Posts Tagged ‘science fiction’

Acquisition Announcement: Children of Memory by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Orbit is thrilled to announce our acquisition of Children of Memory (US), the unmissable follow-up to the highly acclaimed Children of Time and Children of Ruin, by Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning author Adrian Tchaikovsky. In this modern classic of space opera, humanity continues to battle for survival in the stars.Children of Memory by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Earth failed. In a desperate bid to escape, the spaceship Enkidu carried its precious human cargo to a potential new paradise. Generations later, this fragile colony has managed to survive, eking out a hardy existence. Yet life is tough, and much technological knowledge has been lost.

 Then strangers appear. They possess unparalleled knowledge and thrilling technology—and they’ve arrived from another world—to help humanity’s colonies. But not all is as it seems, and the price of the strangers’ help may be the colony itself.

 

Children of Memory (US) will be on shelves in January 2023. While you wait, check out Children of Time and Children of Ruin. And if you want more Adrian Tchaikovsky, look no further than his new space opera trilogy, The Final Architecture—Shards of Earth and Eyes of the Void available now.

Children of Time by Adrian TchaikovskyChildren of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Shards of Earth by Adrian TchaikovskyEyes of the Void by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Praise for Adrian Tchaikovsky:

“Brilliant science fiction and far-out worldbuilding.” —James McAvoy on Children of Time

“One of the most interesting and accomplished writers in speculative fiction.” —Christopher Paolini

“A novel of sublime plot twists and spectacular set pieces, all underpinned by great ideas.” —Stephen Baxter on Children of Ruin

“Children of Time is a joy from start to finish. Entertaining, smart, surprising, and unexpectedly human.” —Patrick Ness

 

*Children of Memory is published by Pan Macmillan in the UK.

Acquisition Announcement: SOME DESPERATE GLORY by Emily Tesh

Orbit UK is  delighted to announce the acquisition of  World Fantasy Award-Winning author Emily Tesh’s highly anticipated debut novel, SOME DESPERATE GLORY. A thrillingly told queer space opera full of complex characters and boundless imagination. By turns epic and intimate, it’s coming-of-age story about what empires and systems of war do to the young soldiers in their care. It’s about overcoming indoctrination and who you must become when every choice is stripped from you.

Read on for a taste of what’s in store:

Kyr lives in the bowels of Gaea Station alongside the last scraps of humanity, training for the day she can avenge the destruction of planet Earth at the hands of the all-powerful, reality-shifting weapon known as the Wisdom. She trusts and even loves Command, but when they assign the wrong missions – her beloved brother Magnus to a useless suicide and her to bear sons until she dies trying – she knows she has to take humanity’s revenge into her own hands.

But she soon learns that not everything she’s been raised to believe is true and the Wisdom is far more complex and dangerous than she could ever have imagined.

 

Emily Tesh, a two-time Astounding Award finalist, is the author of the World Fantasy Award-winning Greenhollow Duology. She grew up in London and studied Classics at Trinity College, Cambridge, followed by a Master’s degree in Humanities at the University of Chicago. She now lives in Hertfordshire, where she passes her time teaching Latin and Ancient Greek to schoolchildren who have done nothing to deserve it. She has a husband and a cat. Neither of them knows any Latin yet, but it is not for lack of trying.

We can’t wait to share Some Desperate Glory with you next year! In the meantime, please join us in welcoming Emily to Orbit. You can find her on Instagram and at emilytesh.net.

Cover Launch: BEYOND THE HALLOWED SKY by Ken MacLeod

We’re delighted to reveal the cover for BEYOND THE HALLOWED SKY, the first novel in the Lightspeed trilogy, from science fiction legend Ken MacLeod.

Humankind is on the precipice of a great discovery – the invention of faster-than-light travel – that will unlock a universe of new possibilities, and new dangers. BEYOND THE HALLOWED SKY hits shelves in November and you can pre-order your copy now! Read on for a taste of what’s in store. . .

Cover design by Duncan Spilling

When a brilliant scientist gets a letter from herself about faster-than-light travel, she doesn’t know what to believe. The equations work, but her paper is discredited – and soon the criticism is more than scientific. Exiled by the establishment, she gets an offer to build her starship from an unlikely source. But in the heights of Venus and on a planet of another star, a secret is already being uncovered that will shake humanity to its foundations.

