I wanted to read this because I know it's an early (first?) ancestor of the whole steampunk genre/style. I have also heard several references to it and wanted to check it out.

This novel is structured like a Pavane - 6 measures and a Coda as 6 short stories with a coda.

The stories take place in an alternate universe where Queen Elizabeth was assassinated, allowing Philip of Spain (and the Roman Catholic Church) to take over most of the world. The Protestants were quashed on the continent, and America is only mentioned and seems to be rather isolationist. These stories take place in modern times, but thanks to the stranglehold by the Church, science and technology have floundered and we're only at the technological level of semaphores and steam engines. The stories physically take place in England.

As for the stories:

The first was "The Lady Margaret," which is the foundation short story where a steam engine haulier has interactions with a lady love and a friend from his college days (all after the death of his father; who was the patriarch of the family business). I actually quite liked this story, I found it interesting.

Second was "The Signaller," which covered how a boy became an apprentice signaller (signallers were incredibly important and highly thought of, if not exactly trusted, in this steam-industrial world where science is kept at bay by the Church).

Third was The White Boat," which I thought was weak and it was not well connected (and not directly connected) with the other short stories. I don't feel like it really gave me any information about the universe taking place in the book. It was about a discontented fisher-girl who became obsessed and eventually stowed away on a mysterious yacht.

Fourth was "Brother John," which involved an artistic monk who was sent to record the stories of the Inquisition (I already forget what they called it, there was an alternate name, but it was most definitely the Inquisition); he discovers that he enjoys the torture and goes mad and inadvertently(?) starts a rebellion.

Fifth was "Lords and Ladies," which involves Margaret, the niece of the main character in the first story, she shares the story of how she met and had a relationship with the local aristocrat.

And last (sixth) was "Corfe Gate," the main character is the daughter of Margaret, and she becomes involved with/starts a regional rebellion. The actions of the Church, the King of England, and possible repercussions are explored.

The "Coda" is set further in the future and features the son of a character (not the aristocrat) from the previous novel; it discusses some of what's been going on "behind the scenes" of the world told about in the previous stories. I did not enjoy this one very much, even if it did give a sense of closure/completion to some of the set up in the rest of the short stories.

Overall, it was well written. I was not "into" a few of the stories, but the novel/collection is short and sweet and interesting.