Keith Roberts

Keith John Kingston Roberts (20 September 1935 – 5 October 2000) was an English science fiction author. He began publishing with two stories in the September 1964 issue of Science Fantasy magazine, "Anita" (the first of a series of stories featuring a teenage modern witch and her eccentric granny) and "Escapism".^[1][2]

Several of his early stories were written using the pseudonyms Alistair Bevan and David Stringer. His second novel Pavane, first published in 1968, which is a collection of linked stories, may be his most famous work: an alternate history novel in which the Catholic Church takes control of England following the assassination of Queen Elizabeth I.^[3]

Roberts wrote numerous novels and short stories and worked as an illustrator. His artistic contributions include covers and interior artwork for New Worlds and Science Fantasy, later renamed Impulse. He also edited the last few issues of Impulse although the nominal editor was Harry Harrison.^[3]

Roberts' first novel, The Furies, makes an appearance in the American TV series Bones in the third season's third episode "Death in the Saddle" (9 October 2007).

Roberts described himself as a political conservative and an anti-communist.^[3]

In later life, Roberts lived in Salisbury. He was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1990, and died of its complications in October 2000. Obituaries recalled him as a talented but personally "difficult" author, with a history of disputes with publishers, editors and colleagues.^[4][5][6]