Announcing Winter’s Orbit, a Queer Romantic Space Opera Debut

Tor Books is thrilled to announce Winter’s Orbit, the first novel in a three-book deal with debut author Everina Maxwell.

Winter’s Orbit—a popular work originally published online—is a queer, romantic space opera. In an unforgiving empire, a scandal-prone prince and a dutiful scholar, who are forced into a political marriage, try to prevent an interplanetary war.

Said Everina Maxwell:

Winter’s Orbit is about empire and notoriety and the media, but also about being locked in your own head. It starts with a diplomat who’s determined to endure his own private hell if that’s what duty requires of him, and it’s about what happens when the wall around him starts to crumble. Ultimately, it’s a story of hope and renewal, that I wrote because I needed it, and I’m so grateful to the people who read it from its beginnings online and supported it. I’m also incredibly excited for Tor’s support in sharing this new version with the world.

Said editor Ali Fisher:

Reading Winter’s Orbit was like taking a harpoon to the chest—it hurt a lot, my heart got messed up, and I was instantly attached. It’s an intimate story on an interplanetary scale that Maxwell uses to inspect power, dissent, duty, and control. And feelings. So many feelings. I’m so excited to be working with Maxwell on bringing a fresh version of her already beloved story to print.

Everina Maxwell lives and works in Yorkshire, and can be found on weekends at a bookshop or up some dales. Winter’s Orbit, her debut novel, was pre-empted by editor Ali Fisher. The deal was negotiated by Tamara Kawar of ICM Partners.