Posts Tagged ‘Ian Irvine’

Epic Fantasy Interview Swap – Ian Irvine interviews Helen Lowe

Last week we showed you the first part of this interview, in which Helen Lowe interviewed Ian Irvine about the publication of his brand new epic fantasy series, The Tainted Realm. This week the tables have turned! Click through to the interview to read more . . .

Ian: I haven’t done an interview swap with another author before, and it’s been a challenging experience to be put on the spot by Helen Lowe, who also writes epic fantasy and loves it as much as I do. But now I get to ask her the hard questions!

Covers of the two published books in Helen Lowe's epic fantasy series The Wall of Night

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Epic Fantasy Interview Swap – Helen Lowe interviews Ian Irvine

April’s such a great month for epic fantasy fans, with the release of both Ian Irvine’s VENGEANCE and Helen Lowe’s THE GATHERING OF THE LOST! We wanted to celebrate by doing something a bit different on the blog –  and we thought: ‘Who better to interview a fantasy author than another fantasy author?’

This is the first part of that interview, in which Helen interviews Ian about his new series The Tainted Realm. Look out for the second part, when Ian interviews Helen, this time next week!

Click through to hear all about Ian’s pet hates in fantasy, how his background as a marine scientist affects his writing, and also just what’s wrong with magic in Harry Potter…

This image shows both the cover of Vengeance and the cover of The Gathering of the Lost (more…)

VENGEANCE is ours!

Vengeance by Ian IrvineInternationally bestselling author Ian Irvine kicked off a new series this April with VENGEANCE (US | UK | AUS), a gritty adventure for the discerning epic fantasy reader. Tali is a slave in a subterranean world governed by fear and violence. She has never seen the light of day. Rix is a young Lord of Hightspall who lives in the light but is tormented by dark, apocalyptic visions. A shocking act of violence from the past connects this unlikely pair, who must unite to stand against a powerful foe.

This is epic fantasy at its best: Irvine’s world is lovingly built, and full of action, intrigue, and depth. And deadly shapeshifting beasts! We hope you’ll share our enthusiasm for a writer “comfortably ranked next to … Robert Jordan and David Eddings and, more appropriately, the mighty Anne McCaffrey” (SFX).

Read an excerpt from VENGEANCE

Read an excerpt from VENGEANCE

Ten years ago, two children witnessed a murder that still haunts them as adults. Now a chance meeting brings these two strangers together to uncover the secrets of a kingdom and evil that will throw the land into chaos.

Vengeance by Ian IrvineVENGEANCE (US | UK | AUS)  is an epic tale of revenge and redemption from Ian Irvine, one of fantasy’s finest storytellers. Read an excerpt from the first book of The Tainted Realms series.

“Matriarch Ady, can I check the Solaces for you?” said Wil, staring at the locked basalt door behind her. “Can I, please?”

Ady frowned at the quivering, cross-eyed youth, then laid her scribing tool beside the partly engraved sheet of spelter and flexed her aching fingers. “The Solaces are for the matriarchs’ eyes only. Go and polish the clangours.”

Wil, who was neither handsome nor clever, knew that Ady only kept him around because he worked hard. And because, years ago, he had revealed a gift for shillilar, morrow-sight. Having been robbed of their past, the matriarchs used even their weakest tools to protect Cython’s future.

Though Wil was so lowly that he might never earn a tattoo, he desperately wanted to be special, to matter. But he had another reason for wanting to look at the Solaces, one he dared not mention to anyone. A later shillilar had told him that there was something wrong, something the matriarchs weren’t telling them. Perhaps—heretical thought—something they didn’t know.

Click to read more

Books are for Life, Not Just for Christmas

As we settle in to the New Year, and start looking ahead to some of the fantastic books 2010 is sure to bring us, it behooves us to remember that all of the books cramming the shelves before 25th December are still available. Owing to a warehouse move, our January titles won’t be published until the 21st of the month, so while we wait for the extraordinary array of new releases and exciting new editions of existing favourites, let us remind you of the wonderful titles we published in December 2009.  

In alphabetical order (for who would dare choose among them?!), Orbit’s December stars were:  

Jim Butcher, with Princeps’ Fury, the fifth volume of his bestselling Roman-influenced fantasy, The Codex Alera. (UK / ANZ)
After bitter fighting, Tavi of Calderon has eventually forged an alliance with Alera’s oldest foes, the savage Canim, and he must escort them on their long sea-voyage home. This will strain their fragile accord – but the worst is yet to come . . .  


‘Absorbing fantasy…an abundance of convincing detail’ Publishers Weekly  


Full Circle, the final volume of Pamela Freeman’s wonderful Castings Trilogy. (UK / ANZ / US)
Saker has devoted himself to dark enchantments and desires nothing but vengeance. And vengeance he has in abundance. His ghost army is slaughtering those of the new blood, fuelled by an ancient wrong. But while Saker had thought revenge would be simple, he’s now plagued by voices foreshadowing a calamity beyond his comprehension . . .  

‘An impressively different fantasy novel’ Sydney Morning Herald
 
  
The conclusion to Charlie Huston’s acclaimed Joe Pitt sequence, My Dead Body. (UK / ANZ)
Manhattan’s Vampyre clans have at last abandoned any claims on civility and have finally sprung fully for each others’ throats. The carefully maintained peace is forgotten. When the stakes are this high, there can be no neutrality – only winners and losers. But when the blood stops flowing, what side will Joe Pitt be on . . . ?  

‘One of the most remarkable prose stylists to emerge from the noir tradition in this century’ Stephen King

 
Ian Irvine’s triumphant conclusion to the climactic Song of the Tears trilogy, Destiny of the Dead. (UK)
Nish and his remaining allies are trapped on the Range of Ruin, surrounded by the relentless army of his father, the God-Emperor. And Nish’s choices seem limited: a humiliating surrender, or a suicidal fight to the death . . .   

 

‘For sheer excitement, there’s just no-one else like Irvine around at the moment’ SFX

  
And finally, Beyond the Wall of Time, the shattering conclusion to Russell Kirkpatrick’s majestic second trilogy, The Broken Man. (UK /US)
The wall of time has fallen, leaving the Gods free to indulge their hunger for violence. Few know of their escape into mortal lands – and these few struggle against the control of the malevolent mage Husk and with their own problems.  

 
‘Not since Tolkien have I been so awed’ Trudi Canavan
  

 A fine way to see out the year, we’re sure you’ll agree. Stay tuned for some first chapter extracts.