Newtons Sleep

Newtons Sleep is an original novel by Daniel O'Mahony set in the Faction Paradox universe.[1]

Newtons Sleep

Author	Daniel O'Mahony
Cover artist	Emma Weakley
Country	New Zealand
Language	English
Series	Faction Paradox
Genre	Science fiction novel
Publisher	Random Static
Publication date	12 January 2008
Media type	Print (Trade Paperback)
Pages	288
ISBN	978-0-473-12498-4
OCLC	191729047
Preceded by	Erasing Sherlock
Followed by	Against Nature

It is the only Faction Paradox novel to be published by Random Static. Although taking place in a shared universe, it is a stand-alone work that does not require any prior knowledge of Faction Paradox. The events of Newtons Sleep occur on Earth in the 17th century. One of the central characters of the book is the historical playwright and spy Aphra Behn.

The lack of an apostrophe in the title is intentional, and alludes to both Finnegans Wake and the original punctuation of the William Blake quote from which it is drawn:

"Now I a fourfold vision see And a fourfold vision is given to me Tis fourfold in my supreme delight And three fold in soft Beulahs night And twofold Always. May God us keep From Single vision & Newtons sleep."

— Blake, Letter to Thomas Butt, 22 November 1802. Quoted in Geoffrey Keynes (ed.), The Letters of William Blake(1956)

Blake is objecting to the literalism of the Newtonian mindset. He would have us see multiple significances in everything.

On 16 January 2009, Random Static released a free e-book edition of Newtons Sleep in pdf format.