Faction Paradox (series)

The Faction Paradox series is a standalone collection of audio, prose and comic stories set in and around the War in Heaven, introduced in Lawrence Miles' 1997 Eighth Doctor novel Alien Bodies.

History
At the time that Lawrence Miles wrote Alien Bodies, he intended for the War in Heaven to stay indeterminably far in the Doctor's future, like Merlin or the Valeyard. However, after he learned that Kate Orman and Jon Blum were including Faction Paradox in their novel Unnatural History, he felt justified to explore them further in his 1999 two-part novel Interference, which introduced the Eleven-Day Empire and the Remote. After Interference received unfavourable reviews in DWM 281 and elsewhere, Miles felt he had "lost [his] mandate" and resigned from writing Doctor Who to instead develop a Faction Paradox series.

By the year 2000, BBV Productions had agreed to produce The Faction Paradox Protocols audio series. These audios introduced several concepts that would later become staples of the Faction Paradox range, such as the Faction's shadow-weapons and alternate names like "Great Houses" for the Time Lords or "timeships" for TARDISes. Miles described these alternate names as the continuation of the reinvention that he began in Alien Bodies: as he explored more of the mechanics of the War, the War-era Time Lords evolved further and further away from the Time Lords of the past.

This process would not be completed until the writing of The Book of the War, an encyclopedia-style "guidebook to a series that doesn't exist yet" intended to be a standalone companion to the Protocols audios. As Miles collected, edited, and synthesized stories from nine other authors, he developed the War as a more mythological setting, which had the scale and appearance of science fiction but none of the props. For instance, instead of using aliens in The Book of the War, Miles characterised all non-humans as either gods, like the Great Houses and Celestis, or monsters, like the Yssgaroth and Mal'akh.

"The Faction's universe is on the surface an SF universe, but it works on the same principles as traditional folklore. It's all very feudal. There are, or were, 'people' who ran history - 'history' being a way for us to deal with the world around us - and these 'people' are generally nameless and faceless, but with the attitude of an aristocratic upper class. Ruling Houses, in effect.

At some point these Houses engaged in a war with an equally inscrutable enemy, and the war intersected - still intersects - human history like a biblical, impacting on humanity but without direct human involvement. Usually. So that makes Faction Paradox a Prometheus among the Titans, it's a splinter-group halfway between the elite and humanity, which believes in (a) introducing its principles to the "collaterals" caught in the crossfire... that's us, essentially... and (b) interfering in the plans of the Houses whenever possible."

- Lawrence Miles

The Book of the War was published in September 2002 by Mad Norwegian Press, and it was such a success that, in December of that year, Mad Norwegian announced that it was beginning a series of standalone Faction Paradox novels edited by Miles. Despite the series' name, these novels did not specifically focus on the Faction, instead exploring "a myriad of times/settings" throughout the War. Along with several original novels, Mad Norwegian also republished Miles' 1999 book Dead Romance, which had originally been released in Virgin Books' New Adventures line.

At the same time, Mad Norwegian began producing a Faction Paradox comic to be published by Image Comics. It was written by Lawrence Miles and tied into his 2001 Eighth Doctor novel The Adventuress of Henrietta Street, albeit in a way that required no prior knowledge of that novel or any other Faction Paradox story. The comic was listed as one of Diamond Distribution's "Gems of the Month" and was received favourably by several comic reviewers, but for various reasons Mad Norwegian decided to end the comic series before the third issue, leaving the story unfinished.

In September of 2003, BBV Productions announced that they were ending their Audio Adventures in Time & Space range to focus exclusively on the The Faction Paradox Protocols line. However, BBV stopped producing new content after A Labyrinth of Histories in 2004, so Miles, impressed by the quality of actors in the Kaldor City series, reached out to Magic Bullet Productions to continue the Faction Paradox audios. Though the resultant True History of Faction Paradox series was designed to be standalone from the earlier Protocols audios, it continued to feature the characters of Justine, Eliza, and Lolita, albeit played by different actors. The first True History audio was released in July 2005, and the series continued until the sixth and final story was released on 23 November 2009.

