The Infinite Library and Other Stories

by Victor Fernando R. Ocampo, Jason Erik Lundberg (Introduction)

A boy creates monsters from nanotech clay and programs them by reciting stories. A young woman finds the secret to save their doomed generation ship inside a children’s primer. Residents of Bukit Batok face a slow-motion disaster that threatens to turn them into living mathematical equations. Three Filipino siblings enter a black hole to save humanity from an enemy that uses words as weapons.

The seventeen stories in this loosely-connected collection push the limits of form and trope, from realism to genre and experimental fiction. All speak of the unease of being between two worlds, of not quite fitting in, and also of the comfort of words and books, which illuminate our way through the darkness.

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

255 pages, Paperback

Published November 1, 2017

About the author

Victor Fernando R. Ocampo is the author of the International Rubery Book Award shortlisted The Infinite Library and Other Stories (Math Paper Press, 2017 ; US edition: Gaudy Boy, 2021) and Here be Dragons (Canvas Press, 2015), which won the Romeo Forbes Children’s Story Award in 2012. His play-by-email interactive fiction piece “The Book of Red Shadows” debuted at the Singapore Writers Festival in 2020.

His writing has appeared in many publications including Apex Magazine, Daily Science Fiction, Future Fiction, Strange Horizons, Philippines Graphic, Science Fiction World and The Quarterly Literature Review of Singapore, as well as anthologies like The Best New Singapore Short Stories, Fish Eats Lion: New Singaporean Speculative Fiction, LONTAR: The Journal of Southeast Asian Speculative Fiction, the Philippine Speculative Fiction series and Mapping New Stars: A Sourcebook on Philippine Speculative Fiction.

He is a fellow at the Milford Science Fiction Writers’ Conference (UK) and the Cinemalaya Ricky Lee Film Scriptwriting Workshop, as well as a Jalan Besar writer-in-residence at Sing Lit Station (2020/2021).

Visit his blog at vrocampo.com or follow him on your socials at https://beacons.ai/vrocampo

Reviews

[Nick Klagge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, what a great book. I am mortified that I had this book on my shelf for over a year before reading it. The closest reference point I have is David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas, but I actually liked this better. It's similarly a set of interlinked short stories, though there is less formalism to the linkages than in Cloud Atlas (or at least, not that I picked up on), and it moves through a fairly vast expanse of space and time. Contrary to the title, there is no story entitled "The Infinite Library," but such an entity does make an appearance in several of the stories. As one might guess, it's a riff on Borges' "Library of Babel." Ocampo is a writer's writer and clearly takes a delight in winks and nods to Borges and many others (Samuel Beckett, Nick Joaquin, Jose Rizal, surely many that went over my head). The book seems eminently re-readable as I will want to pick up on more of those references as well as see better the connections between the different stories, having the full picture in mind.

Part of why the book edges out Cloud Atlas for me is that it is just chock full of fun sci-fi stuff--grey goo, consciousness uploading, generation ships. The works!

Finally, the book is enjoyably "Pinoy-futurist" (to coin (?) a term)--by analogy with Afrofuturism, Ocampo portrays a (sometimes very far!) future filled with recognizably Filipino people.

I hope to see more of Ocampo's work in the future. Breaking my no-stars rule to give a boost to this indie-published gem.

[Sunni | vanreads]

This is fantastic. You can definitely see the Borges influence on his work, which I loved.

[Rachael Lum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love how the short stories are loosely connected yet powerful on their own. There's a lot of Filipino culture set in futuristic settings, not something you find often and really refreshing to read.

[Rubery Book Award · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rubery Prize Shortlisted 2018

Ocampo, a Filipino living in Singapore, is a clever, skilled writer. His short stories are subtle and demanding, hovering in the space between literary fiction, experimental fiction and cyberpunk. Several of the tropes of SF are introduced and built upon. The stories are linked in several respects. An infinite library (with several acknowledgements to Borges and his "The Library of Babel") recurs as a major or minor element in many of the stories. There are also common settings, themes, events and characters, though the stories are more varied than that makes them sound. The book’s title refers to a character in the opening story ‘Mene, Tekel, Upharsin’, a phrase from a biblical tale meaning ‘the future is determined’. The hero dreams he is in an endless library that, on closer inspection, only contains two books, both of which he wrote himself. It seems to confirm the notion suggested in the story’s title, that the future is predetermined. This idea is nicely qualified by the story itself, however, which offers the reader three alternative endings to choose from! Ocampo is an exciting new voice.

