Archive for Orbit UK

Cover Launch: ROSEWATER by Tade Thompson

As revealed last week by SciFiNow, here’s the stunning cover for Tade Thompson’s ROSEWATER (design by Charlotte Stroomer)!

Winner of the inaugural Nommo Award for Best Novel – Africa’s first award for speculative fiction
John W. Campbell Award finalist for Best Science Fiction Novel

Rosewater is a town on the edge. A community formed around the edges of a mysterious alien biodome, its residents comprise the hopeful, the hungry and the helpless – people eager for a glimpse inside the dome or a taste of its rumoured healing powers.

Kaaro is a government agent with a criminal past. He has seen inside the biodome, and doesn’t care to again – but when something begins killing off others like himself, Kaaro must defy his masters to search for an answer, facing his dark history and coming to a realisation about a horrifying future.

We publish ROSEWATER in September.

Follow Tade on Twitter – @tadethompson 

Cover Launch: THE RAVEN TOWER by Ann Leckie

We couldn’t be more excited to reveal the cover of THE RAVEN TOWER. A triumph of the imagination and the first fantasy novel by Ann Leckie, New York Times bestselling author and winner of the Hugo, Nebula, and Arthur C. Clarke Awards. 

Raven Tower

Listen. A god is speaking.
My voice echoes through the stone of your master’s castle. 
This castle where he finds his uncle on his father’s throne. 
You want to help him. You cannot.
You are the only one who can hear me.
You will change the world.
 
Cover design by Lauren Panepinto
Image by Arcangel Images

Cover Launch: EMPIRE OF SAND by Tasha Suri

EMPIRE OF SAND is Tasha Suri’s captivating, Mughal India-inspired debut fantasy about a young woman whose magic might uphold—or destroy—an empire. Perfect for fans of City of Brass, Red Queen, and The Wrath & the Dawn, EMPIRE OF SAND will transport you to a land of dark myths and bloody magic, where the fate of the world hangs on one woman’s choices.

Can’t wait until it’s published in November 2018? As announced on Book Riot, here’s an early preview of the gorgeous cover, designed by Lauren Panepinto, to whet your appetite!

A nobleman’s daughter with magic in her blood. An empire built on the dreams of enslaved gods.

The Amrithi are outcasts; nomads descended of desert spirits, they are coveted and persecuted throughout the Empire for the power in their blood. Mehr is the illegitimate daughter of an imperial governor and an exiled Amrithi mother she can barely remember, but whose face and magic she has inherited.

When Mehr’s power comes to the attention of the Emperor’s most feared mystics, she must use every ounce of will, subtlety, and power she possesses to resist their cruel agenda — and should she fail, the gods themselves may awaken seeking vengeance…

Cover Launch: THE SISTERS OF THE WINTER WOOD by Rena Rossner

Captivating and boldly imaginative, with a tale of sisterhood at its heart, Rena Rossner’s debut fantasy THE SISTERS OF THE WINTER WOOD (US | UK | ANZ)  invites you to enter a world filled with magic, folklore, and the dangers of the woods. It’s perfect for fans of The Bear and the Nightingale and Uprooted and is out in September 2018.

We’re delighted to reveal the cover with art by Rebecca Yanovskaya and designed by Lauren Panepinto.

The Sisters of the Winter Wood

Every family has a secret. Behind every secret, there is a story.

Raised in a remote village surrounded by vast forests on the border of Moldova and Ukraine, sisters Liba and Laya live a peaceful, sheltered life.

But when a troupe of mysterious men arrives, Laya falls under their spell—despite their mother’s warning to be wary of strangers. And this is not the only danger lurking in the woods….

As dark forces close in on their small village, Liba and Laya discover a family secret passed down through generations. Faced with a magical heritage they never knew existed, the sisters realize the old fairy tales are true…and could save them all. 

Rena Rossner lives in Israel where she works as a literary agent. She is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University’s Writing Seminars program and McGill University where she studied history. All eight of her great-grandparents immigrated to America to escape the pogroms from towns like Dubossary, Kupel, Riga and Bender. It is their story, together with her love of Jewish mythology and fantasy that inspired her to write The Sisters of the Winter Wood.

