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Echo Cycle
Gladiator meets 1984 in this near-future thriller featuring timeslips, ancient magic and a disturbingly plausible dystopian Britain...68 CEFleeing 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 CEAs 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 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...
448 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 10, 2020
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156 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
March 18, 2020
Fantastically smart near future/ time travel tale that looks at empires rising and falling that cover Ancient Rome, The United Kingdom and the EU. Brexit ends up making things worse for the country (who would have guessed!)) and a chance at getting things better finally arises but magic, betrayal and revenge are standing in the way. Unique and very very hard not to stop reading
Full review - https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...
Full review - https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...
May 24, 2020
A British functionary returns to Rome 20 years after a disastrous school trip in which one schoolmate disappeared and another lost an eye. After thirty years of self-imposed isolation, Britain is reaching out of its Brexit bubble to re-engage with a European Confederacy that has risen phoenix-like from the ashes of the crumbled Union of yore. But not all is as it seems. Rome - and Europe - are a little too inviting, a little too lovable. The lost schoolmate has returned with an unbelievable story of falling through the cracks of time into the 1st century AD. When the British delegation comes under attack, it becomes impossible to tell whether its a false flag or a thirst for vengeance 2000 years in the making...
What a brilliant read - pacy, engaging and with such juicy ingredients I couldn't help but gobble it up.
Full review
I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
What a brilliant read - pacy, engaging and with such juicy ingredients I couldn't help but gobble it up.
Full review
I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
July 2, 2020
It is a well written novel - diverting, a gay love story, time travel and an oblique commentary on the lunacy of the UK leaving the EU. The time travel is never specifically explained - by magic, from one of the characters ? It is a conceit for the novel to work - and it does.
March 9, 2020
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The blurb for Echo Cycle hooked me before I'd even finished reading it. I am a huge fan of ancient history so the thought of a time slip sending someone back to ancient Rome immediately made me want it. The looking ahead to a post-Brexit hell of Britain also had me curious.
I'll start out by saying that, at first, I thought I was going to hate the character of Winston Monk. In the first chapter or so he comes off as the sort of guy that, were he to be given the winning numbers of a lottery ticket he'd still complain and curse the world for hating him. As the novel goes on, however, you find yourself warming to him very quickly as he grows from a young boy filled with angst into a man who has allowed the wonder of ancient Rome and the life and love he finds for himself there work its way into his heart.
There is the occasional slow point but, the writing is done in such a way that it keeps it interesting regardless. This could just be my way of seeing it as I am quite biased towards the first person view. I just find it far more interesting than third person. The character work helps keep the pace up as well. Just as Winston grows and changes as the novel passes, so to do the others that inhabit the pages along side him. Some of the lesser characters get more treatment than I am used to in first person works, I found this a nice touch and just kept me turning those pages.
I also initially thought the parts set in the future were going to be a boring political affair. They were anything but. I soon found myself struggling to decide whether I enjoyed ancient Rome or futuristic Rome better. Each chapter was just so good that I both hated to see them end but was also thrilled so I could get onto Rome in another time period and from a different point of view.
This novel ticks two genres I was hoping to read more of in historical fiction and thrillers. The cross-over is very well done and left me wanting more when the final page had been turned. The mixture of the two gave it a strange, yet refreshing feel in that it didn't feel overly heavy in either genre.
This is just my assumption, but I feel this is a standalone novel and, if that's correct, it's a sterling example of how authors can write an amazing story without needing ten tomes in which to tell it ... admittedly he did need 2000 years, but that's neither here nor there.
Echo Cycle is quite easily one of the best books I have read in recent memory and I only wish it were possible for me to somehow forget it existed so I could go back and experience it for the first time. I don't say that about a great many books, but this one was, quite simply put, a feast for hungry eyes.
I'm often not one who enjoys romance. In fact, I'd go as far to say if your novel contains a lot of romance, a romance in which the plot relies upon heavily, I'll probably hate it way more than it deserves. Sorry, I'm just a heathen that doesn't like too much romance in the books he reads. That being said, this does have romance and it was done in such a way that both made it a HUGE part of the book whilst also making it feel like it was not done in a way that was overly in your face. It felt natural rather than just thrown at you.
