Orbit has acquired a new trilogy from the British Fantasy Society Award-winning RJ Barker.
Ed Wilson at Johnson and Alcock sold World English rights to Senior Commissioning Editor Jenni Hill at Orbit UK, who will publish alongside sister imprint Orbit US in a co-ordinated global release in 2022.
RJ Barker lives in Leeds with his wife, son and ‘a collection of questionable taxidermy’. He debuted in 2017 with the fantasy novel Age of Assassins, the start of a trilogy which was shortlisted for the Gemmell Awards, the Kitschie Awards, The Compton Crook and the British Fantasy Society’s Best Debut.
The Bone Ships began a new series set on the high seas, and won the British Fantasy Society Award for Best Fantasy Novel, aka the Robert Holdstock Award, this year.
RJ will set his new tale within the bounds of a forest straight out of darkest folklore – with outlaws fighting an evil empire and warring deities.
Acquiring editor Jenni Hill said: ‘RJ’s style is inimitable and wonderful – more and more readers are discovering him every day, and they’re going to love the story he’s telling in the Forsaken series, which is bigger and darker and more feral than anything he’s told before.’
Ed Wilson said: ‘RJ has already taken us from the Sour Lands to the High Seas, and now we’re heading into the Woods. His writing is brave and unexpected, and there is nobody in UK fantasy pushing more boundaries. After his well-deserved BFS win, nothing can hold him back. Although we might have to confiscate his PS4.’
RJ said: ‘I've loved working with Orbit on both the Wounded Kingdom series and the Tide Child series and they've been hugely encouraging in what I do, so I can't wait to venture into the dark forests with them on this new series of books.’
For more information contact Orbit’s Senior Press Officer Nazia.Khatun@littlebrown.co.uk
About Orbit UK: Orbit is the science fiction and fantasy imprint of Little, Brown Book Group. Launched in 1974, it is one of the leading SFF imprints in the UK. Orbit UK authors include Sunday Times and international bestsellers James S. A. Corey, N. K. Jemisin, Robert Jordan, Iain M. Banks, Terry Brooks, Jim Butcher, Trudi Canavan, M. R. Carey, Ann Leckie, Anthony Ryan and Brent Weeks.