Posts Tagged ‘Joe Abercrombie’

Fall 12 Winter 13 US COVERS: EARLY LOOKS

So we’re still in development on a lot of new covers for the Fall 2012/Winter 2013 Season, but many covers are done (or very very close to final) so we wanted to share those with you. There are some amazing titles here, which I can vouch for, since you know I read as much as I can while I’m working. As usual, we’ll be launching these one by one with some fabulous behind-the-scenes videos, covers in development, etc. So stay tuned! And keep checking in for the covers that are so deep in development that we can’t even show you yet…

I’ll be releasing the full credits in the individual cover launches, but I know some of you are going to be reposting, so here are the quick credits: Spirit’s End illustration by Sam Weber, design by Lauren Panepinto. American Elsewhere design by Kirk Benshoff, Folly of the World design by Lauren Panepinto, The Queen is Dead photo by House of Indulgence, Illustration by Don Sipley, design by Lauren Panepinto. The Red Knight illustration by Epica Prima, design by Lauren Panepinto. Seven Kings illustration by Richard Anderson, design by Lauren Panepinto. Out for Blood illustration by Nekro, design by Lauren Panepinto. Wolfhound Century design by Lauren Panepinto. 3 x Michael Cobley illustrations by Steve Stone, design by Kirk Benshoff. Godspeaker photo by Shirley Green, design by Kirk Benshoff. Jill Kismet photo by Michael Frost, Illustration by Gene Mollica, design by Lauren Panepinto. The Soddit illustration by Douglas Carrel, design by Lauren Panepinto. Emperor Mollusk illustration/design by Will Staehle. Cold Fire illustration by Larry Rostant, design by Peter Cotton. Sapkowski x 3 illustrations by CD Projekt Red & Massive Black, design by Lauren Panepinto. Rebellion design by Lauren Panepinto.

Locus’s 2011 Recommended Reading List

Locus published their 2011 Recommended Reading List today, and you’ll see a lot of Orbit authors among their choices:

  • Leviathan Wakes, James S.A. Corey (US | UK | ANZ)
  • Deadline, Mira Grant (US | UK | ANZ)
  • Rule 34, Charles Stross (UK | ANZ)
  • The Heroes, Joe Abercrombie (US)
  • The Dragon’s Path, Daniel Abraham (US | UK | ANZ)
  • Heartless, Gail Carriger (US | UK | ANZ)
  • The Fallen Blade, Jon Courtenay Grimwood (US | UK | ANZ)
  • The Kingdom of Gods, N.K. Jemisin (US | UK | ANZ)
  • The Hammer, K.J. Parker (US | UK | ANZ)

And, in case you missed them the first time around, keep reading for a round-up of other Best of 2011 lists!

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NPR’s Best SFF of 2011

NPR posted their list of The Year’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy today, and we were pleased to see Joe Abercrombie’s The Heroes (US) get a mention! Lev Grossman called Abercrombie “not nearly as well-known in the U.S. as he should be,” and sung the praises of his gritty style of fantasy:

It’s as if Tolkien cared about the back story of every individual orc: Each soldier is one among thousands, floundering in the fog of war, but each feels like he’s living out a tragedy or a triumph with himself as the hero. There’s no right side and wrong side — even the warriors aren’t sure which is which — and in the end the question of who’s the real hero comes down to who survives to tell the story.

The rest of the list has some other great books, so be sure to take a look.

Wallpapers for THE HEROES by JOE ABERCROMBIE

I loved working on these epic covers of badassery (technical term) with Gene Mollica & Michael Frost…so now that The Heroes is out, it’s totally time for wallpapers! I think these covers are set to volume 11, just like Joe Abercrombie’s writing, so if you like gritty, brutal, real-life epic fantasy with fabulous characters and a helping of political backstabbing, then you really should pick up The Heroes, out now in Trade Paperback.

Here’s all the wallpaper download links…if anyone needs a specific dimension made, let us know!

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

Cover Launch: JOE ABERCROMBIE in Trade Paperback!

I am so freaking excited to finally let these covers out into the world. Joe Abercrombie is one of Orbit’s most exciting authors (never mind the snarkiest) and I have been dying to take a fresh look at some of his covers. When I read his books I feel like I am watching a movie, and I just wanted to get across that sense of action and brutality and sheer bloodiness all into the cover at once. So, stealing some style markers from hi-action sports photography married to a lot of fantastic armament (some things you just can’t fake in photoshop), we present to you the most badass covers I have ever had a hand in. As you can see from the process shots after the jump, we got a lot of the shot done in the camera, thanks to the technical wizardry of photographer Michael Frost. Photo-illustrator Gene Mollica hunted down all the proper bits of armor and sharp pointy things (some of which he had custom made because he is such a perfectionist), and then when it was his turn to illustrate, he turned the already-fantastic photos into sheer magic in post-production. We also have to thank Adam Becker for the use of his great action pose ability, and Heather Ann Burton for her scowling personification of Monza.

