When the small branch of the army sent to destroy what they think is a band of cripples and madmen arrives, they are slaughtered with all the vengeance of a holy war. The angered government sends a larger force and the town is eventually destroyed, but the few survivors insist that they saw The Counselor ascend to heaven, and so his reign lives on. The novel's focus is the distinction between fact and fiction, history and narrative. Dates are noted and an objective, journalistic tone sometimes dominates the narrative. Nevertheless, it is clear that most of the details of the novel are pure fiction.
Characters also discuss the nature of fact.
Nevertheless, it is as real as any less prosaic town. What matters is what people say and believe. In these ways, the novel challenges a common-sense notion that facts are what matter. In this story, culture, beliefs, or pre-suppositions clearly have more relevance than truth.