Posts Tagged ‘science fiction’

New Acquisition: FORTUNA by Kristyn Merbeth

Orbit has acquired world English rights to science fiction author Kristyn Merbeth’s galaxy-spanning space opera trilogy about a family of interplanetary smugglers. In the far future, five generation ships travel to a distant galaxy to settle on five habitable planets. As each planet develops, new customs and traditions arise. And the longer these planets go without communication, the more hate and fear shut them off from each other, until eventually, the system is on the brink of all-out war.

Book One, FORTUNA, follows Scorpia Kaiser, a young woman who must assume leadership of her family’s space-faring black-market business dealings after her mother, the matriarch, steps down. Now, she discovers that she has inherited far more than a ship and a crew, and her decisions will have dire ramifications for all of humanity’s newest homes.

The trilogy has the vast scope of your favorite space operas, and an action-packed pace to keep the pages turning. FORTUNA is scheduled for Fall 2019.

Cover Launch: THE LAST ASTRONAUT by David Wellington

Science fiction often explores the vast expanse of space, generation ships, and galactic dogfights. But, what if we simply gave up on navigating the stars?

The Last Astronaut by David Wellington is a thrilling, near-future science fiction novel that explores a future where manned missions to space have become a thing of the past. Except now, an unknown object has arrived in our solar system.

For ex-astronaut Sally Jensen, this means executing a mission into space that no one could possibly be prepared for. We thought we no longer needed her . . .

Design by Lauren Panepinto; Images by Arcangel

Sally Jensen, the last astronaut to travel beyond our orbit, must build, train, and lead her team on the first mission to make first contact with an alien object. 

It entered our solar system, slowed down off the rings of Saturn, and began a steady approach towards Earth.

Having forsaken manned missions the space programs of the world scramble to meet the visitor by enlisting forcefully-retired NASA legend Sally Jansen, the only person with the first-hand knowledge and operational experience capable of meeting this new visitor and finding out its purpose.

With no time to spare she must plan and execute a mission from scratch and lead a crew with no experience farther than mankind has ever travelled to make contact.

But each passing day brings it closer to home.

THE LAST ASTRONAUT launches in May 2019.

Cover Launch: SPLINTERED SUNS by Michael Cobley

Here at Orbit we love an action-packed, galaxy-spanning space opera, and Michael Cobley’s new Humanity’s Fire novel, SPLINTERED SUNS (UK|US|ANZ), ticks all the boxes! With a spaceship crewed by rogues and scoundrels, this latest offering from the author of Seeds of Earth is perfect for fans of Star Wars, Firefly or Farscape  Feast your eyes on the recently revealed cover below:

 

Splintered SunsIllustration by Steve Stone. Design by Charlotte Stroomer.

 

Splintered Suns will hit the shops in December. Read on for a taste of what’s in store:

For Pyke and his crew it should have been just another heist. Travel to a backwater desert planet, break into a museum, steal a tracking device then use it to find a ship buried in the planet’s vast and trackless sandy wastes.
Except that the museum vault is a bio-engineered chamber, and the tracking device is sought after by another gang of treasure hunters led by an old adversary of Pyke’s, the devious Raven Kaligara. Also, the ship is a quarter of a million years old and about two kilometres long and somewhere aboard it is the Essavyr Key, a relic to unlock all the treasures and technologies of a lost civilisation . . .

2018 Locus Awards Nominations

The 2018 Locus Awards nominations are in and we’re excited to announce seven Orbit books made the list!

Science Fiction

PERSEPOLIS RISING cover Paperback cover of Kim Stanley Robinson's NEW YORK 2140

PERSEPOLIS RISING by James S. A. Corey [US | UK | ANZ]

PROVENANCE by Ann Leckie [US | UK | ANZ]

NEW YORK 2140 [US | UK | ANZ]

Fantasy

THE STONE SKY by N. K. Jemisin [US | UK | ANZ]

JADE CITY by Fonda Lee [US | UK | ANZ]

THE DELIRIUM BRIEF by Charles Stross [UK | ANZ]

First Novel

AUTONOMOUS by Annalee Newitz [UK | ANZ]

Orbit is also among the top ten publishers nominated in the best publisher category! Check out the full list of nominees here. Winners will be announced during the Locus Awards Weekend in Seattle WA, June 22-24, 2018. Congratulations to all of the nominees.