Praise for Ken MacLeod:

‘Ken MacLeod is up there with Banks and Hamilton as one of the British sci-fi authors you absolutely have to read’ SFX

‘He is writing revolutionary science fiction. A nova has appeared in our sky’ Kim Stanley Robinson, on The Star Fraction

‘Prose as sleek and fast as the technology it describes . . . watch this man go global’ Peter F. Hamilton on The Star Fraction

‘Science fiction’s freshest new writer . . . MacLeod is a fiercely intelligent, prodigiously well-read author who manages to fill his books with big issues without weighing them down’ Salon  

You can find Ken MacLeod on Twitter @amendlocke

An update regarding THE CULTURE: NOTES AND DRAWINGS by Iain M. Banks and Ken MacLeod

We are pleased to share an exciting publication update with everyone who has been looking forward to the release of The Culture: Notes and Drawings by Iain M. Banks and Ken MacLeod.

As fans of Iain M. Banks’ vastly popular Culture series will be aware, Iain painstakingly designed every element of the Culture’s universe long before the novels were first published. From ships to weapons, language to nomenclature, flora to fauna, the whole of the Culture existed in the form of intricate sketches, notes, tables and charts, many years ahead of its appearance in fiction.

This archival material provides a fascinating insight into Iain’s extraordinary mind. It was originally due to be published as a single volume, accompanied by text from the award-winning Ken MacLeod, who was a close friend of Iain’s. However, to ensure that Iain’s exceptionally detailed drawings can be appreciated in their original format and scale, we are delighted to announce that the material will now be published as two separate editions.

The first release will be a beautiful, full-colour, large-format landscape artbook called The Culture: The Drawings, which will present Iain’s drawings exactly as he intended them to be seen.

Following this, we will publish a Culture companion book that celebrates the world of the Culture through Iain’s own writing. With accompanying text from Ken MacLeod, it will include an extensive selection of Iain’s notes, tables and charts relating to the Culture universe, as well as extracts from the novels.

Given these changes in our publication plans, we are now cancelling the single edition entitled The Culture: Notes and Drawings that was scheduled for 14th October 2021. We’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who had pre-ordered this single edition, and we’ll soon be announcing the release dates for the two new publications mentioned above, so please follow @orbitbooks on Twitter for updates.

Cover Launch: FAR FROM THE LIGHT OF HEAVEN by Tade Thompson

We’re thrilled to announce that Arthur C. Clarke winner Tade Thompson is making a triumphant return to science fiction with FAR FROM THE LIGHT OF HEAVEN (US | UK: link coming soon), an unforgettable vision of humanity’s future among the stars. If you can’t wait until October 2021, head on over to io9 to see the spectacular cover and read an exclusive excerpt.

The colony ship Ragtime docks in the Lagos system, having travelled light years from home to bring one thousand sleeping souls to safety among the stars.

Some of the sleepers, however, will never wake – and a profound and sinister mystery unfolds aboard the gigantic vessel. Its skeleton crew are forced to make decisions that will have repercussions for all of humanity’s settlements – from the scheming politicians of Lagos station, to the colony planet of Bloodroot, to other far flung systems and indeed Earth itself.

Praise for Tade Thompson:

‘Tade Thompson is a writer of enormous heart and talent. Just brilliant’ Dave Hutchinson

‘Smart. Gripping. Fabulous!’ Ann Leckie on Rosewater

‘A magnificent tour de force, skilfully written and full of original and disturbing ideas’ Adrian Tchaikovsky on Rosewater

‘Mind-expanding and utterly addictive’ Mark Haddon, author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, on Rosewater

You can find Tade Thompson on Twitter @tadethompson.

Cover Launch: THE FIRST OMEGA by Megan E. O’Keefe

Megan E. O’Keefe proved she’s a science fiction master with her debut trilogy The Protectorate and now she’s bringing her prodigious talents to bear in this razor-sharp, action-packed new dystopian novella: The First Omega. Get excited to meet Riley—a hunter of men, a protector of the wasteland, and a goddamn force of nature—on March 30th.

