Archive for Contents

Carey, North and Leckie honoured in UK SF awards

Following on from the successes of Glenda Larke and Trudi Canavan in two important Australian fantasy awards, we’ve also had fantastic news regarding two UK SF awards.

Today, the shortlist for this year’s Arthur C. Clarke awards has been announced. Both THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS (UK | US | ANZ)  by M. R. Carey and THE FIRST FIFTEEN LIVES OF HARRY AUGUST (UK | US | ANZ) by Claire North are amongst the six titles nominated for this prestigious prize. The winner will be announced at the awards ceremony on 6th May 2015.

The Girl with all the Gifts by M R Carey and The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, borth shortlisted for the Arthur C Clarke Awards 2015

On the weekend, ANCILLARY SWORD (US | UK | ANZ) by Ann Leckie also won the BSFA award for Best Novel, voted on by members of the British Science Fiction Association and Eastercon. Ann Leckie’s first novel ANCILLARY JUSTICE (US | UK | AUS) also won this award last year, (along with every other major SF award in 2014!). Here are both of Ann’s raygun-tastic awards looking all nice and shiny together . . .

Ancillary Sword by Ann leckie, winner of the BSFA best novel award 2014 and 2015

Congrats to Ann Leckie, Claire North, M. R. Carey and all the other shortlisted authors!

Launching into Orbit this month: APRIL 2015

The High Druid's Blade by Terry Brooks

THE HIGH DRUID’S BLADE by Terry Brooks

Secrets revealed. Powers unleashed. Discover a Shannara you’ve never seen before.

Buy it now: UK | AUS

Read An Extract

The Girl With All The Gifts by M.R. Carey

THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS by M.R. Carey

A terrifying, heartbreaking, genre-defying thriller about hope and humanity and a little girl who wants to save the world, now in trade paperback

Buy it now: US | UK | AUS

Read An Extract

BULLS RUSH IN by Elliott James

BULLS RUSH IN by Elliott James

A fascinating twist on the Prince Charming fairy tale with a modern twist and a hunt for monsters — both within and supernatural.

Buy it now: USUK 

Read An Extract

A CROWN FOR COLD SILVER by M.R. Carey

A CROWN FOR COLD SILVER by Alex Marshall

Introducing legendary general Cold Zosia and her five villains in a fearless, wildly exuberant, and brilliantly imagined tale of revenge.

Buy it now: US | UK | AUS

Listen to an audio extract. 

Read an extract

WAR OF SHADOWS by Gail Z. Martin

WAR OF SHADOWS by Gail Z. Martin

The newest novel in Gail Z. Martin’s breathtaking Ascendant Kingdoms saga — a tale of unpredictable magic, battling warlords, and the lust for vengeance.

Buy it now: US | UK | UK

Read An Extract

GARDEN OF DREAMS AND DESIRES by Kristen Painter

GARDEN OF DREAMS AND DESIRES by Kristen Painter

Magic and mystery collide in this thrilling conclusion to the new urban fantasy series by House of Comarre author Kristen Painter.

Buy it now: US | UK | AUS

Read An Extract

JINN AND JUICE by Nicole Peeler

JINN AND JUICE by Nicole Peeler

MaryJanice Davidson meets Charlaine Harris in this fabulous new urban fantasy from Jane True author Nicole Peeler.

Buy it now: US | UK | AUS

Listen to an audio extract

Read An Extract

CLASH OF IRON by Angus Watson

THE RHESUS CHART by Charles Stross

The fifth Laundry Files, The Rhesus Chart sees hacker and supernatural spy Bob Howard take on the (literal) bloodsuckers running London’s financial district.

Buy it now: UK | AUS

Read An Extract

CLASH OF IRON by Angus Watson

CLASH OF IRON by Angus Watson

Bloodthirsty druids and battle-hardened Iron Age warriors collide in the second volume of this action-packed historical fantasy trilogy

Buy it now: US | UK | AUS

Read An Extract

Glenda Larke and Trudi Canavan Sweep Australian Awards

We’re excited to announce that Glenda Larke’s fantasy epic THE LASCAR’S DAGGER has won the Best Long Written Work 2014 in the Tin Duck Awards, as well as winning, in a tie with Trudi Canavan’s superb THIEF’S MAGIC, the Best Novel of 2014 in the Ditmar Awards!

The Tin Duck Awards are the Western Australian science fiction achievement awards, given out annually at Swancon. The Ditmar Awards are an Australia-wide award and are given out every year at Natcon, the Australian National Science Fiction Convention. Both are reader-voted awards.

Big congratulations go to Glenda, Trudi and all the other winners!

If you’ve already read and enjoyed THE LASCAR’S DAGGER and THIEF’S MAGIC, watch out for their sequels, THE DAGGER’S PATH (released January this year) and ANGEL OF STORMS (coming in November).

