Archive for Contents

Kitschies nominations competition

Equations of Life by Simon Morden cover - a black and white spiral optical illusion pattern with lime green spineThe Enterprise of Death by Jesse Bullington cover - featuring a black and white 'Death and the Maiden' motif by Niklaus Manuel with white background and a red title

We are delighted that two Orbit titles have been shortlisted for this year’s Kitschies – awards that celebrate the most ‘progressive, intelligent and entertaining works of genre literature’, run by the excellent Pornokitsch website.

Jesse Bullington’s The Enterprise of Death is a finalist for the Red Tentacle for best novel, and the cover for Simon Morden’s Equations of Life is a finalist for the Inky Tentacle for best cover.  Congratulations to Jesse and our very own designer Lauren Panepinto!

To celebrate we want to give you the opportunity to read these great books and judge for yourselves.  We have 10 copies of each to give away.  Just fill in your details below and we’ll pick the winner in two weeks time, the day before the winners are announced at the SFX Weekender 3 Kitschies Award Ceremony (sponsored by Kraken Rum, making it even more certain to be a great event).

Please read the full terms and conditions.

THE COMPANY MAN nominated for Edgar Award

The Company Man cover The Troupe cover

The Mystery Writers of America announced their nominees for the 2012 Edgar Award this morning, and Robert Jackson Bennett’s The Company Man (US | UK | ANZ) will be on the ballot for ‘Best Paperback Original’!

This comes on the heels of The Company Man‘s Philip K. Dick Award nomination, and almost exactly a month before the release of Robert’s new novel, The Troupe (US | UK | ANZ). The Troupe  follows 16-year-old piano prodigy George Carole and the mysterious vaudeville troupe he runs away to join, whose performances have a strange effect on their audiences. George gradually realizes the troupe is not simply touring: they are running for their lives.

UNCLEAN SPIRITS unleashed!

UNCLEAN SPIRITS (UK | ANZ) is out (at last!) in the UK and our international markets this month. It’s the first novel in the Black Sun’s Daughter series by M. L. N. Hanover and we think you’re going to love it: a pacy, action-packed urban fantasy featuring Jayné Heller, a heroine who is strong and sassy, yet who often doubts her ability to tackle the burden that life has given her. As Kelley Armstrong so rightly says, she’s great!

Jayné Heller has always lacked a clear direction in life. She’s just dropped out of college and she really doesn’t get on with her family. So when her uncle Eric dies and leaves all his worldly possessions to her (which just so happens to include properties all over the globe, along with a considerable amount of cash) it seems that she has the chance to start her life afresh.

Except that this new-found wealth comes with a sinister price. It turns out that her uncle spent most of his life fighting a secret battle against ‘riders’ – evil spirits that take over human bodies and then control them. And it seems to be Jayné’s responsiblity to carry on this war from where her uncle left off . . .

UNCLEAN SPIRITS is available now and we’ll be continuing the series over the next few months: DARKER ANGELS comes out in February, VICIOUS GRACE in March and KILLING RITES in April.

Read a sample of UNCLEAN SPIRITS here!

Praise for UNCLEAN SPIRITS:

‘A strong beginning to an intriguing Urban Fantasy series, Unclean Spirits introduces readers to a fascinating new supernatural world. M. L. N. Hanover’s debut novel in the genre teems with promise, and I am excited to see where the next book leads’ – Book Smugglers

Between the novel’s energetic pacing, Jayné’s undeniable charm, and the intriguing concept behind the riders, Unclean Spirits is a solid entry in the urban fantasy genre’ – Fantasy Book Critic

‘Hanover’s treatment of the subject matter makes it a very entertaining book where the pages turn all too easily. I’ll be back for more and I reckon I’ll see you there with me’ – Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review

Gathering of the Lost – We Unveil the Cover!

We’re really pleased to reveal the cover for the second volume of Helen Lowe ‘s epic fantasy series, THE GATHERING OF THE LOST, (UK|ANZ) which will be out this April! Click on the images below for the super high-resolution versions…

The cover for Helen Lowe's second Wall of Night novel, Gathering of the Lost. Shows a girl standing against a forest background, holding a sword, with the rain beating down and the moon shining through the trees.

The covers have been designed by Duncan Spilling, one of our in-house designers here at Orbit, and we feel that they really get across the spirit of this fantastic series. The first book in the Wall of Night series, HEIR OF NIGHT (UK|ANZ), is coming out in paperback next week, on January 19th! HEIR OF NIGHT has also got a beautiful cover, we’re sure you’ll agree… 

the cover for the heir of night - a girl stands in a castle doorway, surrounded by fire and smoke

Three Orbit books nominated for 2012 Philip K. Dick Award

The nominees for the 2012 Philip K. Dick Award, for science fiction paperback originals, were announced today, including three books from Orbit: The Company Man (US | UK | ANZ) by Robert Jackson Bennett, Deadline (US | UK | ANZ) by Mira Grant, and the Samuil Petrovitch trilogy by Simon Morden (comprising Equations of Life [US | UK | ANZ], Theories of Flight [US | UK | ANZ], and Degrees of Freedom [US | UK | ANZ]).

