We are happy to note that Orbit publisher Tim Holman has launched a new blog, The Publisher Files. His latest post regards the digital market, including USA Today’s decision to begin including Kindle e-book sales in its weekly bestseller lists. He will try, he notes, “to pass on occasional words of publishing wisdom.”
Understatement, we’d call that; fix your bookmarks now.
I’m delighted to announce that Orbit has acquired World English Language rights in The Dagger and the Coin, a new series from Daniel Abraham. Daniel is, of course, the author of the acclaimed Long Price Quartet, which Orbit will publish in the UK at the end of January 2010, in two omnibus-style volumes.
Changing direction a little, The Dagger and the Coin will be epic fantasy on a grand scale, Very much in the tradition of George R. R. Martin‘s wonderful A Song of Ice and Fire – fast-paced and filled with war, intrigue, sex, murder, magic, great fortunes lost and won, dark gods, crime, exotic races, fantastic set pieces, dragons, underground resistance movements and strange occult powers.
In Daniel’s own words: ‘In the way that The Long Price Quartet was a semi-tragic meditation on the epic scale of an individual life, The Dagger and the Coin is a love letter to fantasy adventure intended to keep the reader from getting enough sleep..’
‘I’m very conscious of the influences I’m cultivating going into it – Walter Tevis, Alexandre Dumas, Tolkien, J. Michael Strazinski, Joss Whedon, GRRM, Friedrich Reck-Malleczewen, Dorothy Dunnett, Tim Parks – and I’m trying to take the things that I love about each one of them and make a stew out of it. It’s set right at the friction point between the medieval period and the renaissance, so we’ve got knights and kings, but we also have merchant houses and finance. There’s some magic of the understated sort. There’s political intrigue. There’s a girl who was raised as the ward of a Medici-style bank, there’s a high nobleman who’s gotten himself and his family in over his head, there’s an emotionally scarred mercenary captain straight out of Dumas.
‘The point of it all is to make a book that reads to me now the way that the Belgariad did when I was 16. I’m going to be swimming in everything I think is cool for the next year, and I’m really looking forward to it
And for our part, Orbit is hugely excited to be publishing The Dagger and the Coin internationally. The combination of Daniel’s vision and talent and the grand canvas offered by epic fantasy promises to make The Dagger and the Coin something truly special. But don’t just take our word for it. Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, Junot Diaz says:
‘Daniel Abraham is one of the reasons the fantasy genre continues to haunt my dreams. Abraham is fiercely talented, disturbingly human, breathtakingly original and even on his bad days kicks all sorts of literary ass. Welcome to the world of the andats, of the haunted extraordinary poets, a world where men enslave ideas, where these slaves scheme to avenge themselves, where every bad deed spawns more, a world where after the treachery, the conspiracies, the journeys, all that’s ever left in the end are the consequences. Welcome to Daniel Abraham. If you are meeting him for the first time I envy you: you are in for a remarkable journey.’
A remarkable journey, indeed. Welcome aboard!
We are delighted to announce that French publisher Calmann-Levy will be launching a new Orbit imprint in October 2009. On the launch list will be authors Kristin Cashore, Brandon Sanderson, J.V. Jones, Stephen R. Lawhead, and Mark Chadbourn. Orbit launched in the UK in 1974; in 2007, we launched in the US; and last year we launched in Australia. Orbit in France will be committed to publishing the most exciting SF and Fantasy authors — both new and established — from around the world, and we wish them every success for their launch and in the years ahead
Orbit US is looking for a summer intern to start immediately in our New York office. We want someone who is passionate about publishing, loves books, and has read a wide range of Science Fiction and Fantasy. We’re looking for a bright, engaging, creative individual who will enjoy working in a team. You must be organized and detail-oriented.
This internship will not only give you the opportunity to experience the editorial side of publishing, but you will get to interact with the art, marketing, and publicity sides of the business as well. You must be currently enrolled in college or recently graduated.
If you’re interested, email orbit [at] hbgusa [dot] com Please respond by Wednesday June 10, 2009.
There’s a Hugo and a Campbell, but not a Palmer. Here’s why. (more…)
Marie Brennan’s IN ASHES LIE is out next month from Orbit (US | UK). In the meantime, she’s releasing an ebook of a new novella set in the same world. Best of all, it’s totally free (although you can donate if you’d like) and it’s available in HTML, Epub, and PDF.
Here’s Marie on the novella:
Today, to mark the one-month countdown to the release of IN ASHES LIE, I’ve posted on my website a free Onyx Court novella titled DEEDS OF MEN. Taking place between MIDNIGHT NEVER COME and its sequel, this story is a murder mystery set at the end of the reign of James I (1625). You don’t need to have read either novel to understand the novella, nor do you need to read this piece to understand ASHES, but I hope it will serve as a fun “extra” for readers who want more of the setting and the characters.
And here’s a description of the book:
A young man lies dead in a Coldharbour alley. Before his death, he uncovered secrets that could threaten the mortal world above and the faerie world below. Now, to find the murderer and protect both realms, Sir Michael Deven will need the help of a man with reason to hate the fae of the Onyx Court — the victim’s own brother.
So what are you waiting for? Download DEEDS OF MEN here.
Where the fantastical and the occult are concerned three is undoubtedly the magic number. So when we were lucky enough to get not one, not two, but three of your favourite Orbit authors talking in their own words about, you’ve guessed it – their trilogies – well let’s just say we were happy!