In the year 2070 CE, Post-Brexit Britain is quite the intolerable place. Homosexuality is frowned upon with extreme prejudice and we are back to the whole 'if you're not from Britain can you really be classed as a thinking being of intelligence?' sort of stand point. But then I suppose it wouldn't be a Dystopian future if it were all kittens and rainbows. The novel is equal parts showing what could happen with an extreme closure of borders and the lengths people will go to in order to strive to get what they want, even if their love interests might get them charged with a felony or where they wish to live may see them branded as a traitor.
All in all, this novel has everything that makes it both enjoyable and deeply touching.
And it's a pretty damn bad ass story (I kind of went soppy there for a moment. Had to revert).
The too long, didn't read of this would be ... buy the book. It's pretty damn cool. You'll love it.
The blurb for Echo Cycle hooked me before I'd even finished reading it. I am a huge fan of ancient history so the thought of a time slip sending someone back to ancient Rome immediately made me want it. The looking ahead to a post-Brexit hell of Britain also had me curious.
I'll start out by saying that, at first, I thought I was going to hate the character of Winston Monk. In the first chapter or so he comes off as the sort of guy that, were he to be given the winning numbers of a lottery ticket he'd still complain and curse the world for hating him. As the novel goes on, however, you find yourself warming to him very quickly as he grows from a young boy filled with angst into a man who has allowed the wonder of ancient Rome and the life and love he finds for himself there work its way into his heart.
There is the occasional slow point but, the writing is done in such a way that it keeps it interesting regardless. This could just be my way of seeing it as I am quite biased towards the first person view. I just find it far more interesting than third person. The character work helps keep the pace up as well. Just as Winston grows and changes as the novel passes, so to do the others that inhabit the pages along side him. Some of the lesser characters get more treatment than I am used to in first person works, I found this a nice touch and just kept me turning those pages.
I also initially thought the parts set in the future were going to be a boring political affair. They were anything but. I soon found myself struggling to decide whether I enjoyed ancient Rome or futuristic Rome better. Each chapter was just so good that I both hated to see them end but was also thrilled so I could get onto Rome in another time period and from a different point of view.
This novel ticks two genres I was hoping to read more of in historical fiction and thrillers. The cross-over is very well done and left me wanting more when the final page had been turned. The mixture of the two gave it a strange, yet refreshing feel in that it didn't feel overly heavy in either genre.
This is just my assumption, but I feel this is a standalone novel and, if that's correct, it's a sterling example of how authors can write an amazing story without needing ten tomes in which to tell it ... admittedly he did need 2000 years, but that's neither here nor there.
Echo Cycle is quite easily one of the best books I have read in recent memory and I only wish it were possible for me to somehow forget it existed so I could go back and experience it for the first time. I don't say that about a great many books, but this one was, quite simply put, a feast for hungry eyes.
I'm often not one who enjoys romance. In fact, I'd go as far to say if your novel contains a lot of romance, a romance in which the plot relies upon heavily, I'll probably hate it way more than it deserves. Sorry, I'm just a heathen that doesn't like too much romance in the books he reads. That being said, this does have romance and it was done in such a way that both made it a HUGE part of the book whilst also making it feel like it was not done in a way that was overly in your face. It felt natural rather than just thrown at you.
In the year 2070 CE, Post-Brexit Britain is quite the intolerable place. Homosexuality is frowned upon with extreme prejudice and we are back to the whole 'if you're not from Britain can you really be classed as a thinking being of intelligence?' sort of stand point. But then I suppose it wouldn't be a Dystopian future if it were all kittens and rainbows. The novel is equal parts showing what could happen with an extreme closure of borders and the lengths people will go to in order to strive to get what they want, even if their love interests might get them charged with a felony or where they wish to live may see them branded as a traitor.
All in all, this novel has everything that makes it both enjoyable and deeply touching.
And it's a pretty damn bad ass story (I kind of went soppy there for a moment. Had to revert).
The too long, didn't read of this would be ... buy the book. It's pretty damn cool. You'll love it.
May 13, 2020
An exciting, and engaging time slip dystopia set in a post Brexit future and a (mildly) mythical ancient Roman past. If you don't mind the fantastical happening with only a slight explanation then this will make for a good page turner.
