Archive for Orbit US

Baptism of Fire by Andrzej Sapkowski – On Shelves Now!

For those of you craving something new and exciting now that E3 is over, Orbit has the answer. Baptism of Fire, the latest book in the Witcher series and the basis for the popular video games, is on shelves now!  Do not miss this epic adventure featuring Geralt’s latest quest.

The Wizards Guild has been shattered by a coup and, in the uproar, Geralt was seriously injured. The Witcher is supposed to be a guardian of the innocent, a protector of those in need, a defender against powerful and dangerous monsters that prey on men in dark times.

But now that dark times have fallen upon the world, Geralt is helpless until he has recovered from his injuries.

While war rages across all of the lands, the future of magic is under threat and those sorcerers who survive are determined to protect  it. It’s an impossible situation in which to find one girl – Ciri, the heiress to the throne of Cintra, has vanished – until a rumor places her in the Niflgaard court, preparing to marry the Emperor.

Injured or not, Geralt has a rescue mission on his hands.

Praise for The Witcher series:

“The character interplay is complex, unsentimental and anchored in brutal shared history. All bodes well for twisty plotting to come.”  — SFX

“Like Mieville and Gaiman, Sapkowski takes the old and makes it new.”  — Foundation (UK)

“Sapkowski revitalizes the genre with energetic and compelling writing. A breath of fresh air in a well-worn genre.  Don’t miss it!”  — Dreamwatch (UK)

This is the third of the Witcher novels by Andrzej Sapkowski. And if you haven’t yet, make sure to check out where it all started with The Last Wish, Blood of Elves, and The Time of Contempt available now.

PROMISE OF BLOOD wins the Morningstar Award!

Last week we attended the David Gemmell Awards ceremony – now in its sixth year – and were thrilled to see PROMISE OF BLOOD by Brian McClellan win the Morningstar category for best debut novel.

EMPEROR OF THORNS by Mark Lawrence won the Legend award for best novel, while the artwork for the same book – created by Jason Chan –  won the Ravenheart category for best cover art.

Many congratulations to Brian and his fellow winners, and also to all the other authors and designers who were shortlisted.

Brian’s new novel, THE CRIMSON CAMPAIGN (UK | US | ANZ)  is out now in hardback, ebook and audio. The third and final novel in the Powder Mage trilogy, THE AUTUMN REPUBLIC, will be published in February 2015.

Praise for PROMISE OF BLOOD:

‘Just plain awesome . . . Innovative magic, quick-paced plot, interesting world. I had a blast’ – Brandon Sanderson

‘An historically influenced fantastical romp filled with machismo, intrigue and magic’ – SciFiNow

Promise of Blood is the best debut I’ve read in ages’ – Peter V. Brett

‘A French Revolution with wizards; McClellan’s debut packs some serious heat’ – Kirkus Reviews

‘Tense action, memorable characters, rising stakes . . . Brian McClellan is the real thing’ – Brent Weeks

                                  The-Crimson-Campaign autumnrepublic

 

Read a deleted scene from The Girl With all the Gifts

If you’re one of the thousands of readers who have read and loved this year’s most original and heartbreaking thriller, THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS, then you already know what a special girl Melanie is. But what you read wasn’t the whole story.

We have a secret extra scene, set after the events of THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS, to share with you. To read it, all you have to do is share Melanie’s story with your friends via the social network of your choice and you’ll receive the chapter absolutely free. Click the ‘Pay with a Tweet’ button below to get started.

You already know Melanie’s secret.

Now it’s time to share her gift.

 

The Girl With All The Gifts by M. R. Carey   Carey_GWATG_HC_revs

THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS by M.R. Carey is out now in paperback in the UK and Australia and in hardcover in the US. E-book and audio editions are available in all countries.

CIBOLA BURN is available now and a big announcement!

CIBOLA BURN (US | UK | AUS) is on sale today in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook. James Holden and crew are back in the fourth book of James S.A. Corey’s sensational Expanse series. They’ll face a host of new challenges on the wild frontier of uncharted space now that mankind has freed itself from the confines of its solar system.

Starting this week, Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck (the writing duo behind the James S.A. Corey pseudonym) will be on tour. Visit the James S.A. Corey Facebook page to see if they’re coming to a town near you.

