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Pavane
by
Keith Roberts
Keith John Kingston
Roberts (20 September 1935 – 5 October 2000), wrote
nine novels and over one hundred short pieces. He won the British
SF Association award for best novel for Gráinne
(1987). In 1984, Anthony Burgess picked Pavane
(1969), as one of the best 99 novels written in the English language
since 1939. It has appeared on many other authors’ favorite books
lists since. His work was nominated for the Hugo, the Nebula, the
Arthur C. Clarke, and the John W. Campbell Awards. His career
spanned from 1964 to 2000, the year he died. Roberts also worked as
an editor for Science Fantasy magazine and was an
accomplished illustrator with over 40 covers to his credit, winning
a BSFA award for artist in 1986.
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“I read one story from Pavane when I
was nine, and it scarred me. It was the first time a short
story had made me cry. I read the whole book as a teenager
and learned where that story had come from, and the shape of
the whole story and I felt the scars heal. It was Keith
Roberts’ masterpiece: profound and still remarkable.”
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Considered Keith Roberts’ masterwork, this novel consists of linked
short stories (six measures and a coda) set in a twentieth century where
the Roman Catholic Church controls the western world, and has done so
since Queen Elizabeth of England was assassinated in 1588. The Protestant
Reformation never happened. The Inquisition thrives. And a tyrannical
Rome maintains its power in a Dark Age, by limiting knowledge, outlawing
electricity and curbing technology.
Pavane shows the harshness of life in this society, and details the
generational struggle for independence by the citizens of Dorset,
England. It is through this series of moving tales that Roberts
interweaves a discussion of Destiny and History that takes the book out
of the ordinary. The author’s great love for his native country makes this
the most English of novels, and one of the finest in fantastic literature.
One of ten books listed by William Gibson in “If You Liked My Book,
You’ll Love These” in the May 28, 2010 issue of
New York
magazine.
One of 50 books listed by China Miéville in “Fifty Fantasy & Science
Fiction Works That Socialists Should Read.”
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“I enjoyed the first instalment of the Pavane series so much
that I sought out Keith Roberts and we had a very enjoyable
meeting in a pub, followed by a hair-raising drive home.”
“I still think it is among the best works of science fiction
ever produced in England. It deserves better recognition.”
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| – Terry Pratchett |
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| “Pavane is a novel which stands up against any of
the classics of modern literature. SF should never have been the
same after its publication, although in truth it bumbled on in its
same old insular way. At his best, Roberts is a dazzling writer,
unequaled in his insight into character and sense of place.”
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| – Ian R. MacLeod |
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| “Keith Robert’s Pavane is one of the ur-examples of
alternate history, and a crackling good story (or set of stories)
with sharply realized characters who are at once very much of their
time and place and yet universally human. But it’s quite a bit more;
a beautiful and moving meditation on the arc of history, the price
and benefits of progress and tradition, and the interaction of
necessity and free will. Finally, the landscape descriptions are
some of the most memorable in science fiction, or for that matter in
fiction generally. To use an overworked word, it is a classic.” |
| – S. M. Stirling |
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| “... his finest book: Pavane, a wonderful novel of
English alternate history, written in glorious English.” |
| – Christopher Priest |
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| “[A] masterpiece ... one of the
greatest alternate world stories ever told.” |
| – George R. R. Martin |
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| “One of the best alternate
history novels ever written.” |
| – Gardner Dozois |
Cover Design by
Robert
Garcia
Publication Date: December 15, 2011
 Trade
Paperback (French Flaps)
• 242 pages
• ISBN-10 1-88296-839-5 • $17.00 USD
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