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zanderw's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
incrediblemelk's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
I like Roman history, alt-history and time-slip novels, so I was curious about this one, but I don't think it fulfilled the full promise of the title.
It's a tantalising setup: in a near future the UK goes full Children of Men Brexit, only to find that rather than escape collapse it is dooming itself to suffering as Europe and South America become the world's big powers, and Latin the new (and old) lingua franca.
But before that happens, a bullied, ancient Rome-obsessed English teenage boy on a school trip to Rome somehow slips back in time to the final moments of Nero, where he falls for the glamorous, gender-ambiguous Sporus – who claims to possess an ancient, Atlantean magic – and finds himself buffeted by the violent regime changes he's only ever read about in books.
Then, equally mysteriously, he's pulled forward again in time, where his former schoolmate is now a UK diplomat on a mission to Rome to tentatively re-establish contact. Or at least that's what he tells the schoolmate, whose more pragmatic suspicion is that his old chum has spent the past two decades mentally ill and living rough in Rome.
I enjoyed the idea that history is a cycle of echoes: people remain much the same, and the same kinds of power struggles, oppressions and prejudices play out. In our time-slip hero we have a potential circuit-breaker for the impasse between the UK and Europe.
The chapters told from the perspective of the diplomat, whose grief-stunted English life begins to flower under the enlightenment of Europe, had a satisfying spy-thriller quality. And, look, the subplot wherethe time-slip kid is condemned to be a gladiator but, rather than dying instantly, he unlocks a preternatural fighting ability was very satisfying but very silly.
Ultimately there's a corny kind of "love conquers all" ending – or as Virgil would have put it, omnia vincit amor – that took this away from gritty realpolitik into a domain of magic that never sat comfortably with the near-future utopia/dystopia.
It's a tantalising setup: in a near future the UK goes full Children of Men Brexit, only to find that rather than escape collapse it is dooming itself to suffering as Europe and South America become the world's big powers, and Latin the new (and old) lingua franca.
But before that happens, a bullied, ancient Rome-obsessed English teenage boy on a school trip to Rome somehow slips back in time to the final moments of Nero, where he falls for the glamorous, gender-ambiguous Sporus – who claims to possess an ancient, Atlantean magic – and finds himself buffeted by the violent regime changes he's only ever read about in books.
Then, equally mysteriously, he's pulled forward again in time, where his former schoolmate is now a UK diplomat on a mission to Rome to tentatively re-establish contact. Or at least that's what he tells the schoolmate, whose more pragmatic suspicion is that his old chum has spent the past two decades mentally ill and living rough in Rome.
I enjoyed the idea that history is a cycle of echoes: people remain much the same, and the same kinds of power struggles, oppressions and prejudices play out. In our time-slip hero we have a potential circuit-breaker for the impasse between the UK and Europe.
The chapters told from the perspective of the diplomat, whose grief-stunted English life begins to flower under the enlightenment of Europe, had a satisfying spy-thriller quality. And, look, the subplot where
Ultimately there's a corny kind of "love conquers all" ending – or as Virgil would have put it, omnia vincit amor – that took this away from gritty realpolitik into a domain of magic that never sat comfortably with the near-future utopia/dystopia.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Homophobia, Bullying, Transphobia, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Slavery, and Alcohol
nyx_belial's review against another edition
Couldn't get on with pacing and writing style
linekgh's review against another edition
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
tome15's review against another edition
4.0
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.
imyril's review
4.0
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.
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