Pavane (Del Rey Impact) (Paperback)

by Keith Roberts (Author) "at three in the afternoon the engine sheds were already gloomy with the coming night..." (more)
Key Phrases: trail load, outer barbican, reversing lever, Brother John, White Boat, Sir John (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
An ever-expanding subgenre of science fiction is devoted to "alternate worlds" or "alternate histories": fiction in which a crucial event goes differently than in the world we know, and history is changed. Keith Roberts's Pavane (1968) is set in a backward 20th century molded by the assassination of Queen Elizabeth I and the triumph of a militantly antiscience Catholic Church. This is a classic alternate history, in the same company as such highly regarded novels as L. Sprague De Camp's seminal Lest Darkness Fall (1941), in which a modern man slips back in time and attempts to avert the Dark Ages; Ward Moore's Bring the Jubilee (1953), set after the South wins the U.S. Civil War; and Philip K. Dick's The Man in the High Castle (1962), set after the Germans and Japanese win World War II. Lest Darkness Fall and The Man in the High Castle are justly famous; the other two classics, Bring the Jubilee and Pavane, are less well known, and that is a shame.

One reason for Pavane's relative obscurity among American SF readers might be its British setting and author (the Moore and Dick novels are both set in the U.S., and De Camp, Moore, and Dick were all American). Another reason might be that Pavane is a novel created from interrelated but standalone stories (six "measures," or novelettes, and a coda), and the stories are of varying quality. Most are wise, beautifully written, and intensely visualized, especially the opener, "The Lady Margaret," and the closer, "Corfe Gate"; but "Brother John," the story of the monk-artist who witnesses Inquisition tortures and sparks an anti-Church rebellion, is far less detailed, and sometimes even unclear. Another reason for the novel's obscurity may be that some of the stories/chapters have more of a fantasy feel than is typical of more recent alternate history. Also, the nature of the coda's revelations may put off some readers. Nonetheless, Pavane is an intelligent, powerful, and moving work, deserving of a wide readership. --Cynthia Ward

From Publishers Weekly
First published in 1968, these intricately linked short stories (broken into six measures and a coda) constitute a pioneering work of alternative history that has influenced many contemporary SF and fantasy writers. In them a twisted Church of Rome rules a modern world where steam locomotives are the primary mode of transportation, semaphores (telegraph signals moved by hand and read via binoculars) are used for communication and the horrors of the Inquisition continue. Why? Because in 1588 Queen Elizabeth I was assassinated, leading to the Spanish Armada's defeat of England and the subsequent suppression of the Protestant Church. But in this stately "dance" of stories, revolution becomes inevitable when society's natural cultural and scientific progress can no longer be contained. Roberts displays intense respect and love for history as he rewrites it with deft abandon. Three measures in particular stand out as profound today, just as they did when originally published: "The Signaller," which allegorically portrays a young guild member who pays a high price for his dedication to communication; "Brother John," a stunning portrayal of a devoted priest's traumatizing encounter with torture and his resultant reaction; and, finally, "The White Boat," another almost mythological piece about a young girl's obsession with a boat that can take her to freedom. All the other stories are excellent, but these are outstanding examples of why revolutions occur. Impact is doing a great service by reprinting this and other classics.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey; 1st Del Rey Impact ed edition (February 27, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345440919
• ISBN-13: 978-0345440914
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 4.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #483,206 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An eerie, but beautiful, book, March 7, 2002

By	Frank J. Konopka (Shamokin, PA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

In case you were wondering, a "pavane" is a stately dance in elaborate clothing, and this book is contructed like such a dance: six measures and a coda, each one a separate, but tenuously connected, story. It's an alternate history of the world in which Queen Elizabeth I is assassinated in 1588, and the Spanish Armada conquers England. For hundreds of years after that date, the Roman Church rules most of the world with a somewhat iron hand, keeping to a minimum the progress of science and inventions. Throughout the book you wonder about the rationale of the Church leaders for this stance, until everything (sort of) is made clear in the Coda. The writing is quite lyrical at times, and even though a reader might wish for more information about the world the author created, enough is given to enable you to understand what is happening, even if you don't quite know what's going on (if that sounds like a contradiction, it certainly is, but you have to read the book to understand what I mean). If you enjoy "alternate history" works, I think you will like this book very much.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A True Alternate History Classic, July 20, 2001

By	Richard R. Horton (Webster Groves, MO United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Keith Roberts' great late '60s Alternate History novel, Pavane, towers over the popular contemporary AH novels, with their tendency toward silly games such as "pick the branch point" or "identify the historical figure in a new role". Pavane is based on a history which branched when Queen Elizabeth died early, and the Spanish Armada succeeded in conquering England, paving the way for continued domination of Europe by the Catholic Church. This book is concerned with metaphysical and moral questions such as the nature of history and the value of technology.

