Pavane (novel)
OCLC 6754025 | |
Pavane is an
Comprising a cycle of linked stories set in
Overview
The novel posits a history in which
The social effects include a continuing
The location and flavour, nostalgic yet tragic in outlook, resemble a science-fictional equivalent of the fictionalized Wessex of Thomas Hardy (as in the Hardy stories, there are place-name differences; for instance, in Pavane Dorchester retains its Roman name, Durnovaria). Real geographical locations play a major role: Golden Cap is the site of a semaphore station, and the castle at Corfe is a key presence in the book.
Over all, the long arm of the popes reached out to punish and reward; the Church Militant remained supreme. But by the middle of the twentieth century widespread mutterings were making themselves heard. Rebellion was once more in the air . . .
The title alludes to the stately and melancholy dance, the pavane, the book being divided thematically into measures and a coda.
After a brief prologue explaining the
- "The Lady Margaret": a lonely steam haulier meets a friend from his past;
- "The Signaller": an apprentice semaphore operator is assigned to a remote station;
- "The White Boat" (not in all editions): a discontented fisher girl is obsessed with a mysterious yacht;
- "Brother John": a monk becomes disaffected by the practices of the Inquisition;
- "Lords and Ladies": a woman's bitter memories are evoked at the deathbed of the haulier from the first story, who is her uncle;
- "Corfe Gate": an aristocrat, the daughter of the central female character in "Lords and Ladies", is involved in a regional rebellion.
- The "Coda" is set some years after the events of the final stories, and centres on the son of the seneschal to the female aristocrat from "Corfe Gate".
Reception
Pavane soon found an important place in the alternative history subgenre of science fiction and the work's high reputation continues; The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction assesses it as "now credited as the finest of all 'alternative histories'".[1][2] Algis Budrys found the novel to be "a tapestry of a book; a marvel of storytelling", and concluded that, despite an unnecessary Coda, it was "a truly wonderful work".[3]
See also
References
- ISBN 0-521-01657-6.
- ISBN 0-8095-1900-3.
…the best-conceived is Keith Roberts's masterpiece, Pavane…
- ^ "Galaxy Bookshelf", Galaxy Science Fiction, April 1969, pp. 116–18
External links
- Pavane Infinity Plus review.
- Pavane Uchronia: The Alternate History List detailed summary and international bibliography.
- Pavane title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database