[Adan · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent collection of linked stories that progress forward in time, probably. There are some truly amazing lines in this, and I'm angry I didn't come up with them.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to Gaudy Boy for sending me this excellent short story collection. I LOVED this book.⁣⁣
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The Infinite Library is an exciting collection that beautifully marries science, magic, and the occasional creepy touch of horror. One of my favorite aspects was the many common threads that tied the stories together, the most major being the infinite library which appeared in almost every story. The stories have these gentle nods to each other which made the whole reading experience feel like a thrilling self-referential easter egg hunt. Ocampo also throws around so many delightful literary references, and given the obscurity of some of the ones I caught I’m sure that many more flew well over my head. One story is even a full on tribute to personal favorite author Samuel Delany, which was an exciting surprise for me after admittedly forgetting it was teased in the book’s foreword. These stories build on each other in such a cool way, adding incredible richness every time you recognize a shadow of a previous story and the resulting implications for how the world has changed in between. This collection brings to mind other favorite speculative story collections, like Ken Liu’s The Hidden Girl and Karin Tidbeck’s Jagganath. Basically I highly recommend it to anyone who tends to like the same kinds of short stories as me 😍!⁣⁣
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Cw for suicide, homophobia/heterosexism, racism⁣⁣

[SciFi Pinay · Rating 4 out of 5]

OH MY BATHALA! You've been looking for Filipino scifi or speculative fiction you say? Here it is: Ocampo with his short story collection should not be mistaken for the unrelated but titlesake novel "The Infinite Library" by another writer (IDK about that one). But THIS! This starts out highly speculative with alternate realities/histories, then progresses towards harder #sciencefiction themes from cyberpunk VR, space elevators, generation ships and space exploration. Heavily infused with #pinoy culture, both good and bad, but nuanced and greatly philosophical. It's as if Ocampo had a hangover from watching Twilight Zone while reading Borges' "Labyrinths" the night before. As far as keeping up with the historical and cultural references/nuances, I'm not the best person to ask if those references will go over non-Filipinos' heads, but as this is written in English, hopefully the deep social commentaries cross cultural barriers, as its East Asian SFF literary counterparts have reached other cultures. Highly recommended, not just because this is a refreshingly Pinoy take on the genre, but also a refreshing, and often poignant, take on SFF overall. AWESOME WRITING. My faves:

Mene, Thecel, Phares: the well known Philippine national hero is fictitious in an alternate history

An Excerpt from the *Philippine Journal of Archaeology, 4 October, 1916*: paleolithic artifacts were found in Mount Pinatubo; this is near and dear to me as I've experienced the volcanic eruption in the '90s (pitch black sky at 3pm what)

Dyschronometria, or the Bells are Always Screaming: despair on the vicious loops of life's mistakes and misfortunes, with a quantum sciencey twist

I m d 1 in 10: "But who I was--who I m--is inconsequential. I'm just migrant slave labour, an immigrant 2nd-class citizen. I'm a placeholder. I am filler text."

Exit Quiapo Station: a far future POV on the wide gap between the Filipino rich and poor, set above the stratosphere

Blessed Are the Hungry: a not so subtle attack on religious leaders' oppression, set in a generational ship

"Anak ng P."

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful. I smiled when I read the location of one of the buildings (horse<3er f@ I think it was), I've always loved that name of Philip K Dick.

If you love the works of Philip K Dick, Borges, Kafka (just to name a few) this collection will appeal. I generally find short stories less engaging than larger works, but there are themes which link these stories, which provides a perfect balance between, short, thoughtful stories, and a hint at a longer narrative.

The variety of writing styles and themes is entrancing. I'm not a Filipino (although I do live in Singapore), but topics about been trapped between worlds I think most people can relate to, at least at times in their lives.