I admit I was a bit terrified to show these to Joe…these covers have more in common with movie posters than most covers in the fantasy section…and Joe is a really savvy author on visuals — he’s had a lot of different styles, and he’s not afraid to give his opinion. And I was in love with these, which makes it even more stressful showing the author. So what did he say?

“It’s got attitude, it’s got individuality, it’s got big forearms.”

More from Joe (and big cover shots…and animated process covers! ) after the jump…

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Ingredients for a Fantasy Battle

As a writer you take your inspiration wherever you can find it – from everything you read, watch, play, experience and particularly like or don’t – and I’ve always found myself as much influenced by film, TV, and computer games as I am by books. In writing The Heroes, then, the fantasy war-story of a single great battle told from various points of view on both sides – and which I’ve occasionally pitched as Lord of the Rings meets A Bridge Too Far – war films, and scenes of battle of all kinds, from the fantastic to the brutally realist, were just as much on my mind as books on the subject. Here are some of my filmic touchstones for summoning up a realistic fantasy battle…
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Cover Launch: THE HEROES by Joe Abercrombie

And you thought we couldn’t get any bloodier than Best Served Cold? Here to prove you wrong is the cover of The Heroes, by Joe Abercrombie. It’s a standalone story, which is great for readers who haven’t read Joe Abercrombie before, but it’s set in the same world as The First Law Trilogy and Best Served Cold, and fans of those books will definitely be recognizing returning characters.

This is the hardcover version, so we’re keeping the general style of the somewhat controversial Best Served Cold hardcover, then we’ll be repackaging for mass market paperback with the graphic Best Served Cold mass market style. Just a quick note: the map in the background is not final, it’s the one I stole as a placeholder from BSC, until the artist finishes the new map. Steve Stone, an Orbit Books favorite, was responsible for the image reflected in the, um, gore. I’ll repost the cover with the new map when it’s finished, but this one was drawn by Dave Senior. (Yours truly was responsible for the agonizing blood photoshopping.) (more…)

Want blood? Some revenge? A few murders thrown in?

Then check out BEST SERVED COLD by Joe Abercrombie – out today in the US.

It’s everything your twisted little heart could ever want. But don’t trust just us — check out this video of Joe talking about the book.

Still not convinced? George R.R. Martin had this to say about Joe’s latest:

Monza Murcatto, the Snake of Talins, could teach even Gully Foyle and Kirth Gersen a few things about revenge. The battles are vivid and visceral, the action brutal, the pace headlong, and Abercrombie piles the betrayals, reversals, and plot twists one atop another to keep us guessing how it will all come out. This is his best book yet. All that’s missing is a map.” — George R.R. Martin

Don’t miss out on the fun, and meet the deadly lady herself: Monza Murcatto, the Snake of Talins.

Joe Abercrombie vs. Brent Weeks

In a literary feud certain to divide the genre, Joe Abercrombie, author of Best Served Cold (US) and Brent Weeks, author of the Night Angel Trilogy (US|UK|AUS) , have thrown down the gauntlets, stomped their boots threateningly, and now meet in the gladiatorial arena of Babel Clash.

Their first disagreement involves blogging, naturally.

Says Brent: “J.R.R. didn’t blog; George R. R. does. William Shakespeare didn’t; Joe Abercrombie does. Need I say more?”

Responds Joe: “J.R.R. would definitely have blogged had he had the technology available, but he was totally a console guy, played way too much Halo, and wouldn’t allow a PC in his home. Shakespeare? Have you read the sonnets? Obviously primitive blogs. Some of them he even printed out from his Sinclair ZX80, they have some of the original silvery whorls of printer tape in a glass case in the foyer of the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford. FACT.”

Be sure to tune in over the next two weeks as these two new stars of fantasy put the CLASH in Babel Clash.

Best Served Cold “Best Book Yet” — G.R.R.M.

George R. R. Martin weighs in:

Joe Abercrombie’s BEST SERVED COLD is a bloody and relentless epic of vengeance and obsession in the grand tradition, a kind of splatterpunk sword ‘n sorcery COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO, Dumas by way of Moorcock. His cast features tyrants and torturers, a pair of poisoners, a serial killer, a treacherous drunk, a red-handed warrior and a blood-soaked mercenary captain. And those are the good guys. Monza Murcatto, the Snake of Talins, could teach even Gully Foyle and Kirth Gersen a few things about revenge. The battles are vivid and visceral, the action brutal, the pace headlong, and Abercrombie piles the betrayals, reversals, and plot twists one atop another to keep us guessing how it will all come out. This is his best book yet. All that’s missing is a map.