What’s more, we have some incredible news to announce today that will be sure to please all of you. Check out our press release below. (more…)

The most talked about new release of 2014

With supporters from Joss Whedon and Martina Cole to Lucy Mangan and Jenny Colgan, THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS is definitely a strong contender for this year’s most talked about book.

We’ve gathered a selection of the immense praise it’s had since hardcover publication in the UK in January, but there’s plenty more where that came from. Out in paperback this week in the UK, and released in beautiful hardcover in the US last week, we can’t keep track of how many people are expressing their love for this book.

If you’ve not read it yet, visit the official Facebook page or read the first chapter today and discover Melanie’s secret for yourself.

(more…)

On the road with THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS

THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS releases today in the US in hardcover, and will be out in paperback in the UK next week in (June 19th). Read the first ten chapters on Facebook or listen to a sample from the audiobook.

We know you’ll be hooked by Melanie’s heart-stopping story. M.R. Carey joins us today to tell you more about that journey.

I don’t know why I ended up writing a road movie. I almost never watch them.

I’ll make some exceptions to that blanket statement. I love Sideways. And Midnight Run. And if we’re counting yellow brick road movies, The Wizard of Oz is pretty damn cool.

It’s just that I’ve seen so many features where changing the scenery stands in for any kind of thought-through development in either the characters or the plot. Stories where it really is just one damn thing after another, episodes piled on episodes until you get to a slightly bigger episode that you realise (after the credits roll) must have been the climax.

If you’re still with me, you’re probably already compiling your own mental list of great road movies. “Hey, fool, you forgot O Brother Where Art Thou, Easy Rider, Wild At Heart…” And yeah, I did. For the sake of my argument, I’m willing to overlook a certain amount of inconvenient evidence.

Can we agree on one thing? When you take a story that depends on a fixed setting and works well within that setting, and for no reason other than variety being the spice of life you wilfully take it out on the road, you’re flirting with disaster. The very phrase “jumping the shark”, after all, comes from that terrible Happy Days episode where the whole gang goes off to Los Angeles and hangs out on a beach.

A long while back I read an essay by the French media guru Roland Barthes in which he talked about the appeal of utopias in fiction. Barthes claimed that most utopias are finite, enclosed spaces – “idealised caves” – that satisfy our need for security by providing an environment where stability is absolute and guaranteed. He made it clear, though, that this enclosure didn’t have to be a physical thing. The classic sit-com, he argued, is utopian because it presents situations and relationships that are entirely resistant to change. One of his favourite examples of a utopian world was that of the Carry On movies, the mildly smutty British comedies of the 60s and 70s in which a cast of beloved character actors would mount a series of gag sketches in a historical setting, effectively playing the same roles no matter whether we were in Cleopatra’s Egypt, the Khyber Pass or the London of Jack the Ripper. (more…)

New Wallpapers: CIBOLA BURN by James S.A. Corey

“Combining an exploration of real human frailties with big sf ideas and exciting thriller action, Corey (pen name for authors Ty Franck and Daniel Abraham) cements the series as must-read space opera.” – Library Journal

We’re just two short weeks away from the release of CIBOLA BURN, the latest novel in James S.A. Corey’s Expanse series!   Remember there is still time to pre-order your copy and claim your signed bookplate.

The gates have opened the way to a thousand new worlds and the rush to colonize has begun. Settlers looking for a new life stream out from humanity’s home planets. Ilus, the first human colony on this vast new frontier, is being born in blood and fire.
Independent settlers stand against the overwhelming power of a corporate colony ship with only their determination, courage, and the skills learned in the long wars of home. Innocent scientists are slaughtered as they try to survey a new and alien world. The struggle on Ilus threatens to spread all the way back to Earth.
James Holden and the crew of his one small ship are sent to make peace in the midst of war and sense in the midst of chaos. But the more he looks at it, the more Holden thinks the mission was meant to fail.

– See more at: http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/james-sa-corey/cibola-burn/9781478900825/#sthash.r6GqV09H.dpuf

As we’ve done in the past, we’re getting ready for the big day with a set of desktop wallpapers featuring the breathtaking artwork of Daniel Dociu.

1024 x 768 |1134 x 680 | 1280 x 800 | 1440 x 900 | 1680 x 1050 | 1920 x 1200 | | 2048 x 1536 | Facebook

If you’d like to pick up the others, see the links below.