Early praise for The Sisters of the Winter Wood:

“Mixes fairy tale, poetry, history, and heart to create an enchanting and mesmerizing tale of sisterly love. I adored this book!” — Sarah Beth Durst, award-winning author of The Queens of Renthia series

“A graceful, poetic, deeply moving novel. Its characters are fantastical and yet essentially human, bound by ambition and desire, fear and prejudice, but above all, love in all its forms. Simply gorgeous book in every sense.”– Louisa Morgan, author of A Secret History of Witches

“This dark fairy tale about sisterly love and Jewish strength and courage, set against the backdrop of a deep and deadly winter forest, will haunt me for a long time. A powerful, emotional debut.” — Julie C. Dao, author of Forest of a Thousand Lanterns

“Rossner weaves an elegant tapestry of the love between sisters, the value of faith and family, and knowing one’s true friends in times of peril.” — J. Kathleen Cheney, author of The Golden City

Cover Launch: TIAMAT’S WRATH by James S. A. Corey

We are very excited to reveal the cover for TIAMAT’S WRATH (coming out in December 2018), the eighth novel in James S.A. Corey’s New York Times bestselling Expanse series – the third season of the television series premiers April 11th on Syfy in the US and Space in Canada.



For more work by Daniel Dociu, visit his website.
Design by Kirk Benshoff and Lauren Panepinto

Cover Reveal: THE EMPIRE OF ASHES by Anthony Ryan

Powerful magic.

Epic adventure.

A desperate battle to defeat an ancient evil.

We’re thrilled to unveil the cover for THE EMPIRE OF ASHES [UK/ANZ] – the fiery conclusion to Anthony Ryan’s Draconis Memoria series – with art by Jeff Read and design by our very own Nico Taylor.

We publish in July, so there’s still time for you to dive into this stunning series of exploration and warfare, explosive magic, spies and assassins – and an ancient power which seeks to reduce the world to ashes. The adventure begins with THE WAKING FIRE [UK/ANZ] and continues with THE LEGION OF FLAME [UK/ANZ]. THE EMPIRE OF ASHES will publish in hardback, trade format, audio and ebook on 5th July.

Here’s what people have been saying about Draconis Memoria:

‘Fabulous . . . Sure to be another fantasy classic’ Huffington Post UK

‘The world Ryan has created for his new dragon adventure is a joy to visualise’ SciFiNow

‘A fascinating world packed with dragons, pirates, political machinations and an interesting magic system to boot’ Fantasy Faction

‘A marvellous piece of imagination with plenty of twists, a refreshingly different setting, and excellent world-building’ Mark Lawrence

‘Memorable characters and great action’ Django Wexler

‘Excellent epic fantasy’ BookBag

Find Anthony Ryan online at his website or on Twitter.

2018 Hugo Award nominations

We are thrilled that four Orbit titles are finalists for the 2018 Hugo Award for Best Novel!

Best Novel

  • The Collapsing Empire, by John Scalzi (Tor)
  • New York 2140, by Kim Stanley Robinson (Orbit) [US | UK | ANZ]
  • Provenance, by Ann Leckie (Orbit) [US | UK | ANZ]
  • Raven Stratagem, by Yoon Ha Lee (Solaris)
  • Six Wakes, by Mur Lafferty (Orbit) [US]
  • The Stone Sky, by N.K. Jemisin (Orbit) [US | UK | ANZ]

See all the nominations here.

Hugo Award Nominees 2018

N.K. Jemisin has previously won two Hugo Awards for Best Novel, for THE FIFTH SEASON and THE OBELISK GATE. THE STONE SKY, this year’s finalist, completes her acclaimed Broken Earth Trilogy.

Ann Leckie previously won the Hugo Award for Best Novel for her debut, ANCILLARY JUSTICE, which also won the Nebula and Arthur C. Clarke Awards for Best Novel.

This marks Kim Stanley Robinson’s sixth nomination for this award, and Mur Lafferty’s first.

The Hugo Awards will be presented at Worldcon 76 in San Jose, CA, on August 19th. Congratulations to Kim Stanley Robinson, Ann Leckie, Mur Lafferty, N.K. Jemisin, and all the other Hugo Award nominees!