The Company Man Deadline

Equations of Life  Theories of Flight Degrees of Freedom

The award will be presented by the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society and the Philip K. Dick Trust to the winner at Norwescon in Seattle on Friday, April 6, 2012. The full list of nominees appears below.

  • A Soldier’s Duty by Jean Johnson (Ace Books)
  • After the Apocalypse by Maureen F. McHugh (Small Beer Press)
  • Deadline by Mira Grant (Orbit)
  • The Company Man by Robert Jackson Bennett (Orbit)
  • The Other by Matthew Hughes (Underland Press)
  • The Postmortal by Drew Magary (Penguin Books)
  • The Samuil Petrovitch Trilogy by Simon Morden (Orbit)

Cover Launch: NIGHT ANGEL OMNIBUS in Trade Paperback!

I’m super excited to show you the cover to the omnibus of Brent Weeks’ Night Angel trilogy. I was so excited when I heard I was working on this project. We wanted to repackage this series in a way that communicated the epic adventure but also looked badass on a coffee table: an element of sophistication and collectability.

We eventually decided to do the black cover with the blind spot glossing of the pattern in the background, the Night Angel title and Brent’s name in foil and the sword front and center. The sword was the biggest challenge since we needed to bring to life something that’s only been described in text. After considering all of our options, which included thinking about having someone fabricate a Curoch to shoot, we eventually decided a photo illustration allotted us the most flexibility with regards to tweaking an editing the final image.

I had an absolute blast working on this project. Anytime I get to research weapons, makes me a very happy designer. After a bunch of rounds tweaking and fine tuning, we came up with what you see in the final design.

Will McIntosh’s Hugo Award-winning “Bridesicle” to become a novel

I am thrilled to report that Will McIntosh is writing a novel for Orbit based on his stunning 2010 Hugo Award-winning short story “Bridesicle.” Three hundred years in the future, technology has extended the lives of the rich and attractive decades. The wealthy can arrange to be reanimated multiple times (with diminishing returns), while in cryogenic dating farms, dead women await lonely suitors to resurrect them and take them home. In this daring and big-hearted novel, the lovelorn navigate a world in which technology has found the outer limits of morality and romance.

Orbit will also publish a novel based on McIntosh’s short story “Defenders,” as well as a number of original short stories.

Will McIntosh is an acclaimed, unique voice in science fiction, and a writer of impressive range. His first novel was published by Night Shade, his second is forthcoming in 2012, and his short work has been widely anthologized. He has won a Hugo Award and an Asimov’s reader poll, and has received a Nebula Award nomination. A professor of psychology, McIntosh lives in Georgia.

Seven Days for SEVEN PRINCES: The Competition

This competition is now closed. Winners will be notified by email.

To celebrate this week’s release of the majestic epic fantasy adventure that is Seven Princes (UK | US | ANZ) by John R. Fultz, we’re giving  7 copies of this title away absolutely free. To enter, all you need to do is fill in the form for your relevant territory, and 7 winners will be picked at random worldwide next week. Good luck!

 

The cover for the debut fntasy Seven Princes by John R Fuktz

A Fiery New Deal for Michael Cobley with Orbit

SEEDS OF EARTH, the first book in Michael Cobley’s space opera trilogy Humanity’s Fire, was first published in the UK in March 2009. Since then, the series described by Iain M. Banks as “Proper, galaxy-spanning space opera” has kept readers glued to its pages and eager to read more. Given the outstanding quality of Michael Cobley’s science fiction and its major success so far in the UK, Orbit is thrilled to announce a worldwide deal for a new book by this bestselling author. Orbit have acquired World English rights from agent John Parker at the Zeno Agency for a new standalone novel by Michael Cobley, set in the Humanity’s Fire universe.

the three covers for Michael Cobley's Seeds of Earth science fiction trilogy

The new book, WARCAGE, is a high-action space adventure currently scheduled for worldwide hardback release in autumn 2013. Ahead of that publication, all three existing books in the Humanity’s Fire series will be published by Orbit US, who are releasing SEEDS OF EARTH in the US in October, ORPHANED WORLDS in November and THE ASCENDANT STARS in December 2012. Anne Clarke, Editorial Director for Orbit UK, says:

We’re all delighted with the continuing success of Michael Cobley’s superb Humanity’s Fire series, and we’re very excited about WARCAGE and looking forward to sharing it with Mike’s fans next year. Michael Cobley is becoming an increasingly important name in science fiction, so we’re extremely happy that our colleagues in the US will be on this adventure with us too.”

Seven Days for SEVEN PRINCES: The Wallpapers

As part of our 7-day celebration of the epic fantasy Seven Princes (UK | US | ANZ) by John R. Fultz we’re giving away wallpapers of the awesome cover artwork to spruce up all your fancy devices. And I know we’ve had some gorgeous wallpapers, but I think the illustration for these is so much sexier BIG that trust me, you’re going to want it on every screen you have. The art is by the fantastic Richard Anderson and he really just knocked it out of the park. It’s like epic fantasy impressionistic, such a fresh style. (You can read an interview with him and John R. Fultz over at Black Gate.) Enjoy!

1024 x 768 | 1280 x 800 | 1440 x 900 | 1680 x 1050 |1920 x 1200 | iPhone | iPad

 

(and yes I think we’ve finally mastered the iPad flippable art thing. ha!)