It is composed of a brief prologue, indicating the "branch point", followed by six "measures", novelette- or novella- length sections, beginning in 1968 and carrying the story forward several decades. Each measure is a self-contained story, but there are also links between them, particularly three stories which follow three generations of the Strange family. Finally, a Coda serves to cast the entire story in a somewhat different light, for one thing technically removing it from the strict "Alternate History" subgenre, and also commenting on the central conflicts of the story. The mood overall is rather dark, though flashes of brightness and joy light the pages. Roberts' Catholic dominated England, or Angle Land, is rather backwards technologically, as the Church carefully vets all scientific and technological knowledge, rejecting some advances and delaying others. Thus we have steam-driven road-based "trains", and semaphores instead of telephones, in the late 20th Century. Roberts' detailed descriptions of both sorts of old-fashioned technology are intriguing and rather romantic. At the same time it is clear that people are poorer and hungrier and fewer because of this retarded development -- but there is throughout an ambiguity about the depiction of this alternate present which is only intensified by Roberts' coda.

The book is set in a time of subdued unrest -- the heavy hand of the Church on Angle Land is clearly resented, and this resentment is seen to spread throughout society as the book unfolds. The opening story deals with Jesse Strange, a prosperous and hardworking businessman, who must work with and around Churchly taxations and technological restrictions. That's a side issue to his personal story, though, as he takes his train on the last trip before winter closes the roads one year, worried about outlaws, and finds a reason to visit a barmaid he has long fancied, and also encounters an old school friend. Both meetings have momentous results, and change his life profoundly. "The Signaller" follows, a stark, sad, beautiful story of the title character's successful struggle to become a Signaller, and the violent fate that awaits him on his first solo assignment, as well as the mysterious person he encounters alone in the back woods. "Brother John" introduces us to a monk, an accomplished artist, who is radicalized when he is forced to record in his drawings the efforts of an "inquisitor" to torture the "truth" out of a crop of suspected sinners, and who almost by accident starts a grassroots rebellion. "Lords and Ladies" takes up with the Strange family again, as Jesse's niece, prosperous as a result of Jesse's hard work, meets a charismatic scion of the local noble family -- this story shows the class structure of this alternate England effectively, and sets the scene, as it were, for the conclusion. But next is the mystical "The White Boat", in which a simple fishergirl becomes obssessed with the title vessel on its repeated visits to her home cove. Finally, in "Corfe Gate", Jesse Strange's great-niece, ruler of a castle, finds herself pushed to open resistance to the harsh rule of Rome, and with the help of her mysterious seneschal, John Faulkner, starts a country-wide rebellion, with bitter if ambiguous results.

This remains a remarkable novel, beautifully written and unexpected in its working out. The characters come fully to life. The hints of mysterious elements working in the background add a special resonance to the book. The book asks interesting questions about the working out of history -- and if it suggests answers that a reader might not agree with, it does not compel agreement, but rather it compels thinking. It has been rightly regarded as a classic of SF from its first publication.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pavane, June 17, 2002

By	K. Freeman (Apple Valley, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This is an excellent book, a largely unknown gem. I picked it up because the steampunk theme intrigued me. I didn't expect the quality of writing I found here.

Pavane is alternate history (also alternate-timeline, though that's subtle.). Queen Elizabeth was assassinated, and the Catholic Church has maintained tyrannical control of Britain and Europe. Only limited technology is allowed, and Roberts' descriptions of the steam trains and the semaphore signalling stations are beautiful.

This is not a book with a linear plot -- the title gives a clue to its structure. Its parts work together to form a gorgeous whole, but we don't follow one character throughout, which may throw some readers. In addition, elements of worldbuilding exist -- the long description of the semaphores, for example -- which don't directly support the plot. Some readers will be bothered by that, but I wasn't. I found the world, the Signallers' Guild and all the rest, fascinating; the sort of world in which multiple wonderful stories could be told.

Though we see each character for a limited period of time, Roberts keeps them sympathetic and interesting. The whole book has a mythic feel. Though written in '66, I found nothing dated about it. The only thing that might perhaps change from a modern standpoint is that I think Roberts intended the end to be entirely happy. From the perspective of 2002, it's bittersweet, with the beauty of what was lost shadowing the bright modernity with a dark counterpoint.