Pavane (Del Rey Impact)
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'sPavane(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 seminalLest Darkness Fall(1941), in which a modern man slips back in time and attempts to avert the Dark Ages; Ward Moore'sBring the Jubilee(1953), set after the South wins the U.S. Civil War; and Philip K. Dick'sThe Man in the High Castle(1962), set after the Germans and Japanese win World War II.Lest Darkness FallandThe Man in the High Castleare justly famous; the other two classics,Bring the JubileeandPavane, are less well known, and that is a shame.One reason forPavane'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 thatPavaneis 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,Pavaneis an intelligent, powerful, and moving work, deserving of a wide readership.--Cynthia Ward