Archive for Orbit US

Cover Reveal: HOW GREEN THIS LAND, HOW BLUE THIS SEA

Get ready to put those survival skills to the test and return to the world of the bestselling Newsflesh Trilogy. HOW GREEN THIS LAND, HOW BLUE THIS SEA is an all new digital novella by Mira Grant, but this time we’re headed to the outback. And yes, yes that is a zombie kangaroo (thus setting a new definition for the word awesome). Check out the cover and synopsis below, and pre-order your copy today from your preferred retailer.

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Synopsis: Post-Rising Australia can be a dangerous place, especially if you’re a member of the government-sponsored Australia Conservation Corps, a group of people dedicated to preserving their continent’s natural wealth until a cure can be found. Between the zombie kangaroos at the fences and the zombie elephant seals turning the penguin rookery at Prince Phillip Island into a slaughterhouse, the work of an animal conservationist is truly never done–and is often done at the end of a sniper rifle.

 

Iain Banks, 1954-2013

Iain M. BanksWe are incredibly sad to report that our beloved author, Iain Banks, died on Sunday, 9th June, following his cancer diagnosis in March. It has been Orbit’s great privilege to publish all of Iain’s SF works. Over the course of 25 years since the publication of CONSIDER PHLEBAS, we have been dazzled, entertained, heart-broken, inspired, exhilarated and – on a number of occasions – horrified, by the stories, characters (human and otherwise) and words that he has shared with us. As a person, and a writer, Iain’s generosity was boundless; his imagination spectacular; his intelligence piercing; and his spirit irresistible. The science fiction genre has lost one of its greatest and most original voices and we have lost one of our heroes. We will miss Iain enormously, and we extend our deepest sympathies to his family and friends.

The Orbit Team

June Events

In June, we have bookstore events for two great new books! If you’re in the area, be sure to stop by.

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(US | UK | ANZ)                                      (US | UK | ANZ)

Saturday, June 8
Daniel Abraham @ Alamosa Books, Albuquerque, NM, 3 PM

Thursday, June 27
Kate Elliott (with Katherine Kerr) @ Borderlands, San Francisco, CA, 7 PM

Saturday, June 29
Kate Elliott (with Andy Duncan) @ Mysterious Galaxy, San Diego, CA, 2 PM

Check back next month for more of Kate Elliott’s events for COLD STEEL!

Advice for the Travel-savvy Monster: NYC Edition

The Shambling Guide to New York CityIn writing THE SHAMBLING GUIDE TO NEW YORK CITY (US | UK | AUS), a book about a travel book for monsters, there was, sadly, a lot I had to leave out. Originally I wanted to write a full travel guide to go with the novel, but ambition beat me down with a club. Or is that hubris? Anyway, there was a painful encounter with a metaphorical club, and I had to settle for writing little excerpts from the book to put at the end of each chapter.

But there is so much more to think about for the travel-savvy monster (“coterie” please, let’s not be rude.) So I thought I would take this opportunity to provide a bit more advice on traveling in New York City. (Please note that we may not be able to cover all coterie here, and if you find yourself left out, please send an email to our webmaster to add to the errata on the website.)

Vampires: You already know the most important things, your own coffin, your hometown soil (if you’re from Eastern Europe), and plenty of sunscreen. The City that Never Sleeps is very friendly to vampires, considering very little shuts down by the time you wake up, and often it’s so bright that you can get a fleeting feeling of daylight. But you must make sure your thrall has everything he or she needs, especially credit cards, cash, and possibly weapons. They will need to hire a car that specializes in coffin-transport (unless you like to live on the edge and arrive at night and hope you find a hotel room – your chances are good, but there’s always a risk!) Also remember hell notes and blood tokens, they’re the best way to barter with the Red Cross.

Zombies: You know what they say; travel to Arizona, carry a humidifier, travel to NYC, carry a dehumidifier! Well, if they don’t say that, they should. The problem, of course, with forgetting your dehumidifier is you get rather rotten in the time you forgot you brought yours. New York summers are murder on zombie skin. They are drier in the winter, so bring lotion. You’ll want to carry our convenient map to the coterie-friendly morgues to do some shopping, but sometimes hitting the restaurants is actually cheaper than the morgues! You will want hats for camouflage  but you already have the bonus of the fact that no one meets your eye in the city, so no one will look at your directly to notice your dead gaze (although we’re sure your eyes are lovely.)

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PARASITE: Join us at SymboGen.net

symbogen-twitter2A decade in the future, humanity thrives in the absence of sickness and disease. We owe our good health to a humble parasite – a genetically engineered tapeworm developed by the pioneering SymboGen Corporation.

