This chapter considers the structure of Pavane, a work that has at different times been considered both a novel and a short story collection. The other controversial issue connected to Pavane is whether to think of it as an alternate history or as cyclic history; neither seems to adequately encompass the work. After discussing these issues, the chapter goes on to lay out in some detail the contents of the book, setting out the key incidents described in each of the six central stories and how the different stories echo and react to each other, along with the more problematic aspects of the Prologue and the Coda.