Highly recommended. Loved it. Thanks to BooksActually Singapore for including it in their book vending machine (which contains local authors, all books wrapped beautifully, each one a surprise).

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really interesting, I loved that the stories are interconnected with some recurring elements, it made me feel like they were set in the same universe/world just in different timelines. Without the help of a digital copy I wasn't able to recall what a particular recurring element was in a previous story which was a slight bummer, but what I had remembered, I really enjoyed.

It's a slight bonus that “Big Enough for the Entire Universe" was set in my town!

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an imaginative collection of short stories. I think one way for me to enjoy an anthology is if the stories are connected in some way, as is the case here.

My faves are “Mene, Thecel, Phares”; “Synchronicity”; “Big Enough for the Entire Universe”; “Entanglement”; “I m d 1 in 10”; “Blessed Are the Hungry”; and “Infinite Degrees of Separation.” However, each story was compelling in its own way; the ones I listed just stuck out more.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

A real trip; each story got stranger and stranger, and impossibly (dare I say, infinitely?) more complex. A book that demands to be reread in order to connect all the puzzle pieces together. As with most collections, the individual stories themselves are a hit or a miss for me.

[EH-PI · Rating 5 out of 5]

My interview with Victor Fernando Ocampo here. http://www.asianbooksblog.com/2017/11...

[Katie Chatto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderfully entertaining read, all the more for someone who understands Filipino culture and behaviour.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some gems here, but quite a few of the stories were too futuristic for me. I don't think the book is bad, just that unfortunately it isn't my sort of style.

[Carmen C · Rating 2 out of 5]

an ok read. there are some good stories in here. interesting concepts but not a fan of the writing.

[Angie]

thank you Gaudy Boy for the gifted copy! review to come but I really enjoyed this collection & highly recommend it.

[biscuit · Rating 1 out of 5]

I might as well just read Borges.

[Greg Bem · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wide ranging sci fi anthology that is dense, void-like. Easy to get lost in, though sometimes the meaning doesn't arrive quickly. A compelling and unique voice nonetheless.

[VG · Rating 5 out of 5]

A series of inter-connected short stories, ‘The Infinite Library’ grounds its epic journey through time and space in the mysterious library of its title, but layers in themes of love, loss and finding one’s place. With some much going on - genre-blending, a variety of structures, tangents in every direction - it would be easy to lose an overall sense of cohesion. The beauty of this collection is that it juggles all this so well; each individual story feels distinct and interesting in its own right, yet as a whole, there is satisfaction in following the threads that bring it back to the beginning and the key themes. A tricky thing to pull off. It was a challenge to track down a copy of this book (I eventually purchased it from an independent bookstore in Singapore, who had thankfully low international shipping rates), but absolutely worth it.

[Wahyu Novian · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Words could never tell the entire story. Words were so easily misunderstood.” (p.224)

This book contains 17 loosely connected short stories. I love reading this kind of anthology. It makes me think that I read a complete novel. But I feel the connection was too loose in this one. Before the story sinked in, the next stories take over with the new terms and characters from far future. Maybe because it’s too short yet the timeline jump was too far?

But it’s certainly an eye opener. It gives me a peek on Filipinos as a minority. And a glimpse on their culture and live. Well, a very little glimpse which I never know.

One thing I noticed was the words were beautifully chosen it’s almost singsongy. And of course the idea of The Infinite Library is so intriguing. And my favorite is Here Be Dragon.

“I would close my eyes and my time machine would take me to a library at the end of the universe. In that library there were no people only books containing every story that had ever been written, every word ever spoken, every secret ever told.
My library was my secret, my escape, my soul.” (p.104)

[Jamie Jian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Imaginative sci-fi world-building that is simultaneously fascinating yet at times hard to grasp (and understandably so). Each story explores themes such as identity, autonomy, family dynamics, technology & governance, social mobility, and love.

Despite its vastly different contextual setting from society as we know it today, its themes are surprisingly relatable, especially when embedded in its relations with Singapore. Thought-provoking and encourages one to wonder the intersectionality of technology and individual/collective identities in the generations to come.