Archive for All posts

In Their Own Words: Fiona McIntosh on ‘Goddess’

Fiona says:

Goddess by Fiona McIntoshGoddess is the final ‘movement’ to the Percheron symphony. And if I continue with the orchestral reference then this is the book where the drums are rolling, the cymbals clashing and every musician is blowing, or strumming, or bowing, or banging. All the characters are on the move and we enjoy resolution to the myriad of storylines, especially who the Goddess is…

Always a high body count in my books and be assured that those that deserve it usually get their come uppance. Read it and see who survives – you may be surprised . Thanks to all who have read the story so far. Enjoy Goddess.

Goddess is out now in the UK and is, as Fiona says, the final part of the Percheron series, which began with Odalisque [UK] and continued in Emissary [UK].

You can find out more about Fiona and her work by visiting her official website: www.fionamcintosh.com.

In Their Own Words: Pamela Freeman on ‘Blood Ties’

Pamela says:

Blood Ties by Pamela FreemanBlood Ties is the first volume of an epic fantasy about dispossession, trust, enchantment, revenge and the unreliability of history. It’s also about the Eleven Domains – created by invasion, ruled by warlords – where it is possible to foretell the future… accurately.

An unusual element in Blood Ties is that, interspersed in the larger adventure, you’ll find minor characters’ own stories, told in their own words, and will learn about daily life in the Domains, which is mixed with magic and love and sorrow and joy and death.

I hope you’ll like the book because of its characters, especially Bramble and Ash, and because the world of the Eleven Domains has more surprises in store with each turn in the Road…

Blood Ties is the first book of the Castings trilogy and is available now in the US and UK.

You can find out more about Pamela Freeman and the Castings trilogy at www.castingstrilogy.com.

New OrbitBooks.net feature: ‘In Their Own Words’

We’re delighted to announce the launch of a new feature series for OrbitBooks.net – ‘In Their Own Words’ – in which we’ll be presenting a selection of short guest blog pieces by Orbit authors, introducing their brand new Orbit titles in (you guessed it) their own words.

We’ll be kicking off shortly with posts from Pamela Freeman (Blood Ties), Fiona McIntosh (Goddess), Brian Ruckley (Bloodheir) and Sean Williams (Saturn Returns).

We’re hoping that this will become a regular feature, and we invite you to leave your own feedback in the comments section of the individual articles.

‘Midnight Never Come’: Guest Blog and Reviews

Marie Brennan - Midnight Never Come (UK)Marie Brennan, author of Midnight Never Come (UK/US) is guest blogging over at miladyinsanity about the perks of being a writer:

Then — cue the world’s smallest violin — the travel stopped. Well, not stopped, precisely; there was a stretch of time in graduate school where I averaged one out-of-state trip every month for a year and a half. But this wasn’t the exciting travel I’d done before, colorful places with fascinating sights. These were weekend jaunts to conventions or academic conferences, where I saw the exciting interiors of one hotel after another….

Last year, I figured out the best scam EVER for getting travel back into my life.

You can also read miladyinsanity’s fantastic, four star review of Midnight Never Come here.

In other great reviews, Fantasy Book Critic says:

Historical fantasies are hit-or-miss for me, so I was a little wary when starting Marie Brennan’s “Midnight Never Come”, but it wasn’t long before the book had me entranced and by the time the ending was in sight, I was doing everything in my power to make the novel last as long as possible. Spectacularly researched, beautifully imagined, and utterly charming, “Midnight Never Come” is as magical and spellbinding as the fae inhabiting Marie Brennan’s Onyx Court…(Read more)

Interested in finding out what all the fuss is about and getting a chance to win £250/$500 in book vouchers? Check out the Midnight Never Come site at www.midnightnevercome.com

Charles Stross talks to The Guardian

Saturn’s Children by Charles Stross UK hbToday The Guardian‘s online edition has posted a rather fascinating interview with Charles Stross, author of many fine Orbit titles, including Singularity Sky, Accelerando, Glasshouse, The Atrocity Archives, The Jennifer Morgue, Halting State, and Saturn’s Children (available from July ’08).

Damien G. Walter is the man asking the questions and they cover a wide range of topics, including: the diversity of Stross’s writing, virtual reality and MMORPGs, the decidedly “old hat” concept of the Singularity, augmented intelligence, the author’s love affair with the novel as art-form, and the Trouble with Literary Fiction.

You can find out more about Charles Stross over at his website and get the pre-publication low-down on Saturn’s Children from www.littlebrown.co.uk.

‘Midnight Never Come’ £250 / $500 voucher competition

Marie Brennan - Midnight Never Come (UK)Midnight Never Come, Marie Brennan‘s novel of suspense, intrigue and fae magic at the court of Queen Elizabeth I, is now available in both the UK and the US. To celebrate we’ve launched a micro-site, packed with background information on the characters and locations in the novel, over at www.midnightnevercome.com.

And as of today, there’s another reason to visit the site: the first phase of our prize competition – in which you could win £250 / $500 (or the local equivalent) of vouchers to spend with your chosen book retailer, with ten runners-up each receiving a signed copy of the UK edition of the book – has now gone live.

Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for the next two weeks a new cryptic question will be posed via the Competition Gallery page of the site. Solving each puzzle will result in your being invited to submit your email address to enter the competition (so by answering all six questions correctly, you’ll be able to enter a total of six times). Full entry instructions, rules and regulations are available on the site and the usual entry restrictions (employees of the Hachette Book Group are unable to enter, etc.) apply.

The competition will be open for entries until Midnight (GMT) on June 30 and the overall winner and the ten runners-up will be announced by the end of that week.

So, what are you waiting for? Head on over to www.midnightnevercome.com, dust off your thinking cap and by the end of the month, £250 / $500 worth of book vouchers might very well be yours…

And meanwhile, in other Marie Brennan news, Marie has been interviewed by SF CrowsNest and we recently posted excerpts from a couple of great reviews of the book.

‘Blood Ties’ winners!

Congratulations to Stuart M, Karina M, Karen W, Michael G and Eileen B, winners of our competition to win a free signed copy of Pamela Freeman’s Blood Ties, available in all good booksellers this month.

Many thanks to everyone that entered!

Orbit Links for June 06 2008

Our weekly round-up of links of interest featuring Orbit authors that we’ve found (or have been pointed in the direction of) out there on T’Internet:

If you see any online articles, reviews or interviews that feature an Orbit author, please feel free to drop us a line and let us know!