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The Alteration

Author: Kingsley Amis

Holy Shit. That was my first thought, and rather apt thought, when I read this novel and realized what "the alteration" referred to. I sure as hell wasn't expecting that. And hell may be the appropriate word for this parallel universe where the Reformation didn't take place. The protagonist is 10-year-old Hubert Anvil, a choir boy with such a beautiful voice that church leaders wish to preserve it through "alteration". This alternate history novel is a clever, and at times, amusing and scary attack on the Catholic Church. Set in 1976, the world has been frozen in an archaic and medieval setting - intellectual, cultural, scientific, and social growth has been retarded. It diverges from actual history in two places: a papal crusade to restore the rightful heir when Henry of York tried to usurp Stephen II of England; and the protestant reformation didn't occur because Martin Luther reconciled with the Catholic Church. These two occurrences change much of history as we know it. Even culturally, written and musical history has changed. Shakespeare is unknown, Mozart, Beethoven, and Blake have all submitted to religious authority. Science is considered taboo, the scope of inventors is limited, and electricity is banned. Despite the sheer, disturbing scare factor of looking at what our world could have been, Amis' skillful prose and plot weaving makes for an engaging read, particularly if you enjoy dark dystopias. The Alteration won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award in 1977.

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