Event/Horizon
The Thieves of Time sequence · Book 1
Cambridge, 1974 — astrophysics & poetry.
Steve Percival is about to leave Cambridge—and has no idea what comes next.
With Finals behind him, a precarious bank balance, an unfinished long poem and a summer stretching uncertainly ahead, Steve takes a job delivering milk through the quiet streets of 1970s Cambridge. What begins as a practical solution soon draws him into a shifting world of friendships, music, desire and artistic ambition.
From early-morning rounds and smoky pubs to student parties, jazz guitars, experimental poetry and the charged atmosphere of the counter-culture, Event/Horizon follows a young man trying to discover who he is before life decides for him. Around Steve gather vivid, unpredictable figures: devoted friends, rival poets, demanding mentors, musicians, artists and women whose intelligence and force challenge his carefully guarded sense of self.
Witty, reflective and richly atmospheric, this is a character-driven novel about love, self-invention and the uneasy passage from university into adulthood. It explores the pull between security and freedom, the risks of artistic ambition, and the ways we can be transformed by the people who enter our lives.