THE LASCAR'S DAGGER and THIEF'S MAGIC

Hugo Award Nominations

We’re thrilled that two Orbit books made the shortlist for this year’s Hugo Awards! Both Ann Leckie’s ANCILLARY SWORD (US | UK | ANZ) and Jim Butcher’s SKIN GAME (UK | ANZ) have been nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel.

ANCILLARY SWORD’s nomination follows Ann Leckie’s Hugo Award win last year for her debut ANCILLARY JUSTICE.

Congratulations to Ann, Jim, and the rest of the nominees!

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PRUDENCE is a NYT bestseller!

We’re thrilled to announce that Gail Carriger’s PRUDENCE, hit the New York Times hardcover fiction bestseller list at #19!*  Congratulations Gail Carriger!

This marks Gail’s sixth appearance on the New York Times bestseller list for Orbit, following her 5-book Parasol Protectorate series (SOULLESS, et al.). Gail’s Finishing School series for LBYR also hit the children’s list.

If you have not picked up the first book of Gail’s charming new series, get yourself to a bookstore forthwith! Prudence is a delightful read, and one that you’ll have a hard time putting down once you crack open its pages. Start by reading an excerpt now.

*Goes live on Sunday the 5th!

More about the story: 

Introducing the Custard Protocol series, in which Alexia Maccon’s daughter Prudence travels to India on behalf of Queen, country…and the perfect pot of tea.

When Prudence Alessandra Maccon Akeldama (“Rue” to her friends) is bequeathed an unexpected dirigible, she does what any sensible female under similar circumstances would do — she christens it the Spotted Custard and floats off to India.

Soon, she stumbles upon a plot involving local dissidents, a kidnapped brigadier’s wife, and some awfully familiar Scottish werewolves. Faced with a dire crisis (and an embarrassing lack of bloomers), Rue must rely on her good breeding — and her metanatural abilities — to get to the bottom of it all…

 

THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS film adaptation to star Gemma Arterton, Paddy Considine and Glenn Close

We’re delighted to share some news on the upcoming film adaptation of THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS by M. R . Carey. The film is to star Gemma Arterton, Paddy Considine and Glenn Close, and is to be directed by Colm McCarthy – best known for his work on Sherlock, Peaky Blinders and Doctor Who.

Here is a press release which has gone out today from Altitude Film Entertainment:

 

ALTITUDE BOARDS ‘SHE WHO BRINGS GIFTS’ TO BE DIRECTED BY COLM MCCARTHY AND STARRING GEMMA ARTERTON, PADDY CONSIDINE AND GLENN CLOSE

Feature from bestselling Mike Carey novel marks highly anticipated feature debut by director Colm McCarthy

LONDON – Monday 23 March 2015. Altitude Film Sales has boarded SHE WHO BRINGS GIFTS, one of last year’s Brit List selected screenplays, adapted by acclaimed novelist M. R. Carey from his bestselling novel The Girl with all the Gifts.

Director Colm McCarthy lauded helmer of hit British TV shows including Peaky Blinders starring Cillian Murphy and Tom Hardy, Sherlock with Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, Doctor Who, Endeavour and The Tudors, will direct his first major feature. The cast includes Gemma Arterton (Tamara Drewe, The Disappearance of Alice Creed) who is currently starring in Marjane Satrapi’s The Voices following her West End musical stage debut in Made in Dagenham; Paddy Considine from BAFTA-winning British hit Pride, a BAFTA award-winning director for Tyrannosaur and soon to be seen in Macbeth with Michael Fassbender; and the multi-award-winning and six-time Oscar® nominated actress Glenn Close, soon to be seen in Tim Blake Nelson’s Anesthesia, Bjorn Runge’s The Wife, last year’s Guardians of the Galaxy and a just-completed starring run on Broadway in A Delicate Balance.

Mike Carey first came to prominence within the world of comic books, writing the Lucifer series at DC Vertigo, Hellblazer for DC, X-Men, Fantastic Four and adapting Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Shadow for Marvel amongst other titles. He also wrote The Unwritten which has made the New York Times graphic novel bestseller list and was awarded Comic Con’s Inkpot Award in 2012. More recently, Carey has moved into prose fiction with thrillers such as The Dead Sea Deception (under the pseudonym of Adam Blake), fantasy novels The City of Silk and Steel and The House of War and Witness and the Felix Castor novels. The Girl with all the Gifts is his most recent novel, published in 2014 to critical acclaim and attracting multitudes of fans including writer-director Joss Whedon who proclaimed it to be: “Heartfelt, remorseless and painfully human . . . as fresh as it is terrifying. A jewel.”

SHE WHO BRINGS GIFTS is due to shoot in the UK in May 2015 and is produced by Camille Gatin, co-producer of James Marsh’s Shadow Dancer and Ricky Gervais’s Special Correspondents co-starring Eric Bana, and Angus Lamont, producer of the Berlin Competition Jury award-winning ’71 directed by Yann Demange. The feature has been developed with the support of the BFI Film Fund.