Acquisition Announcement: Megan O’Keefe’s Space Opera

The next big space opera is coming… will you be ready? We’re not one to toot our own horn (okay, maybe a little), but we just can’t be humble about this: Orbit has just acquired a brilliant space opera trilogy by Morningstar award winning author Megan O’Keefe. Think epic space battles, intergalactic politics, and rogue AI with deadly secrets and you’re halfway to figuring out why we love this so much. Here’s a little teaser as to what it’s about:

The last thing Sanda remembers is her gunship breaking up around her as her preserving pod expanded, sealing herself away for salvage-medics to pick up. She expected to awaken in friendly hands, patched up and patched back into a new gunship. Instead, she awakens 230 years later upon an empty enemy smartship, The Light of Berossus or, as he prefers to be called, “Bero”. The war is lost. The star system is dead.

However, Bero may not exactly be telling the whole truth.

Megan O’Keefe’s Orbit debut is scheduled for Summer 2019. But in the meantime, go say hello to Megan on twitter @MeganEOkeefe.

Cover Launch: ANNEX by Rich Larson

ANNEX, the first book in Rich Larson’s debut series, is out July 24th. This stunning science fiction novel, about a young transgender girl who fights to take back her city from alien invaders, has an equally stunning cover.

Click here to see the full cover in B&N Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog’s exclusive coverage—and watch a video of the cover being painted!

Artwork by Gregory Manchess; Design by Lisa Marie Pompilio

Cover Launch: THERE BEFORE THE CHAOS by K. B. Wagers

THERE BEFORE THE CHAOS, the first installment of the Farian War trilogy by K. B. Wagers, will publish in October. In the meantime, here’s an early preview of the cover, designed by Lauren Panepinto, with amazing art by Stephan Martiniere!

A galactic conflict between two alien empires threatens to engulf all of humanity. What’s a newly-crowned empress to do? If you’re Hail Bristol—ex-gunrunner, current Empress of Indrana, perennial firebrand—you undertake that most sensitive of diplomatic interventions yourself. But in the depths of space, nothing goes according to plan…

Design by Lauren Panepinto; Art by Stephan Martiniere

2018 Audie Awards Finalists

We’re thrilled to announce three Orbit audio books made it to the finals of the 2018 Audie Awards!

Best Female Narrator
THE STONE SKY by N.K. Jemisin (US), Read by Robin Miles

Science Fiction
PROVENANCE by Ann Leckie (US | UK), Read by Adjoa Andoh
THE STONE SKY by N.K. Jemisin (US), Read by Robin Miles
NEW YORK 2140 by Kim Stanley Robinson (US | UK), Read by Suzanne Toren, Robin Miles, Peter Ganim, Jay Snyder, Caitlin Kelly, Michael Crouch, Ryan Vincent Anderson, Christopher Ryan Grant, and Robert Blumenfeld

The winners will be announced at the Audie Awards Gala on May 31st.

Congratulations to our authors, Hachette Audio, and the rest of the nominees!

Listen to samples of our nominated audiobooks:

Listen to THE STONE SKY here.

Listen to NEW YORK 2140 here.

Listen to PROVENANCE here.

Cover Launch: The Labyrinth Index by Charles Stross

The Labyrinth Index by Charles Stross

Feast your eyes on the latest Charles Stross cover, with design by Crush Creative and Ellen Rockell. THE LABYRINTH INDEX, coming later this year, is the ninth novel in The Laundry Files, where spy thrillers meet the supernatural . . .

Britain is under New Management. The disbanding of the Laundry – the British espionage agency that deals with supernatural threats, has culminated in the unthinkable – an elder god in residence in 10 Downing Street.
But in true ‘the enemy of my enemy’ fashion, Mhairi Murphy finds herself working with His Excellency Nylarlathotep on foreign policy – there are worse things, it seems, than an elder god in power, and they lie in deepest, darkest America.
A thousand-mile-wide storm system has blanketed the midwest, and the president is nowhere to be found – Mhari must lead a task force of disgraced Laundry personnel into the storm front to discover the truth. But working for an elder god is never easy, and as the stakes rise, Mhari will soon question exactly where her loyalties really lie.

Cover Launch: EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU by Heather Child

We’re beyond excited to share the cover for Heather Child’s cutting-edge debut novel EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU (UK|AUS). Gripping, heartrending and quietly terrifying, this  novel imagines a world where people can be recreated as data ghosts and lives can be changed by the information they’ve left behind. It’s perfect for fans of Black Mirror and Margaret Atwood.

 

Everything About You

Cover designed by Ellen Rockell at Little, Brown Book Group

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

Freya has a new virtual assistant. It knows what she likes, knows what she wants and knows whose voice she most needs to hear: her missing sister’s.

It adopts her sister’s personality, recreating her through a life lived online. This data ghost knows everything about Freya’s sister: every date she ever went on, every photo she took, every secret she ever shared.

In fact it knows things it shouldn’t be possible to know. It’s almost as if her sister is still out there somewhere, feeding fresh updates into the cloud. But that’s impossible. Isn’t it?

EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU will be available in hardback, ebook and audio from 26 April.