Archive for Orbit US

EMBER AND ASH wins Aurealis Award!

the cover for Pamela Freeman's award-winning fantasy novel EMBER AND ASH Big congratulations from the Orbit team to Pamela Freeman, whose epic fantasy novel EMBER AND ASH won the Aurealis Award for the best fantasy novel of the year! The awards were announced in Sydney last Saturday.

The Aurealis Awards represent the best of Australian fantasy, science fiction and horror across thirteen different categories. Trudi Canavan and Trent Jamieson have both been previous winners of the awards.

EMBER AND ASH (UK | US | ANZ) is available as an Orbit ebook or paperback.

Two peoples have been fighting over the same land for a thousand years. Invaders crushed the original inhabitants, and ancient powers have reluctantly given way to newer magics. But Ember was to change all this with a wedding to bind these warring people together – until her future goes up in flames.

Ember’s husband-to-be is murdered by a vengeful elemental god, who sees peace as a breach of faith. Set on retribution, she enlists the help of Ash, son of a seer. Together they will pit themselves against elementals of fire and ice in a last attempt to end the conflicts that have scarred their past.

They must look to the present, as old furies are waking to violence and are eager to reclaim their people.

Cover Reveal: The Traitor Queen by Trudi Canavan

Trudi Canavan’s Traitor Spy trilogy – so far comprising the Sunday Times bestsellers THE AMBASSADOR’S MISSION [UK | US | ANZ] and THE ROGUE [UK | US | ANZ] – will finally be completed in August, with the release of THE TRAITOR QUEEN.

We’ll reveal a little more about this thrilling conclusion to the trilogy closer to the time, along with an excerpt, but for the time being here’s the final front cover – courtesy of our wonderful designer Peter Cotton and the talented illustrator Steve Stone.

A robed woman in blue, holding a staff

If you’ve not yet joined the legions of fans that have been captivated by the Traitor Spy books, now’s the perfect time to start as both THE AMBASSADOR’S MISSION (sample) and THE ROGUE (sample) are available in paperback.

Trudi Canavan can be found online at both her website and on twitter.

Cover Story: 2312 by KIM STANLEY ROBINSON

2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson is coming out at the end of May around the globe (US | UK | AUS).  Last week I posted  some wallpapers, and this week I want to explain some of the thinking that went into the design of the book jacket.

The goal was to create a cover that would signal a big book about space, but we also wanted something that reinforced the timelessness of the  storytelling by bringing in mythic symbolism. The cover isn’t a literal snapshot of anything in the book — it’s a collection of symbols that evoke the story.

I don’t want to give away too many of the book’s secrets (some of which are hinted at in the design) but I will explain why there’s a rooster and a sickle silhouetted against the tree.

The two main characters in 2312 are from Mercury and Saturn. You probably remember that in Roman mythology Mercury (like Hermes) wore winged sandals and bore a caduceus. He was also often accompanied by a  rooster (representing the new day.)  Saturn — the god of agriculture, justice and strength —  held a sickle in his left hand and a bundle of wheat in his right. So these two symbols represent two of the key locations in the book. 

There’s also a very simple visual story in the design. As you roll the book over from the front, to the spine, and to the back, you’ll notice the sun going down on each image.

You’ll also notice that the rooster isn’t on the back cover. Why? There are a few possible interpretations for this.  But there’s also a straightforward scientific explanation in keeping with the rigorous logic of the book. Why isn’t the rooster on the back cover?

… It’s nighttime. The rooster has gone to sleep. ;-)

So that’s a bit of background on the design thinking that went into the cover. You can enlarge the cover below to see the sun setting effect.

CLICK TO ENLARGE

This was a really fun project and one (as I always do) I feel lucky to be a part of.

Read a sample from BLUE-BLOODED VAMP

Blue-Blooded Vamp by Jaye WellsIn just a few short weeks BLUE-BLOODED VAMP (US | UK | AUS), the fifth and final volume of the Sabina Kane series, will be released!

Sabina and friends set off for Italy hunting for the means to defeat Cain, the father of all vampires and the man who murdered her family. Revenge may finally be within reach unless Cain finds her first. It all comes to a head in this dramatic series conclusion.

Check out this excerpt from BLUE-BLOODED VAMP or start the series from the beginning with RED-HEADED STEPCHILD (US | UK | AUS).

The St. Charles streetcar lumbered its way toward the Garden District like a mourner in a funeral procession. The rocking motion should have soothed me, but I was pretty sure I was beyond ever relaxing again.

