Head of State (novel)

Head of State was a 2015 novel in the Faction Paradox series.

Publisher's summary
"When the seventh head speaks, the War will end…"

In 11th century Arabia, Shahrazad tells her final story, on the thousand and second night.

In 19th century Britain, Sir Richard Burton is sent on the most important mission of his life.

In 21st century America, a serial killer is stalking a Presidential campaign.

And the hero has been written out of the novel.

"…and the true War will begin."

Plot
to be added

Characters

 * Shahrazad
 * Richard Francis Burton
 * Matt Nelson
 * Rachel Edwards
 * Shift
 * Lola Denison

Worldbuilding

 * Hassan-i Sabbah is a member of Faction Paradox.
 * Rachel mentions Ayn Rand.

Continuity

 * The novel expands on Richard Burton's history with Faction Paradox, previously outlined in PROSE: The Book of the War.
 * In her speech, Lola mentions that there was an attempt to drill to the Earth's core in the 1970s. This is the Inferno Project seen in TV: Inferno, previously recontextualised in relation to the centre of the Earth's status as a portal to the Spiral Yssgaroth by PROSE: Interference - Book One.
 * It is claimed that an individual who was neither angel nor djin, whose name was known only to "Allah", gave him the idea of hiding the cauldron inside the Earth. With Allah implicitly being used as a stand-in for the founder of the Great Houses' society, i.e. Rassilon, this ties into the aforementioned claim in PROSE: Interference that Rassilon and his Engineer created the Earth to cover up one of many gaps to the Spiral Yssgaroth opened in the aftermath of their bungled experiments surrounding the Eye of Harmony. However, in that source, it was not suggested that the gap Earth housed was special, let alone that it was the prime one from the Homeworld, somehow transported to the solar system. At any rate, Rassilon's mysterious nameless advisor recalls the Other, as documented in PROSE: Remembrance of the Daleks and many later sources.
 * PROSE: Rachel Survived served as a sequel to this story, featuring a further encounter between Rachel Edwards and powers related to the war, this time with no direct relation to Lolita's cheme. This story also featured an in-universe version of the Head of State book itself, originating in a parallel universe. This book would again be seen in PROSE: White Canvas.