The Mad Norwegian Press novel series continued until, in September 2006, CEO Lars Pearson announced that the return of Doctor Who to television had focused fans' attentions elsewhere, so the Faction Paradox novels would end with Erasing Sherlock that December. However, the following July, the New Zealand-based publisher Random Static announced they would be continuing the Faction Paradox novel line with Newtons Sleep, eventually published 12 January 2008 to some media attention. Concerned that the Faction Paradox branding was scaring off unfamiliar readers and distracting reviewers, Random Static also released the novel online as a free ebook. Despite plans for a novel to be released in 2010, this would be Random Static's only Faction Paradox release.

On 7 June 2010, Obverse Books announced that it had obtained the license to publish a series of Faction Paradox short story anthologies, beginning with A Romance in Twelve Parts in 2011. Following that anthology's success, Obverse took over the Faction Paradox prose license in its entirety. They began their new novel line with Against Nature and The Brakespeare Voyage, both of which had begun production while Mad Norwegian was running the series.

Obverse also began The City of the Saved series of short story anthologies, edited by Philip Purser-Hallard and set in the eponymous City, first introduced in The Book of the War. This was the first Faction Paradox prose spinoff or subseries.

Obverse maintains a steady release schedule of Faction Paradox prose. In 2015, they notably published the anthology Liberating Earth, edited by acclaimed Doctor Who novelist Kate Orman, which featured only women writers.

On 25 November 2017, the day after the exact 20th anniversary of the Faction's introduction in Alien Bodies, Obverse released the novel Spinning Jenny, which had been finished for over three years. They also announced the anthology The Book of the Enemy, which would be released in January 2018.

Anthologies
In 2012, Obverse released the anthology Tales of the City, starting the Faction Paradox spin-off/subseries The City of the Saved, set in the eponymous City introduced in The Book of the War.

Short stories
Mad Norwegian Press and Random Static both released short stories as prologues to their Faction Paradox novels. These were often released online or as extras with other releases.

The Faction Paradox Protocols
BBV Productions released three two-part audios in their series The Faction Paradox Protocols between 2001 and 2004.

The True History of Faction Paradox
In 2004, Magic Bullet Productions obtained the Faction Paradox audio license and began the six-part The True History of Faction Paradox series, which ended in 2009.

Comic
"December, 1774. America stands on the brink of armed revolt. With Boston placed under martial law and the colonies straining at the British Empire's bit, England's King George III is about to receive a rare gift from the Empress of Russia--the last living woolly mammoth in the Western hemisphere.

Among the dignitaries gathered at the mammoth's reception are two representatives from Faction Paradox. Though the details remain vague, the 1700s have apparently become a crossroads, an intersection between known history and the cosmic "War in Heaven." The Faction seems determined to involve itself in local politics ... for whomever controls this intersection in time will ultimately control history."

- Mad Norwegian summary

Two issues of a bimonthly Faction Paradox comic were produced by Mad Norwegian and published by Image Comics in the latter half of 2003. Each issue had a central, 16-page comic along with shorter, illustrated text stories. The main comic story was an ongoing one, so the early cancellation of the title meant that the story was never finished. It was set after the end of the War and acted as a prequel to The Adventuress of Henrietta Street; the Faction Paradox Protocols audio stories Sabbath Dei and In the Year of the Cat were intended to be prequels to the comic.

The comic was written by Lawrence Miles, edited by Lars Pearson, penciled by Jim Calafiore, inked by Peter Palmiotti, lettered by Christa Dickson, and coloured by Paul Monts. The covers were made by Steve Johnson.
 * Political Animals
 * Bêtes Noires & Dark Horses
 * Creatures of Habit (unreleased)

External link

 * Obverse Books' 2012 release schedule