Adam sat next me. His warm hand on my leg helped dispel some of the chill. He wore his trademark brown duster and heavy boots. The goatee and muscled frame added to his general air of menace, but the mage’s real danger lay in his ability to wield magical weapons.

In addition to being my partner, he was also my . . . boyfriend? No, too high school. Lover? Ugh. Consort? Meh.

I guess when it came down to it, he was just my mancy, plain and simple. And his presence had become as critical to my equilibrium as gravity or blood.

Read More

2312 by KIM STANLEY ROBINSON: Read the Prologue

A very nice review in the May edition of Locus ends: “2312 is as flat-out a celebration of the possibilities of SF as I’ve seen in years … it’s a catalog of wonders.” It reminded me of the opening sentence of the novel:

“The sun is always just about to rise.”

What a great first sentence, for a novel in any genre, but particularly one concerned – from start to finish – with possibilities.

More early praise for this remarkable novel:

 

From SF writer Iain M. Banks:

Intellectually engaged and intensely humane in a way SF rarely is, exuberantly speculative in a way only the best SF can be, this is the work of a writer at or approaching the top of his game.

From thriller writer Robert Crais:

Robinson (Galileo’s Dream) delivers a challenging, compelling masterpiece of science fiction…Robinson’s extraordinary completeness of vision results in a magnificently realized, meticulously detailed future in which social and biological changes keep pace with technological developments.

From Publishers Weekly (starred review):

Robinson’s extraordinary completeness of vision results in a magnificently realized, meticulously detailed future in which social and biological changes keep pace with technological developments.

The book will be available at the end of May (US | UK | AUS) and you can read the entire prologue here.

Cracked the BLACKOUT code?

It has been over a week since a group of intrepid bloggers hacked into the CDC’s Central Archives and found the encrypdated data which unlocked an extended excerpt from Mira Grant’s upcoming novel, BLACKOUT – the third and final volume of the Newsflesh Trilogy.

Were you able to figure out the passwords? You can still play along by going here; however, you can also just skip straight to the answers beneath the cut.

Chapter One of BLACKOUT was previously released on io9. You’re going to want to read that before continuing with our extended excerpt. If you’ve never read any of the Newsflesh books, be warned – there are jaw-dropping spoilers to be found in these excerpts.

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May Events

Sunday, May 6
N.K. Jemisin (with Paolo Bacigalupi) at WORD, Brooklyn, NY, 7 PM

Saturday, May 12
N.K. Jemisin at Flights of Fantasy, Albany, NY, 7 PM

May 18-20
T.C. McCarthy at XCon World V

Wednesday, May 23
Kim Stanley Robinson at The Planetary Society, Pasadena, CA, 7 PM

Thursday, May 24
Kim Stanley Robinson at Mysterious Galaxy, Redondo Beach, CA, 7:30 PM

Friday, May 25
Daniel Abraham at Alamosa Books, Albuquerque, NM, 7 PM

May 25-28
Gail Carriger at World Steam Expo

May 25-27
T.C. McCarthy at Balticon

Tuesday, May 29
Kim Stanley Robinson at Mysterious Galaxy, San Diego, CA, 7 PM

May 20-June 3
Kim Stanley Robinson at SpaceFest, Tucson, AZ

May 31-June 4
Jaye Wells at Imaginales, Épinal, France

Cover Story: THE KING’S BLOOD by DANIEL ABRAHAM

WEAPONS! Where might one go to procure something if  …  say… you wanted to reenact the Knights of the Round Table, or Edward James Olmos in Miami Vice*, or find an axe for the cover of Daniel Abrahan’s THE KING’S BLOOD? You go to Weapons Specialists in downtown (or downton if you want to be chi chi) Manhattan. Which is what I did one blistering hot day last summer. Check out the video of my visit and revel in the fact that the folks who work there have THE BEST JOB in the world. I would like to apologize in advance for the rather large sweat stains I’m sporting in the video. It’s like my armpits had a pool party the rest of the body wasn’t invited to. So… yea.

I had very specific details for the axe and the final weapon needed to scream warrior. In other words, the axe needed to look used. Obviously this combination of elements isn’t something that you just find off the interwebs, so I needed to create the final image from composites of multiple weapons.

After leaving Weapon’s Specialists with a rifle case full of medieval cutlery, which by the way is really surreal carrying through Grand Central, I needed to photograph everything and start working on what you see on the final book. Here are the weapons I got to play with.

 
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