Author Description

Stranger than Fiction is the sequel to Jim Murdoch's first novel, Living with the Truth in which Jonathan Payne nearing the end of a wasted life gets the opportunity to spend two days with the personification of truth. Truth opens Jonathan's eyes to not only what his life has become but what it might have been. He learns what he's missed out on, what other people are really thinking and the true nature of the universe which, it transpires, has been in the hands of entities like Truth, Reality, Destiny and others who've always been with us and yet haven't always made the best choices for humanity.Without giving away too much about either book, Stranger than Fiction takes place in a landscape generated by Jonathan Payne's memories of his past life. Everyone and everything is as Jonathan remembers it, not necessarily the way it was.In the author's words, "A writer often has little control about where his writing will take him and I clearly hadn't finished with these two characters. In the sequel I realised I wanted to know a bit more about Truth and so I brought him to the fore a bit more. The result was a more fantasy-focused book; in fact none of the book takes place in the real world but to say more would spoil things. But, if by 'fantasy' you're expecting dragons and trolls you would be mistaken. Yes, it is 'disengaged from reality'; but, at the same time, most of the book takes place in realistic settings. Ah... just read the ruddy book."