Title: Time’s Ellipse
Author: Frasier Armitage
Release Date: December 12th, 2023
Preorder Link: Amazon US | Amazon UK
Cover Image: Nicolas Lobos
Cover Design: Adrian M. Gibson
Blurb
NO SOLUTION SAVES EVERYONE. ONLY ONE KEEPS US HUMAN.
The hope of a dying Earth rests on a crew of astronauts. Their mission: find a new home. But when they touch down on a distant planet, a time-bending anomaly traps them in a situation that no one could’ve predicted, causing them to question the nature of humanity, the snare of destiny, and the shape of time itself.
Time’s Ellipse spans generations, orbiting the lives of the scientists and astronauts involved in this historic mission as they discover that escaping the planet is simpler than evading its legacy.
About the Author
Frasier Armitage is a part-time robot and full-time nerd. He’s an award-winning audio-dramatist and novelist who spends far too much time alone in a room scribbling about things which are impossible, AKA writing science-fiction. When he’s not writing, you’ll find him watching Keanu Reeves movies with his wife and son, noodling on his guitar, or trying to dig his way out of the mountain of books on his TBR pile.
X/Twitter/Whatever it’s called now: https://twitter.com/FrasierArmitage
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frasierarmitage/
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/frasierarmitage.bsky.social
But you can find him everywhere by searching for: @FrasierArmitage
Excerpt
April 2047
Time stopped in the bunker. Bodies crammed into the tight space, pressing against me, but not as much as the darkness which seeped into everything, stilling the seconds while the storm raged above.
Hurricanes unleashed a throaty growl, overwhelming the sound-proof shielding in the ceiling. Hail blasted the roof louder than machine gun fire. Or it could’ve been swarming sand clouds. Either way, maintenance would need to replace the panelling. Again. Too many dents. There were always too many dents.
I crossed my fingers that the antenna which connected us to Wifi didn’t snap, if a lightning blast hadn’t already melted it. Without Wifi, we were alone with our thoughts. Which is the last place I wanted to be.
“So here’s a question that should help us pass the time,” I said to no one in particular, raising my voice above the storm’s shriek. “Are we moving through time, or is time moving through us?”
“Another conundrum, Doctor? Really?” The voice came from among the huddle. Hard to tell exactly which of the sharp-suited business execs had finally lost their patience. “Haven’t we spent enough time playing games when we should be talking about the launch?”
“We spent two hours in that conference room before the storm hit,” I continued, ignoring him. “And time felt like it zipped by. But down here, the past two hours have felt like a million eternities. Isn’t that strange? It’s like time is speeding up and slowing down just for us.”
“I’m sure you’ve got a theory for it, Doctor. But I’ve got a theory of my own. I think the reason you insist on raising these hypotheticals has nothing to do with keeping us occupied, and everything to do with avoiding the real issue. It’s time for you to make a decision.”
Grumbles of agreement could roughly be translated as ‘we wouldn’t even be in here if you hadn’t already kept us waiting.’ They were right. It was my fault we were down here. My fault we’d delayed. But it was also my fault we even had a decision to make in the first place. ‘The Great Doctor Emily Rolands.’ If I’d never opened my mouth, and had kept my theories to myself, I wouldn’t be standing where I am today. And neither would the rest of them. Maybe some of them would have preferred that. But maybes weren’t going to save us.
© Frasier Armitage, 2023
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