March 16, 2020
Echo Cycle is a bit of a weird book. It meshes together two very different tones in two interconnected narratives that shouldn’t work, yet somehow Patrick Edwards not only makes it feel right but makes it bloody good too!
Echo Cycle is set in a world where Britain has left the European Union and become an isolationist nation. Whilst Britain has suffered extreme poverty and strife the rest of Europe has come through their own shaky period of upheaval to become a powerful group of nations. Sensing that they can no longer shut themselves away from the rest of the world, a delegation is sent to Rome, the centre of the new European Confederacy. One of the members of this group is Lindon Banks, who visited the city two decades before on a school trip, where his classmate Winston Monk vanished.
When Lindon runs into Winston on the streets of Rome, where he appears to have spent years living rough, he is told a fantastical tale: one where Winston found himself transported back to the year 68 CE, and lived his life in ancient Rome.
These two stories – a crumbling Britain on the brink of collapse after isolating itself, and a teenager magically transported through time to live in ancient Rome – don’t seem too connected on the surface, and it takes a while of reading the book to figure out just how they are. Not just the fact that Lindon and Winston end up meeting and their stories intertwining, but how the history of the Roman Empire, and the rise and fall of leaders and the change of regimes reflects modern politics more closely than you’d first think.
The book also feels incredibly timely thanks to the recent withdrawal of the UK from the European Union. This is where I get personal for a moment, and brutally honest: I think it’s a mistake. I voted against it. I have family from Italy that have lived here for 50 years, and who I’m afraid will be deported. I think the whole thing was motivated by fear, xenophobia, and hate. And Echo Cycle seems to kind of agree with me. It’s not stated what Patrick Edwards thinks of the real world situation, but considering how he paints an isolationist Britain suffering on its own I think he might lean the same way that I do.
Because of these personal feelings Echo Cycle managed to draw out some very strong emotions. I got absolutely angry at the members of the British delegation who were being racist bastards, looking down their noses at people doing so much better than them just because they’re foreign. I felt a great sense of sadness when Lindon spoke about how poor the medical care was, how food was scarce, and power rationed, because that’s something I actually worry about. And the book almost made me cry when he spoke about how the LGBTQ+ community was stamped out in Britain, because I’m expecting something like that to really happen.
The book drew upon all the worst case scenarios about what could happen to Britain in our future. It affected me more that I thought it would. If it wasn’t for the sections where we jump into ancient Rome to see Monk living as a slave or fighting as a gladiator, I think the book might have been too depressing for me finish it. Luckily, the sad parts are fleeting, and the book contains not only magic and mystery to lift you up but a sense of hope too.
I came to see Echo Cycle as a story of survival. It wasn’t just about the survival of a teenage boy dropped into ancient history, literally fighting for his life at times, but about the survival of a nation. It gives the message that despite what we may choose to do, if things go horribly wrong, there’s always the chance for them to be set right again. If Britain suffers alone we can still try to rejoin our neighbours, we can still have hope of a brighter tomorrow. I just hope it won’t take 50 years and magic to get us there.
Echo Cycle is set in a world where Britain has left the European Union and become an isolationist nation. Whilst Britain has suffered extreme poverty and strife the rest of Europe has come through their own shaky period of upheaval to become a powerful group of nations. Sensing that they can no longer shut themselves away from the rest of the world, a delegation is sent to Rome, the centre of the new European Confederacy. One of the members of this group is Lindon Banks, who visited the city two decades before on a school trip, where his classmate Winston Monk vanished.
When Lindon runs into Winston on the streets of Rome, where he appears to have spent years living rough, he is told a fantastical tale: one where Winston found himself transported back to the year 68 CE, and lived his life in ancient Rome.
These two stories – a crumbling Britain on the brink of collapse after isolating itself, and a teenager magically transported through time to live in ancient Rome – don’t seem too connected on the surface, and it takes a while of reading the book to figure out just how they are. Not just the fact that Lindon and Winston end up meeting and their stories intertwining, but how the history of the Roman Empire, and the rise and fall of leaders and the change of regimes reflects modern politics more closely than you’d first think.
