Archive for Orbit US

Cover Launch: GERMLINE by T. C. McCarthy

Here’s a fresh new cover launch for everyone this gloomy Monday. For your viewing pleasure, I give you GERMLINE by T. C. McCarthy. It’s a story about a journalist in the vein of Hunter S. Thompson who is embedded with a group of US soldiers in a near-future war. It’s a fabulous look at what a war in the future could be like, but the perspective of the character we see it all thru keeps it really grounded and human. It reminded me simultaneously of The Forever War by Joe Haldeman, Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein, and the Transmetropolitan comics written by Warren Ellis. The author has experience in the CIA and works in biotechnology, so the books are amazingly well-informed, and plausible.

What’s also cool is we just finished the cover for Book 2 (no, I can’t show you yet) and the story is awesome. This is definitely going to be a series to keep up with. Each book is going to be told from the perspective of a different person in the war.

Anyway, back to the art! Steve Stone did the photoillustration and I just love the tone and texture. It definitely says military, definitely says future-but-not-too-far, and it really captures that there’s more going on under the surface here. I love the textures Steve worked in.

Here’s a little teaser: (more…)

New Excerpts from THE DRAGON’S PATH and LEVIATHAN WAKES

Over at the newly launched Danielabraham.com you can read two new excerpts from THE DRAGON’S PATH (by Daniel Abraham) and LEVIATHAN WAKES (by Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck writing as James S.A. Corey.) These are two of the most hotly anticipated  launches of the year (see here and here for some early buzz,) so  if you’re a fan of fantasy or space opera, this Spring/Summer is going to be EPIC. Read on below for the excerpts.

The public gaol of Vanai had once been a menagerie.  In ancient days, the dragons themselves had stalked the wide square and bathed in the great fountain at its center.  At the perimeter, a deep pit, and then great cages rising three stories high.  The dragon’s jade facades were carved with figures of the beasts that had once paced behind the iron bars: lions, gryphons, great six-headed serpents, wolves, bears, great birds with breasts like women… Read More


The Scopuli had been taken eight days ago, and Julie Mao was finally ready to be shot.

It had taken all eight days trapped in a storage locker to get to that point.  For the first two she’d remained motionless, sure that the armored men who’d put her there had been serious…Read More

Return to the Winter Kingdoms

Gail Z. Martin’s The Sworn is out now! A whole new series set in the world of The Chronicles of the Necromancer, The Sworn and the sequel out next summer, The Dread, make up a new duology following the adventures of Tris Drayke and his allies.

“Well written and full of action, this grabs the reader on the first page and refuses to let go until the very last page.” — RT Book Reviews (4 Stars)

“Fans of Martin’s previous series as well as those who enjoy the large-scale fantasy of George R.R. Martin and Robert Jordan should enjoy this series opener.” — Library Journal

“Martin’s launch of a new series in the world of her Chronicles of the Necromancer books (The Summoner, etc.) is fun and accessible…a solidly told story and very friendly to new readers.” — Publishers Weekly

“Top notch, engrossing fantasy.” — sfrevu.com

Also, check out Gail’s site for a list of upcoming appearances and events! Or follow her on twitter at @gailzmartin.

Science Fiction Isn’t Predictive, Except When it Is

The general public often thinks science fiction writers are supposed to predict the future.

Science fiction writers, of course, know better.

Sometimes, all the same, fiction and reality unexpectedly — and uncannily — overlap.

The narrative of Walter Jon Williams’ new novel DEEP STATE, correlates in any number of ways with the ongoing situation in Egypt. He writes about how he came about he did this, and what he thinks about it, both as the latest Big Idea at John Scalzi’s Whatever, and on io9.com today.

Check out what he has to say — then go read the book, to see for yourself.

Cover Launch: HEARTLESS by Gail Carriger!

Well, as you can tell from the infrequency of the postings from the Art Dept since the holidays, it’s been craaaaaazy busy here. Our Fall/Winter 2012 covers are due in 3 weeks, and we’re killing ourselves bringing you the coolest artists and designs we can. We also have a couple new features in the pipeline which we’ll be talking more about after the evil 2/18 deadline, so hang with us. Meanwhile, we are going to finish posting the rest of the Spring/Summer 2011 Covers for your viewing pleasure, starting with one of my fave series…

Here you go folks, Heartless, the fourth Alexia Tarabotti/Soulless book by Gair Carriger. I love this series, and I am really digging the covers too – who wouldn’t, when I get to work with such fun material as the photos Steampunk icon Donna Ricci keeps sending me? The photographer this round was Pixie Vision Productions.

I tried to find a good British castle as a stand-in for the pack headquarters, and I think the cool heavy stonework here does the job – I can totally picture Alexia going up and down those steps to visit with the werewolves camped out on the back lawn…and whipping some military discipline into them!

