Rating: 
Summary: To Be or Not To Be...
Review: That is the question alternate history novels ask, when a single event can make all the difference. "Pavane" is the sort of book I imagine John Christopher would like. He once said he preferred the past to the future, which is why a couple of his juvenile-oriented stories have been set in post-technological futures; societies that are oppressed and primitive, as seen in the medieval "Prince in Waiting"(1970), where knowledge of science and machinery is punishable by death. However, where "The Prince in Waiting" is post-apocalyptic in its setting, "Pavane" describes a world shaped by a crucial incident that alters the course of history - namely, the assassination of Elizabeth I in 1588.In "Pavane" we see a 20th century England ruled by the Catholic Church. Heresy is punished by draconian methods. While technological progress is largely held in check, minor innovations are grudgingly accepted. Electricity, television and computers are unheard of. One compensation (perhaps the only compensation) of this alternate world is that there is no industrial pollution. "Pavane" reminds us of how much we take for granted. In the Western world that we know, people live in relative comfort, thanks to the benefits of modern medicine, education, mass production and democracy. Many people benefit from science. It improves our standard of living, allowing people to live lives of leisure, dignity and intellectual stimulation. The Church in "Pavane" is determined to avert this, for reasons that don't become clear until the very end of the novel. The part of the book I enjoyed most was "Brother John". I think this might be because I'm studying art myself. I've seen how tiring it is when lithography students grind away at a slab of stone. Because Keith Roberts is also an illustrator, the writing style is highly visual. Roberts has created a very convincing scenario in "Pavane". This is the first alternate history novel I have read. I also plan to read Ward Moore's "Bring the Jubilee", which is supposed to be in the same class as "Pavane". Both these books are in the SF Masterworks series, which I'm currently collecting.
Rating: 
Summary: Maybe better as individual stories than as a whole
Review: The overall premise is fairly interesting: an alternate version of the world, all resulting from the assassination of Queen Elizabeth I. The book is a collection of short stories set in this world, showing how society functions within the scientific boundaries imposed by the Catholic Church. The individual stories are fairly well-written, especially the first. The big problem for me was my having settled into the premise of the book, and then getting to the end and realizing that things aren't what they seem. While I normally like surprise endings, the particular twist of this one was just too much to accept. I think readers would have a better time with the book A Canticle for Leibowitz, by Walter Miller.
Rating:
Summary: Maybe better as individual stories than as a whole
Review: The overall premise is fairly interesting: an alternate version of the world, all resulting from the assassination of Queen Elizabeth I. The book is a collection of short stories set in this world, showing how society functions within the scientific boundaries imposed by the Catholic Church. The individual stories are fairly well-written, especially the first. The big problem for me was my having settled into the premise of the book, and then getting to the end and realizing that things aren't what they seem. While I normally like surprise endings, the particular twist of this one was just too much to accept. I think readers would have a better time with the book A Canticle for Leibowitz, by Walter Miller.
Rating:
Summary: a novel of sublety
Review: There is a great achievement here,in the fine writing and the acute and detailed observation of phenomena that exist only in this alternate world. I found myself truly moved and greatly appreciated Roberts technique of telling the tale in such an enigmatic way. I was mightily impressed.
Rating:
Summary: a novel of sublety
Review: There is a great achievement here,in the fine writing and the acute and detailed observation of phenomena that exist only in this alternate world. I found myself truly moved and greatly appreciated Roberts technique of telling the tale in such an enigmatic way. I was mightily impressed.
Rating: 
Summary: Beautifully Written
Review: This book is marketed as Alternate History but I disagree. The content is broken down into mini stories detailing matters seldom written about. My favorite coda was the Semaphore story. If you buy this book and are expecting in-your-face alternate reality, then you'll be disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: Not for Everybody
Review: This book uses six independent, but linked, short stories to paint an England that, like much of the world, is under the domination of the Catholic church. The Church has limited the use of technology, so that, even though it is the 1960s, most of society functions at a sort of Middle Ages level. Each story draws out a little more detail though, goods are moved by "hauliers" who drive a sort of truck-locomotive, or how news and messages are sent via "signalers" (the story of the signalers is reprinted in Modern Classics of Fantasy). It's sort of interesting, but a bit ephemeral; there's all kinds of obscure references to "Old Ones" and "faeries." Rather than reading the whole book, I'd recommend reading just two of the stories "The Lady Margaret" and "The Signaler."
Rating:
Summary: Pavane
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Haunting alternate history
Review: This is simply a beautiful work; another gem from Gollancz' Masterworks series, although one which reads more like fantasy or historical fiction than SF. The novel is told through a series of six 'Measures', vignettes of story and mood focusing on a different character each time. While each works separately, taken together they form a tapestry linking thematic and narrative concerns - producing, ultimately, a beautifully-conceived and wonderfully effective tale of twentieth century England stifled by an all-powerful, anti-progress Catholic Church. The alternate England is a triumph of understated, economical world-building (something that many of today's fantasy novels could learn from, perhaps). It is filled with enduring images - the Signallers' towers, the steam engines, the land held in winter's icy grasp - made all the more striking and memorable because we are shown them through the eyes of convincing and distinctive characters. My only criticism would be of the 'Coda', which feels superfluous, and far too neat. Otherwise, this is a moving story of a transforming world, all the more effective for being incompletely explained.
Rating:
Summary: A well written alternate history novel
Review: This novel begins with the premises that Queen Elizabeth I was assassinated in 1588, and that the Spanish succeeded in conquring England. The author's proposed result is a Europe dominated by the Pope and his supporters, who suppress advances in science and technology. By the twentieth century, England still is in a quasi-medieval state, its cities linked by steam-powered road trains, its messages communicated by semaphores. Supernaturalism still influences perceptions and behavior. The bulk of the book consists of the separate stories of six major characters, each illuminating different facets of this alternate world. Some of these tales are beautifully and poignantly written. Unfortunately, the book's first story is its least interesting, possibly discouraging readers from continuing on to later and better ones.
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