Have you ever found yourself wondering, “What’s that ’Faction Paradox’ thing?” Have you ever been intimidated by the seeming mountains of lore?
If so – perhaps we could fix that together?
What in the world is Faction Paradox?
Faction Paradox is a spinoff of the Eighth Doctor Adventures series of late-’90s-to-early-’00s novels. It’s about a bunch of goth Time Lords who decided to make their own gang with blackjack and hookers, only the blackjack is ritual sacrifice and the hookers are non-Time Lords (they’re anti-racist!). Think occult Doctor Who.
The series (Novels! Anthologies! Audio dramas! Comics!) is going to this day, and ostensibly takes place in the Doctor Who universe… sans the license. A “serial numbers filed off” approach lets you view them as as connected or disconnected as you prefer.
A tiny glossary of Faction Paradox-talk…
Timeships are TARDISes.
The Homeworld is Gallifrey.
The Great Houses (and the Homeworlders) are the Time Lords.
The Spiral Politic is the Web of Time.
The War in Heaven is like the Time War in new Who, but came before. (It’s primarily the Time Lords against the Enemy, who aren’t poorly defined so much as not defined at all.)
Rumor has it that Faction Paradox is difficult to get into – but such is really not the case. The lore is a value-added proposition: It’s fun to go “oh, haha, that guy”, or “ohhh, they must be referencing that one story”, but it’s rarely if ever needed. A few Faction authors write inscrutable prose, but… they constitute a minority, and let me tell you, they’re just as inscrutable no matter how much you hit the books.
Should you like a more comprehensive guide, the illustrious @glass_shard has made just that:
So, how about we get together…
I clearly love Faction Paradox, lest I wouldn’t make a thread like this. How would you feel if we did a one-off Faction Paradox book club and got stuck into it together? Ask and answer questions back and forth about anything confusing or curious; get some more eyes on what, after all, is great fiction by great indie authors, inspired by the Big D (never calling him that again) himself.
Would you be interested? Is there anything in particular you’d like to read?
I’d be very interested, I’m quite far into the fandom at this point so wouldn’t be looking to learn anything in particular, so I’d be happy to do any book really,
I’m half way through This Town at the moment actually
I would be very interested! All I’ve read thats actually Faction Paradox is parts of the Book of the War, which was… an experience. Not a bad one necessarily but certainly an experience. This would be a very good opportunity to actually get myself into it
That sounds like a great Idea, I’d be very interested since my Exposure to Faction Paradox is quite limited. The Question would mainly just be in what form? I, personally, would suggest to creating a Thread for maybe each Entry, but again maybe you have a totally different Idea, which I am fine with, just throwing around a little Suggestion!
Either way looking forward with what ever you come up with!
Would be interested. At the same time, I’m pretty sure many (or most) of the books are currently out of reach—either because I don’t want the hassle of importing stuff from outside Europe, or because the prices for some of the second-hand books are so damn high.
I’d probably join in when possible, and if not, I’ll read what other folks write.
Second that—doing it the same way as all the other clubs. That way, over time, more and more folks are able to add their thoughts, even after the main event of reading a book or listening to an audio drama together.
Maybe with an exception for mini-series like the Faction Paradox Protocols, which are in some ways more like a TV show serial?
The main idea being to keep things a bit more focused, allowing for deeper discussion without things getting unwieldy.
I would be very interested in this! I have already read a couple of books (Alien Bodies and Dead Romance), and the only problem is that the FP books are expensive and hard to get hold of, so I might not be able to participate in the book club because I don’t have the books
It would be conducted more or less like the other book clubs here, yes! One thread per book, with a period (likely a month) to participate. (CC @RandomJoke, @Goibniu)
Price shouldn’t be a problem, as I figure we’ll focus on Obverse Books’s output, which are in print and accompanied by cheaper e-book versions. (CC @Goibniu, @ProfessorSummerfield)
Worth mentioning is that we wouldn’t be reading the books in order, 1) as they’re highly standalone and 2) as that would be a preposterous way to approach Faction Paradox.
Keep the sign-ups coming, and I’ll tag y’all when relevant!
You most certainly don’t! It’s a nice introduction to the Faction, but so is more or less any other book.
There are novellas and anthologies – I think an anthology (maybe The Book of the Peace?) might be an option, but it’s probably easier to get discussion going and on the same page with a single novel.
I’d be interested! I keep thinking about getting into FP stuff (I think I’ve read all of the EDAs they’re in) but a book club may be the motivation I need >:)
