Orbit is kicking off the Spring/Summer season with a sample of chapters from visionary works of new and returning Orbit authors. New York Times bestselling author Brent Weeks' popular Night Angel trilogy will, for the first time, be gathered into one collectable omnibus edition. N.K. Jemisin follows up her highly acclaimed Inheritance trilogy with The Killing Moon, the first in the Dreamblood duology, featuring assassin priests, mad kings, and the goddess of death. Kim Stanley Robinson's 2312 shows a glimpse into Earth's future of endless possibilities-or total destruction. In debut author V.M. Zito's The Return Man, a lone neuroscientist ventures into zombie territory on a mission to save a divided United States. Also, new to Orbit but no stranger to the fantasy world, Ian Irvine brings Vengeance, an epic tale of revenge and redemption. Finally, Orbit is excited to announce The Science of Avatar, an inside look into the science behind James Cameron's magical movie Avatar.

From NYT bestselling author Brent Weeks comes the first novel in his breakout fantasy trilogy in which a young boy trains under the city's most legendary and feared assassin, Durzo Blint. For Durzo Blint, assassination is an art -- and he is the city's most accomplished artist. For Azoth, survival is precarious. Something you never take for granted. As a guild rat, he's grown up in the slums, and learned to judge people quickly -- and to take risks. Risks like apprenticing himself to Durzo Blint. But to be accepted, Azoth must turn his back on his old life and embrace a new identity and name. As Kylar Stern, he must learn to navigate the assassins' world of dangerous politics and strange magics -- and cultivate a flair for death.

A photographic look into the world of vinyl record collectors—including Questlove—in the most intimate of environments—their record rooms. Compelling photographic essays from photographer Eilon Paz are paired with in-depth and insightful interviews to illustrate what motivates these collectors to keep digging for more records. The reader gets an up close and personal look at a variety of well-known vinyl champions, including Gilles Peterson and King Britt, as well as a glimpse into the collections of known and unknown DJs, producers, record dealers, and everyday enthusiasts. Driven by his love for vinyl records, Paz takes us on a five-year journey unearthing the very soul of the vinyl community.

The book provides comprehensive information on possible applications of remote sensing data for hydrological monitoring and modelling as well as for water management decisions. Mathematical theory is provided only as far as it is necessary for understanding the underlying principles. The book is especially timely because of new programs and sensors that are or will be realised. ESA, NASA, NASDA as well as the Indian and the Brazilian Space Agency have recently launched satellites or developed plans for new sensor systems that will be especially pertinent to hydrology and water management. New techniques are presented whose structure differ from conventional hydrological models due to the nature of remotely sensed data.

Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks have become more destructive, wide-spread and harder to control over time. This book allows students to understand how these attacks are constructed, the security flaws they leverage, why they are effective, how they can be detected, and how they can be mitigated. Students use software defined networking (SDN) technology to created and execute controlled DDoS experiments. They learn how to deploy networks, analyze network performance, and create resilient systems. This book is used for graduate level computer engineering instruction at Clemson University. It augments the traditional graduate computing curricula by integrating: Internet deployment, network security, ethics, contemporary social issues, and engineering principles into a laboratory based course of instruction. Unique features of this book include: A history of DDoS attacks that includes attacker motivations Discussion of cyber-war, censorship, and Internet black-outs SDN based DDoS laboratory assignments Up-to-date review of current DDoS attack techniques and tools Review of the current laws that globally relate to DDoS Abuse of DNS, NTP, BGP and other parts of the global Internet infrastructure to attack networks Mathematics of Internet traffic measurement Game theory for DDoS resilience Construction of content distribution systems that absorb DDoS attacks This book assumes familiarity with computing, Internet design, appropriate background in mathematics, and some programming skills. It provides analysis and reference material for networking engineers and researchers. By increasing student knowledge in security, and networking; it adds breadth and depth to advanced computing curricula.

A page-turning novel that is also an exploration of the great philosophical concepts of Western thought, Jostein Gaarder's Sophie's World has fired the imagination of readers all over the world, with more than twenty million copies in print. One day fourteen-year-old Sophie Amundsen comes home from school to find in her mailbox two notes, with one question on each: "Who are you?" and "Where does the world come from?" From that irresistible beginning, Sophie becomes obsessed with questions that take her far beyond what she knows of her Norwegian village. Through those letters, she enrolls in a kind of correspondence course, covering Socrates to Sartre, with a mysterious philosopher, while receiving letters addressed to another girl. Who is Hilde? And why does her mail keep turning up? To unravel this riddle, Sophie must use the philosophy she is learning—but the truth turns out to be far more complicated than she could have imagined.

The New York Times bestselling series that inspired the international hit video game: The Witcher A sample of offerings from international fantasy superstar Andrzej Sapkowski, and the perfect introduction to his work. Best known for his series of stories and novels about Geralt, the Witcher, Sapkowski is one of the most successful fantasy authors in the world. Contains: 2 complete Witcher short stories taken from THE LAST WISH, the first chapter of Blood of Elves, the first Witcher novel, the first chapter of Baptism of Fire, the third full-length book in the series, and a non-Witcher short story "The Malady."