This Fall Mira Grant debuts in hardcover with PARASITE (US | UK) – a new series from the bestselling author of the Newsflesh Trilogy. In anticipation of the big release, SymboGen is opening its doors to you.

Visit SymboGen.net for news and product information about the revolutionary Intestinal Bodyguard or follow the corporation on Twitter. On the website, you’ll also be able to pre-order your copy of PARASITE and sign-up for alerts about Mira Grant’s publishing activity.

For those of you attending BEA today, we’re giving away galleys of PARASITE and antibacterial hand sanitizer while supplies last. Look for the “friendly” SymboGen staff at booth #1828 for assistance.

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Urban Fantasy Interview Swap: Amanda Carlson Interviews Nicole Peeler

Today Amanda Carlson, the author of HOT BLOODED (US | UK | AUS), interviews Nicole Peeler about TEMPEST REBORN (US | UK | AUS) and the last Jane True novel.

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Amanda Carlson: I love Jane True and your writing voice. She’s witty, quirky and lovable. How did you come up with the idea to write a half selkie heroine?

Nicole Peeler: Thanks, Amanda! I’d fallen in love with the mythology as a teenager, and I’d always wondered about what happened to the half-human, half-selkie children that often feature in these myths. So when I realized I wanted to write a character that wasn’t naturally “kick-ass,” the answer was pretty obvious. Seal shapeshifters are definitely not naturally kick-ass!

AC: In the TEMPEST REBORN, without giving too much away, does Jane get snuggle time with Anyan?

NP: Absolutely. I knew I’d be beaten to death by Jane’s fans if that didn’t happen.

AC: You have a PhD in English Literature and teach Popular Fiction at Seton Hill University, which sounds like an amazing job! What’s the most fun assignment you’ve given your students?

NP: The most fun was working with undergraduates, creating World Building Books for an Urban Fantasy course I taught. They had such amazing ideas! And it was fun to watch them realize they could do just that—create a whole world.

AC:  You just bought a house! That’s a big, exciting step.  Tell us about it.

NP: It’s soooooo nice! I keep having to rein myself in from having my every Facebook post be “OMG I LOVE MY HOUSE.” I’m also really loving Pittsburgh. It’s super up-and-coming, so you can really get involved with things. I’m going to help plant a tree irrigation system for Tree Pittsburgh this weekend and I’m stupidly excited about it.

AC: The TEMPEST REBORN is Jane’s last adventure. What’s up next for you? (We hope more fantasy!)

NP: I’m not sure yet, honestly, but yes. All my ideas are inevitably fantasy. It’s funny that I read so much literature but I think in dragons. I’m not sure why! But I do love the genre.

AC:  Here are some fun quick bullet questions to end.

Ice cream or sorbet: Both!

Breakfast or dinner: Both!

London or Paris: OMG both.

Beer or margarita: YEAH, both. I don’t really limit myself too much, in case you couldn’t tell.

Cats or dogs: Neither. I travel too much.

Spring or fall: Either, as long as it’s not winter or summer.

The Walking Dead or Game of Thrones: MAD MEN. (I’m not very good at this game, am I? But I loved playing!)

Urban Fantasy Interview Swap: Nicole Peeler Interviews Amanda Carlson

Both Jessica McClain and Jane True are back this season with new books from Amanda Carlson and Nicole Peeler. In the first of a two part series, Nicole is here to interview Amanda about what’s in store for Jessica in HOT BLOODED (US | UK | AUS).  Join us later in the week to get the full scoop from Nicole on the final Jane True novel, TEMPEST REBORN  (US | UK | AUS). 

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Nicole Peeler: Hi Amanda! Love the series, and super psyched you’re doing so well. But how on earth did a nice girl from Minnesota come to write about werewolves?? ;)

Amanda Carlson: We love wolves here, but alas, they are of the timber wolf variety. There are so many forests up in northern Minnesota I always pictured it as a perfect setting for werewolves to lurk undercover. But this MN girl ultimately chose werewolves purely because of their hot blooded feistiness. Nothing like a hot blooded man to warm your bed. Something about them has always been primal to me.

NP:  Obviously, werewolves are a much loved and much used mythology. So what did you think you could bring to werewolves that other people couldn’t? Or was that even an issue for you?

AC: I really feel like I’ve brought something new to the genre with Jessica, but when I started writing the first book years ago the market wasn’t saturated. I had no issues. I wrote the kind of story I wanted to read and nothing more. My biggest mistake was letting it sit for over a year. I suffered from the most common writer anxiety—is it good enough? Will people like it? So when I finally polished it and decided to query, there was a fear I may have missed the “werewolf” window, LOL!  Being new to the game, I had no idea it took a year and a half to two years to get a book on the shelf.  But my agent assured me there was always a market for a good story and I believe in that wholeheartedly. I’ve found that readers don’t really care who the protagonist is, or what their power is, most of them are just looking for a great read.