LEVIATHAN WAKES
CALIBAN’S WAR
ABADDON’S GATE

The Tainted Realm Trilogy is Now Complete!

JUSTICE – the shattering finale to Ian Irvine’s fantasy epic, the Tainted Realm trilogy – has been released today in the UK and US. You can read the first chapter of JUSTICE on the Orbit website, or if you’re new to the series, go back and read the first chapter of the first volume, VENGEANCE.

THE FINAL BATTLE – THE ULTIMATE PRICE
The once beautiful land of Hightspall is being carved up by warring armies led by figures from out of legend. One army is headed by the charismatic brute, Axil Grandys, and the other by Lyf, resurrected sorcerer-king and Axil’s ancient nemesis.
Only the escaped slave Tali and her unreliable magic stand in their way – but Tali’s gift grows more painful every time she uses it. As the armies converge on the fateful peak of Touchstone, Tali and her ally Rix must find a way to overcome Lyf and prevent Axil from using the Three Spells that will destroy Hightspall for ever.

‘For sheer excitement, there’s just no one else like Irvine’
SFX

‘Great action set pieces . . . This is the sort of book you’d pick up if you were prepared to be late for your next appointment’ 
BOOKBAG on VENGEANCE

The Tainted Realm Trilogy by Ian Irvine

The Tainted Realm (comprising VENGEANCE, REBELLION and JUSTICE) is an epic fantasy trilogy perfect for fans of Ian Irvine’s Three Worlds series, as well as fans of authors such as Terry Brooks, Robin Hobb and Terry Goodkind.

Find out more about Ian at his website, or join the thousands of fans following his Facebook page, here.

Exciting news for fans of Mira Grant!

MIRA GRANT TO COMPLETE “PARASITOLOGY” SERIES AND RETURN TO “NEWSFLESH” SERIES IN NEW NOVELS AND NOVELLAS FROM ORBIT

Orbit announced today the acquisition of three new novels and four original novellas from multiple Hugo Award-nominated author Mira Grant. One of the novels will be a third book in the “Parasitology” series, following the Hugo Award-nominated PARASITE (US | UK | AUS) and SYMBIONT, and will conclude the trilogy, while the second novel and all four novellas will be set in the world of the “Newsflesh” series. The third novel will be a standalone.

Mira Grant is a pseudonym of Seanan McGuire, winner of the 2010 John W. Campbell Award for best new writer. Orbit published the first Mira Grant novel, FEED (US | UK | AUS), in 2010, and the following year it became her first Hugo Award-nominated novel. The sequels, DEADLINE (US | UK | AUS) and BLACKOUT (US | UK | AUS), were also nominated for the award. Seanan McGuire has also received two shared Hugo Awards for Best Fancast for her work on the SF Squeecast.

PARASITE is a finalist for the 2014 Hugo Award, the fourth Best Novel nomination for Mira Grant. Her science fiction writing has been praised as “Horrifying, riveting, and a bit too plausible” (Library Journal, starred review of PARASITE) and “exceptionally creepy” (Fort Worth Star-Telegram on PARASITE).

Editor Will Hinton said, “It’s a dream to work with an author like Seanan and it’s thrilling to have more Mira Grant books to look forward to. I know her readers will be as excited as I am to return to the Parasitology trilogy, the beloved Newflesh series, and explore entirely new territory in a standalone novel.”

SYMBIONT, book two in the “Parasitology” series, will be published in Fall 2014. The “Parasitology” series is set in a near-future world where parasites have nearly eliminated human disease, but dependence on them may prove to be disastrous.

Seanan McGuire said of the deal, “I am overjoyed to be able to continue to write in the Parasite universe, and more, I am so, so excited to return to the world of Kellis-Amberlee, the Rising, and my unique approach to future journalism.  I hope that everyone else will be as excited as I am to go back there, and I promise I have some thrilling surprises in store for you.  As for that stand-alone third novel, well…  You’ll have to wait and see what that’s going to be about.  I can tell you one thing for sure: it’s going to be an adventure.”

The newly-acquired book three in the “Parasitology” series is currently scheduled for Fall 2015, while the first two “Newsflesh” novellas are slated for release in Summer 2014 and Summer 2015.