In this bumper edition of ITOWs: Sean Williams talks candidly about the artistic influences, deep life questions (and of course the kick-ass space battles) that went into the writing of the finale of his Astropolis trilogy, Brian Ruckley speaks bloodshed, heroics, and the joys of treating his protagonists mean as he brings his Godless World trilogy to its epic conclusion, and Kelley Armstrong talks raising hell, writing for the young adult and the power of the ‘true trilogy.’
To quote Kelley ‘Happy Reading!’
All three titles are available from Orbit this month!
The Grand Conjunction: Book 3 of Astropolis [UK|AUZ], Fall of Thanes [UK|US|AUZ] The Awakening [UK]
Of course you do!
To celebrate the release of the much anticipated third title in the Godless World trilogy, Fall of Thanes, Orbit, in conjunction with Brian Ruckley and his hugely popular Winterbirth Facebook page, will be giving away two signed, personalised hardback copies of Fall of Thanes!
The competition will run for two weeks from today and winners will be selected at random on Friday the 8th and Friday the 15th of May.
To be in with a chance of winning simply head over to the Winterbirth Facebook page and become a fan. Every fully signed-up fan of the page will be entered into the draw. Signed up as a Fan already? Then you are already entered!
Brian has very kindly agreed to sign and personalise the books as per the wishes of the lucky winners, and what’s more he will be selecting each winner and posting the prizes with his own fair hands too! (He really does spoil you!)
Employees of Orbit (or its parent companies, Little, Brown and Hachette Livre) are not eligible to win and each entrant can only win once. And of course, you must be a Facebook member to participate.
So, what are you waiting for? Logon and declare your Brian Ruckley Fandom now!
And for those of you who aren’t lucky enough to win but recognise a fab novel when you see one – Fall of Thanes is in shops this month. [UK/US/AUS]
So, how did you spend your Saturday evening? I spent mine at LX 2009, the 60th Eastercon, watching multiple World Fantasy Award-winning author, Tim Powers, present Ken MacLeod with a well-deserved BSFA Award for Best Novel for his latest book, The Night Sessions. A gripping hybrid of SF thriller and police procedural, The Night Sessions is set in the future of The Second Enlightenment, where religion has finally been crushed and removed from political life:
A priest is dead. Picking through the rubble of the demolished Edinburgh tenement, Detective Inspector Adam Ferguson discovers that the explosion wasn’t an accident. When a bishop is assassinated soon afterwards, it becomes clear that a targeted campaign of killings is underway. No one has seen anything like this since the Faith Wars.
After the Middle East wars and the rising sea levels – after Armageddon and the Flood – came the Great Rejection. The first Enlightenment separated church from state. The Second Enlightenment has separated religion from politics. In this enlightened age there’s no religious persecution, but believers are a marginal and mistrusted minority. And now someone is killing them. But who? And – perhaps more importantly – why?
The more his team learns, the more the suspicion grows that they may have stumbled upon a conspiracy way outside their remit. Nobody believes them, but if Ferguson and his people fail, there will be many more killings – and disaster on a literally biblical scale . . .
It’s a terrific book with a mystery to unravel and a future world to explore, told with the characteristic dry wit and insight that makes Ken MacLeod one of British science fiction’s most consistently interesting and acclaimed voices. But don’t take my word for it – you can read an extract of The Night Sessions, here, and if that whets your appetite, you’ll be delighted to learn that it’s out now in paperback from all good booksellers. Or you could always buy it in hardback if you wish – it is an award-winning novel, after all!
Congratulations, Ken, from all at Orbit!
We’ve just heard the fantastic news that two Orbit titles, Brent Weeks’ THE WAY OF SHADOWS (US, UK, AUS) and Andrzej Sapkowski’s BLOOD OF ELVES (US), have been shortlisted for the inaugural David Gemmell Legend Award. The Legend Award is unusual in that both the shortlist and the winner are decided by popular vote, rather than committee or convention-goers. We think it’s a great idea. It’s an award that gives general readers and fans everywhere the chance to support the books that they’re actually reading and enjoying. We’re also delighted to see a debut novel such as THE WAY OF SHADOWS on the shortlist. The Legend Award is named after David Gemmell’s own first novel, LEGEND, a modern classic of the fantasy genre.
It’s rare for a publisher to release all three books of a series in three consecutive months. But not as rare as it is for a new author to become the bestselling new Fantasy author in all three of the world’s largest English language markets (the US, UK, and Australia). That’s exactly what’s happened with Brent Weeks’ remarkable Night Angel Trilogy.
Orbit published THE WAY OF SHADOWS, SHADOW’S EDGE, and BEYOND THE SHADOWS in October, November and December last year, and with all three books out in rapid succession the Night Angel Trilogy quickly became a huge success wherever it was available. Brent’s writing has clearly struck a chord with fantasy readers around the globe. As recently reported, THE WAY OF SHADOWS has even debuted on the New York Times extended bestseller list, a full 6 months after its initial publication, proving that word of mouth is continuing to drive new readers to the series all the time.
We’re always thrilled to see one of our authors become a bestseller – but it’s particularly exciting when it’s a new author. Congratulations from all at Orbit to Brent on his remarkable success.
Andrzej Sapkowski is one of Poland’s bestselling authors, but another author only recently launched in the US. BLOOD OF ELVES is based on his character the Witcher — who inspired the critically acclaimed video game of the same name. His first book to be translated into English was THE LAST WISH, which we published last year, and BLOOD OF ELVES will be released in the US next month.
A special Orbit hurrah too for Joe Abercrombie, who has also found his way onto the shortlist with THE LAST ARGUMENT OF KINGS. Orbit is publishing Joe’s new novel, BEST SERVED COLD, in the US in July. And it’s bloody marvelous.
Don’t forget to vote for your favorite book on the DGLA shortlist, which can be found here.
