  We determine the N=1 low energy effective action for compactifications of
type IIB string theory on compact Calabi-Yau orientifolds in the presence of
background fluxes from a Kaluza-Klein reduction. The analysis is performed for
Calabi-Yau threefolds which admit an isometric and holomorphic involution. We
explicitly compute the Kahler potential, the superpotential and the gauge
kinetic functions and check the consistency with N=1 supergravity. We find a
new class of no-scale Kahler potentials and show that their structure can be
best understood in terms of a dual formulation where some of the chiral
multiplets are replaced by linear multiplets. For O3- and O7-planes the scalar
potential is expressed in terms of a superpotential while for O5- and O9-planes
also a D-term and a massive linear multiplet can be present. The relation with
the associated F-theory compactifications is briefly discussed.
