Pavane

By: Keith Roberts

Narrated by: Steven Crossley

Length: 9 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

Earphones Award Winner (AudioFile Magazine)

Award-winning author, narrator, and screenwriter Neil Gaiman personally selected this book, and, using the tools of the Audiobook Creation Exchange (ACX), cast the narrator and produced this work for his audiobook label, Neil Gaiman Presents.

A few words from Neil on Pavane: "When Old Earth Books told me they are reissuing Pavane, which was originally published in 1968, I told them: 'I read one story from Pavane when I was nine, and it scarred me…. 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….' Pavane was Keith Roberts' masterpiece: profound and still remarkable."

Considered Keith Roberts' masterwork, this novel consists of linked short stories (six measures and a coda) of a 20th century in which 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, and the world is kept in a Dark Age of steam-power transportation, with no allowance for electrical power, by a tyrannical Rome. Pavane shows the harshness of life in this society and details the generational struggle for independence by the citizens of Dorset, England. It's through this series of moving tales that Roberts interweaves a discussion of Destiny and History that take the book out of the ordinary. And the author's great love of his native country makes this the most English of novels, and one of the finest in fantastic literature.

To hear more from Neil Gaiman on Pavane, click here, or listen to the introduction at the beginning of the book itself.

Learn more about Neil Gaiman Presents and Audiobook Creation Exchange (ACX).

©1968 Keith Roberts (P)2011 Wildside Press LLC

Critic reviews

"Roberts's vivid depiction of the day-to-day lives of the common folk gives these stories a tangible reality. Steven Crossley's gentle voice, embedded with a regional accent, enhances the characters and places them solidly in their milieu." ( AudioFile)

not what i expected

What disappointed you about Pavane?

repeats information; too sci-fi

What could Keith Roberts have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

It's a fine book but didn't interest me

Have you listened to any of Steven Crossley’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

excellent narration as always

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Pavane?

I was after a sustained narrative, not short stories

Any additional comments?

I plan to return the book

Dark, Sick, Vomit Inducing

I felt raped after reading these dark and utterly horrible stories. I am stunned that Gaiman would recommend these and wish I could wash the filfth out of my mind.

Really depends on your disdain for Rome

First chapter might captivate a young reader with its detailed technology, but from there it just becomes an invective of Rome - the post script not withstanding - and not a young reader's book. Fits some real-world world views, Well written prose, but not a story I would re-read unless I was studying it as an academic exercise.

Boring Alternate History

I agree with many that Keith Roberts’ writing was excellent and that he has a very good literary style. Unfortunately, the story or plot itself is very, very boring and I don’t feel it was worth a credit or worth reading.

There are several stories in the novel that Roberts’ attempts to interrelate. The first story was interesting and the second wasn’t bad. After that, I kept reading hoping that the plot would then develop with the next story and that it would get even better. No such luck. It was downhill all the way after story two. I would not recommend the novel, Pavane.

The narrator, Steven Crossley, was excellent.

Tedious

What would have made Pavane better?

Perhaps having read it when I was younger? The theme has been done by others with better results.

Has Pavane turned you off from other books in this genre?

Nah - one bad apple....

What didn’t you like about Steven Crossley’s performance?

The part where he's talking.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Well, I'm sure the physical book would make a pretty good door stop.

Any additional comments?

Really disappointed, it came well recomended.

Just no

These are short stories. Got through the first two, but that’s it. Plotless, overly descriptive fairy tales. Bored me to death.