Archive for Orbit UK

Acquisition Announcement: THE STARDUST THIEF by Chelsea Abdullah

Get ready for the biggest fantasy debut of the year! Orbit is thrilled to announce that we’ve acquired World English rights to a stunning, Arab-inspired epic fantasy: Chelsea Abdullah’s The Stardust Thief.

Set in a world filled with dangerous jinn, magical artifacts, and shifting dunes, The Stardust Thief tells the story of a legendary smuggler and a cowardly prince who are forced to quest out across the desert in search of the long-lost city of the jinn and a magical lamp. Weaving together tales from One Thousand and One Nights, American-Kuwaiti author, Chelsea Abdullah has crafted an enchanting novel that feels both familiar and entirely new. Perfect for readers of The City of Brass and The Bone Shard Daughter (US | UK), this epic quest will captivate and enthrall you, sweeping you away into a land where the line between stories and reality blur, and where magic lurks in the most unexpected places.

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Neither here nor there, but long ago…

Loulie al-Nazari is the Midnight Merchant: a criminal who, with the help of her jinn bodyguard, hunts and sells illegal magic. When she saves the life of a cowardly prince, she draws the attention of his powerful father, the sultan, who blackmails her into finding an ancient lamp that has the power to revive the barren land.

With no choice but to obey or be executed, Loulie journeys with the sultan’s oldest son to find the artifact. Aided by her bodyguard, who has secrets of his own, they must survive ghoul attacks, outwit a vengeful jinn queen, and confront a malicious killer from Loulie’s past. And, in a world where story is reality and illusion is truth, Loulie will discover that everything—her enemy, her magic, even her own past—is not what it seems.

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We can’t wait to share The Stardust Thief with you next year! And, in the meantime, please join us in welcoming Chelsea to Orbit. You can find her on Twitter @chelsabdullah and at https://www.chelseaabdullah.com/

Orbit US senior editor Brit Hvide acquired World English rights from Jennifer Azantian at Azantian Literary Agency. Orbit UK editor Emily Byron has secured UK rights.

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Cover Launch: THE LIAR’S KNOT by M. A. Carrick

Welcome, readers, to the cover launch of THE LIAR’S KNOT, the second book in the dark and dazzling Rook & Rose trilogy by M.A. Carrick!

Take a deep breath and prepare for your return to Nadežra, the city where magic dwells in both dreams and nightmares, where thieves and noblemen both are liars, and everyone hides behind a mask. Nadežra, where a stubborn and quick-witted con artist, a charmingly ruthless criminal, and a legendary vigilante will risk everything in order to protect a world that is determined to fall apart. Nadežra, where nothing is quite as it seems…

Check out the stunning cover of THE LIAR’S KNOT below, and make sure to pre-order (US | UK)! And if THE MASK OF MIRRORS (book one of the trilogy) is still on your TBR pile, good news: THE LIAR’S KNOT is hitting shelves in December, giving you plenty of time to catch up! This is an epic fantasy series you don’t want to miss. But don’t take our word for it—read on for a taste of all the fantastic praise it’s received.

Illustrated by Nekro. Designed by Lauren Panepinto

Trust is the thread that binds. And the rope that hangs.

In Nadežra, peace is tenuous as a thread. Corrupt House Indestor has been destroyed, but darkness still weaves through the city’s filthy back alleys and jewel-bright gardens, visible to those who know where to look.

Derossi Vargo, Grey Serrado, and Ren, daughter of no clan, all know. Caught in a knot of secrets and lies, they struggle to decide who to trust and who to turn from—a precarious position indeed, even for a ruthless criminal, a notorious vigilante, and a brilliant con artist.

Because the power they are fighting is more ancient than they can fathom, and they have yet to discover just how deeply rooted its poison is. And in the end, it will take more than wits and knives to cut themselves and their city free.

