The Last Days of Magic

by Ian Rosales Casocot, Dyck Cediño (Illustrator)

Set in a Dumaguete that isn’t quite as it seems, this collection weaves stories of magic, menace, and mischief—featuring a boy traveling through time in search of his name, a king cursed by his own ambition, a neighborhood threatened by an evil from the past, a boy trying to restore magic in a disillusioned town, a woman extending her life through deceit, and a serial killer indulging a tell-all interview.
Twelve tales that enchant, haunt, and amuse—offering a harrowing yet humorous portrait of human nature.

Paperback

Published March 12, 2026

About the author

Ian Rosales Casocot has won the Don Carlos Palanca Award, the NVM Gonzalez Prize, and the Fully-Booked/Neil Gaiman Philippine Graphic/Fiction Award for his fiction. He was a fellow for fiction in the national writers’ workshops in Dumaguete, Baguio, Cebu, and Iligan, and was a writer-in-residence for the International Writing Program in the University of Iowa. His books include FutureShock Prose: An Anthology of Young Writers and New Literatures, which was nominated as Best Anthology in the National Book Awards given by the Manila Critics Circle; Old Movies and Other Stories; and Heartbreak & Magic: Stories of Fantasy and Horror. His novel Sugar Land was long-listed in the 2008 Man Asian Literary Prize. He lives in Dumaguete City.

Reviews

[Redg · Rating 5 out of 5]

We need stories, even magnificent lies, to begin this change within ourselves. —"The Green Land." The Last Days of Magic, Ian Rosales Casocot

The Last Days of Magic showcases Ian Rosales Casocot’s spellbinding mastery of crafting stories that can spark curiosity in Filipino history and identity.

I’m what you could call a novice in speculative fiction, having only “discovered” it in my reading journey as an adult. Some of the standouts from this collection were “The Death of His Majesty, Philip II, Prince of Asturias,” a reimagining of the causes of unlucky events in the life of Prince Philip, which the Philippines was named after. “The Flicker”— a horror story about a haunted house and missing children—creeped me out and surprised me with its twist, and the ending of “The Cataloguer of Deceit” was equally heartbreaking as it was unexpected.

One of my personal favorites though was The Green Land which touches on the importance of stories and how it can limit and expand the possibilities for the future. The story felt like a love letter to speculative fiction as a genre itself, highlight how how fantasy and falsehoods can lead the way to to progress and truth.

I enjoyed reading this collection and I’m always, always looking forward to more from of Sir Casocot’s writing. 5 stars!

[Beatrice · Rating 5 out of 5]

“you can be everything and anything you want in your life—but it will take our own little magic deep within ourselves to give all of us a life of color, of energy and motion, of glow. to forget our magic is to forget what makes us who we are.”

this collection of short stories imparts compelling life lessons for us readers in the form of magic, history, and culture. my belief in the complexities of people, whether good or bad, was shown through this book and it also somehow shifted my perspective in certain things, like how imagination and creativity can coexist with reality, despite it being one hell of a challenge.

[Alissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't you know that naming is a powerful thing? Don't you know that naming shapes destinies.

3.5 🌟 This had all sorts of stories. History lessons, magical realism, local horrors, and illustrations too. My favorite was The Apologist even if it made me feel sick.

(P.S. Super happy to read a Filipino author from Negros.)