The narrator is the start of this show without a doubt. I liked this, but wanted to love it. It was set up for a sequel, which I think hurt this one. Interesting idea though. I know Haywood has a ton of fans and this was my first try. Glad I did, but just didn't land for me.

I absolutely loved and adored the previous works of Haywood's that I've read - the Extracted trilogy, and A Town Called Discovery. I visually read the Extracted trilogy and listened to the brilliant audiobook of A Town Called Discovery. Having experienced both I was looking forward to Fiction Land and its unusual premise. Unfortunately, I couldn't gel with this book. It may have been because I listened while being ill and that affected my interpretation, but at this point in time, this book wasn't for me. Haywood is a fantastic author though and I recommend anyone check out his books.

This reminds me a lot of the Thursday Next books, maybe with a dash of Elliott James’ Pax Arcana series. It does not, however, remind me of John Wick as advertised, so fair warning if that is what drew you to the book.

It’s a great concept for a story, and unfortunately better in theory than in execution. Too many stylistic elements and too many literary worlds collide style moments make the narrative feel jumbled and at times nonsensical, and the “mystery” of what’s happening isn’t anything wonderful.

But the inclusion of other literary worlds is clever and fun, and the book’s best moments plot-wise and in terms of humor stem from that. I wish the writing had been better (loads of clunky and clumsy action sequences reminiscent of sci fi novels that are, um, not especially literary, as well as some really wooden dialogue).

The book needed to be smarter and more clearly plotted to be a success, but I liked the concept behind it, and it’s entertaining and mostly well-paced.

A fun, bizarre read. A good premise, though the execution was a bit lacking. Or rather, there seemed to be a bit too much for any one character to really stick.

Fiction Land is a novel by R.R. Haywood, a bestselling British author of sci-fi, fantasy, and horror. The novel is a comedy adventure that follows a delivery driver who wakes up in a city populated by characters from unfinished novels. He has to accept that he is not real and find a way to survive in a world where anything can happen.

I listened to the audio book of this novel by R R Haywood and I will say from the start that I wish I had gone for the book instead. That isn't to say the narrator was bad, in fact he was bloody good, a little too good in fact. His myriad of voices for all the characters was impressive to say the least, but I found it all a bit much and yearned to read it myself with the characters having the voices my brain chose. I feel like the review score would be half a point higher if I had read rather than listened, but have no evidence to base that on!

The book itself is a fairly tame, but enjoyable affair that gives us a guided tour of Fictionland, an island inhabited by fan-fiction characters based on big name heroes or series) from the perspective of a disparate bunch of underdogs and their new charge John Croker (a generic action hero in the John Wick mould) as he struggles to accept his new found enlightenment. I did struggle at the start as we are treated to John Candle's repetitive and derivative awakening and after 10 (short) chapters I was almost ready to give up. That is until it becomes clear that this was a completely deliberate plot mechanic and the world suddenly opens up into the story proper.

Once we get to know all the characters and their individual back stories it is hard not to start to empathise with them and go along with their journey as a happy and willing participant. The plot and theming will surely not win any awards and the ending feels a bit like you have just finished Super Mario Bros and been told the princess is in another castle, but I enjoyed being in the company of John and team and will certainly look out for the inevitable sequel.

The premise here is genuinely delightful. Main characters from unfinished novels all wind up in Fiction Land when their author gives up. John wakes up in Fiction Land and has to come to grips with being a person who is also a character from somebody's half-baked John Wick fanfic. That's totally solid, sold, I'm in. But that said, it does feel like there were moments where Haywood was more taken with his fantastic premise than with what was happening. Oddly, I feel like there was too much plot! I would have been happier with a lot less intrigue and mystery and more characters struggling with their sense of self as fanfic characters. I'll still pick up the sequel when it comes out, but I'm not going to be pushing things off the stack to read it.

R.R. Hayward out does himself with this rip of a humorously adventure tearing up all the genre tropes that are hot in fiction today. each genre is treated with respect and understanding as seen in all the characters from their respective story types. Many memorable characters and scenes. I was surprised at the character growth and world R.R. has built. While maybe not an original concept it is a unique spin on it. I laughed out loud dozens of times.
I highly recommend the audio version as the narrator (Gethin Anthony) does amazing work given the range of characters. More please!!
thank you to netgally the author narrator and publisher for a free ARC in exchange for unbiased review.

Humour-Scifi Per-fiction

🧡 This had me smiling from start to end. The premise alone tickled me - think TV show Once Upon a Time, but instead of fairy tales, you have main characters from unfinished fan fiction - and Haywood really pulls it off.

💚 The biggest strength of this story is in its characters and their dynamic as a group. There’s that camaraderie and banter you might get in a Peter Clines novel or on Buffy. It also reminded me of Nick Hornby’s A Long Way Down, one of my all-time faves, both in its humour and in that it unifies disparate characters into an unlikely yet tight knit gang.

💜 And - AND - it seems like this is the first of a series.
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SOUNDBITE

🎧 This is a genuinely fun listen. Gethin Anthony seems to morph seamlessly into every character he narrates - myriad accents included - and still manages to hit the comic beats.

I loved the premise of the storyline and i wanted to love it but from the off it was too far fetched to be believable. I know some will love this but I'm not the right target audience for this book but thank you for the opportunity to listen to the audiobook.

Loved the narrator, and loved the cover