Faction Paradox A Romance in Twelve Parts

Author	Mags L Halliday
Published	2011
Publisher	Obverse Books

Synopsis: A collection of short stories.

• A Review by James Burton

A Review by James Burton 4/7/12

First of all, I must note that none of the stories in this collection were sub-par. In fact, none of them were even "par". They were all excellent, and while some may have resonated more with my personal tastes than others, I can't say that any were significantly lower in quality or imagination than the others.

Storyteller by Matt Kimpton

What a way to begin the book! An amazing tale - rich in atmosphere. As almost the entire story is an oral tale, I found myself reading most of the story aloud to get a better feel for it. (Hey, I'm strange, but it works for me.) Besides being a great way to set the mood and the scene, it seems to me that it works as a great way to introduce the Faction to new readers as well.

Gramps by Jonathan Dennis

Almost certainly the shortest story in the collection. I enjoyed this one a lot, even if (and this will be a recurring theme in this review, so bear with me) I didn't entirely understand the ending. (As a David Lynch fan, I am perfectly capable of appreciating a work without "understanding" it, per se. One can fully experience a story without fully grasping it mentally.) I have to say that when Gramps first made an appearance, my initial thought was of Faction Cat from Newton's Sleep (hey, it's one of the few Faction fictions I've read so I'm gonna draw parallels) but with its missing limb, and the giveaway name, I soon realized who it's intended to be. (As for "why", that I have no idea...)

Mightier Than the Sword by Jay Eales

A remarkable story this one, but one about which I must make the usual disclaimer that I have no idea what is going on at the end (but in this case that is more egregious than in others for some reason; still, I blame myself rather than the author). The frequent cursing seems out of place when compared with the rest of the book, but is perfectly fitting for the character telling the story. (I haven't the slightest problem with swear words; the sudden change of style does stand out, is all.) Ultimately, as the title suggests, it's a tale about the power of the written word. But it goes by a strange and mysterious route, following a criminal transferred to an unlikely prison, an Alan Moore-like visionary, and guards who wield voodoo (I don't recall their being specified by the text as Faction agents; much of this book rather enjoyably treats the Faction very tangentially). Very entertaining and I glimpse something more profound going on which I cannot grasp.

Now or Thereabouts by Blair Bidmead

Any relation? Anyway, this is one of my favorites in the book; it just clicked with my tastes rather well. The out-of-sync storytelling, the mood and tone, and the humor. Using The Apprentice as a template for Faction recruitment is a bizarre idea, but it works marvelously here. (Having never seen the UK version, I am unfamiliar with Sir Alan Sugar's manner; I found myself instead unable to hear Godfather Starch as anyone other than Philip Glenister, whose voice kept barging in and taking over inside my head.) The usual refrain in this review appears again ("didn't understand the ending"), but this is another case where, for me, lack of understanding doesn't dent my experience of it.

Nothing Lasts Forever by David N. Smith and Violet Addison

Perhaps a little more "trad" as far as Faction Paradox goes, but I loved this story as well. (I loved all of them, of course, so this might mean little...) I suppose you could call it a love story, as inapplicable as that might seem at first. But love and paradox are equally at the heart of this simple but quite moving tale.

Library Pictures by Stuart Douglas

Honestly, I didn't expect Iris Wildthyme to work in the Faction universe. Silly me. If anything, with her more overt parodical elements not in play here, she works better than anywhere else. (Note the "if anything" at the beginning of that sentence please, as I have not thought that through fully.) On her search for the missing Panda, Iris finds herself in a Faction prison with a desire to free the one trapped inside. It's a very detailed and imaginative story, and moving as well. Certainly one of my favorites in the book, even if it isn't as avant-garde in its storytelling as most of my other preferences.

(As an aside, having recently read Iris Wildthyme and the Celestial Omnibus, I was perhaps primed too much to draw connections, but I was certain throughout this story that it took place during that book's Future Legend by the same author [and editor]. Iris and Panda have argued, he has run away and Iris is looking for him at the end of the universe and discovers he's on Pussyworld. I was certain these two stories were telling of the same event - until the end which threw me for a loop. Does this tie into some other story I haven't yet read, or is it left open-ended like this?)

