Trudi Canavan is currently on tour in Australia promoting her fantastic new book The Magician’s Apprentice (UK/US/Aus) and has posted some great pieces about her trip.
Haven’t yet picked up a copy yourself? You can read the first chapter here.
Jo Graham‘s fabulous Ancient Egyptian epic Hand of Isis is out this month, so to get in the mood she decided to make an actual Egyptian feast. Packed with all sorts of interesting historical tips on food and dining customs, this post is well-worth checking out here. And apparently only barbarians and Macedonians drink wine with the Propomata, or first course, so plan accordingly if you’re tempted to follow the recipes!
Hand of Isis itself is the story of Charmian, a handmaiden and sister to Cleopatra. It is a novel of lovers who transcend death, of gods who meddle in mortal affairs, and of women who guide empires. Against the rising power of Julius Caesar’s Rome, Egypt is the last and strongest bastion of the Eastern kingdoms. But a power struggle looms that will shape the world to come …
It’s a fascinating story, and Jo Graham clearly has a talent for this sort of thing as shown by her previous book Black Ships, which attracted some great review coverage:
‘Haunting and bittersweet, lush and vivid’ Naomi Novik
‘Fraught meaning and smoldering emotional resonance overlays her deceptively simple words’ Publishers Weekly
‘A refreshingly different approach to a legend we only thought we knew’ Locus
‘A dazzling debut novel’ Scifi.com
‘A first-class, very readable novel’ Booklist (starred review)
‘Graham re-creates a vivid picture of the ancient world, a mysterious place in which gods and goddesses speak to their chosen’ Library Journal (starred review)
If you’ve ever wondered what’s going on in an author’s head, you can get a sense of it by following them on twitter. Here, Jeff Somers waxes eloquent on technology.
See more author tweets after the jump, and click any of them to follow on twitter yourself!
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Orbit’s Jeff Somers posted a hilarious video of his experiences as a Comicon newbie. Check it out!
Good Afternoon from the Orbit US Art Department. Today we’re giving you a sneak peak at the new Joe Abercrombie title, BEST SERVED COLD. (Out in July in the US)
This book is an exciting new chapter for Abercrombie fans, and a great place to jump on if you’ve never read Joe’s books before. This title is a standalone, so don’t worry about needing to know backstory, just jump in…
Best Served Cold is the story of Monza Murcatto, the Snake of Talins, the most feared and famous mercenary in the ruthless Duke Orso’s employ. Her victories have made her popular — a shade too popular for her employer’s taste. Betrayed, thrown down a mountain, and left for dead, Murcatto arises with a broken body and a burning hunger for vengeance.
“A Girl?!” you say? Well, trust me, this is pure Joe Abercrombie. It is as action-packed, as edgy, and as bloody (as you can see from the cover) as any epic fantasy I’ve read in a long time. However, it also opens the door for a brand new audience of female readers (myself included) to get sucked into Joe’s vivid storytelling and the world of Styria. This book is both true to Joe’s First Law Trilogy and a huge step forward into exciting new terrain. (more…)
The Art Department of a book publisher is a mysterious thing to a lot of people. Sure, you know what we do, we’re the ones who make the pretty bookcovers. But friends and family are always kind of mystified about the process of designing a cover. How do we find art? Who decides what the cover is going to look like? How can you possibly have memorized 5,000 fonts and yet still bemoan that you just can’t find the right one? (This is not unlike a teenager looking into a full fridge and complaining that there’s nothing to eat). So I thought I’d take you, loyal readers, through the process of a cover, start to finish. (more…)
To celebrate the release of TWO amazing Karen Miller books this month, Hammer of God (US/UK), and, under the name K.E. Mills, The Accidental Sorcerer (US/UK), we’re giving you a chance to win signed copies of Karen’s first four books.
For the next four Mondays, we’re going to be giving away a series of signed books and all you have to do to enter is be a fan on Karen’s Facebook page.
Full details are on the fan page – hope to see you all there soon!
As well as publishing many established writers, Orbit is committed to launching new authors — and we put a lot of effort into our publishing plans for them. Early success for an author isn’t always necessary to ensure a successful writing career (and it doesn’t always guarantee one), but it’s certainly a great help and encouragement to all concerned.
We’re happy, thrilled, and pleased as punch, to report that in 2008 Orbit published the bestselling SFF debut novels in both the UK and the US.
In the UK, the bestselling SFF debut of 2008 was THE WAY OF SHADOWS, by Brent Weeks. The first book in the Night Angel Trilogy, we published it in October, and with the second and third volumes following in subsequent months it quickly became clear that fans everywhere were talking about Brent and THE WAY OF SHADOWS. This year has also got off to a great start for Brent: this week, the three books in the Night Angel Trilogy are the first, second, and third bestselling mass-market paperbacks in the UK SFF market.
In the US, Orbit published the two bestselling debuts of the year. Double happy! The bestselling SFF debut of 2008 was ACROSS THE FACE OF THE WORLD, by Russell Kirkpatrick, the first volume in the Fire of Heaven Trilogy. This is a great fantasy adventure series, with world-building and storytelling equally epic in scope. The second bestselling debut of 2008 in the US was Brent Weeks’ THE WAY OF SHADOWS (see above!).
Congratulations from all at Orbit to Russell and Brent … and here’s wishing a Happy New Year to everyone — especially the loyal readers who helped make Russell and Brent so successful.
Jennifer says:
I guess this time the title really does say it all. Like chips and salsa or squeezy cheese on Ritz crackers, this story should fire up a hunger in you that keeps you plowing through the pages like a fourth-day dieter at an all-you-can-eat buffet. The ghosts. The witches. The repeated assassination attempts. The fact that Jaz’s dad has brought his cigars and his room-clearing farts to the show. It all kinda makes you go, “Oh, no! I can’t! I shouldn’t! GIMME!”
And you thought Scotland was all just cute dudes in kilts and wee bonnie lasses. Ha!
One More Bite [UK | US] is out this month and you can find it at all good booksellers.