Praise for The Mask of Mirrors

“Lush, engrossing, and full of mystery and dark magic.” —BookPage

“Immersive…a feast to savor slowly.” —BuzzFeed News

“Utterly captivating.” —S. A. Chakraborty, author of The City of Brass

“This novel will catch hold of your dreams and keep you from sleeping.” —Mary Robinette Kowal, author of The Calculating Stars

“Wonderfully immersive—I was unable to put it down.” —Andrea Stewart, author of The Bone Shard Daughter

“Exactly the fantasy adventure novel you’re craving.” —Tasha Suri, author of The Jasmine Throne

“A fantastically twisty read.” —Fran Wilde, author of the Bone Universe trilogy

“A tightly laced plot dripping with political intrigue. Carrick has built a strong foundation for things to come.” —Publishers Weekly

“An excellent fantasy novel.” —Los Angeles Review of Books

“An intricate, compelling dream of a book.” —Melissa Caruso, author of The Tethered Mage

“A sheer delight!” —Katy Rose Pool, author of There Will Come A Darkness

“For those who like their revenge plots served with the intrigue of The Goblin Emperor, the colonial conflict of The City of Brass, the panache of Swordspoint, and the richly detailed settings of Guy Gavriel Kay.” —Booklist (starred review)

The Kitschies Awards: Orbit Books on the Shortlist

We’re thrilled to have two books on this year’s Kitschies Awards Shortlist! The City We Became (UK | US) by N. K. Jemisin has been nominated for a Red Tentacle (Novel) Award and an Inky Tentacle (Cover Art) Award.

The Ministry for the Future (UK | US) by Kim Stanley Robinson has been nominated for a Red Tentacle (Novel) Award.

The City We Became is the latest novel from the four-time Hugo award-winning and New York Times bestselling author N. K. Jemisin, featuring five New Yorkers who must band together to defend their city.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Told entirely through fictional eye-witness accounts, The Ministry For The Future by Kim Stanley Robinson is a masterpiece of the imagination, the story of how climate change will affect us all over the decades to come.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can find out more about the other titles on the Kitschies Shortlist by clicking here.

 

 

Cover Launch: THE BONE SHARD EMPEROR by Andrea Stewart

Andrea Stewart’s THE BONE SHARD DAUGHTER (US | UK) was one of the biggest fantasy debuts of 2020, and her next novel is looking to be another smash hit. With her brilliantly realized magic systems, inventive world-building, and captivating characters Stewart has made the stakes in Bone Shard Emperor higher and the adventure even more exciting. So of course we needed another incredible cover designed by Lauren Panepinto and illustrated by Sasha Vinogradova to match! Check it out below and in the meantime, make sure to pre-order THE BONE SHARD EMPEROR (US | UK)!

The Emperor is Dead. Long live the Emperor.

Lin Sukai finally sits on the throne she won at so much cost, but her struggles are only just beginning. Her people don’t trust her. Her political alliances are weak. And in the north-east of the Empire, a rebel army of constructs is gathering, its leader determined to take the throne by force.

Yet an even greater threat is on the horizon, for the Alanga – the powerful magicians of legend – have returned to the Empire. They claim they come in peace, and Lin will need their help in order to defeat the rebels and restore peace.

But can she trust them?

Cover Launch: WILD AND WICKED THINGS by Francesca May

Welcome to Crow Island. You’re invited to enter a world of dangerous witchcraft and glamorous parties in Francesca May’s lush debut, WILD AND WICKED THINGS. Get swept into a vision of 1920s England where magic is real but illegal, where young women have dark powers bubbling inside of them, and where the boundaries of wickedness are tested with dire consequences. If you loved The Year of the Witching and Mexican Gothic, you’ll want to read this deliciously gothic fantasy next!

 

Landing in bookstores March 2022, WILD AND WICKED THINGS is available for preorder now (US | UK) and, while you anxiously wait, feast your eyes on its gorgeous cover below.

Cover design by Lisa Marie Pompilio.

On Crow Island, people whispered real magic lurked just below the surface. But Annie Mason never expected her enigmatic new neighbor to be a witch.

 

When she witnesses a confrontation between her best friend Bea and the infamous Emmeline Delacroix at one of Emmeline’s extravagantly illicit parties, Annie is drawn into a glittering, haunted world. A world where magic can buy what money cannot; a world where the consequence of a forbidden blood bargain might be death.

