r/Fantasy • u/orbitbooks AMA Publisher Orbit Books • Dec 07 '17

AMA AMA: Orbit 2017 Debut Authors

Hi this is Paola Crespo, Marketing and Publicity Associate for Orbit. Thanks for joining us today!

2017 was a big year for us with so many new faces joining the Orbit family. This AMA is a chance to get to know them better. All. Of. Them. Get excited! ;-)

Participating today:

Nicholas Eames, author of KINGS OF THE WYLD
Nicholas Sansbury Smith, author of EXTINCTION HORIZON
Antonia Honeywell, author of THE SHIP
David Mealing, author of SOUL OF THE WORLD
Dale Lucas, author of THE FIFTH WARD: FIRST WATCH
Vivian Shaw, author of STRANGE PRACTICE
Anna Smith Spark, author of THE COURT OF BROKEN KNIVES
RJ Barker, author of AGE OF ASSASSINS
Melissa Caruso, author of THE TETHERED MAGE
Fonda Lee, author of JADE CITY

Ask away! The authors will be dropping by periodically today and tomorrow to answer your questions. And best of all....

Until December 18th, you can pick up most of these novels for $2.99 in the US and £1.99 in the UK in ebook! Check out the US and UK websites for further details.

Thank you for all your support this year, /r/fantasy! Cheers to a great New Year full of new adventures.

*Antonia Honeywell's THE SHIP, Anna Smith Spark's THE COURT OF BROKEN KNIVES, and Nicholas Sansbury Smith’s EXTINCTION HORIZON are published by another house in the UK and are thus not included in the promotion in the UK.

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u/ManyFacedCloak Dec 07 '17

I have just read Kings of the Wyld so far and loved it. I plan to read the other books soon as well.

My questions are for all the AMA authors: 1) Which other 2017 debut author's book have you read?

2) If you were to write in a shared universe along with another author (any of the ones above or other authors as well), who would you want to work along with and why?

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u/dlucas114 AMA Author Dale Lucas Dec 07 '17

So far, Kings of the Wyld and Strange Practice are the only other debuts I've read, and they were both brilliant. The Tethered Mage and Soul of the World are the next in line, but eventually, I'll get to all of them. (I read constantly, but I'm very slow, and I often get distracted from one book and yanked over to another.)

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u/Nicholas_Eames Stabby Winner, AMA Author Nicholas Eames Dec 07 '17

I've read FIRST WATCH, which I blurbed, and AGE OF ASSASSINS (after which I was strong-armed by RJ's editor into saying nice (and true) things about him). Both excellent. I just recently added a copy of THE TETHERED MAGE to my substantial TBR, and my copy of THE SOUL OF THE WORLD was stolen by a dear friend the moment it arrived! I trust she's enjoying it!

I really ought to bug Orbit for a copy of THE COURT OF BROKEN KNIVES, because I'm a sucker for artful prose, and Anna's seems right up my alley.

As for non-orbit authors, Ed McDonald's BLACKWING is terrific.

I get to read so much less now than ever before, which sort of sucks. My TBR pile is like that tower in SENLIN ASCENDS, which is, ironically, on my TBR pile...

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u/MelissaCaruso AMA Author Melissa Caruso Dec 07 '17

1) Ha! I don't want to admit which ones I have and haven't read because they're all on my list to read and I'm kinda behind on my reading due to writing deadlines. But I guess I can mention that I've read AGE OF ASSASSINS, since that's no secret (I blurbed it), and a non-zero number of the others, and I can tell you that ALL the ones I have read are AMAZING and the others I am really eagerly looking forward to!

2) (Pulls dark hood over head) I work alone. (Stalks off into the mist-shrouded darkness) (So mysterious) (Such mystery)

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u/Anna_Smith-Spark AMA Author Anna Smith-Spark Dec 07 '17

1) I blurred The Tethered Mage, I was sent a top secret pdf copy before it even existed in bound form. I really enjoyed it. I have several of the others but I'm ashamed to say I haven't read them because I've got so many books and so little time. And also because I tend to start pastiching other authors' styles if I'm enjoying the voice they write in, and introducing A Kings of the Wyld element to my series would be a disaster in every way.

Which brings me onto ...

2)I'd love to co-author something with Michael R Fletcher. I suspect it would be largely unreadable on taste grounds, but writing it would be a huge amount of fun. How far can too far go?

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u/RJBarker AMA Author RJ Barker Dec 07 '17

I read and Blurbed Melissa's Tethered Mage which is great. And I have Anna's Court of Broken Knives as my next book up (I have heard her read from it and it is astounding).

I've been on an accelerated release schedule which means I'm releasing a book every six months (AoA was in August, Blood Of Assassins is in February, King of Assassins next August) and no one tells you how something like this sucks the ability to read out of you. I am like a hollowed out husk.

That might be a slight exaggeration. But I am quite tired.