Cover Reveal: THE ETERNITY WAR: EXODUS by Jamie Sawyer

Elite marines.

Deep-space exploration. 

Competing galactic empires. 

Welcome to the Eternity War. 

Last year we published THE ETERNITY WAR: PARIAH [UK/US/ANZ], the explosive opening to Jamie Sawyer’s new space opera series. Now this action-packed adventure of conspiracy, traitors and the desperate battle for humanity’s future continues in THE ETERNITY WAR: EXODUS.

We don’t publish until November, so there’s plenty of time for you to dive into THE ETERNITY WAR: PARIAH and discover why Jamie has already made a name for himself as an exciting new talent in British SF (we suspect it might have something to do with his thrilling action scenes, mind-blowing imagination and the relentless pace of his storytelling).

Here’s what other authors have been saying about Jamie:

‘Gripping, gritty and unsentimental – Sawyer shows us how perilous future war can be’ – Michael Cobley

‘A gripping read that moves at warp speed’ – Jack Campbell

‘Alien biomechs . . . starships sporting particle beam weapons, railguns the size of skyscrapers . . . This, dear readers, is the good stuff’ – Neal Asher

‘Hyper-speed entertainment from a new master of science fiction’ – William C. Dietz

‘A highly promising science fiction debut – a fun, gripping adventure story, with a mystery at its core that kept me turning the pages’ – Gary Gibson

Visit Jamie Sawyer’s website www.jamiesawyer.com or follow Jamie on Twitter @JSawyerAuthor

 

Cover launch: THE GREY BASTARDS by Jonathan French

BRING ON THE ORCS . . . 

The Grey Bastards by Jonathan French book cover

What do you get when you cross:

Orcs  +  visceral action  +  a filthy, sardonic voice  + giant war pigs…?

A SHEDLOAD OF BADASSERY – that’s what.

Today we’re officially launching the cover for THE GREY BASTARDS (UK|ANZ) by Jonathan French – designed by artist and photographer Larry Rostant, along with Little, Brown Book Group creative director Duncan Spilling.

THE GREY BASTARDS is a debut that’s down, dirty and damn good fun. It’s a must-read for fantasy fans in 2018.

You might have heard of this book already because it won Mark Lawrence’s Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off – meaning it was selected by a panel of top fantasy bloggers as the winner from a shortlist of exceptional fantasy submissions.

You might have heard some of the things people have been saying about it:

‘Frankly excellent’ Mark Lawrence

‘A bloody good tale of battle, betrayal and war pigs’ Brian McClellan

‘Jonathan French has to be lauded for his plot ingenuity, bawdry charm and vicious characters. The Grey Bastards has instantaneously catapulted him into my must-read list’ Fantasy Book Critic

‘Fans of Abercrombie’s The First Law . . . will like this a lot’ Django Wexler

‘I’d like to raise a tankard to The Grey Bastards’ brilliance’ Fantasy Faction

Or you might have heard the Bastard’s war cry echoing through the interwebs: LIVE IN THE SADDLE, DIE ON THE HOG!

Whether you know about this book already or are just encountering it for the first time, one thing’s for sure: once you join the Bastards, you’ll never look back.

Available for pre-order now. Follow Jonathan French on Twitter here.

Acquisition Announcement: Megan O’Keefe’s Space Opera

The next big space opera is coming… will you be ready? We’re not one to toot our own horn (okay, maybe a little), but we just can’t be humble about this: Orbit has just acquired a brilliant space opera trilogy by Morningstar award winning author Megan O’Keefe. Think epic space battles, intergalactic politics, and rogue AI with deadly secrets and you’re halfway to figuring out why we love this so much. Here’s a little teaser as to what it’s about:

The last thing Sanda remembers is her gunship breaking up around her as her preserving pod expanded, sealing herself away for salvage-medics to pick up. She expected to awaken in friendly hands, patched up and patched back into a new gunship. Instead, she awakens 230 years later upon an empty enemy smartship, The Light of Berossus or, as he prefers to be called, “Bero”. The war is lost. The star system is dead.

However, Bero may not exactly be telling the whole truth.

Megan O’Keefe’s Orbit debut is scheduled for Summer 2019. But in the meantime, go say hello to Megan on twitter @MeganEOkeefe.