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Francesca May grew up in the middle of England, where she spent her childhood devouring fantasy books and brewing potions in her back garden. She currently lives in Derby with her family, three giant dogs, and two black cats. By day, Fran works as a bookseller at Waterstones. By night, she accidentally kills every house plant she touches and writes novels about gothic mansions, witchcraft, and queer love. You can find her on Twitter @franwritesstuff or her website.

An update regarding THE CULTURE: NOTES AND DRAWINGS by Iain M. Banks and Ken MacLeod

We are pleased to share an exciting publication update with everyone who has been looking forward to the release of The Culture: Notes and Drawings by Iain M. Banks and Ken MacLeod.

As fans of Iain M. Banks’ vastly popular Culture series will be aware, Iain painstakingly designed every element of the Culture’s universe long before the novels were first published. From ships to weapons, language to nomenclature, flora to fauna, the whole of the Culture existed in the form of intricate sketches, notes, tables and charts, many years ahead of its appearance in fiction.

This archival material provides a fascinating insight into Iain’s extraordinary mind. It was originally due to be published as a single volume, accompanied by text from the award-winning Ken MacLeod, who was a close friend of Iain’s. However, to ensure that Iain’s exceptionally detailed drawings can be appreciated in their original format and scale, we are delighted to announce that the material will now be published as two separate editions.

The first release will be a beautiful, full-colour, large-format landscape artbook called The Culture: The Drawings, which will present Iain’s drawings exactly as he intended them to be seen.

Following this, we will publish a Culture companion book that celebrates the world of the Culture through Iain’s own writing. With accompanying text from Ken MacLeod, it will include an extensive selection of Iain’s notes, tables and charts relating to the Culture universe, as well as extracts from the novels.

Given these changes in our publication plans, we are now cancelling the single edition entitled The Culture: Notes and Drawings that was scheduled for 14th October 2021. We’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who had pre-ordered this single edition, and we’ll soon be announcing the release dates for the two new publications mentioned above, so please follow @orbitbooks on Twitter for updates.

Cover Launch: AGE OF ASH by Daniel Abraham

We couldn’t be more excited to reveal the cover for AGE OF ASH, the start to a new epic fantasy series from New York Times bestselling and critically acclaimed author Daniel Abraham, co-author of The Expanse. George R. R. Martin described Daniel’s previous series, The Dagger and the Coin, as “everything I look for in a fantasy.” Brandon Sanderson said the second book in Daniel’s The Long Price Quartet series, A Betrayal in Winter, was “exactly the kind of book I love.”

So you can understand why we’re thrilled to launch Daniel’s monumental new trilogy. Each book in the trilogy unfolds within the walls of a single great city, over the course of one tumultuous year, where every story matters, and the fate of the city is woven from them all. AGE OF ASH is coming to shelves near you in February 2022.

Design by Lauren Panepinto. Illustration by Daniel Dociu.

Kithamar is a center of trade and wealth, an ancient city with a long, bloody history where countless thousands live and their stories unfold.

This is Alys’s.

Alys is simply a petty thief from the slums of Longhill, but when her brother is murdered, she sets out to discover who killed him and why. But the more she discovers about him, the more she learns about herself, and the truths she finds are more dangerous than knives.

Swept up in an intrigue as deep as the roots of Kithamar, where the secrets of the lowest born can sometimes topple thrones, the story Alys chooses will have the power to change everything.

Cover Launch: THE GREAT WITCH OF BRITTANY by Louisa Morgan

A new Louisa Morgan novel is on the way! Transporting readers to the 18th century, THE GREAT WITCH OF BRITTANY is the charming tale of Ursule Orchiere and how the discovery of her magical abilities will not only change the course of her life, but every generation that comes after her.

Landing at your nearest bookstore in February 2022, check out the stunning cover below and make sure to say hi to Louisa on Twitter at @WriterLouisa.

Cover design by Lisa Marie Pompilio; Cover images by Trevillion

Brittany, 1741

There hasn’t been a witch born in the Orchière clan for generations. According to the elders, that line is dead, leaving the clan vulnerable to the whims of superstitious villagers and the prejudices of fearmongering bishops.