The book also feels incredibly timely thanks to the recent withdrawal of the UK from the European Union. This is where I get personal for a moment, and brutally honest: I think it’s a mistake. I voted against it. I have family from Italy that have lived here for 50 years, and who I’m afraid will be deported. I think the whole thing was motivated by fear, xenophobia, and hate. And Echo Cycle seems to kind of agree with me. It’s not stated what Patrick Edwards thinks of the real world situation, but considering how he paints an isolationist Britain suffering on its own I think he might lean the same way that I do.
Because of these personal feelings Echo Cycle managed to draw out some very strong emotions. I got absolutely angry at the members of the British delegation who were being racist bastards, looking down their noses at people doing so much better than them just because they’re foreign. I felt a great sense of sadness when Lindon spoke about how poor the medical care was, how food was scarce, and power rationed, because that’s something I actually worry about. And the book almost made me cry when he spoke about how the LGBTQ+ community was stamped out in Britain, because I’m expecting something like that to really happen.
The book drew upon all the worst case scenarios about what could happen to Britain in our future. It affected me more that I thought it would. If it wasn’t for the sections where we jump into ancient Rome to see Monk living as a slave or fighting as a gladiator, I think the book might have been too depressing for me finish it. Luckily, the sad parts are fleeting, and the book contains not only magic and mystery to lift you up but a sense of hope too.
I came to see Echo Cycle as a story of survival. It wasn’t just about the survival of a teenage boy dropped into ancient history, literally fighting for his life at times, but about the survival of a nation. It gives the message that despite what we may choose to do, if things go horribly wrong, there’s always the chance for them to be set right again. If Britain suffers alone we can still try to rejoin our neighbours, we can still have hope of a brighter tomorrow. I just hope it won’t take 50 years and magic to get us there.
September 22, 2025
I had this book waiting to be read for about a year due to the rather dull cover and the book blurb that suggested the story might be a mess. The story is fine, clear and captivating all the way through. It started out in the present and when I discovered Monk was gay I told myself, "If this has explicit gay sex scenes, I'm trashing it. At best, I'll likely just give this a 3/5." I've got nothing against gay characters, but I was expecting to be put off by his relationships. I needn't have worried. Monk's relationship with Sporus felt as meaningful as Banks relationship with Mariko.
The story starts sometime near the present with Monk on a British public school a trip to Rome along with classmates who bully him because he's gay, or maybe just because he's not one of them. While that story kept me turning pages, it was nothing like the gripping story that the novel became as Monk was transported to ancient Rome. When the story does come back to the present, it's twenty years later and the world has changed drastically.
There was never a place in this novel where I was impatiently waiting for the writer to get the ball rolling again. It was a wild ride from start to finish.
April 29, 2020
Edwards, Patrick. Echo Cycle. Tor, 2020.
Echo Cycle is the second novel by Patrick Edwards, a well-traveled British writer. It is one of the many pleasing time travel stories we have had lately. In this one, by 2070, Brexit has proved to be a predictable disaster. After Yosemite erupts, people are leaving a dystopian United States for places north and south. As the European Union negotiates a new relationship with a Britain that has become a tyranny that exploits its poor, a British functionary in Rome falls through a time slip and winds up in Nero’s Rome. After that, the plot gets complicated, and the cross-cultural comparisons are subtler than one might expect. There are several well-rounded characters. I could do without the rather bizarre narrative structure, but this is a novel that paid off in surprising ways. It is also the first post-Brexit dystopia I have read. Something tells me, there will be more opportunities.
Echo Cycle is the second novel by Patrick Edwards, a well-traveled British writer. It is one of the many pleasing time travel stories we have had lately. In this one, by 2070, Brexit has proved to be a predictable disaster. After Yosemite erupts, people are leaving a dystopian United States for places north and south. As the European Union negotiates a new relationship with a Britain that has become a tyranny that exploits its poor, a British functionary in Rome falls through a time slip and winds up in Nero’s Rome. After that, the plot gets complicated, and the cross-cultural comparisons are subtler than one might expect. There are several well-rounded characters. I could do without the rather bizarre narrative structure, but this is a novel that paid off in surprising ways. It is also the first post-Brexit dystopia I have read. Something tells me, there will be more opportunities.
