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A Halloween Cover Launch: The Rhesus Chart by Charles Stross

The Rhesus Chart: a Laundry Files novel by Charles Stross

LONDON CAN DRAIN THE LIFE OUT OF YOU . . .

Bob Howard is an intelligence agent working his way through the ranks of the top secret government agency known as ‘the Laundry’. When occult powers threaten the realm, they’ll be there to clean up the mess – and deal with the witnesses.

There’s one kind of threat that the Laundry has never come across in its many decades, and that’s vampires. Mention them to a seasoned agent and you’ll be laughed out of the room.

But when a small team of investment bankers at one of Canary Wharf’s most distinguished financial institutions discovers an arcane algorithm that leaves them fearing daylight and craving O positive, someone doesn’t want the Laundry to know. And Bob gets caught right in the middle.

The newest Laundry Files novel, and a jumping-on point for readers new to the series, THE RHESUS CHART will be released in hardback and digital July 2014. Cover design by Crush Creative.

The Laundry Files by Charles Stross

Don’t forget you can now buy all four of the previous Laundry Files novels in these gorgeous paperback editions.

The Making of a Cover: Final Retouched Illustrations

Welcome to the most in-depth, behind-the-scenes, play-by-play account of how a cover is born, from the point of view of the Art Department. We’re charting the conception and birth of the Shadowdance series by David Dalglish.

So far we have talked about the first real step of a book, Acquisition, and then what goes into Cover Briefing. Then we let our minds wander and collect inspiration and form Directions for the cover. Then we agreed on a Photographer and Illustrator. We’ve even found our hero, the Cover Model. And we found a Trampoline for him to do stunt work on safely. We decked him out in book-specific Costume & Props. We spent all day at our Photo Shoot. We received the Rough Cuts, and while the illustrator was working, Kirk was developing the Design Roughs. Here’s Kirk Benshoff to talk about the Final Retouched Illustrations: (more…)

A Night at the Space Opera

Cover of James S.A. Corey's ABADDON'S GATE.
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On Thursday evening, November 7th, at 7:30 PM, three of Orbit’s science fiction authors will be talking space opera, science fiction, and all other subjects under the sun (or out of its orbit) in a space-tacular online event: A Night at the Space Opera: Science Fiction Writers on Our Future in Space!

You doubtless already know James S.A. Corey, author of LEVIATHAN WAKES (US | UK | ANZ) and its sequels in the Expanse series; he will be represented by Daniel Abraham, one half of the Corey writing duo.

Ann Leckie is the author of ANCILLARY JUSTICE (US | UK | ANZ), a debut that came out in October and is already being praised as one of the best science fiction books of the year.

Rachel Bach is the pseudonym of epic fantasy author Rachel Aaron, whose science fiction debut FORTUNE’S PAWN (US | UK | ANZ) will be out on November 5th.

The three of them will be in conversation with Clara Moskowitz, associate editor at Scientific American covering space and physics.

Leckie_AncillaryJustice_TP œFortune's Pawn cover

Because this is an online event, fans from all over the world will be able to join in and watch — and ask questions — live. More information is available at the Google+ event page, and we’ll be updating it as the event draws closer.

An apple a day won’t keep PARASITE away!

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When I first arrived at Orbit earlier this year the first book I read was PARASITE (US | UK | AUS) by New York Times bestselling author Mira Grant. Even though I’d been a huge admirer of her Newsflesh series I was not fully prepared for how it would affect me. One notable influence was that it added the unlikely element of paranoid thrills to a customarily mundane process: signing up for healthcare.

Ringing in my head as I reviewed benefits and added beneficiaries were these ominous words:

Your health is too important to trust to just anyone.

Choose SymboGen.

Choose freedom.

Thankfully their services were not on offer, but the machinations of this novel’s medical corporation and the plight of Sally got inside my head with a riveting blend of creepy suspense, complex characters, and a terrifyingly believable look at science gone extremely wrong.

Parasite, the first book in Mira Grant’s Parasitology series, is out today and you should not miss out.

But don’t take my word for it:

“A creepy spine-tingler of a medical thriller”— Charles Stross

“An incredible, disturbingly plausible tale of what happens to a world where medical treatments have minds of their own.” — io9.com

“A riveting near-future medical thriller that reads like the genetically-engineered love child of Robin Cook and Michael Crichton.” — John Joseph Adams

“It’s a whole lot of awesome.”— Tor.com

“An exceptionally creepy medical-horror thriller that’s the perfect spine-tingling read for Halloween.”— Fort Worth Star-Telegram

“Grant extends the zombie theme of her Newsflesh trilogy to incorporate thoughtful reflections on biomedical issues that are both ominously challenging and eerily plausible. Sally is a complex, compassionate character, well suited to this exploration of trust, uncertainty, and the price of progress.”— Publishers Weekly

“Fans of [the Newsflesh] series will definitely want to check this new book out. But fans of Michael Crichton-style technothrillers will be equally enthralled: as wild as Grant’s premise is, the novel is firmly anchored in real-world science and technology.” — Booklist

“PARASITE will be hard to dislodge from your brain.”— SciFi Magazine

PARASITE is out now in hardcover and ebook. For more about the book, visit symbogen.net or follow @SymboGenCorp on Twitter, and check here to see all the book tour dates.

