Unfiction

"How can we tell a story that has been told a hundred times before, give readers who like that story what they want, and at the same time surprise them with something new? Is there a way to do that?"

3.5 stars

When Fiction comes knocking on the door of Reality, do you want to open the door? Will you?

That is the question Oliver -a young, unsuspecting, unpublished, aspiring writer- must answer, even though it seems he doesn't have much say in the matter. Somehow characters and events from all his different, unfinished stories -whether they are from the genre fantasy, mystery, sci-fi or espionage - appear and try & manage to catch up with him. Especially as some of them are way better at running fast than Oliver, PLUS they seem to get help from a seemingly real, but mysterious girl, Minerva, on whom Oliver has a huge crush.

"Stories should be finished, and one day he would have to figure out what it was like."

The question is: SO NOW WHAT?

The answer is that Oliver must untangle all the different yarns he has been spinning, go on his own hero's quest whether it is fiction or reality.

This has been a fun and interesting book to read. I loved the concept and also the way the author, Gene Doucette realised it. Admittedly, you have to be in the mood for it, because the story takes a long time to start and sometimes drags a bit, but it is full of humour and an author's self-mockery.

My favourite moment was when Oliver was trying to work out -with the help of Google- how to write a romance book with all the tropes appealing to women - that was priceless.