Pwyll, a young Welsh ruler in a post-oil world, finds his inherited status and military obligations hard to take. Not only this but he's never quite sure how he's drawn into murdering his future wife's fiancé, losing his only son and switching beds with the king of the underworld… In this bizarrely upside-down, medieval world of the near future, life is cheap and the surf is amazing; but you need a horse to get home again down the M4.

The Ninth Wave is an arresting, contemporary retelling of a centuries-old Welsh myth. Russell Celyn Jones swops the magical for the psychological, the courtly for the post-feminist and goes back to Swansea Bay to complete some unfinished business.

The eleven stories in the Mabinogion come from two medieval Welsh manuscripts, with roots dating back many centuries earlier. They bring us Celtic mythology, Arthurian romance, and their own view of the Island of Britain. There is enchantment and shapeshifting, conflict, peacemaking, love and betrayal.

In this series commissioned by Seren, the old tales are at the heart of the new. Each author reinvents a story in their own way: creating fresh, contemporary tales that speak to us as much of our own world as of events long gone. Based on 'Pwyll, Lord of Dyfed', The Ninth Wave is an eerie and compelling mix of past, present and future.

Russell Celyn Jones is a regular book reviewer for The Times and has written features for numerous national papers. He lives with his wife and three children in London. He was the recipient of a Society of Authors Award in 1996.