sunday Telegraph

‘Excellent’ Daily Mail

‘Intrusion is a finely-tuned, in-your-face argument of a novel… MacLeod will push your buttons – and make you think’ SFX

‘The message is powerful and the warning crystal clear’ SciFi Now

‘MacLeod creates a frighteningly plausible dystopia’ Interzone

‘A twistedly clever, frighteningly plausible dystopian glimpse’ Iain M. Banks

‘A haunting, gripping story of resistance, terror, and an all-consuming state that commits its atrocities with the best of intentions’ Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing

‘MacLeod certainly delights in raising questions which creatively discomfort his fellow socialists’ Morning Star

‘It’s all so close to the bone it’s almost painful… Intrusion is a rather frightening vision of the road we are taking with our smoking bans and our obesity epidemics and our CCTVs. Particularly if you’re a woman’ Bookbag.co.uk

Wallpaper: THE CURVE OF THE EARTH by Simon Morden

THE CURVE OF THE EARTH by Simon MordenWhat do you think, is the sun rising or setting over the Metrozone in this gorgeous cover illustration by Tigaer Design? Whatever the case may be, we just love the cover of Simon Morden’s new novel THE CURVE OF THE EARTH (US | UK | AUS).

Grab a copy of one of these wallpapers and get ready for a wild ride alongside the Russian anti-hero Samuil Petrovitch through the streets of a post-apocalyptic London of the Future. THE CURVE OF THE EARTH will be out at the end of the month.

If you need another size for your computer or electronic devices let us know.

1024 x 768  | 1280 x 800 | 1280 x 1024 | 1440 x 900 | 1680 x 1050 | 1920 x 1200 | iPhone | iPad | Facebook

 

The new Mercy Thompson FROST BURNED is out!

Frost Burned, Mercy Thompson urban fantasy novel book seven by bestselling Patricia BriggsThis week sees one of the most important events in the urban fantasy calendar – the release of a new Mercy Thompson novel!

It’s so hard having to wait for the next chapter in the lives of mechanic and shapeshifter Mercy and her Alpha lover Adam, but the time has finally come. FROST BURNED (UK | ANZ), from the bestselling, chart-busting Patricia Briggs is out now – and everyone is loving it:

Mercy is my favorite urban fantasy heroine, period . . . I truly enjoyed Frost Burned . . . I cannot wait for what comes next for Mercy, Adam and the gang – THE BOOK SMUGGLERS  

Fabulous . . . Such a well done urban fantasy world – SMEXY BOOKS  

Ms Briggs has penned another winner that once I started I didn’t want to put down – FICTION VIXEN  

I’ll always want more Mercy, but I’m learning that however long it takes, Mercy Thompson books are always worth the wait – ALL THINGS URBAN FANTASY 

The comments above make one thing very clear: what’s both wonderful and sad about Patty’s books is that they’re so addictive, it’s hard not to gobble them up straight away! Then comes a tough wait for the next one . . .

Aralorn, a fantasy novel from bestselling author Patricia Briggs, author of the Mercy Thompson and Alpha & Omega novelsSo if you’ve already read everything you can get your hands on from the worlds of Mercy Thompson and the Alpha and Omega books (how could we blame you??), don’t forget that there’s a little something special from Patty also out at the moment: the tale of ARALORN (UK | ANZ).

Aralorn has fled her noble birthright to become a mercenary spy, and she also happens to be a shapeshifter . . . Everyone who’s read Patricia Briggs knows that the characters and relationships she creates are deliciously compelling. The story between Aralorn and the enigmatic, powerful Wolf is no exception!

Check this out for another hit of Patty’s fantastic writing. And if you’d like to find out more about the story behind FROST BURNED, take a peek at this interview over at Badass Book Reviews.

Urban Fantasy with a Twist of Fate

PrintI am extremely excited to announce the publication of STRANGE FATES by Marlene Perez, out today as an Orbit e-only original!  This is Marlene’s first foray into the adult urban fantasy realm, and with its fast pace, forbidden romance, and unique mix of Greek mythology and Fates, you will not be able to put it down.

About STRANGE FATES: Brooding, leather jacket-wearing Nyx Fortuna looks like a 20-something, and has for centuries now. As the son of the forgotten fourth Fate, Lady Fortuna, he has been hunted his entire life by the three Sisters of Fate that murdered his mother. Fed up and out for revenge, Nyx comes to Minneapolis following a tip that his aunts have set up a business there. His goal– ­to bring down his mother’s killers and retrieve the thread of fate that has trapped him in the body of a twenty year old unable to age or die. But when a chance meeting with the mysterious, dangerous and very mortal Elizabeth Abernathy throws off his plans, he must reconcile his humanity and his immortality.

Also, check out the book trailer on USAToday’s Happy Ever After blog. Screen Shot 2013-03-05 at 2.25.06 PM

New Comic Fantasy: Tom Holt’s DOUGHNUT

Hungry for a good read? Pick up a copy of the newly published (and freshly baked) DOUGHNUT by Tom Holt (UK|USA|ANZ), the excellent comic fantasy from the author of WHO’S AFRAID OF BEOWULF? and THE PORTABLE DOOR.

Find the blurb, as well as a ‘bite-sized’ piece of DOUGHNUT below (and look out for other such pieces across Orbit social media this month).

Bite-sized quote: Doughnut by Tom Holt

The doughnut is a thing of beauty, a circle of fried, doughy perfection – a source of comfort in trying times, perhaps. For Theo Bernstein it is far, far more.

An accident at work lost Theo his job (and his work involved preventing a Very Very Large Hadron Collider from blowing up, so he’s unlikely to get it back). His wife has left him, he doesn’t have any money and news arrives that his good friend Professor Pieter van Goyen, renowned physicist and Nobel laureate, has died.

By leaving the apparently worthless contents of his safety deposit to Theo, however, the professor has sent him on a quest of epic proportions. A journey that will rewrite the laws of physics. A battle to save humanity itself.

This is the tale of a man who had nothing and gave it all up to find his destiny – and a doughnut.

Tom Holt, photographed by Charlie Hopkinson © 2010

Tom Holt has been a full-time writer since 1995 and has produced some of the most popular comic fantasy of the last decade – his work is often compared to that of Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett. Play the ‘Which Tom Holt novel is Right For You?’ quiz at Tom-Holt.com.