The Best of Philippine Speculative Fiction

by Dean Francis Alfar (Editor)

"The Horsemen of the Apocalypse are all born to a Filipino family; an aswang nanny passes on her powers to her young gay ward; a family’s freezer gets a surprise visitor; a young boy discovers how his brother turns into a superhero locked in an eternal struggle with the Forces of Chaos; a company makes a fortune selling diseases. The Philippine Speculative Fiction series showcases the rich variety of Philippine literature. Between these covers you will find magic realism next to science fiction, traditional fantasy beside slipstream, and imaginary worlds rubbing shoulders with alternate Philippine history—demonstrating that the literature of the fantastic is alive and well in the Philippines.

This anthology is a collection of what the editors consider thirty of the best stories from the first five volumes of Philippine Speculative Fiction, published from 2005 to 2010."

Genres: Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Short Stories, Anthologies, Fantasy, Science Fiction

355 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 17, 2013

Reviews

[Led · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alfar's outstanding The Kite of Stars and Other Stories was the force (spurred by 'add to cart' convenience) that permitted a copy from UP Press to arrive at my door.

Of thoughts in reality, I'm not one to entertain what-if's but it is a different case reading fiction. Anticipating the takes on these 30 SpecFic stories, I expected some to set aswang and encanto loose in the modern world – and it did! Plus more others. A few themes now exploited in screens (consider, stories were published ca. 2005-2010) while several others were arousing, they better be extended narratives.

As stories vary, like flavors suit different palates, here were those that I found affecting in either their theme or writing, or both:

The Sign of the Cross (friars), Six from Downtown (self-preservation; also found in The Kite of Stars), A Retrospective on Disease for Sale (alibis), Keeping Time (dystopia), The Flicker (disappearances), The Sparrows of Climaco Avenue (climate crisis), Sidhi (faith), Just Man (affection; a fascinating finale!)

As the well-written and compelling preface did so accentuate:

"The literature of fantastic existed in these islands, long before the term 'speculative fiction' was used... We are a people of mountain, sky, and sea, and our oldest stories took in elements of the other cultures that came to our shores. We are, and will always be, a nation of story tellers, no strangers to the strangeness that is part and parcel of what it means to live in these islands."

[Lew · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a kid, I grew up reading speculative fiction from writers who were predominantly white and European or American-centric: Anne McCaffrey, Agatha Christie, Harry Turtledove, etc. Never did I see characters like myself, a Filipino American, represented in the genres I loved so much.

It's only recently that I've begun to discover Filipino/a and Fil-Am writers who have been blazing trails in western publishing, writers like Alyssa Wong, Isabel Yap, and the famous husband/wife duo of Dean Francis and Nikki Alfar. Dean and Nikki are the ones responsible for creating and editing the fantastic anthology series, Philippine Speculative Fiction, of which this particular book draws its stories from.

And what a wonderful collection Dean and Nikki have curated. This volume has some well-crafted stories from all genres encompassing speculative fiction: fantasy, science fiction, steam-punk, magical realism, horror, fairy tales, and more. There's something for everyone in this collection, and whether or not you identify as Filipino/a, the stories are accessible and relatable. They explore universal themes: loss, love, survival, success, etc. However, as a Fil-Am, I find them especially exciting and refreshing because I get to finally see my culture represented in genres that I have read since childhood.

While I enjoyed the majority of the stories featured in this anthology, the following were my personal favorites (some of these descriptions are quoted from my personal blog):

"The Secret Origin of Spin-Man" by Andrew Drilon. If you like superheroes, this one’s for you. A pair of young brothers bond over their mutual love of comic books, but then Spin-Man changes everything.

"Keeping Time" by FH Batacan. A strange plague engulfs the world, causing people to slowly starve to death. One man searches for a cure and a reason to keep living.

"The Flicker" by Ian Rosales Casocot. Children in a small town begin to mysteriously disappear. I may have physically quivered while reading this story.

"Parallel" by Eliza Victoria. This may be a “soft” science fiction story about parallel universes and the unbreakable bonds of family, but the ending hits pretty hard.

"Brigada" by Joseph F. Nacino. I love a good adventure story, and this one delivers. There's all kinds of drama on the high seas in this re-imagined world where "The Flood" reduces the Philippines to a boat and flotilla-based country. A navy captain and his crew must work together to thwart a foreign threat with a unique set of weapons.

"Sink" by Isabel Yap. A grieving mother must make a difficult choice. I'm being vague on purpose because this story has an emotional and powerful narrative that needs to be experienced.

"Revenge of the Tiktaks" by Noel Tio. This is a horror story about strange noises that haunt a group of boys at a boarding school, with some surprisingly funny moments.

