Rosewater Press

 A few weeks back, I took an overnight trip to Milwaukee. Partly to wander around and re-learn the vibes of the city I've chosen as the main setting for my science fiction novel, but mostly just to see the sights and get away from home for a bit. A futuristic version of the city's Public Museum is a major location in my book and I neglected to visit the museum at all on this trip. Oh well, they're moving to a new building in a few years anyway. Christ I'm gonna miss that place. Y'know, my dad says a good chunk of the museum was almost the same when he was visiting it in the '70s. The museum has become a piece of history in itself; the financial burden of keeping history alive is bringing that to an end. I hope the Streets of Old Milwaukee  always continues to exist in some way. That bizarre Doctor Who set of an exhibit constitutes half my childhood memories of Milwaukee. A lot of people say the mannequins and the slightly uncanny vibe freaked them out as kids. I...

The story behind this book is almost as interesting as anything its pages have to offer. Early in April, it appeared on the Obverse Books website with no context to speak of. No word from the publisher on Facebook, Twitter/Mastodon, Gallifreybase, etc.. This thing was just... there , its bizarre cover art looming large and coming off like a relic from a world that had no business intersecting with ours. There was a house, and above the house stood Danny DeVito in Adidas, split down the middle and screaming. The description only heightened my sense of confusion, eventually mutated it into excitement. Nostalgia, even. See, I was experiencing something I haven't felt from this series in years: utter bafflement. What the hell did any of these words mean? Coming so soon after April Fool's Day, I had to wonder whether the book existed at all.      I bought it regardless. How could I not? A book appearing mysteriously out of the ether, coupled with a completely inexplicable...

After finishing the Boulevard Volume 1, I've been wanting to get back into Faction Paradox and realized I haven't actually read most of the more recent books. I've decided to start going through the series in reverse chronological order (reverse as most of what I'm familiar with is the older stuff, and I'd like for it to be less fresh in my head before I revisit it, as well as finally getting to know the part of the series I'm least versed in). This retrospective on the series won't be entirely comprehensive; for now I'll be ignoring more recent tie-ins (the Dave Rudden stuff; the City of the Saved; Faction Paradox appearing with serial numbers filed off in Big Finish's The Warren Legacy ; Ryan Fogarty) and the new BBV stuff. The old Bernice Summerfield content gets an in, though, as it ties more directly into Miles' view for the series and the loose overarching narratives that defined his time in charge.     But I'll talk about all that when...

 After about three years, Faction Paradox is back . This is the first new book in the series since 2019, and the first one since 2018 that exceeds 200 pages. It's also another of their themed anthologies, like the excellent Books of the Enemy and Peace. I'd have preferred another more general collection of stories, personally. Romance  and Burning  remain among my favorite Faction books for the sheer variety they offer, their pages expand the boundaries of what Faction Paradox can be immensely. But then, this is a fairly loose theme. And,  well, I do love Book of the Enemy , and in general putting a laser-focus on one aspect of the universe can be just as fascinating as the more scattershot approach.      I t's not actually about its titular setting, a prison containing those Faction members who go too far even for the Faction. Instead, it's about how an assortment of characters ended up stuck there. That sort of concept lends itself well to a less foc...