1588: Queen Elizabeth is felled by an assassin's bullet. Within the week, the Spanish Armada had set sail, and its victory changed the course of history. 1968: England is still dominated by the Church of Rome. There are no telephones, no television, no nuclear power. As Catholicism and the Inquisition tighten their grip, rebellion is growing.
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1588: Queen Elizabeth is felled by an assassin's bullet. Within the week, the Spanish Armada had set sail, and its victory changed the course of history. 1968: England is still dominated by the Church of Rome. There are no telephones, no television, no nuclear power. As Catholicism and the Inquisition tighten their grip, rebellion is growing.
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Add this copy of Pavane to cart. $4.90, good condition, Sold by Becker's Books rated 3.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Houston, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1968 by Ace Books.
Add this copy of Pavane to cart. $4.99, good condition, Sold by Rob & June Edwards rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Salem, OR, UNITED STATES, published 1968 by Ace.
Add this copy of Pavane to cart. $6.50, very good condition, Sold by King Crab Books LLC rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Saint Paul, MN, UNITED STATES, published 1976 by Berkley.
Add this copy of Pavane to cart. $7.99, good condition, Sold by Wonder Book - Member ABAA/ILAB rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Frederick, MD, UNITED STATES.
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Seller's Description:
Good. Good condition. Mass Market Paperback edition. (Science Fiction, Alternate History) A copy that has been read but remains intact. May contain markings such as bookplates, stamps, limited notes and highlighting, or a few light stains.
Add this copy of Pavane to cart. $8.95, very good condition, Sold by King Crab Books LLC rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Saint Paul, MN, UNITED STATES, published 1968 by Ace.
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Seller's Description:
Dillon, Leo & Diane. 285 p. 1st paperback edition from Ace (#65430), 1968. On the lower end of VERY GOOD. Leo and Diane Dillon cover art. An Ace SF Special. PRINGLE: THE 100 BEST SF NOVELS.
Add this copy of Pavane to cart. $9.02, good condition, Sold by Wonder Book - Member ABAA/ILAB rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Frederick, MD, UNITED STATES, published 1976 by Berkley Publishing Group.
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Good. Good condition. (science fiction, sci-fi) A copy that has been read but remains intact. May contain markings such as bookplates, stamps, limited notes and highlighting, or a few light stains.
Add this copy of Pavane to cart. $11.61, new condition, Sold by Ingram Customer Returns Center rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from NV, USA, published 2011 by Old Earth Books.
Add this copy of Pavane to cart. $12.65, very good condition, Sold by Goodwill of Silicon Valley rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from San Jose, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2011 by OLD EARTH BOOKS.
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Supports Goodwill of Silicon Valley job training programs. The cover and pages are in very good condition! The cover and any other included accessories are also in very good condition showing some minor use. The spine is straight there are no rips tears or creases on the cover or the pages.
Add this copy of Pavane to cart. $13.12, very good condition, Sold by Wonder Book - Member ABAA/ILAB rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Frederick, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2011 by Old Earth Books.
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Very Good. Very Good condition. A copy that may have a few cosmetic defects. May also contain light spine creasing or a few markings such as an owner's name, short gifter's inscription or light stamp.
Add this copy of Pavane to cart. $13.61, fair condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 1970 by HarperCollins Distribution Services.
In the long English literary tradition of invented worlds, from More's "Utopia" to Orwell's "1984", "Pavane" stands apart from novels such as "Brave New World" given that it is more a series of connected short stories rather than a novel per se. Instead of following principal characters through a narrative based on successive crises and their resolutions, we meet Jesse, driver of the steam traction engine "The Lady Margaret"; member of the Signallers' Guild Rafe Bigland; Brother John, the artist who sketches the excesses of the Inquistition and Lady Eleanor, who begins a revolution. "Pavane", therefore, stands or falls on the success with which Keith Roberts draws his characters.
Uniting them is the alternative history of an England as faithful daughter of the Catholic church following the death of Queen Elizabeth I from an assassin's bullet and the successful invasion of England by Spanish troops carried by the ships of the Armada. In a country where guilds maintain their medieval authority, the internal combustion engine is outlawed by Papal edict and the Inquisition crushes all dissent, the slow agrarian rhythm of life seems guaranteed. However, older forces are beginning to stir in the woods and forests. It is not the Protestant faith that will rise up against the power of the Church. Rather it is the spirits of the land, older than the Church and which Roberts appears to identify with a peculiarly English sense of liberty, that will inspire some of the characters mentioned above to question the Church's right to control their lives and the lives of their countrymen.
It is a testament to Roberts's talents as a writer that he manages to develop the narrative thrust of "Pavane" without losing the reader in either historical details, albeit alternative ones, or in the wide range of characters that fill the book. Each of the principal characters engages our interest and sympathy. We get to know them. We share their thoughts and feelings. Without them the story of woodland spirits taking on the might of a world empire would not have risen much above the standard fantasy novel. Revolutions thrive on ideologies, and the revolution described in "Pavane" seems singularly lacking in what it wishes it achieve once the authority of the Church is smashed. However, it would be unfair to dismiss "Pavane" with the faint praise that it is either a "praiseworthy effort" or "worth reading". The principal characters are far from being mere ciphers and their responses, varied as they themselves differ from each other, to a world that stifles the individual in its journey of self-fulfilment, will stay with the reader long after the book has been read.
