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2 out of 10!

MatterWe’re thrilled to point to the Amazon Editors’ Best of 2008 top 10 list in Science Fiction & Fantasy, which includes both Matter by Iain M. Banks (US|UK) and Black Ships by Jo Graham! (US|UK)

Black ShipsJo Graham’s next book, Hand of Isis, will be out in March 2009. You can keep up with the author and enter to win an advance copy of the book at her livejournal.

And at the official Iain M. Banks site you can catch up on our recent fan QAs with the author (part one, part two, part three) and read an extract from Matter.

Marketing Vacancy

Little, Brown Book Group is currently looking for a creative, highly-organised person to join our marketing department. Based at our London offices, and working primarily on Orbit titles, the role will include producing sell-in material for the trade, and planning and executing consumer marketing campaigns. In addition, the role will include responsibility for Orbit’s UK publicity activity.

If this sounds like you, visit our vacancies page for more information and details of how to apply. Applications must be received by 26 November.

Orbit UK schedule update: January 2009

We’ve just updated the Orbit UK Schedule page with details of the first batch of great new Orbit titles for 2009. The following titles will be available from all good booksellers and online retailers as of January 15th:

  • Hammer of God by Karen Miller – Conflict threatens to erupt between the nations of Mijak and Ethrea in the third part of the Godspeaker epic fantasy series.
  • Orphan’s Alliance by Robert Buettner – Jason Wander is called on to take the fight to the enemy in this fourth instalment of this highly-rated military sf series.
  • The Judging Eye by R. Scott Bakker – Part one of a brand new epic fantasy series, set in the same world as The Thousandfold Thought.
  • Shadow Gate by Kate Elliott – Part two of the Crossroads epic fantasy series sees Majit fighting for her life against an ancient and deadly enemy.
  • The Accidental Sorcerer by K. E. Mills – The first in a brand new comic fantasy series about Gerald the hapless career-wizard.
  • One More Bite by Jennifer Rardin – The fifth book in the Jaz Parks series finds our heroine caught right in the middle of a supernatural power struggle.
  • The Destiny of the Dead by Ian Irvine – The apocalyptic final volume of the Song of Tears epic fantasy series.

Deals and Deliveries: Nicole Peeler

Orbit is thrilled to announce that we have pre-empted an urban fantasy series by debut author Nicole Peeler in a three-book deal with agent Rebecca Strauss of McIntosh and Otis Inc. The first volume TEMPEST RISING will be published in Fall/Winter 2009.

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WIN a copy of Star Wars Republic Commando: Order 66

Order 66 coverStar Wars Republic Commando: Order 66 is the exciting new title in the Republic Commando series written by the fantastic Karen Traviss. We have 10 copies to give away and all you have to do to enter is sign up to the Orbit UK e-newsletter this November.

The Orbit e-newsletter has tons of exciting information about new titles, including chapter downloads, first look covers and exclusive competitions.

You can sign up for it here.

Already receiving the newsletter? Don’t worry, we’ll be doing a special giveaway for everyone that’s already signed up!

Orbit Links for October 31st 2008

Hello and a very Happy Hallowe’en / All Hallows’ Eve / Stuff-Your-Face-With-Candy Night to you all. Here are a few online treats (no tricks, we promise!) featuring Orbit Authors or coverage of their books:

As always, 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! We’ll happily name-check your website or blog with a heads-up credit in return (please remember to provide us with a link…)

In Their Own Words: Brent Weeks on THE WAY OF SHADOWS

Brent says:

The Way of ShadowsThe Way of Shadows is going to appeal to readers who love big fantasy stories but get bored the fifth time an author describes a six-course meal or the twenty slashes on a noblewoman’s dress. This story flies. There’s murder, betrayal, magic, and lots of ass-kicking.

But to be honest, a lot of authors can offer that. I think what’s going to keep readers coming back is the deep, surprising characters. Everyone has secrets. Everyone runs into hard choices, and not everyone makes the right choice. Heck, not everyone makes it, period. Cenaria is a city infamous for crime and brutality. It’s the kind of place that makes legendary assassins, so expect some tough stuff – but out of that, expect characters who are very human in how they’ve been touched by or participated in the darkness around them. Expect people looking for redemption and hope. Unusual for an assassin story? Definitely. Do I pull it off? I hope people check it out and judge for themselves.

The Way of Shadows (UK | US | AUS) is out now and you can find it at all good high street and online booksellers. Get an advance taste by reading an extract here.

We’re publishing the next two books, Shadow’s Edge and Beyond the Shadows, in the next two months so keep your eyes peeled for some more ITOW from Brent Weeks very soon . . .

Deals and Deliveries: Marjorie M. Liu acquisition

We are very excited to report that we’ve bought three sharp new urban fantasies by the talented Marjorie M. Liu. These feature an enticingly different slant on the supernatural and we’re starting off in Spring 2010 with The Iron Hunt …

During the day, Maxine’s tattoos are her armour and she is invincible. At night they peel from her skin to take on forms of their own, leaving her human and vulnerable and revealing themselves to be demons sleeping beneath her skin. But these demons are the best friends and bodyguards a woman could have. And Maxine needs bodyguards. She is the last in a line of woman with power in their blood, trained to keep the world safe from malignant beings who would do us harm. But ten thousand years after its creation, the prison dimension that kept the worst of these from us is failing, and all the Wardens save Maxine are dead. She must bear the burden of her bloodline and join the last wild hunt against the enemy.

So, watch this space for more information.

The Company in SFX

The CompanyK.J. Parker‘s fantastic new novel, The Company (UK/US) is out now and getting some great reviews. One of our favourites has been in this month’s SFX, on newsstands tomorrow, which describes it as:

‘Tightly written and hugely satisfying, it’s the equivalent of a four-course banquet packed into one book, and takes a long look at the kind of characters who populate your typical blood-and-thunder swordplay epic, unearthing some uncomfortable truths as a result.’

‘…A dark, bleak and fiercely intelligent portrait of the human condition, and the way that some soldiers never truly stop fighting their wars’

and

‘…Well-crafted, powerful and downright unmissable’

We couldn’t agree more.

Stan Nicholls on the David Gemmell Legend Award

If you’ve been reading the major blogs and genre fiction news sites recently then you’ve surely heard about the launch earlier this year of The David Gemmell Legend Award for Fantasy.

Here at Orbit we’re delighted that David Gemmell’s memory – and his truly massive contribution to the development of fantasy fiction before his tragic and untimely death in 2006 – is being honoured by the launch of this new award, which, in the words of the introduction on the award website “will be given to a work written in the ‘spirit’ of the late, great David Gemmell, a true Master of Heroic Fantasy.”

Stan Nicholls (author of Orcs, which we published recently in the US) is a member of the initial steering committee that came together to establish the award. So we thought he’d be an ideal person to tell us how the award came about, and how its unique processes and mechanism will hopefully result in a genuine, all-round winner of the very highest quality being named when the first award is presented, next June.

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