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Comprising a cycle of linked stories set in Dorset , England , it depicts a 1968 in which the Roman Catholic Church still has supremacy; in its Timeline , Protestantism was destroyed during wars triggered by the Assassination of Queen Elizabeth I . Most of the original stories were published in Science Fantasy . An additional story, "The White Boat", was added in later editions. The social effects include a continuing Feudal system and bans on innovation, particularly Electricity , leading to a roughly mid- 19th Century Technology with steam Traction Engine s and mechanical Semaphore Telegraphy . Outlying areas are dangerous, with wild animals and occasional manifestations of the 'Old Ones' or 'People of the Hills' (supposed Fairies ) who leave crab-symbol Graffiti . The stories take place at a period when the possibility of revolution is rumoured. The location and flavour, nostalgic yet tragic in outlook, resemble a science-fictional equivalent of the fictionalized is the site of a semaphore station, and the ruined ("slighted") Castle At Corfe is a key presence in the book. After a brief Prologue explaining the Back-story , the stories are: ''The Lady Margaret'' (a lonely steam haulier meets a friend from his past); ]]''The Signaller'' (an apprentice semaphore operator is assigned to a remote station); ''The White Boat'' (not in all editions; a discontented fisher girl is obsessed with a mysterious yacht); ''Brother John'' (a monk becomes disaffected by the practices of the Inquisition ); ''Lords and Ladies'' (a woman's bitter memories are evoked at the deathbed of the haulier from the first story); ''Corfe Gate'' (an aristocrat is involved in a regional rebellion). The final ''Coda'' is set some years after the events of the stories). The title alludes to the stately and melancholy dance, the Pavane , the book being divided thematically into Measures and a Coda . POSSIBLE INFLUENCE The notion of using a sophisticated semaphore system to communicate over long distances was later used by Terry Pratchett in his '' Discworld '' novels, particularly '' Going Postal '', in which it is called ' Clacks '. The technology described is not very similar, Pavane having been written before general use of digital computers, or even facsimile transmission, and using two arms like the Napoleonic War coastal semaphores, whereas the clacks indicates the keen awareness of digital computing that also informs "Hex", the amusing central computer at the unseen University. EXTERNAL LINKS
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