Cover design by Lauren Panepinto and Lisa Marie Pompilio
Cover images by Shutterstock

Mad Max meets X-Men in this high-octane new dystopian novella by the Philip K Dick award-nominated author of Velocity Weapon.

It doesn’t matter what you call her. Riley. Burner. She forgot her name long ago. But if you steal from the supply lines crossing the wasteland, her face is the last one you’ll see. She is the force of nature that keeps the balance in the hot arid desert. Keep to yourself and she’ll leave you well enough alone. But it’s when you try to take more than you can chew that her employers notice and send her off to restore the balance. Then she gets the latest call. A supply truck knocked over too cleanly. Too precise. And the bodies scattering the wreckage weren’t killed by her normal prey of scavengers. These bodies are already rotting hours after the attack. Cowering in the corner of the wreckage is a young girl. A girl that shouldn’t be there. A girl with violently blue eyes. Just like hers.

Want to read more from the author? Check out VELOCITY WEAPON (US | UK) book one of The Protectorate.

Cover Launch: SHARDS OF EARTH by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Arthur C. Clarke award-winning author, Adrian Tchaikovsky has written his most visionary and exciting space opera yet. The start of a new series, SHARDS OF EARTH is a tale of ancient alien enemies, heroes long forgotten, and a strange artifact buried on the far outskirts of space that could harbinger a new intergalactic war. This sparkling, inventive novel for fans of James S. A. Corey and John Scalzi is a joy from start to finish and sure to be on your shelf of all-time space opera greats! While you wait for it to publish on August 3rd, check out the book’s incredible cover!

Cover Design © Steve Stone

The war is over. Its heroes forgotten. Until one chance discovery . . .

Idris has neither aged nor slept since they remade him in the war. And one of humanity’s heroes now scrapes by on a freelance salvage vessel, to avoid the attention of greater powers.

After earth was destroyed, mankind created a fighting elite to save their species, enhanced humans such as Idris. In the silence of space they could communicate, mind-to-mind, with the enemy. Then their alien aggressors, the Architects, simply disappeared – and Idris and his kind became obsolete.

Now, fifty years later, Idris and his crew have discovered something strange abandoned in space. It’s clearly the work of the Architects – but are they returning? And if so, why? Hunted by gangsters, cults and governments, Idris and his crew race across the galaxy hunting for answers. For they now possess something of incalculable value, that many would kill to obtain.

ICYMI: THE BODY SCOUT by Lincoln Michel

Orbit is thrilled to share the cover for Lincoln Michel’s diamond-sharp sci-fi neo-noir, THE BODY SCOUT. When his brother is murdered at home plate, a hardboiled baseball scout will have to plumb the underbelly of a New York transformed by climate change body modification to get revenge—but this is a game far bigger and more dangerous than he could have imagined.

Lithub unveiled the striking cover for The Body Scout, designed by Orbit’s own Lauren Panepinto, along with an early excerpt—click through for a sneak peek of the first chapter!

The Body Scout will be out in print, ebook, and audio in October. Read on for a short description of this unmissable near-future thriller:

In the future you can have anybody you want–as long as you can afford it.

In a New York ravaged by climate change and repeat pandemics, Kobo is barely scraping by. He scouts the latest in gene-edited talent for Big Pharma-owned baseball teams, but his own cybernetics are a decade out of date and twin sister loan sharks are banging down his door. Things couldn’t get much worse.

Then his adoptive brother—Monsanto Mets slugger J.J. Zunz—is murdered at home plate.

Determined to find the killer, Kobo plunges into a world of genetically modified CEOs, philosophical Neanderthals, and back-alley body modification, only to quickly find he’s in a game far bigger and more corrupt than he imagined. To keep himself together while the world is falling apart, he’ll have to navigate a time when both body and soul are sold to the highest bidder.

Diamond-sharp and savagely wry, The Body Scout is a timely science fiction thriller set in an all-too-possible future.

