Pavane (novel) the site of a semaphore station, and the castle at Corfe is a key presence in the book. Over all, the long arm of the Popes reached out to punish and reward; the Church Militant remained supreme. But by the middle of the twentieth century widespread mutterings were making themselves heard. Rebellion was once more in the air . . . The title alludes to the stately and melancholy dance, the pavane, the book being divided thematically into measures and a coda. After a brief Prologue explaining the back-story, the stories are: "Pavane" soon found an important place in the
Pavane (novel) alternate history subgenre of science fiction and the work's high reputation continues; "The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction" assesses it as "now credited as the finest of all 'alternate histories' ". Algis Budrys found the novel to be "a tapestry of a book; a marvel of storytelling", and concluded that, despite an unnecessary "Coda", it was "a truly wonderful work". Pavane (novel) Pavane is an alternate history science fiction fix-up novel by British writer Keith Roberts, first published by Rupert Hart-Davis Ltd in 1968. Most of the original stories were published in "Science Fantasy". An additional story, "The White Boat",