Pavane

Elizabeth I was assassinated, the Armada succeeded and England fell to Philip Il of Spain.

With the authority of the Catholic Church assured, the rising nation of Great Britain deployed her forces in the service of the Popes, helping bring all Europe and the New World under the rule of Rome.

In England as elsewhere Papal dominion put a brake on progress. Old barriers of language and class persisted as strong as ever into the twentieth century. The ancient castles of medievalism still glowered across the land, fully garrisoned and equipped with ponderous cannon. Belief in the ancient magic of the Old Ones persisted in spite of the Inquisition’s harsh vigilance.

But by the middle of the twentieth century, change was once more in the air — rebellion was brewing …

Keith Roberts’s saga of alternate history is one of the most brilliantly imaginative science fiction novels in recent years.