 

 

Cover Launch: THE WORLD GIVES WAY by Marissa Levien

A surreal world, a fatal secret, and a woman on the run against time itself come together in Marrisa Levien’s stunning debut, THE WORLD GIVES WAY. Bursting with evocative worldbuilding and beautifully drawn characters, this novel is an unforgettable exploration of a society in freefall, and finding humanity in the most unlikely of places.

This incredible story now has an equally gorgeous cover—feast your eyes on THE WORLD GIVES WAY below, coming to your nearest bookstore June 2021. And be sure to say hello to Marissa on Twitter at @marissalevien after preordering or adding it to your TBR!

Cover design by Lisa Marie Pompilio

In a near-future world on the brink of collapse, a young woman born into servitude must seize her own freedom in this stunning debut with an unforgettable twist

In fifty years, Myrra will be free.

Until then, she’s a contract worker. Ever since she was five, her life and labor have belonged to the highest bidder on her contract–butchers, laundries, and now the powerful, secretive Carlyles.

But when one night finds the Carlyles dead, Myrra is suddenly free a lot sooner than she anticipated–and at a cost she never could have imagined. Burdened with the Carlyles’ orphaned daughter and the terrible secret they died to escape, she runs. With time running out, Myrra must come face to face with the truth about her world–and embrace what’s left before it’s too late.

A powerful novel with a darkly glimmering heart, The World Gives Way shows us an impossible world that uncannily reflects our own, and embraces the fierce drive to live even at the end of it all.

 

 

 

 

 

Cover Launch – INHIBITOR PHASE by Alastair Reynolds 

Orbit is proud to be publishing a stellar new science fiction adventure from the author who redefined space opera, Alastair Reynolds – set in his bestselling Revelation Space universe! Feast your eyes on the stunning, star-studded cover for INHIBITOR PHASE, coming to shelves near you next year on July 27th, 2021.

Eager to learn more about Alastair Reynolds’ Revelation Space universe before INHIBITOR PHASE launches next summer, but not sure where to start? Learn all about Reynolds’ novels here – for fans of Mass Effect, Leviathan Wakes, Six Wakes, and more!

 

Design by Lauren Panepinto
Art by Shutterstock

Praise for Alastair Reynolds

“A terrific treat. I was hooked from page one.” ―Stephen Baxter on Revelation Space

“A delight. A refreshing and entertaining reconsideration of some of the genre’s oldest tropes. Quite possibly the space opera of the year.”―Locus on Revelation Space

“Something new and exciting…absolutely first-rate.”―The Cleveland Plain Dealer on Revelation Space

“This is science fiction on a large, cosmological scale, and Reynolds does not lack in big ideas…Many of the ideas in Revelation Space are awe-inspiring…cutting-edge and convincingly rendered.”―SF Site on Revelation Space

“[A] sci-fi tour de force… Clearly intoxicated by cutting-edge scientific research in bioengineering, space physics, cybernetics Reynolds spins a ravishingly inventive tale of intrigue.”―Publishers Weekly on Revelation Space

“Clearly one of the year’s major science fiction novels…The book Reynolds’s readers have been waiting for.”―Locus on Redemption Ark

“If you like hard SF…with fast-paced action and hard-boiled characters…you’re in for a great ride.”―SF Site on Redemption Ark

“The best of the new breed of space opera. Wild action on a grand scale spans well-imagined and developed worlds-bold and new with sharply defined differences in both characters and the changed definitions of humanity.”―The Denver Post on Redemption Ark

“A large, sprawling tale of war, politics, ideology and alien invasion. Skilled narrative technique and well-developed characters make this a novel most readers will find absorbing.”―Booklist on Redemption Ark

“With this complex, thoughtful sequel to his highly praised Revelation Space, British author Reynolds confirms his place among the leaders of the hard-science space-opera renaissance…. It’s rare to find a writer with sufficient nerve and stamina to write novels that are big enough to justify using words like “revelation” and “redemption.” Reynolds pulls it off.”―Publisher Weekly on Redemption Ark

“Alastair Reynolds [is] one of the leading lights of the New Space Opera Movement.”— Locus on Revenger

 “Reynolds has sketched in a galaxy littered with the relics of former civilizations (human and alien), with plenty left to the reader’s imagination, and room for a sequel.” — Library Journal on Revenger