New from Orbit Books

On Wednesday, I went out for lunch with some folks from Orbit Books (I love having my own blog! Free books and lunch too…) who gave me a sneak peek at what they’ve got coming up over the next few months. It all looks good so I thought I’d share.
You may have read the hard back already but Terry Brook’s ‘Armageddon’s Children’ will be released in paperback next month as a prelude to September’s release of ‘The Elves of Cintra’. Terry will be signing books in London, Essex and Kent around about this time, I’ll let you know the dates when I have them. I’m also looking at doing an interview with Terry while he’s over here (which I’m pretty excited about.)

Brian Ruckley’s ‘Winterbirth’ was released last year to equal amounts of praise and criticism, it was a real ‘love it or hate it’ book. The first week of August will see it hit the shelves in paperback so you get another chance to read it and decide for yourselves. I’ve got a copy to review so I’ll let you know what I think very soon.

Mike Carey’s acclaimed ‘Felix Castor’ series continues with the September release of ‘Dead Men’s Boots’. When we last left him, Felix Castor was at a pretty low ebb so it will be interesting to see if he can claw his way back up or if he has further to sink. One thing I do know is that we’ll be finding out a lot more about the supporting characters in Castor’s London… I’m looking at interviewing Mike sometime in August so I’ll see what else I can find out…

A book I’m really looking forward to reading is Jeff Summer’s debut ‘The Electric Church’ which will be published on September 6th in the UK (and America through Orbit’s new ‘Orbit US label). A hardened killer (think Richard Morgan’s Takeshi Kovacs) faces off against relentless cyborg monks, should be good…
October will see ‘The Awakened Mage’ (sequel to Karen Miller’s ‘Innocent Mage’) hit the shelves. I haven’t read ‘Innocent Mage’ yet (it’s on the pile to be reviewed) but I’ve heard nothing but good things about it so I’m looking forward to having a read.

Looking ahead quite a way now, January 2008 will see the release of ‘Debatable Space’ by Phillip Palmer. Billed as an epic space opera with pirates, heroines and the ruler of the universe I reckon this will appeal to anyone who enjoys Simon Green’s ‘Deathstalker’ books.
I’ve saved the best until last… February 2008 will see the publication of Iain M. Banks’ first ‘Culture’ novel since ‘Look to Windward’. It’s hefty (some 200,000 words!), it’s greeted with applause at book readings and I reckon it could well be the sci-fi book of 2008.
There looks to be some great reading ahead of us in the next few months, aren’t we spoilt?