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. $8.94, new condition, Sold by Ria Christie Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Uxbridge, MIDDLESEX, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2000 by Gollancz.
Add this copy of Pavane to cart. $9.00, new condition, Sold by Ria Christie Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Uxbridge, MIDDLESEX, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2000 by Gollancz.
Add this copy of Pavane to cart. $11.76, new condition, Sold by Books2anywhere rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Fairford, GLOUCESTERSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2000 by Orion Publishing Co.
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PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot offer an expedited shipping service from the UK.
Add this copy of Pavane to cart. $19.07, new condition, Sold by Books2anywhere rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Fairford, GLOUCESTERSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2011 by Old Earth Books.
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PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot offer an expedited shipping service from the UK.
Add this copy of Pavane to cart. $72.97, good condition, Sold by Rooke Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from BATH, SOMERSET, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1984 by Victor Gollancz.
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None. Very Good Indeed in Very Good Indeed jacket. The very scarce first Gollancz yellow jacket edition of Keith Roberts's best known work, the alternative history science fiction novel 'Pavane'. First published in 1968, this is the very scarce first edition of the novel to be published by Victor Gollancz in their iconic yellow dust wrapper. Many of Roberts's works were first published by Gollancz. In the publisher's original dust wrapper, price unclipped. The novel depicts a twentieth century England in which the Catholic Church still has supremacy, due to the assassination of Elizabeth I in 1588. An additional story, "The White Boat", is present in this edition. With marginal ink notations throughout, and the odd word underlined. In the publisher's original cloth binding, with unclipped dust wrapper. Externally, fine. Dust wrapper lightly sunned to back strip, with handling marks to rear wrap and head of front wrap. Ripples to dust wrapper laminate to wraps. Internally, firmly bound. Pages bright. With the odd ink marginal notation or ink underlining of words. Very Good Indeed.
Add this copy of Pavane to cart. $104.05, very good condition, Sold by Rooke Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from BATH, SOMERSET, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1984 by Victor Gollancz Ltd.
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Seller's Description:
None. Near Fine in Near Fine jacket. A scarce Gollancz yellow jacket edition of Keith Roberts's best known work, the alternative history science fiction novel 'Pavane'. Scarce yellow jacket Gollancz edition, first published in 1968. Many of Roberts's works were first published by Gollancz. An alternative history science fiction fix-up novel comprising a cycle of linked stories set in Dorset, England. The novel depicts a twentieth century England in which the Catholic Church still has supremacy, due to the assassination of Elizabeth I in 1588. An additional story, "The White Boat", is present in this edition. Written by Keith John Kingston Roberts, an English science fiction author. In the original full cloth binding. Externally, very smart with minor bumping to the extremities. Original unclipped dust wrapper is also very smart with minor wear and the odd small mark. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are very bright and clean throughout. Near Fine.
Add this copy of Pavane to cart. $334.43, very good condition, Sold by Rooke Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from BATH, SOMERSET, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1968 by Doubleday & Company.
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Seller's Description:
None. Very Good Indeed in Near Fine jacket. The first US edition of Keith Roberts's best known work, the alternative history science fiction novel 'Pavane'. The US edition, first printing. In the publisher's original unclipped dust wrapper. The novel depicts a twentieth century England in which the Catholic Church still has supremacy, due to the assassination of Elizabeth I in 1588. An additional story, "The White Boat", is present in this edition. It did not appear in the UK true first of the same year. In the publisher's original cloth binding, with unclipped dust wrapper. Externally, very smart, with minor areas of adhesive residue to board heads, and significant mark to front free endpaper. Dust wrapper exceptionally bright, with mark to tail of front wrap, and to flyleaf tails. Internally, firmly bound. Pages clean and bright. Very Good Indeed.
Add this copy of Pavane to cart. $9.85, new condition, Sold by GreatBookPricesUK5 rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Castle Donington, DERBYSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2000 by Gollancz.
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New. B-format paperback. S.F. Masterworks . In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
Add this copy of Pavane to cart. $10.17, new condition, Sold by Booksplease rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Southport, MERSEYSIDE, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2000 by Gollancz.
Add this copy of Pavane to cart. $11.41, new condition, Sold by Kennys.ie rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Galway, IRELAND, published 2000 by Gollancz.
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New. 2000. paperback / softback. Paperback. The definitive alternate history-an engrossing future that never was. Series: S.F. Masterworks. Num Pages: 288 pages. BIC Classification: FL; FM. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 197 x 129 x 22. Weight in Grams: 280......We ship daily from our Bookshop.
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.