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Welcome to NYC: THE SHAMBLING GUIDE TO NEW YORK CITY

shamble-524x786This is a big week for us in the New York office. Book Expo America begins this Thursday. For three full days of signings, panels, and events, New York City will host authors, agents, and book lovers from all over.  So it is appropriate that this week marks the publication of Mur Lafferty’s debut novel, THE SHAMBLING GUIDE TO NEW YORK CITY (US | UK | AUS) in trade paperback, ebook, and audio formats.

THE SHAMBLING GUIDE TO NEW YORK CITY follows the adventures of Zoe, a recent New York transplant, as she struggles to settle into her new job in Publishing and life in the big city. Sounds pretty normal right? However, if there is one thing that I’ve learned over the last five years, nothing is ever completely normal when it comes to New York City. As it turns out, humans aren’t the only ones to call New York home.

For the release of novel, we wanted to show you a bit of Zoe’s New York which is as mysterious and wonderful as the real thing. Click here to view a map of some of the hidden places of New York City where we fragile humans dare not go. For those of you who are attending BEA this week, be sure to stop by booth #1828 to pick up a printed copy to take home with you.

Shambling Guide to NYC map

We’re absolutely thrilled by the reviews that this debut novel has already received, and hope you will enjoy it as much early readers have. If you want to sample the novel for yourself, click here or go to Mur Lafferty’s site and listen to an audio sample. The first four chapters are online now, but you can purchase the entire audiobook from Hachette Audio today.

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The Jane True series comes to a dramatic conclusion in TEMPEST REBORN

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There are very few things that are sadder — or more exciting than the last book in the series. You’ve been with the characters for seems like forever, but it could have been a few days, months — or even years. I love books that suck you in and ones where you travel with a hero/heroine/heroes over many adventures. But the one I’m really sad to say bye to right now is Jane True. Jane first came into my life in September 2008 when I first heard from a bubbly young agent named Rebecca. She was excited to tell me about a new urban fantasy about a young girl who truly was a fish out of water, because she was half-selkie and half-human. I was immediately enthralled with this story of a young woman who gets pulled into a supernatural world that she didn’t even know existed.

And now, almost five years after I first read TEMPEST RISING (US | UK | AUS), I’m pleased to present TEMPEST REBORN (US | UK | AUS).  It has everything you need for the final book in the series, a broken heart, a huge appetite, and of course, an enormous ax. And let’s also not forget the dragons.

It’s been an absolute pleasure working with Nicole and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next. But until then — please enjoy TEMPEST REBORN.

A bit about the story:

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UK & Australia

Anyan may be trapped in an evil dragon and Blondie may be gone, but Jane knows one thing: she’s not about to give up. She’s ready to tear down heaven and earth to save her lover, despite those who believe he’s lost.Luckily for Jane, those who’ve given up on Anyan do not include those closest to her. Defying The Powers That Be, Jane and Company form their own crack squad of misfits, in whose hands the fate of the world may well rest.

With a little help from her friends, the Universe, and lots of snacks, Jane embarks on her greatest adventure yet, confident that with great sacrifice comes great reward. The question is, who will be that sacrifice?

Read a sample from LOVE MINUS EIGHTY

Love-Minus-EightyBased on the Hugo-winning short story, LOVE MINUS EIGHTY (US | UK | AUS) is a haunting and compelling story which Kirkus called “speculative fiction at its most personal and powerful”.

In this full-length novel, Will McIntosh expands upon the complexity of love, loss, and death in a future where advancements in medicine and cryogenics have changed the dating game in a major way. Although the technology may be unfamiliar, the challenges these characters face while struggling with issues of identity, existence, and the search for love ring eerily true for all of us. Read the prologue on io9 or continue on to the first chapter below.

Chapter 1: Rob
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The woman across the aisle from Rob yammered on as the micro-T rose above street level, threading through the Perrydot Building, lit offices buzzing past in a colorful blur. He should have taken his Scamp. Public transport was simpler, but he always seemed to share a compartment with someone who didn’t have the courtesy to subvocalize.

For no reason except that she was annoying the shit out of him, Rob decided to scan her to see how much work she’d had done on her face.

As his fingers danced over the skintight system on his left arm, the woman glanced his way and curled her lip—a microexpression that was there and gone in a flicker. Now he had another reason to dislike this complete stranger. No, his style wasn’t elegant and seamless, and he was tired of being judged by the technological glitterati as lacking some vital core because he only cared about making his system function, not how he looked doing it.

Read more here.