Roger Butters

The Trouble with Mercia Roger Butters

The Trouble with Mercia

A novel of a dystopian future, but with a difference. The year is 2278. After an unspecified disaster of worldwide proportions in the 21st century, humanity has had to rebuild civilization, aided by those records and artefacts surviving from before the cataclysm, and a standard of technology has been attained approximating to that of early Victorian times. Socially and politically matters are more complex, modern in some ways, old-fashioned in others. Federalism has resulted in an England consisting of half a dozen regions based on the pattern of the old Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. Exasperated by the failure of national government to deal with a breakdown in law and order, the largest province, Mercia, has attempted a return to Victorian standards, including an end to divorce and reintroduction of the death penalty. If this were not sufficiently disruptive, its rulers have sparked constitutional crisis by demanding full-scale independence. Matters are further complicated by widespread religious terrorism, and an elected ruler generally regarded as an ignorant and dangerous buffoon. Against this turbulent background of an England dominated by the great and not-so-good, we follow the fortunes of half a dozen people in a small Mercian town, including an unscrupulous but incorruptible investigative journalist, a beautiful actress unjustly convicted of murder, and a public prosecutor who is in love with her. All are destined to play leading roles in the unfolding national crisis. An action novel which raises questions highly relevant today, The Trouble with Mercia makes an exciting and disturbing read for those of all political persuasions.