April 7, 2020
I loved the vivid writing style and the story progressed at a good pace. The portrayal of both timelines was interesting. I found the diplomats love story and ending a bit Hollywood cliche but this was a great read overall!
September 18, 2021
I liked the characters and the world-building, and very much agreed with the commentary about Brexit.
April 28, 2022
Fun sci-fi-ish take on Brexit. Also EU as Roman Empire - discuss.
May 28, 2023
Superb!
December 18, 2024
time traveling though a dystopian brexit, EU as Roman Empire Redux, with a full Gladiator interlude to boot. quick fun plane read.
December 29, 2024
Once I got the hang of who was who, it was a very enjoyable read
July 4, 2025
The novel presents an intriguing premise, but it feels like the author ran out of steam midway through.
There are several compelling concepts at play - an reimagination of ancient history, a speculative extrapolation of a maximalist Brexit, and a future European Union in a confederation with South America where Latin has become the lingua franca. However, these ideas don’t quite connect by the end.
*Spoilers ahead*
The time-travel element and the protagonist’s sudden immersion into ancient Rome is both thrilling and terrifying, and these early sections are particularly strong. The portrayal of survival in such a brutal era is vivid.
However, Monk’s transformation into a successful gladiator strains credulity. While the fight scenes are powerfully rendered and the violence unflinching, the narrative expects us to accept his prowess at face value.
Subsequent depiction of Monk settling down slows the story momentum but it is actually interesting in its parallels to easing into a regular, ordinary life in today’s world.
Sporus - such a fascinating character who I think didn’t deserve the ending he was given (somewhat out of character and tropey).
The depiction of the futuristic Europe has real flair, with spy thriller vibes. Unfortunately, Banks, a melancholic middle-aged bureaucrat with a fridged wife is a less engaging lead. His subplot is mostly a male gazey romantic arc involving a French diplomat who happens to be smart, beautiful, skilled in martial arts, and, conveniently, romantically interested in him but doesn’t really contribute to the plot.
The final convergence of both timelines is intriguing, especially with the hint that Monk’s time travel may be a psychological delusion. But the final twist and action felt more like a B-movie than a satisfying narrative resolution. The thematic parallels between the ancient and modern empires weren’t drawn that clearly and hence not sure if it made sense.
The prose itself is mostly good - rich, vivid, and sensorial.
*
“Fate is the best of wrestlers. You can slip and dodge, even gain a hold, but it will always get you in the end.”
There are several compelling concepts at play - an reimagination of ancient history, a speculative extrapolation of a maximalist Brexit, and a future European Union in a confederation with South America where Latin has become the lingua franca. However, these ideas don’t quite connect by the end.
*Spoilers ahead*
The time-travel element and the protagonist’s sudden immersion into ancient Rome is both thrilling and terrifying, and these early sections are particularly strong. The portrayal of survival in such a brutal era is vivid.
However, Monk’s transformation into a successful gladiator strains credulity. While the fight scenes are powerfully rendered and the violence unflinching, the narrative expects us to accept his prowess at face value.
Subsequent depiction of Monk settling down slows the story momentum but it is actually interesting in its parallels to easing into a regular, ordinary life in today’s world.
Sporus - such a fascinating character who I think didn’t deserve the ending he was given (somewhat out of character and tropey).
The depiction of the futuristic Europe has real flair, with spy thriller vibes. Unfortunately, Banks, a melancholic middle-aged bureaucrat with a fridged wife is a less engaging lead. His subplot is mostly a male gazey romantic arc involving a French diplomat who happens to be smart, beautiful, skilled in martial arts, and, conveniently, romantically interested in him but doesn’t really contribute to the plot.
The final convergence of both timelines is intriguing, especially with the hint that Monk’s time travel may be a psychological delusion. But the final twist and action felt more like a B-movie than a satisfying narrative resolution. The thematic parallels between the ancient and modern empires weren’t drawn that clearly and hence not sure if it made sense.
The prose itself is mostly good - rich, vivid, and sensorial.
*
“Fate is the best of wrestlers. You can slip and dodge, even gain a hold, but it will always get you in the end.”
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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