Eric Arthur, Fantasy Centre

The Fantasy Centre bookshop in North London prides itself on being the oldest science fiction bookshop in the world. Here, Eric Arthur recommends Pavane by Keith Roberts as a great read to get you thinking and talking.

It's an alternative history which posits what may have happened in England were Elizabeth I to have been assassinated in the late 16th century. The Armada invades, the Reformation never happens, and the Catholic church rules supreme. A series of well-written episodes in the history of this alter-England from 1968 until sometime early in the 21st century, it's a sharp and intriguing social comment as well as great science fiction.

Eric Arthur adds: "Science fiction is about 'what-ifs' and this is a great 'what-if' book. It's nominally 1968, but it seems to be Tudor England. Then it plunges you back into the real world and you arrive, wondering quite what's happened to you."