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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/34067
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Jorge Luis Borges wrote a lot of short stories describing fictional things and places directly to the reader (like _The Library of Babel_).

For instance, let's see one excerpt of _Decline and Fall of Roman Empire_ (Edward Gibbon):

> When Persia was governed by the descendants of Sefi, a race of princes whose wanton cruelty often stained their divan, their table, and their bed, with the blood of their favorites, there is a saying recorded of a young nobleman, that he never departed from the sultan's presence, without satisfying himself whether his head was still on his shoulders.

This is the style of writing I'm aiming for - telling the reader about something interesting, NOT creating characters, dialogs and embedding the information there. So, I would like to write in this non-fiction style but describing a fiction story, like this:

> Orion was a hot land with white grass and shallow lakes. The region was inhabited by prideful hunters, white-clothed beings who were often in war with themselves. In the third era, Orion was ruled by Rigel, a king with no crown, but golden boots. He was more peaceful than his father Saiph and all rulers before him, and the reason for his amicable and non-violent attitude was his sister Bellatrix.

Are there any guidelines to write like this? It seems that it violates the **Show, don't Tell** rule, but for a good reason. Is there a name for this style?

Original score: 2