Holding Pattern by Scott Harrison

The most "trad" tale of the lot by far, but that isn't intended as an insult. Though I'll admit the cold sci-fi nature of much of the tale makes it less to my taste (just as I imagine it would be more to some others'). In some ways, a little 2001 inspired and I'm not sure that spelling a minor character's name "Vanderdeken" (rather than the more usual "van der Decken") isn't intended as a slight Doctor Who reference (but probably not). Well told, but not as imaginative as the other stories on show here.

A Story of the Peace by Ian Potter

A remarkable story, this one: very fun and clever and full of ideas, but ultimately oddly depressing. A very Lawrence Milesian cramming of ideas into a story that can just about contain them, though the ending makes it difficult to care too much about the characters therein. (Actually, this is a more complicated issue best addressed at another time because I would usually be arguing the opposite of this latter position.) I have nothing much further to add, save that I am not surprised that this story has been singled out for special praise by so many.

Print the Legend by Daniel O'Mahony

Mad. Mad as a sackful of ferrets. What other word could sum up this story of an alternate "Amerika" with dime-novel author Charlie Dickens seeking out the Wild West and encountering his target hero planning to sacrifice/marry off his granddaughter to a god, meeting characters with metal body parts or Cthulu-like bodies along the way? Some of this has solid explanation, some of it I never grasped, but it is an imaginatively insane (or did I mean that the other way around?) story with Faction Paradox very much at the heart of it without really featuring them, as such, very much at all. Pretty bleak stuff, behind all the fun insanity, too.

Tonton Macoute by Dave Hoskin

One of the things I love about the idea of Faction Paradox is simply the scope for ideas possible within the framework. The bizarre character of Tonton Macoute, an omnivorous cousin with a plethora of shadow body parts, imprisoned without teeth or tongue in the eye of a cyclone, could hardly occur anywhere else. At least, not in any way that would feel consistent in the universe. Only here can this kind of thing happen and feel congruous with the world at large. Here, through Cousin Andraiz, we get to explore the existence of this strange being (who somehow to me feels strangely like Palmer Eldritch without being at all similar; perhaps he just echoes some of Philip Dick's cannibalistic God depictions?) and get a sense of his weird existence. There's only a slight story being told, but a great exploration of an idea.

Alchemy by James Milton

A kind of gruesome and bleak story about one small mission in a much bigger War. This one doesn't feature the Faction even tangentially, but is very much about the universe they exist in. One or two ingenious ideas (I love the concept and realization of Jarks) and a bitter little plot make for a compelling tale about the depths people (and Houses) will sink to to get one over on their enemy (or Enemy).

A Hundred Words from a Civil War by Philip Purser-Hallard (and some others)

This is the story with the most to say about, and hence I will probably say the least. There's just too much going on for me to pick anything out as noteworthy. One hundred tales of a one hundred words each (some are cheats, after a fashion - one section split artificially into two adjacent ones, but let's not quibble) set in the City of the Saved (the next life, essentially, for humans anyway), this has more ideas in it than a William Gibson novel and a Philip K Dick novel combined. An epic tale of civil war come to the afterlife, it brings back some elements from the previous stories in this collection, as well as a host of other ideas. Imagine the pocket universe from The Wedding of River Song writ large and plunged into bloody darkness. Incredible - and what an ending!

As is human nature in such situations, the things that stood out for me were the elements I recognized! Hence I loved Rex Halidom, previously of the Battleship Anathema, taking control of the Trekkian Starship Paramount and hating its faux-futuristic design. And his meeting with a sexy blond android in a red dress brings us back to the character's roots...

Another favorite element, a throwaway one this time, was the band of Robin Hoods from various tellings of the tale. (Presumably they are Remakes, although I suppose if there was an historical Robin Hood he could be among them.)

But there I go singling out elements which I said I wouldn't do; in such a vast, rich, complicated tale there is too much to go into in detail in a short "review" such as this and I end up doing it no justice. What about the vampires, the no-heads, the battle-dinosaurs, the Gods, the giants, the Hobbits, the Mayors and Pharaohs and Emperors all battling for the City of the Saved? And the only help available might be the Downtime Gate, which is not accessible at the moment for more than one reason.

A review certainly can't do this justice, so why am I trying?