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Post by sonorous on Jan 25, 2023 0:24:12 GMT
I finally managed to track down a copy of the damndable thing, as it was the last one I was missing before completing my Faction Collection!!!
Reading through it though, it is a little... strange.
It feels very much a separate thing apart from the other Mad Norwegian Books in ways I can't specifically put my foot on. Perhaps because it's mainly a romance of sorts? But even then, what I'm trying to say eludes me.
A tonal difference perhaps?
Cursory research revealed that this one was reprinted with all the Faction stuff scrubbed out. I can't imagine that it much changed things considering how little Faction Lore actually touches this thing.
Maybe that's it? The Faction stuff feels tacked on?
To those who have read it, what do you think about it?
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Post by garyshots on Jan 25, 2023 1:21:24 GMT
Any tips on tracking down a paper copy? My collection remains incomplete!
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Post by darkspine10 on Jan 25, 2023 15:45:55 GMT
Is there much difference between the original Faction Paradox printing and the separate version released later (and available as an ebook on Amazon)? Is it something similar to the Dead Romance FP edition, which edited a few names and minor bits, or are there more major changes?
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Post by sonorous on Jan 25, 2023 15:46:29 GMT
Any tips on tracking down a paper copy? My collection remains incomplete! YouTube had been force feeding me Thriftbooks.com ads, so I checked the website on a whim and they just had a single copy there for like 60$ USD. I'd seen it go for like 300$ on ebay, so i nabbed it. My best advice is just check the larger sites periodically, or hit up smaller stores that carry alt doctor who stuff. Mike's Comics in Maryland carries a decent faction collection, but it's mostly obverse stuff. Apologies I can't go into more specifics than that, I really was just lucky! |
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leahhh
Little Sibling
Posts: 36
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Post by leahhh on Feb 20, 2023 21:30:36 GMT
I've only read the Factionless version, but I agree that it felt different in some way. The lack of the Faction probably helps that, but I suspect the differences are negligible. There was also a focus on sex and sexual violence that was surprising and a bit discomfiting to me, although I can see how it served a purpose. It does feel like there's something else, though... I liked the initial concept of a time-travelling historian. A similar concept is used in some of Connie Willis's sci-fi, which I really enjoy, and the addition of a historical Sherlock Holmes is very fun. I thought Holmes was fairly well-written, although I don't remember many details. I do remember liking that Holmes is comfortable interacting with London's queer community, while Watson seems to regard it as a bridge too far. It's a nice indicator of how Holmes is not just eccentric, but pretty thoroughly uninterested in the rules of the society he lives in. More thoughts and a question for sonorous below. What role do the Faction play in the story? I would assume that they gave Moriarty his time machine, but not much else about the plot changes. Are they at all present elsewhere, either as characters or as the Faction aesthetic? I was surprised to learn that the title refers to erasing Sherlock from the public consciousness, not from history as a whole. (although I suppose from an FP perspective the two are the same thing). In retrospect, if they were wiping him from history it would make the later short story The Book of the Enemy a bit redundant. Or is this something from the reprint only, and in the original they are erasing him entirely? Overall, I'd say the book has a really interesting concept and a pretty engaging plot, although it definitely is a little bit... strange. |
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Post by Najawin on Feb 21, 2023 8:23:36 GMT
Accounts, mindkiller, etc.
Just popping in to say that Yale University has a copy you can interlibrary loan if you're in the US. There's a small lending fee, but it's cheaper than buying the book. (Whether you read it, or record it in some way I make no comment.) I have a summary on tardis wiki, though it's not quite 1-1 (I don't mention Iris at all, for instance). As stated there, the only FP reference I could find is that it was the Celestis who gave Moriarty the time machine.
If you have questions you can always hit me up at the FP wiki.
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Post by sonorous on Feb 21, 2023 21:06:33 GMT
What role do the Faction play in the story? I would assume that they gave Moriarty his time machine, but not much else about the plot changes. Are they at all present elsewhere, either as characters or as the Faction aesthetic? I was surprised to learn that the title refers to erasing Sherlock from the public consciousness, not from history as a whole. (although I suppose from an FP perspective the two are the same thing). In retrospect, if they were wiping him from history it would make the later short story The Book of the Enemy a bit redundant. Or is this something from the reprint only, and in the original they are erasing him entirely? Overall, I'd say the book has a really interesting concept and a pretty engaging plot, although it definitely is a little bit... strange. I made that assumption as well. Two criminals who are slightly "off" in a way I can't really describe call each other cousins, but it's just that. "cousins" with a lower-case c. I've not found a single instance where it was used in a context more appropriate for FP Cousins. As for the ending, it's a little... unclear to me to be perfectly honest. As far as I understand it, he ISN'T erased from either reality or the collective conscience. It just sorta ends and hes just sorta there, standing dumbfounded at what's happened over the course of the book. Perhaps it could still lead to the short story from The Book of The Enemy? I haven't read that one in a while. Even with the faction paradox branding on the book, I now realize how easy it would be been to excise the faction stuff because it is barely there at all. |
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Post by Visitor on Jun 4, 2023 10:59:59 GMT
Maybe that's it? The Faction stuff feels tacked on? I read the back of the book first which makes reference to an earlier version receiving some award. I think the reason this doesn't feel like a FP book is because originally, it wasn't. I'm just not sure why Norwegian chose this to be adapted to be the "fifth and final" to be included in the line.
