Posts Tagged ‘science fiction’

New (Eyebending) Wallpaper for Simon Morden’s Trilogy

I know it’s been a little while since we’ve done a fun wallpaper in the house (It was a great wallpaper too – Leviathan Wakes, if you didn’t download it you totally should!). So, I have written before about how much I love how the covers for the Simon Morden books came out, and have taken the opportunity to do a poster, a video, and now…wallpapers! Just in time for the third book to hit shelves. So make sure you go pick up Equations of Life, Theories of Flight, and Degrees of Freedom…

Available for screens of all sizes, now you can carry a mind-warping piece of the Metrozone with you everywhere! I even finally figured out how to make the ipad version work with the vertical/horizontal twist. As usual, if I missed a specific screen size you’d like, leave a comment and I’ll format it for you!

1024 x 768 | 1280 x 800 | 1440 x 900 | 1680 x 1050 | 1920 x 1200 | iPhone | iPad | Netbook (1024×600)

Interviewing and Reading Ken MacLeod

‘This is one of the great ironies of contemporary literature: the books that ask the deepest and most profound questions tend to be situated in the most marginalised of genres . . . Ken MacLeod’s The Restoration Game, like his previous novels The Execution Channel and The Night Sessions, are works of science fiction so worryingly close to reality that he may well be hailed as a prophet . . .’

So says Scotland on Sunday and I’m hardly inclined to argue. As you can see, Ken MacLeod‘s latest novel, The Restoration Game, published earlier this month, is already garnering high praise from the critics:

As ever, MacLeod’s grasp of political intrigue is first rate, and in Lucy he’s created a complex heroine forever in doubt as to the true nature of events’ Guardian

This is a writer at the peak of his powers’ SFX

 

Hear! Hear! And to celebrate publication, we are delighted to present this small but perfectly formed interview that Ken did on a recent trip to Orbit Towers.

What, exactly, is the hitherto undisclosed secret of Ken MacLeod? Watch closely and learn. The answer may shock you . . .


Cover Launch: LIGHTBORN

Tricia Sullivan is the Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning author of an impressive body of work, including Maul, Double Vision and Sound Mind.  Here’s just a sample of the praise that has been heaped upon her work:

‘A challenging, disturbing, often compulsive read’ Time Out

‘Tricia Sullivan returns to science fiction not a second too soon . . . I haven’t enjoyed a book so much in a long time’ Guardian

‘Painfully gripping throughout – read it if you dare’ The Times

‘Maul confirms an increasingly badly-kept secret – Sullivan is one of the best and most ambitious SF writers around’ Dreamwatch

‘Intelligent, sensitive and engrossing . . . You’ll be thinking about it long after you’ve finished reading’  SFX

‘Tricia Sullivan is why I refuse to give up on science fiction’ Pat Cadigan, Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning author

 
I think it’s clear from the above that Tricia is almost universally regarded as an audacious and original voice in modern science fiction. And what better way to signal that to the reader than with an audacious and original cover. Ladies and gentlemen (and other forms of life – we’re not speciesist at Orbit!), we give you Lightborn:

Lightborn is a revolutionary new technology that has transformed the modern world.

Better known as ‘shine’, it is the ultimate in education, self-improvement and entertainment – beamed directly into the mind of anyone who can meet the asking price.

But what do you do if the shine in question has a mind of its own . . . ?

 

Lightborn will be published in October. Design by Nathan Burton Design. Art direction by Duncan Spilling – LBBG.

Two Trick Pony

One of the worst things that happens to writers (or actors, painters, composers) is getting stuck in a rut…to feel like, or be seen as, a one-trick pony.  One trick is never enough–not for the audience, and not for the writer.  More tricks are more fun. (more…)

THE horror debut of 2010

Robert Jackson Bennett has had such incredible reviews that we just had to share…

‘Mr Shivers is a startling debut, a deft amalgam of thriller, cerebral horror and American gothic, written with a stark and artful simplicity that complements the examination of struggling humanity pushed to its limits.’
The Guardian

‘Bennett’s novel is as riveting in its slow-burning accumulation of tension as it is atmospheric in its period evocation … The economical, persuasive characterisation and the sudden shocking outbursts of horror owe something to [Stephen] King, the master of contemporary horror, but the brilliantly realised picture of dustbowl America is firmly in the [John] Steinbeck tradition.  It’s not stretching a point to say that, at times, Bennett’s stinging but hauntingly poetic prose aspires to the quality of that author’s best work … This terrifying odyssey through a blighted period in American history will stick in readers’ minds for a long time.’
Daily Express

‘A ravishing debut … Supremely chilling, it never loses its grip in its journey to the edge of the apocalypse.’
Daily Mail

‘Bennett is clearly a writer to watch’
The Times

‘From start to bloody conclusion, the tension slowly crescendos to a climax of high violence.  This bloody, uncomfortable read will be relished by any fan of early Stephen King or Peter Straub.’
Waterstone’s Books Quarterly (more…)

Cover Launch: VERSION 43

In book design generally, but especially in sci-fi/fantasy book covers, there’s always a lot of talk about series looks, and sometimes that extends to author looks. Even if an author isn’t writing books in a series, I always attempt to establish a look for them that can tie together all of their books. As a fan, I love it when an author has a really distinctive look, so I can tell it’s a new book by them from a mile away. Yes, I know as a geek AND a designer I do pay more attention to these things, but I think it is safe to say sci-fi/fantasy fans are a design-aware bunch and very much notice these things. I get a little thrill when I see a whole row of books that are recognizably in a unit. That’s why I like to pay attention to spines alot, and try to get as much art (albeit small art) on them as I can.

That is why I am very excited to launch Philip Palmer’s next cover: Version 43. (more…)