Orbit Books has announced their Fall/Winter 2008 U.S. lineup, and there are some great books to look forward to.
Stan Nicholls’ Orcs looks like a fun exploration into one high fantasy’s staple character types. I’ll be interested to see if he takes the beloved and hygiene challenged villains into new territories.
Peter Hamilton’s The Reality Dysfuntionwins my vote for best title, but I’d prefer a cover with more pizazze. Most of the U.S. editions of Hamilton’s work feature great space opera imagery that always catches my eye and inspires my imagination. I could probably walk past this edition and miss it altogether while instead opting for the book on the opposite shelf that features dragons and a bikini-clad damsel in distress. Well, maybe not the damsel.
Robert Buettner, who appeared in Episode 47, is back with more Jason Wander adventures in Orphan’s Alliance. If you like military SF written by a guy who has lived military life, this series is for you. I think there is one more title due from Buettner after this. Robert has a great, punchy style that really seems to capture the volitilty of war. Not a wasted word in these books.
And Walter Jon William’s This is Not a Game delves deeper into something I just learned about thanks to Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother, ARGs: Alternate Reality Games that blend the Internet and role playing to create an immersive experience for the gamer. I’ve never played myself, and I doubt I ever will, but the phenomena is ripe for literary play, and I’m sure that Williams will, as always, employ his masterful hand and show us everything that ARGing can do, good and bad.
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