Ursule Orchière has been raised on stories of the great witches of the past. But the only magic she knows is the false spells her mother weaves over the gullible women who visit their fortune-telling caravan. Everything changes when Ursule comes of age and a spark of power flares to life. Thrilled to be chosen, she has no idea how magic will twist and shape her future.

Guided by the whispers of her ancestors and an ancient grimoire, Ursule is destined to walk the same path as the great witches of old. But first, the Orchière magical lineage must survive. And danger hovers over her, whether it’s the bloodlust of the mob or the flames of the pyre.

Cover Launch: A MASTER OF DJINN by P. Djèlí Clark

With less than a week to go until the release of the ebook of P. Djèlí Clark’s debut novel, A MASTER OF DJINN (UK|ANZ), we’re thrilled to share the final cover. Anyone wanting to get their hands on a physical copy will have to wait a little longer, as the paperback won’t be hitting the shops until August. In the meantime, feast your eyes on the beautiful design created by Little, Brown’s very own Matthew Burne.

 

Read on for a taste of what’s in store:

Cairo, 1912: Though Fatma el-Sha’arawi is the youngest woman working for the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities, she’s certainly not a rookie, especially after preventing the destruction of the universe last summer.

So when someone murders a secret brotherhood dedicated to one of the most famous men in history, Al-Jahiz, Agent Fatma is called onto the case. Al-Jahiz transformed the world fifty years ago when he opened up the veil between the magical and mundane realms, before vanishing into the unknown. This murderer claims to be Al-Jahiz, returned to condemn the modern age for its social oppressions. His dangerous magical abilities instigate unrest in the streets of Cairo that threaten to spill over onto the global stage.

Alongside her Ministry colleagues and a familiar person from her past, Agent Fatma must unravel the mystery behind this imposter to restore peace to the city – or face the possibility he could be exactly who he seems . . .

‘Clever, wickedly fun . . . with an excellent balance of humour and heart. I loved it’
S. A. Chakraborty, bestselling author of The City of Brass

‘A Master of Djinn has all the tricky twists I want in a police procedural and all the djinns, magic and wonder I want from fantasy’
Mary Robinette Kowal, Hugo and Nebula award-winning author of The Calculating Stars

‘An epic tale of magic and mystery, this is sure to wow’
Publishers Weekly

‘A Master of Djinn is everything you might expect from Clark: cinematic action, a radical reimagining of real history, and magic on every page. I loved it’
Alix E. Harrow, author of The Ten Thousand Doors of January

‘The kind of book you don’t want to put down’
Marie Brennan, World Fantasy and Hugo Award-nominated author

 

Acquisition Announcement: WILD AND WICKED THINGS by Francesca May

Something gothic this way comes! We’re delighted to announce Orbit’s sister imprint, Redhook, has acquired Francesca May’s lush historical fantasy debut, WILD AND WICKED THINGS.

Set in an atmospheric reimagining of 1920s England, Wild and Wicked Things follows a young woman’s journey into a glittering world filled with illicit magic, romance, blood debts, and murder. Perfect for readers of Mexican Gothic and The Year of the Witching, this enthralling debut will entice you into a world of dark witchcraft and folklore.

…

On Crow Island, people whispered, real magic lurked just below the surface, but Annie Mason never expected her enigmatic new neighbor to be a witch. When she witnesses a confrontation between her best friend Bea and the infamous Emmeline Delacroix at one of Emmeline’s extravagantly illicit parties, she is drawn into a glittering, haunted world. A world where magic can buy what money can not; a world where the consequence of a forbidden blood bargain might be death.

…

We can’t wait to share WILD AND WICKED THINGS with you next year! And, in the meantime, please join us in welcoming Francesca to Orbit/Redhook. You can find her on Twitter @franwritesstuff and at https://franwritesstuff.com/.

Orbit US senior editor Nivia Evans acquired World English rights from Diana Beaumont at Marjacq. Orbit UK editor Emily Byron has secured UK rights.