Any tips on tracking down a paper copy? My collection remains incomplete! Regular ebay checks. I managed to get mine a couple of months back for under £50. |
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Post by Najawin on Jun 17, 2023 4:19:10 GMT
It wasn't originally intended to be the final. Things just happened that way. And I believe it was picked up because of the award, yes, but you'd have to ask people involved in MWP.
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Post by mbrookhaven on Jun 28, 2023 7:26:40 GMT
Picked up due to the award. There were at least three more books planned when MNP decided to stop. I only know what one of them was.
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walkstheages
Little Sibling
Currently Reading: Newton's Sleep
Posts: 21
Preferred Pronouns: she her or they/them
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Post by walkstheages on Aug 31, 2023 2:57:07 GMT
For anyone looking for a print copy of "Erasing Sherlock", bookmark this link and check it regularly. Also manually check thrift book store websites, as they might not always show up 100% of the time. As of August 30th 2023, there's one copy-- a paperback on Ebay for $40 (USD) + $6 USD for usa shipping.
as for the "how" this book pertains to Faction Paradox.................. it barely, barely does
- What is the connection to Faction Paradox itself, the cult we all know and love?
Nothing. Literally nothing.
One previous comment mentioned some minor characters refer to each other as cousins (notably with a lowercase 'c') -- this was simply part of a disguise, a trap laid for the main character. The characters in question are brother and sister, and have no conceivable connection to the Faction despite their initial lies about being cousins-- at worst, they are an incest joke ("How can they be cousins if they're brother and sister?  ??") -- they have no foreknowledge, they do not have creepy shadows, and they're largely incompetent and are simply lackies to the main villain.
- What is the connection to the Faction Paradox universe as a whole?
A throwaway line at the very end about the Celestis being behind ~everything~.
About how James Moriarty, man of 21st century earth, is worshipping the Celestis and has sent people back in time to murder and rape victorian-age people to create snuff films for 21st century Celestis worshippers. And this is a throwaway line that has no real resolution; despite the title and this taking place during the War, Sherlock Holmes, the real, breathing historical figure, is not erased from the timeline to only exist as a shadow of himself, a fictional character; no, instead..... he just leaves the public eye after getting some bad press. That's the "erasing" part in Erasing Sherlock. [/spoiler][/div][/div]
The motivations of the main character are indistinct and she seems to exist purely to have tons of unnecessary sex scenes with Sherlock Holmes, use crass 21st century language in 18th (19th?) century london, and to be subjected to sexual violence 'on screen'
{behind spoiler for mentions of rape} whether that is the attempted rape in the early part of the book, the necrophilic CSA snuff film she witnesses and describes in detail, or the rape she survives at the hands of her kidnappers towards the end of the book. .
Her purpose for traveling back in time to study Sherlock Holmes is vague and undefined. She does not appear to be writing a biography of him and his life, and we never really see exactly what kind of 'notes' she's taking, so the importance / loss of her research doesn't really mean much to the reader when its imperiled.
Even the obvious, could-have-been-interesting plot point of her sleeping with Sherlock Holmes when her schedule to leave the past just around 9 months + 3 days in the future isn't utilized in the slightest; she's got a contraceptive implant in her arm, so she can't get pregnant. Which, hey, I don't usually care for pregnancy storylines, but hey, it would have been an interesting narrative and character tool for her to witness her lover and father of her eventual child, Sherlock Holmes, erased from the timeline and become nothing more than a memory, a fictional character from some fictional journals but........... nope.
She does not become pregnant at all (and in fact gets her period at least once during the book)--
and Sherlock Holmes doesn't even get erased from the Timeline. He just fades into obscurity.
This is a universe where Sherlock Holmes was a real, living, breathing human man........... and they don't even erase him properly to justify the title and the fact that this is a time travel tragic romance story. Apparently.
Not a particularly romantic 'romance' novel.
Unless I find it at a local thriftstore, I will probably not be going out of my way to buy a physical copy of this. Especially if the $300 is still the common going-rate.
If it had at least ended on our main character watching on in horror as her lover was erased from the timeline by these demonic "Host Celestial", these gods-in-need-of-worshippers before she is sent back to her own time to realize the horror of her lover no longer having existed....... that would have been something, at least. That would have been a conclusion, and ending. Instead we got...naughta. zero. zip. zilch.
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Lexa
Little Sibling
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Post by Lexa on May 19, 2024 10:50:53 GMT
One copy on Ebay for £40 starting bid ends tomorrow.
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glyng
Little Sibling
Posts: 8
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Post by glyng on May 22, 2024 11:47:39 GMT
Was there a prequel or extra unprinted scenes for this that maybe tied things in to the wider context more? It’s been many years since I read it and I forget.
I saw online somewhere Kelly was thinking of possibly writing a sequel to the book at one point too, so she must have wanted to move the story on more.
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Post by Peterchu on May 22, 2024 12:47:59 GMT
The closest thing we've got is a little scene at the end of Warring States that's set in 1890 and has Holmes and Watson discuss a package that Holmes believes to contain a pair of his boots, it doesn't really tie it into the wider Faction Paradox series.
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Post by doctornolonger on Jun 1, 2024 22:48:03 GMT
The closest thing we've got is a little scene at the end of Warring States that's set in 1890 and has Holmes and Watson discuss a package that Holmes believes to contain a pair of his boots, it doesn't really tie it into the wider Faction Paradox series. I believe the important implication is that
the veiled woman is Gillian, so she's become an agent of the Celestis. |
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??") -- they have no foreknowledge, they do not have creepy shadows, and they're largely incompetent and are simply lackies to the main villain.
