Archive for Orbit UK

Arthur C Clarke Giveaway

Tonight the winner of the 2008 Arthur C Clarke awards will be announced and, while we know who we’re rooting for, we thought what better way to celebrate than to give away a book by the great man himself! Up for grabs is a special hardback edition of 2001: A Space Odyssey* by Arthur C Clarke, complete with a foreword by Stephen Baxter, one of this year’s shortlisted authors.

To enter, send your name with the title line “Arthur C Clarke” to orbit@littlebrown.co.uk. The winner will be chosen at random two weeks from today (May 14th). Good luck!

* This link doesn’t take you to the edition we’re giving away, but to the paperback copy that’s available to buy now.

Orbit Authors at Alt.Fiction 2008

This Saturday’s annual Alt.Fiction event in Derby was a fantastic example of just how vibrant and lively the UK genre scene currently is. A panel-packed day offered readings from some of the UK’s top genre talent – including Orbit’s very own Charles Stross, Mike Carey, Philip Palmer (who has posted his own Alt.Fiction write-up) and Brian Ruckley (who has likewise posted his impressions of the day) – as well as discussion sessions and workshops on a variety of writing and publishing-related topics.

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‘Halting State’ on 2008 Locus Award shortlist

Halting State UK TPbHere at Orbit Towers we’re all absolutely delighted that Halting State [UK] by Charles Stross has been shortlisted in the ‘SF Novel’ category of this year’s Locus Awards.

In addition, Mr Stross has also been shortlisted in the Novelette category for ‘Trunk and Disorderly’ and Ken MacLeod has been shortlisted in the Best Short Story category for ‘Who’s Afraid of Wolf 359?’

The Awards were voted for via online poll and the winners will already be known to the organisers, but won’t be announced until the Locus Awards Ceremony takes place in Seattle on June 12th. We’ll be keeping our fingers very firmly crossed for Charles and Ken until then!

Best of luck, chaps!

The Digital Plague – Reviewed!

Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review has a great piece on Jeff Somers’ The Digital Plague (UK/US) today, where he calls it:

Last year I was lucky enough to get hold of a copy of Jeff Somers’ debut ‘The Electric Church’, a gritty ‘dystopian future’ thriller that (while by no means perfect) I had a lot of fun with and left me eagerly waiting for the sequel. Well, it’s ‘sequel time’! :o) Actually, it isn’t ‘sequel time’, it’s ‘great sequel time’…Highly recommended to anyone who likes their sci-fi mean, streetwise and drenched in bullets!

You can read the full review here.

Orbit Links for April 25 2008

Here’s a quick round-up of links of interest featuring Orbit authors, that we’ve found – or have been brought to our attention – this week:

If you spot an interesting online article featuring an Orbit author, please feel free to drop us a line and let us know!

Orbit Authors at Alt.Fiction

This Saturday, April 26th, the cream of the UK genre fiction crop will be heading to Derby’s Assembly Rooms for the third annual Alt.Fiction Festival.

Alt.Fiction is a one-day convention that brings together sf/f/h authors, readers and publishers for a series of panel sessions, workshops, readings and more. Think Eastercon or Fantasycon, condensed into a single day and organised to within an inch of its life by Alex Davis and his team of willing and enthusiastic volunteers from Derby City Council, and you’ll get the picture.

This year, several Orbit authors will be in attendance, including Mike Carey, Philip Palmer, Brian Ruckley and Charles Stross. The four of them will be appearing on various panels and reading sessions throughout the day; you can see which ones by checking out the schedule of events.

And yes, that is yours truly on a panel at 12.00 on the topic of ‘Writing and the Internet’, alongside Simon Spurrier and Hub Magazine editor Lee Harris. Hecklers welcome!

Tickets for Alt.Fiction are on-sale now at a very reasonable £20 from the Derby Assembly Rooms website.

You Say Data, I Say Dattah …

The April issue of Locus magazine carries its annual “British Book Summary” – a report on SFF publishing in the UK. I admire and appreciate Locus’s amazingly comprehensive reporting on all things SFF-y from around the world, but as somebody in the publishing industry I have to say that this survey always bothers me. (more…)