"The Ascension of Our Lady Boy" by Mia Tijam. The narrator of this story, Lady Boy, shares her struggles on growing up transgender in a family unwilling to accept her gender identity. Lady Boy is outrageous, outspoken, and wonderfully blunt. Tijam uses humor as a tool to expose and dismantle prejudice against the transgender community in the Philippines, making it one of the most entertaining stories I’ve read in a while. There’s also an aswang and some subtle magical elements to round it all out. While most of the story is in English, there are a lot of Tagalog words and phrases. If you’re not familiar with the language, Google Translate will be your best friend and help you pick up some of the more crass humor. This is my favorite story in the whole collection, if you couldn't tell by my enthusiastic write-up. :)

Overall, this is an amazing collection of speculative stories from a diverse group of writers who identify as Filipino/a. And thanks to the magic of licensing, this book (as well as all the other volumes of Philippines Speculative Fiction) is now available in the United States in e-book format. Check it out if you get the opportunity. Expand your perceptions on what speculative fiction is and should be.

[Nick Klagge]

What a great collection. I was lucky to be able to get a copy of this from the Philippines, where it's cheap. From what I can see, the copies on sale on US sites are very expensive. That's a shame because for anyone interested in Philippine sff, this book would be my number one recommendation. It has thirty stories so you get exposure to a wide array of authors, and it covers an eclectic range of styles.

There were only a couple of stories I didn't like, so it's hard to pick just a few to mention as standouts. My favorite of the collection was probably the last in the volume, "Just Man" by Rica Bolipata-Santos. It's a story about the family life of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus, told from the perspective of Joseph during the period when Jesus is a child. It's a quiet, meditative story, focusing on Joseph's internal emotional struggles in his family relationships. It's a shame that it doesn't seem to be available online anywhere.

Some other favorites, just paging through the contents, were "The Secret Origin of Spin-Man" by Andrew Drilon, "The Sign of the Cross" by Russell Stanley Geronimo, "Sky Gypsies" by Timothy James M. Dimacali, "Revenge of the Tiktaks" by Noel Tio, "Sink" by Isabel Yap (very sad though!), "Bearing Fruit" by Nikki Alfar, and "Dino's Awesome Adventure" by Carljoe Javier.

[chynna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely one of the best in the game for speculative fiction. I became interested in SF upon coming across similar authors in the collection during college. SF, in the short story format, can go both ways, really. One: you say “that’s it?”, falling short in the midst of its climax. Two: you say “that’s IT!?”—leaving you wanting for more, or the shock value was above the threshold. The latter is for this anthology 😁

Nikki Alfar wrote in the introduction exactly what I was thinking while reading the stories: “What the hell is this weird author thinking? I love it!” 🤣 You’re really in for a ride, when you read it with an open mind.

Favorite first-read gems: The Sign of the Cross, The Singer’s Man, Carbon, The Ascension of Our Lady Boy, Keeping Time, Frozen Delight, The Flicker, Bearing Fruit, Sidhi, Just Man.

[Sly Senpai · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a reread from the first time I've read this through.

This was my first official introduction to Philippine Speculative Fiction, not including that discussion we had of it in our literature class.

I bought it initially because of the eye-catching cover, but I'll be rereading it throughout the years because of the stories between the covers.

Definitely one of my favorite anthologies ever.

[Jonah Leigh Ramos · Rating 5 out of 5]

My cup of tea.

[Jetamors · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard to pick a favorite from this one... maybe "The Singer's Man" by Rebecca Arcega, or "Six from Downtown" by Dean Francis Alfar.

[micah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Keeping Time - 2.75*

[Devi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am always left wanting every time I finish a collection of Philippine short stories. I was looking forward to be surprised as to what kind of stories there is in "speculative fiction" and I am not disappointed. I found it difficult to appreciate the science fiction genre not because personally, I am not fond of that genre for any matter but I found them a little too short. I always think that science fiction stories go beyond short stories. For this book, my top 5 would be...

The Ascension of our Lady Boy (Mia Tijam)
Feasting (Joshua Lim So)
Six from Downtown (Dean Alfar)
Keeping Time (FH Batacan)
Frozen Delight (Marguerite De Leon) - This story made me laugh so much, but tells a lot about crab mentality.

As for the The Flicker (Ian Rosales Casocot), I've read it thrice and it still never fails to give me the shiver.

The story A League of Champions (Ronald Cruz) made me crave for more.

But the story that really made me burst into tears is Just Man (Rica Bolipata-Santos). I was touched with the humanity given to the Holy Parents, Joseph and Mary.

This book deserves to be read.

[S.B. Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good collection showcasing the depth and versatility of the Filipino speculative fiction community. My full review will appear in the next issue of International Speculative fiction magazine.