John Charming returns in PUSHING LUCK by Elliott James!

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“I loved this book from start to finish.  Exciting and innovative, CHARMING is a great introduction to a world I look forward to spending a lot more time in.” – Seanan McGuire

I’m sure by now all of you have read and are as enthralled by Elliott James’s CHARMING (US | UK | AUS)  as I am, anxiously counting down the days until book two comes out. If this sounds like you, then the release of the newest Pax Arcana short story, PUSHING LUCK, should help you bear the wait.

PUSHING LUCK is the third in a series of short stories from our wonderful author, Elliott James, introducing us to John Charming. John is a descendant of a long line Charmings—an illustrious family of dragon slayers, witch finders, and killers dating back to before the fall of Rome. Trained by a modern-day version of the Knights Templar, monster hunters who have updated their methods from chain mail and crossbows to Kevlar and shotguns, John Charming was one of the best—until a curse made him one of the abominations the Knights were sworn to hunt.

In PUSHING LUCK, while trying to make money off the grid, John Charming stumbles upon an underground poker tournament where the hors d’oeuvres are made of human flesh and the players are gambling with much more than their money. All bets are off.

“Loved it! Charming is a giant gift basket of mythology and lore delivered by a brilliant new voice in urban fantasy. Elliott James tells stories that are action-packed, often amusing, and always entertaining.” – Kevin Hearne, author of Hounded

PUSHING LUCK is out now in the US and releases in the UK on October 31st.

Meet Melanie, The Girl With All The Gifts

Carey_GirlWithAllTheGifts-HC

In 2014, we’re publishing an extraordinary novel about a girl named Melanie who is ten and a half. She loves her teacher and dreams of what she’ll do when she grows up. She also knows that some people find her presence unsettling. And soon, everyone will find out why.

Watch the official trailer above and read the beginning at The Girl With All The Gifts Facebook page.

When we get to 200 likes on Facebook, we’ll unlock another chapter, so share it with your friends if you want to read more of 2014’s most heart-stopping, page-turning thriller!

 

The Making of a Cover: Interior Maps (Bonus)

Welcome to the most in-depth, behind-the-scenes, play-by-play account of how a cover is born, from the point of view of the Art Department. We’re charting the conception and birth of the Shadowdance series by David Dalglish.

So far we have talked about the first real step of a book, Acquisition, and then what goes into Cover Briefing. Then we let our minds wander and collect inspiration and form Directions for the cover. Then we agreed on a Photographer and Illustrator. We’ve even found our hero, the Cover Model. And we found a Trampoline for him to do stunt work on safely. We decked him out in book-specific Costume & Props. We spent all day at our Photo Shoot. After receiving the Rough Cuts and narrowing down the images, it was time for the illustrator to get to work, and while he did, Kirk was already working on the Design Roughs. Meanwhile, during this whole process for the cover, I was also working on developing Maps and Chapter Icons for the interior of the book.

Maps are an important part of world-building in SFF, especially in epic fantasy, and often authors will have pretty in-depth maps sketched out for themselves while writing the books. It’s also really interesting for readers to be able to see and navigate the maps along with the story, so at Orbit we try to include maps as often as they are available, and useful to the story. Of course, we need an artist to take the author’s sketches and notes and scribbles and turn them into a coherent map. It’s not just a art job, it’s also a seriously geek job. You need an artist that is really into figuring out the details and making everything work. It’s not uncommon for one of my map artists to discover that the geography needs extra definition (and in some cases, outright redesign) to get the pieces to work. In the case of David Dalglish’s Shadowdance series, the maps were already pretty detailed and included in David’s self-published versions. However, we really wanted to push them the extra mile, so I brought in illustrator and mapmaker Tim Paul.

I’ve known Tim Paul’s work as an illustrator for a while now, and actually had no idea he illustrated maps too. And then one geeky night at the Society of Illustrators (yes, such a place exists, and if you are a fan of illustration, SFF or otherwise, you should check it out if you’re in NYC. They also house the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art) and we were having a super-geek conversation about D&D and how into being a Dungeon Master Tim was, how he made intricate maps and props for his campaigns. He had also started doing some map commissions for smaller publishers, and really enjoyed it. I literally hired him on the spot.

Neldar-Dalglish-TimPaul

Here’s a bit of process from him: (more…)

The pack goes wild for COLD BLOODED by Amanda Carlson

Cold Blooded, the third Jessica McClain novel from Amanda Carlson - an urban fantasy great for fans of Rachel Caine, Patricia Briggs, Ilona Andrews and Chloe Neill
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Some of the characters in Amanda Carlson’s new novel COLD BLOODED ( US | UK | ANZ) may be as cold as they come, but the reviews this new book is getting are hot hot hot!

If you’re into urban fantasy and paranormal romance of any kind but haven’t yet checked out the Jessica McClain novels (which begin with FULL BLOODED (US | UK | ANZ), look below to see what you’re missing! Fans of the likes of Patricia Briggs, Rachel Caine, Ilona Andrews and Chloe Neill will love this . . .

