Archive for Orbit UK

The Measure of the Magic & A Very Special Auction

Released 01/09/2011

This week Terry Brooks’ The Measure of the Magic (UK /ANZ) is released. It’s the striking conclusion to his Legends of Shannara duology, which began with Bearers of the Black Staff  (UK / ANZ) and explores the pre-history of Terry’s beloved Shannara world. You can read a sample chapter here.

To mark the occasion, we’d like to draw your attention to a special auction that is happening for a very good cause.

Stuart Finnie, who lives in Scotland and is undoubtedly one of Terry Brooks’ biggest ever fans, has been collecting Terry Brooks books and memorabilia of all kinds since age 11. From manuscripts, proof copies and first editions, to a spectacular sword and stunning maps, the collection is extremely extensive and wide-ranging, with almost all of the items included signed by Terry or the artists involved. The estimated value of Stuart’s entire collection, which he calls his “whole life”, is £30,000.

And Stuart has now decided to auction this whole collection off, with proceeds going to the cancer charity Macmillan. Having suffered from cancer himself, Stuart now wants to give back to the people who have helped him. We and Terry think this is a fantastically generous idea and wish Stuart all the best with the auction. You can read more about it in this article from the Evening Times.

Anyone who is interested in buying the collection or would like further information please contact April Andrews at Macmillan on 0141 952 0085 or e-mail westofscotland@macmillan.org.uk

THE FOURTH WALL cover launch

The enigmatic Dagmar Shaw returns in Walter Jon Williams’ THE FOURTH WALL, an exhilarating near-future thriller due for release in February 2012.

This striking cover art visual, from our designer Sean Garrehy, perfectly encapsulates the tension and sense of paranoia that the novel invokes.

If you’ve not yet been exposed to the frenetic action of a Walter Jon Williams thriller, then you’ve got time to see what you’ve been missing before THE FOURTH WALL is released. THIS IS NOT A GAME (UK | US | ANZ) and DEEP STATE (UK | US | ANZ) are both available in paperback.

Walter Jon Williams is a New York Times bestselling author and has been nominated multiple times for the Hugo and Nebula awards.

Here’s some praise for his Dagmar Shaw novels:

Powerful ideas, brilliantly executed . . . you should take this as a recommendation” – Charles Stross

“An eerily prophetic thriller” – SFX

“With admirable topicality, DEEP STATE concerns the fomenting of revolution against an repressive regime using modern networked communications” – Telegraph

The Black Prism Book Trailer

THE BLACK PRISM by Brent Weeks is available now in paperback in the US (it will be out in the UK and AUS in September!) To celebrate, Orbit teamed up with up-and-coming filmmaker Leo Kei Angelos to create a book trailer that’s chock-full of wild stunts, explosive action, flintlock guns, and glowy magic. Enjoy the trailer below!

Musings on Military SF

There are authors who chest thump about military experience (the same way guys buff their muscle-cars) and then claim this experience is why their military science fiction is better than the other guy’s (or girl’s). Me? I drive an old Toyota pickup, which hasn’t been washed in donkey’s years, that’s missing one hubcap, and which shimmies at sixty because one rim is bad. It’s a great car, though. Much more useful than a Camaro, that truck carried me across the country twice, hauled just about everything in the world, and is so beaten up that people just laugh when they open the door and look inside – if they don’t throw up.

Germline is my debut novel and it’s military science fiction. But it’s also my response to what I see as a subgenre that’s losing its way, a middle finger to books in which the importance of military jargon overshadows that of sympathetic characters, believable tactics, at least some glimpse of strategy, and a decent ending. Don’t get me wrong: the books I’m flipping-off have a place. They entertain, and a large segment of science fiction readership buys and enjoys them. It’s just that the last time I picked up a military science fiction book and then dropped my jaw at its awesomeness was when I finished The Forever War (in 1983) so when 2008 rolled around it became put-up-or-shut-up time – time to write the book I’d want to read. (more…)

Nicole Peeler’s Jane True makes a splash in the UK

Released this month in the UK, Australia and NZ are Tempest Rising (UK│ANZ) and Tracking the Tempest (UK│ANZ) – with a spangly new cover style. They’re books one and two in Nicole Peeler‘s sexy storm of a series, the Jane True novels. Books three and four, Tempest’s Legacy (UK│ANZ) and Eye of the Tempest (UK│ANZ), will follow hot on their heels this September and October respectively. So not long to wait to get your urban-fantasy-grabbing mitts on them!

 

Two weeks ago we ran a Twitter competition for UK readers to vote for their favourite of the above four covers. The result was Tempest Rising – good news as it’s the perfect place to dive into the world of supernatural halfling Jane True. You’ll see her coming to grips with her new-found powers over water (not to mention coming to grips with the rather dashing members of the supernatural community she meets for the first time…). The winner of the competition was Julie Fallon – congrats! Copies of the first four books will be winging (or more appropriately: swimming?) their way to you soon.   

