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Thieves, Scoundrels, and Demon Seeds

The time has come. . . Orbit is once again presenting you with three books in three months. So from October to December if you’re hungry for your fix of adventure fantasy, please run or log online to get these three new fantasies from Rachel Aaron.

But if you’re super lucky, you might be able to get one for free! Rachel is giving away 20 copies of The Spirit Thief here.

Eli Monpress is talented. He’s charming. And he’s a thief.

But not just any thief. He’s the greatest thief of the age – and he’s also a wizard. And with the help of his partners – a swordsman with the most powerful magic sword in the world but no magical ability of his own, and a demonseed who can step through shadows and punch through walls – he’s going to put his plan into effect.

The first step is to increase the size of the bounty on his head, so he’ll need to steal some big things. But he’ll start small for now. He’ll just steal something that no one will miss – at least for a while.

Like a king.

We also have a few awesome quotes in for The Spirit Thief:

“A romp of a lighthearted fantasy starring an absolutely darling rogue.” – Publishers Weekly

“Wry humor, engaging characters and full-tilt action plus an inventive twist on magic make for an exciting adventure.” — Gail Z. Martin

“Witty, smart, snappy, sassy, fast, furious and let’s not forget fun… Rachel Aaron isn’t so much knocking at the door as kicking it down.” — Tom Holt

“The Spirit Thief is a delightfully giddy romp of a novel.” — Karen Miller

Read the first two chapter of The Spirit Thief here.

The Runelords Series – Cover Panorama

This month Chaosbound (UK /ANZ) is out – book eight in David Farland’s Runelords series. It’s already had some top-notch reviews, such as: ‘Chaosbound is a profound fantasy that explores deep complex philosophical issues . . . with timely applications for our world’ from Harriet Klausner in SFRevu and ‘Stark, dark and elegiac’ from Publishers Weekly.

You may have heard of this series, and some impressive names raving about it (see below), but have you spotted what’s special about the covers of our UK editions? Designed by the highly talented Paul Young, it just so happens that when you put the covers side by side they form a continuous fantasy landscape . . .

 
You can click here to see the whole panorama.

And as for that praise we were talking about . . . (more…)

Gail Carriger’s British Debut…

We are hereby exceptionally proud to announce that Gail Carriger’s exquisitely charming Parasol Protectorate series has finally found its way to the seat of the empire – the green and pleasant lands of the British Isles. Delivered via dirigible direct into Hyde Park’s airfield, all three titles have arrived just in time to stem the Commonwealth’s desperate need for treacle tart, parasols and lessons in vampire social etiquette.

If you perchance found yourself at Britain’s most glorious festival of steampunk this weekend – the so-called Weekend at the Asylum – then you will undoubtedly be acquainted with Miss Alexia Tarabotti already.

With the gift that she has bestowed upon every privileged guest, she has imparted the vital knowledge of how best to protect the Commonwealth on behalf of Her Majesty Queen Victoria. And that’s not to mention her terribly useful tips on which hats are to be avoided this season if one is to protect one’s reputation in polite society. Please do take heed of her sage advice.

UNconventional: Worldcon & Me

Opening Ceremony; Photo: J Horlor

Those of you who read my pre-Worldcon post on Marianne de Pierre’s blog, will know that even getting there was a big deal for me. Although a long time avid reader of scifi-fantasy (SFF) and lover of shows such as Babylon 5, Buffy and Firefly, I am still something of a moss gatherer by nature and not unhappy with the quiet life of study and garden, manuscripts and books . . .  But the opportunity to attend the 68th Worldcon, or Aussiecon4, in Melbourne seemed just too good to miss—and I am so glad that I did go!

Firstly, it was fabulous to get together with so many other people who love SFF as much as I do. My very first panel was “Eowyn and Sam, Underappreciated Heroes in The Lord of the Rings” and of course, the hall was full (I mean: LoTR!), with both audience and panelists all enthusiasts for the topic. I know I had a great time, because I was pretty much in Fantasy heartland territory, but I got the feeling everyone else was enjoying themselves as much as I was. And when all’s said and done, it’s a pretty easy topic to roll with.

(more…)

Rat-a-tat-tat!

Another big award has come and gone, and I’d like to congratulate all the Orbit authors who won or were nominated. It’s great for them because, while being an author is a fabulous line of work, it can also be discouraging. Unless one is in the awards sphere, or one manages to claw his or her way onto one of the increasingly elusive lists, it’s hard to know if you’re really reaching anyone.

Which is why social media rocks. In my new university’s MFA in popular fiction, I’m teaching a course on building author platforms, and we’re talking a lot about social media. One of the things we’ve brought up peripherally is how rewarding it is to interact with fans of our books.

This weekend, I received some lovely letters and messages on Twitter and Facebook. It’s almost impossible for me to express how much these interactions mean for authors like me. I feel very disconnected, sometimes, from my life as a writer. So to see that people are not only reading my books, but really connecting with the issues they contain and really connecting with my characters means the world to me. (more…)

Somers vs. Palmer – When Authors Collide (Part 4)

So it’s come to this . . . Jeff Somers and Philip Palmer arguing over whose character is better with the laaaaadies.

Again, Philip Palmer has resorted to getting a scientific expert involved – a certain Dr Paul Bostock (according to Phil, a ‘Professor in Protagonism and Genre Conflict at the Heinlein University, Colorado’ – this hasn’t yet been verified).

Ladies – judge for yourself.

(And mind the spoilers if you haven’t read Jeff’s previous 3 books yet!)

Somers vs. Palmer – When Authors Collide (Part 3)

Since we began releasing the footage showing the incendiary events that occured during the filming of a joint promotional video, Jeff Somers has expressed his sheer outrage over the entire episode, and Philip Palmer has published an official ‘apology’ to Jeff here.

Though we are not proud of what has happened, we have decided to continue to release the footage so that the viewing public may come to their own conclusions about the events. In this video, Philip Palmer lists the many, many ways in which his character Version 43 is superior to Avery Cates. Orbit would like to make clear that it does not endorse the behaviour of either author involved in this incident . . .

Somers vs. Palmer – When Authors Collide (Part 1)

Here on Planet Orbit we generally think there’s a pretty good community spirit – both in the office and amongst all our authors out there. But sometimes – just sometimes – those good times go bad. 

Believing Jeff Somers and Philip Palmer to both be “team players” and decent, honourable gentlemen, we thought it might be a good idea to ask them to discuss and compare, in a series of videos, and in a sensible and controlled manner, their newest science fiction titles and their protagonists. But APPARENTLY that wasn’t possible. We’re still going to post the footage – if only to be an example to you all.

Here’s how it all began . . .