‘Cold Blooded starts with a bang and the action keeps coming right up until the final pages. Jess now faces her most perilous journey yet, where the stakes have never been higher. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for her next’ VAMPIRE BOOK CLUB

‘I’ve fallen in love with Jessica, and her loyalty to those around her and willingness to do what it takes to keep them safe. I’m thrilled to be following her as she figures out this whole werewolf thing . . . And yes, it is as hot as you were likely expecting it would be.’ ALL THINGS URBAN FANTASY

‘If you haven’t tried this series, I highly recommend it. It is great for people who like strong female leads, werewolves and a lot of action. If you’ve enjoyed Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews, The Hollows by Kim Harrison, Downside Ghosts by Stacia Kane and Mercy Thompson by Patricia Briggs, then I think you’ll love this book’ HOT LISTENS

‘Cold Blooded was a fun, action-packed book with the right amount of romance, adventure, and twists to keep me firmly planted as part of the Pack’ SHE WOLF READS

‘Cold Blooded is the third book in Amanda Carlson’s Jessica McClain series and this one people is my favorite to date . . . Really cool . . . Red Blooded is up next sometime in 2014 and I can’t wait to read it’ YUMMY MEN AND KICK ASS CHICKS

‘It’s intense action start to finish and I’m ready for more’ HAPPILY EVER AFTER READS

#womeninSF – Your Favorites and Ours

Yesterday Ann Leckie and Rachel Bach appeared on RT Book Reviews to discuss some of the female writers of science fiction who inspired them, and their favorites. Afterwards, we asked you on Twitter to name some of YOUR favorites. Read on below for recommendations of some great science fiction books!

Ancillary Justice by Ann LeckieAnn Leckie’s Favorites

Leigh Brackett, People of the Talisman
Octavia Butler, the Xenogenesis Trilogy
CJ Cherryh, Foreigner
CJ Cherryh, Downbelow Station
Andre Norton, The Zero Stone
Andre Norton, Sargasso of Space
Eleanor Arnason, A Woman of the Iron People
Ursula K LeGuin, The Left Hand of Darkness
Vonda McIntyre, Dreamsnake
Madeline L’Engle, A Wrinkle in Time
Connie Willis, To Say Nothing of the Dog
L. Timmel Duchamp, The Marq’ssan Cycle

ANCILLARY JUSTICE (US | UK | AUS) is available now! Look for it online and in stores everywhere or read an excerpt here.

FORTUNE'S PAWNRachel Bach’s Favorites

Ursula K. Le GuinLeft The Left Hand of Darkness & The Word for World is Forest
Anne McCaffrey, The Ship Who Sang & Crystal Singer
Anything by Marion Zimmer Bradley
Ann McCaffrey, the Prime series
Elizabeth Moon, The Speed of the Dark

FORTUNE’S PAWN (US | UK | AUS)  releases next month! Pre-order your copy today or read an excerpt here. (more…)

The Making of a Cover: Design Roughs

Welcome to the most in-depth, behind-the-scenes, play-by-play account of how a cover is born, from the point of view of the Art Department. We’re charting the conception and birth of the Shadowdance series by David Dalglish.

So far we have talked about the first real step of a book, Acquisition, and then what goes into Cover Briefing. Then we let our minds wander and collect inspiration and form Directions for the cover. Then we agreed on a Photographer and Illustrator. We’ve even found our hero, the Cover Model. And we found a Trampoline for him to do stunt work on safely. We decked him out in book-specific Costume & Props. We spent all day at our Photo Shoot. After receiving the Rough Cuts and narrowing down the images, it was time for the illustrator to get to work, and while he did, Kirk was already working on the Design Roughs.

Kirk Benshoff did the type design for the covers, so I’ll let him take it from here…

Once we’ve decided on what images we want Gene to work on, I need to figure the style of how Gene is going to retouch the images. I also need to work out the layout and type options. This stage of the process can get hectic as I’m trying to figure out more than one thing at one time, so I have a few balls I need juggle.

Especially with a first volume in a series, there are essentially four things needed to establish the look and feel for the cover:

  1. Image Treatment/Style
  2. Image Crop
  3. Layout
  4. Typography

Image Treatment/Style – In other words, we just shot pictures of Bryce as an assassin, but I need the pictures stylized or “Orbit-ize” if you will. We did talk about this in the early concept stages, but now we have images from the photo shoot. I want to explore variations of the initial concept or maybe even an entirely new idea if inspired just to make sure we are getting the look and feel we want. Do we want the final image to look high contrast like the movie poster for Ninja Assassin? Or HDR like the cover for The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie? Do we want the image styled monochromatic, black and white, bright or with a muted color palette? Keep in mind, this is the first book in the series and we can’t change the style later. So we want to be confident with the choice right from the start. Figuring this out is the first item I work on so I can give direction to Gene when I give him the specific photo’s to be retouched.

Here are some of the options I presented internally for the Image/Treatment Style. How did we want the background? How was the art going to be stylized? These are very rough so we can get a knee jerk reaction to a direction.

(more…)