 

Cover Launch: THE KINGDOM OF GODS by N. K. Jemisin

Trilogies are a mainstay of science fiction and fantasy and that’s a challenge that comes up for us in the Orbit Art Department over and over again. The first cover is both the hardest (it has to be AWESOME and make a big splash, especially if it’s for a debut author) and the easiest (no preconceptions and rules dictated by previous covers). The second cover is important because you obviously want it to be as cool as the first, and not fall victim to any sequel-slacking. And the third? Well the third is kind of the best, because by the last book in a trilogy, you’ve already got a good feel for the world in question, and the tone of the author, and you usually get something good and dramatic to wrap up with. And while we’re talking about dramatic, I am happy to release the cover for the third book in N. K. Jemisin‘s Inheritance Trilogy: The Kingdom of Gods.

I have been thrilled at how well cover one was received across the fantasy community — it was accepted into the Spectrum annual, and was nominated for a Gemmell Legend Award. We were trying to do something pretty standard (fantasy city) and present it in a fresher way (through the style of Cliff Nielsen‘s awesome artwork), and it really resonated with a lot of people, which is great because the books just happen to be super-fantastic as well. And over the last two books the illustrations have been just as strong, while keeping to that pretty simple formula.

And now we have this illustration, which I don’t want to say too much about, because I wouldn’t want to give anything away about the story…obviously if you have been reading along, the god is Sieh (my favorite)…just trust me, if you have been enjoying The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms and The Broken Kingdoms, well The Kingdom of Gods does not disappoint. After the jump, get a teaser, and the whole series of covers… (more…)

Maps, Fantasy, Culture, and Boundaries


I attend very little programming at science fiction and fantasy conventions because I’m too busy socializing with writers, readers, and publishing professionals I don’t have a chance to see except at conventions. At AussieCon last year in Melbourne, Australia, I happened to sit next to New Zealand writer Russell Kirkpatrick for an hour of scheduled book signing. Since we were not busy in the second half of the hour, we got to talking.

Russell is a geographer. He knows maps. He is passionate about maps from a thoroughly knowledgable point of view.

I am a world building dork. I love maps.

At the end of the autographing hour I felt we had just gotten started, but he had to run because he was giving a two hour seminar-workshop titled MAPS, FANTASY, CULTURE, & BOUNDARIES.

TWO HOURS of maps, fantasy, culture, and boundaries. Catnip! (more…)

Favourite female characters in speculative fiction

When I was asked to write some blog entries for the Orbit site, one of the great suggestions made was that I take a look at some of my favourite female characters in the realms of speculative fiction. So I did … and guess what I found? They were nearly all created by Terry Pratchett. I’ve decided to write another post just on his characters shortly, but in the meantime…

As much as I passionately adore Terry Pratchett’s female characters,  I’m pretty fond of a few others, too. And if you pinned me in a corner and asked me to choose my absolute favourite?

My answer would be Lieutenant Eve Dallas, created by JD Robb, (aka Nora Roberts) for her futuristic ‘In Death’ crime series.

Eve is a homicide detective: tough, committed, courageous,  prickly, unexpectedly vulnerable,  dedicated, ruthless and relentless in the pursuit of justice.  She is always surprising, never a stereotypical female character, sexy and appealing because of her strength … and the flaws that go hand in hand with it.

Even more exciting is that Eve’s not the only great female character in this series. Her partner in hunting murderous criminals is the fabulous Delia Peabody, who’s smart and feisty and loyal and brave.  Broadcast journalist Nadine Furst  is a great foil,  psychologist Charlotte Mira and free spirit singer Mavis Freestone are both fully realised women with their own lives and agencies within the narrative. (more…)

Kelley Armstrong’s SPELL BOUND is a Sunday Times bestseller!

We’re delighted to confirm that Kelley Armstrong’s latest novel,  SPELL BOUND (UK | ANZ), will be at #9 on the Sunday Times hardback fiction bestseller list this weekend!

Everyone at Orbit extends their congratulations to Kelley for this much-deserved success.

SPELL BOUND is the penultimate title in Kelley’s hugely popular Women of the Otherworld series. The final book will be called 13 and is due to be released in summer 2012.

Kelley recently spoke more about the series here.

Calling all editors: the Orbit UK team needs you!

Stop press! We’re looking for an experienced editor to join the Orbit UK team in London. The advert’s just gone up here on the Little, Brown website, so if you think you’ve got what we’re looking for or you know someone who’s interested, it’s time to polish up that CV and send it winging our way…