Patrick Edwards‘ Echo Cycle is published today by Titan Books.
Set in the near future, involving timeslips and ancient magic, this timely thriller envisions a disturbingly plausible dystopian Britain.
Echo Cycle is a post-Brexit novel that explores the idea of the cyclical nature of history and asks us to consider whether we ever learn from the lessons of the past, while moving seamlessly between ancient history and a dark future.
68 CE
Fleeing disaster, young Winston Monk wakes to find himself trapped in the past, imprisoned by the mad Emperor Nero. The Roman civilization he idolized is anything but civilized, and his escape from a barbaric home has led him somewhere far more dangerous.
2070 CE
As the European Union crumbled, Britain closed its borders, believing they were stronger alone. After decades of hardship, British envoy Lindon Banks joins a diplomatic team to rebuild bridges with the hypermodern European Confederacy. But in Rome, Banks discovers his childhood friend who disappeared without a trace. Monk appears to have spent the last two decades living rough, but he tells a different story: a tale of Caesars, slavery and something altogether more sinister.
Monk’s mysterious emergence sparks the tinderbox of diplomatic relations between Britain and the Confederacy, controlled by shadowy players with links back to the ancient world itself…
The Times named Echo Cycle as one of its top sci-fi picks for March, describing it as ‘adrenaline-filled‘ and reminiscent of George Orwell’s 1984. SFX Magazine praised Echo Cycle as ‘compelling’ and ‘tangibly real’.
Patrick Edwards lives in Bristol and has never grown out of his fascination with science and the future. In 2014, he decided to give writing a go and graduated from the Bath Spa Creative Writing MA with distinction. His first novel, Ruin’s Wake, was inspired by the works of Iain M. Banks and modern-day North Korea.