After the jump is a teaser, and I’ve tried to take out as many spoilers as I could, but still, if you haven’t read the previous books (Soulless, Changeless, and Blameless) then BE WARNED, SPOILER ALERT. (more…)

THE DRAGON’S PATH: the Prologue

Now up at A Dribble of Ink — the prologue from what we are sure will be one of the major fantasy titles of the year, Daniel Abraham’s THE DRAGON’S PATH. The book itself will be on-sale April 7 but in the meantime, whet your appetite for the rest of this epic, unforgettable narrative. And don’t just take our word for it:

“Daniel Abraham gets better with every book” — George R.R.Martin

“Intricate, elegant, and almost hypnotically told — to call Daniel Abraham an exciting new author is to wildly understate the case” — Connie Willis

“Welcome to Daniel Abraham. If you are meeting him for the first time, I envy you: you are in for a remarkable journey” — Junot Diaz

A taste of Venice and The Fallen Blade

Jon Courtenay Grimwood was recently described in the Guardian as making ‘the fusion of genre energy and literary depth his calling card,’ and his latest book certainly fits such a description. If you’ve read his posts this week, you may already suspect this truth: The Fallen Blade is probably unlike anything you would have read before.  This is a novel that simultaneously reclaims the vampire myth, crafts a thrilling political landscape, fits in both romance and brutal violence and portrays a fifteenth century Venice so vividly that you’ll swear you’ve been there (and then!).

So in this trailer for The Fallen Blade, we’re taking you there…

You can read the first chapter here.

Four Orbit titles on io9’s ‘Best of 2010’ list!

We’re delighted to see four Orbit titles on io9’s ’15 Best Speculative Fiction Books of 2010′ list!

The four titles are as follows:

THE WINDUP GIRL by Paolo Bacigalupi

“One of the strengths of The Windup Girl, other than its intriguing characters, is Bacigalupi’s world building. You can practically taste this future Thailand he’s built…It’s rare to find a writer who can create such well-shaded characters while also building a weird new future world.”

SURFACE DETAIL by Iain M. Banks

“This triumphant return to Banks’ beloved Culture series wasn’t just one of the best books we read this year – it’s also one of the best books in a series full of outstanding tales of far-future astropolitics. A character study and a tale of revolutionary change that shakes multiple civilizations, Surface Detail is a smart, satiric look at what happens to the concept of Hell in a posthuman galaxy.”

FEED by Mira Grant

“The action scenes (crossbows!) and setting were what kept me going all the way to its very emotional end, which I think is a testament to how well-written the characters and setting are…The first in the proposed Newsflesh trilogy, Feed is a thought-provoking and entertaining read that makes me eager to see what Grant will serve in her next novel, BLACKOUT.”

THE BROKEN KINGDOMS by N. K. Jemisin

“Someone has found a way to kill gods, and unless Oree discovers the truth, the gods and this new god-slaying serial killer will tear the city apart between them. It’s the set up for a really great mystery, but Jemisin manages to turn it into a thought-provoking, haunting story…that keeps you turning pages long past your bedtime.”

Plenty of other Orbit books made various ‘best of 2010’ lists – see our earlier post for the full details!

Io9’s Power List

We’re thrilled to see Orbit VP and Publisher Tim Holman on I09’s  Power List for 2010.

Looking at Orbit’s 2010 titles, you’re struck by their range, from hard science fiction icon Greg Bear to space opera master Iain M. Banks, and from postmodern epic fantasy author N.K. Jemisin to steampunk innovator Gail Carriger. Not to mention a lot of weird zombie books, from Mira Grant’s Feed to Jesse Petersen’s Flip This Zombie. Holman has been instrumental in making Orbit a force to be reckoned with in the United States.

Thanks I09! Tim promises to only use his power for good.  With his jetpack, however, he makes no guarantees.

On the Death of Geek Culture

I read Patton Oswalt’s dissection of geek culture the other day, and I’ve had some mixed feelings about it. He’s going to catch a lot of hell of it, that I can tell, but really, I think he’s not wrong. He’s mostly right, in fact. I just think that he doesn’t assess the real danger of geek culture, nor does he prescribe an appropriate response.

Personally, I’ve always had a touch-and-go relationship with geek culture, if you can believe it. In my family, I’m definitely the geekiest, I’d say. I’m the guy who’s On The Internet All The Time, dredging up obscure memes and silly trends and finding the most bizarre articles to send to people during slow work hours. I’m also the guy who is sometimes unapologetically geeky in my tastes. Yes, I had Hellboy comics on my Christmas list. I also had Avatar: the Last Airbender DVDs, and I asked for Windows 7 so that maybe I can fix my laptop up to play Portal 2. (A pipe dream if ever there was one.)

These tastes are geeky. But if you asked me if I was a geek, I’m not sure I’d say I am.

Part of it is that I’m a coward.
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