SHE WHO BRINGS GIFTS is the story of Melanie, a girl who is full of questions about the world. Every morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for class. When they come for her, Sergeant Parks keeps his gun pointing at her while two of his people strap her into a wheelchair. She thinks they don’t like her. She jokes that she won’t bite. But they don’t laugh.

Melanie is a very special girl.

Camille Gatin says, “It’s hugely exciting to combine Mike Carey’s truly original script and Colm McCarthy’s dynamic yet sensitive style, with such a terrific cast.” (more…)

Elliott James’s Pax Arcana series: even more Charming than before!

“The Pax Arcana books are seriously good reads. Action, humor, and heart with unexpected twists and turns. If you are (like me) waiting for the next Butcher or Hearne — pick up Elliot James. Then you can bite your nails waiting for the next James, too.” — Patricia Briggs, New York Times #1 bestselling author of the Mercy Thompson series

If you, like Patricia Briggs, have been hoping for more from Elliott James’s Pax Arcana series, then rest assured! We have just acquired two more books following the adventures of John Charming. FEARLESS (US | UK | AUS), the sequel to DARING (US | UK | AUS), is out in August, with the new books to follow in 2016 and beyond.

But if your nails are too short from all the biting, there will be new short stories from Elliott James this spring! Bulls Rush In is out April 28 and Talking Dirty on May 19.

New to the series? Read an excerpt from the first book!

ORBIT UK SHORTLISTED FOR IMPRINT OF THE YEAR

If you’ve ever wondered what the Orbit UK team looks like in real life, here we are. You’ll notice that we’re looking particularly happy. That’s because we’ve just been shortlisted for Imprint of the Year in this year’s Bookseller Industry Awards.

orbitukteamphoto (2)
Front row, left to right: Joanna Kramer (Editorial Manager), Jenni Hill (Commissioning Editor), Tim Holman (Publisher), Anna Jackson (Senior Commissioning Editor). Back row, left to right: Clara Diaz (Junior Press Officer), Felice Howden (Digital Marketing Manager), James Long (Editorial Assistant), Gemma Conley-Smith (Press Officer).

 

Felice Howden, our Digital Marketing Manager, is looking particularly happy because her campaign for The Girl With All the Gifts by M. R. Carey has been shortlisted for Marketing Campaign of the Year.

Cover Launch: The Annihilation Score by Charles Stross

Coming July 2015, THE ANNIHILATION SCORE is the latest science fiction thriller from Charles Stross, in a series where British spies take on the supernatural.

The Cover for Charles Stross's latest science fiction spy thriller, The Annihilation Score, showing a London scene and two spies pointing guns at each other, with a glowing violin pattern overlaying the picture.

NOBODY DOES IT BETTER . . .

Dr Mo O’Brien is an intelligence agent at 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.

The Laundry is recovering from a devastating attack and when average citizens all over the country start to develop supernatural powers, the police are called in to help. Mo is appointed as official police liaison, but in between dealing with police bureaucracy, superpowered members of the public and disgruntled politicians, Mo discovers to her horror that she can no longer rely on her marriage, nor on the weapon that has been at her side for eight years of undercover work, the possessed violin known as ‘Lecter’.

If this wasn’t bad enough, a mysterious figure known as Dr Freudstein is committing heists and sending increasingly threatening messages to the police. Who is Freudstein and what is he planning?

The Laundry Files by Charles Stross

Many thanks to crushed.co.uk and Sophie Burdess for their beautiful cover!

THE IMMORTALS – I want some gods!

Jordanna Max Brodsky - cr Ben AaronsWere you a Percy Jackson fan when you were growing up? Read American Gods and loved it? A huge fan of contemporary fantasy like The Night CircusA Discovery of WitchesThe Golem and the Jinni? Well, look no further!

We’ve acquired three books by Jordanna Max Brodsky – a debut author who is writing an amazing contemporary fantasy about history, myth, Greek Gods, & Manhattan.  To whet your appetite, here is a bit about THE  IMMORTALS:

The Relentless One, the Bearer of the Bow, the Untamed…

…those are only a few of the names Selene DiSilva’s answered to over the years. But these days she’s content to work in secret, defending the women of Manhattan from the evils of men. She’s reclusive, stubborn, and deeply unfriendly to everyone but her dog. But when a woman’s mutilated body washes up in Riverside Park wearing a laurel wreath, Selene finds that she can no longer hide in the shadows. As more women are threatened, Selene is forced to embrace the one name she’s tried hardest to forget — Artemis. For who better to follow the killer’s tangled trail than the Goddess of the Hunt herself?

Jordanna Max Brodsky graduated from Harvard with a degree in History and Literature.  She has long been fascinated with Greek mythology, in particular the ways in which the Olympians have come to life for so many, for so long.  Here she imagines their inner lives as they lose their omnipotence and must find their way in our own modern world.  Her Artemis is like a female Dexter with 3,000 years of baggage to unpack.  THE IMMORTALS reimagines the milieu explored by Percy Jackson in much the same way The Magicians has for Harry Potter.

We’ll be publishing next February in both Orbit US & Orbit UK.