Naermyth

Naermyth #1

by Karen Francisco

never were they myth in the first place...

The world ended. It was not because of a comet, prophecy, natural disaster or whatever garbage foretold on the internet, but because every myth ever written turned out to be an account of historical fact. These monsters we’ve read about as children waged a war that lead to the human race’s downfall. And the unlucky who survived are hunted down or, worse, tortured.

In these dark times, people could only turn to the Shepherd for help. I am one such Shepherd and I thought my only task was to protect the few humans who still thrived on this desolate world. But when I rescued Dorian from Dwende captivity, I discovered that not only is he the most dangerous thing to have around, but he could be our one hope for redemption. I now find myself protecting a born killer, but in doing so, I’m turning my back on everything human.

Genres: Fantasy, Dystopia, Young Adult, Fiction, Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Romance

304 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2010

About the author

Karen Francisco graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the Ateneo de Manila University. After a brief but very memorable stint in law school, she finally pursued her love of the arts at the University of the Philippines with a second degree in Visual Communications. Francisco started writing Naermyth while interning in a government office, hoping an apocalypse would spice up her paper-pushing routine. She now lives north of the Ruins in a stone lair with her family and fears the day she’ll meet an actual tikbalang.

Reviews

[kwesi 章英狮 · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was young my yaya have the power to create mythical creatures into real moving creatures by sharing stories and giving a week of nightmares. I lived in a place where mountains, rivers and forests were not fully discovered with thick bushes and spirits roaming around the grounds. Some said, those places were used to be houses for creatures that are hiding for centuries. Nobody knows when this myth will be real but maybe almost of us already experience or saw this creatures waiting for them to be discovered again. If the time comes are we ready to fight to survive between myth and reality?

My yaya told me a story that I won't be forget, it was the popular story of an innocent woman who went abroad and came back with a sudden twist in her life. She beaten all her son and cooked them for her husband, it was one of the delicious food that er husband tasted. He doesn’t have any idea what type of meat his wife cooked for him but, when he checked their refrigerator. He saw the head of his two sons looking at his eyes waiting and crying for mercy. Blood spread through the house and his wife suddenly vanished from mankind. It was the story of an aswang named Maria Labo. A mythical creature that eats human meat with foul odor in human form. Aswang can be hereditary or can be manually acquired through saliva and a stone that came from another aswang after death. Filipinos were well known of their myth and legends, from diwata, a beautiful fairy-liked creature to kapre, a giant that smoke that stays in balete.

I want to deliberately explain why I liked this book, although it disappoints me from the beginning to the end of the story. But compared to any other Filipino YA novels, this must be a nice beginning for them to enjoy writing in this type of genre. Mixed with Filipino culture with a grand twist in the end. For those paranormal novel lovers, this is a must read for you guys. I admit that this is not suitable for those people who are not interested in myth or don't have any backgrounds in Filiipino mythology. I suggest that the author should begin with a footnote or a glossary in the back of the book. This must be simple for us Filipinos but if she really wanted her book to be international she should consider the Filipino term used.

I gave it 4 sweets not because I liked the story but because I was impressed with her research, I mean the detailed explanation and historical facts of the myth. I wish high schools will recommend this book for students to read for Filipino subjects than reading some books that are not interested in current generations. I must confess that I really hate Filipino-authored books because of my high school Filipino subjects.

2 Sweets - It was an okay read, from the start I was hoping for the book to end. I'm not that rude enough but seriously it was an awkward thing to read this kind of book, but I get used to it in the end. While reading I was dreaming of Twilight with sparkling vampires and a special creature. I don't like to mention the second creature or else it might spoil your reading experience. Aegis or Athena Dizon was a cold lady living with the Shepherds, they are the group of people who fight for their survival, and accidentally saved a mysterious guy guarded by the dwende or dwarfs.

When she came back to the ruins, River discovered something weird on the guy. He was surrounded by aether. The 5th element with unknown composition used by the alchemists. Because of her desperate to break the mystery between them, she struggled to save her life and her family from the hand of those who wanted her, the Ibig ng Bathala, a message from above that will change everything from the day the naermyth appeared.

1 Sweets - The novel was well-researched, the mythical creatures were well-explained and their history. The author also mentioned some comparison between Filipino to foreign mythical creatures. She also included a special creature in the story that deals with major plot and twist in the middle of the book. Three hundred pages of mythological study is a heavy read for me.

Another 1 Sweets - This may contain spoiler. I truly adored the ending it was nice that the author put some cheesiness in the end. I was hoping for a real wedding between the characters, unfortunately it was a different wedding. Well, about the letter, it was so heart warming. Now I'm talking like a fanboy but seriously the ending was worth waiting for.

[image error]
Goldilocks go tikbalang hunting. Who said blonde kids can't go naermyth hunting? For 5 years everyone suffered and so do you, now, you are ready to fight for everyone. Go Goldilocks, you can do it!

Rating - Naermyth by Karen Francisco, 4 Sweets and the day we must prepare for us to survive. (I can't wait the day that you'll see a true tikbalang, Karen. Kidding. It was nice that a Filipina wrote such book with uniqueness and added with Filipino culture. I can't wait to read the next book, if ever you write one. The ending was nice.)

Challenges:
Book #65 for 2011
Goodreads - Filipinos, 2nd Quarter: Librong Pinoy

[K.D. Absolutely · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a well-crafted piece of work. Karen Francisco wrote this book probably based on what she thought would be saleable, as in "uso" but I think she was also trying to positively influence the taste of the reading public. Not to the extent of going doing it ala-Syjuco, i.e., making the story hard to read so that it will be seen as a cerebral work, but Francisco did it in a local-exporter style. She made use of our indigenous materials. She used local yet skillful world-class craftsmanship. And probably while writing, she was dreaming of not only pleasing local young readers in the country but also the international readers by writing in English and not in masang-masang Tagalog language.

This book belongs more to fantasy love story rather horror genre. In fact, it failed to scare me bigtime. I got the book as a prize for winning Pinoy Henyo in last year’s Christmas Party of the Filipinos group here in Goodreads. From what I heard while holding the book and grinning ear-to-ear, this book has all those mythological scary characters that we, as Filipino children, heard when we were young: manananggal, tikbalang, kapre, etc. If you look at the cover, you would get an impression that this is about those things as there seemed to be a winged animal on top of a dark deserted building. The only difference was that those Filipino mythological characters have been associated with rural surroundings so I thought that I knew what the story was all about. That was the reason why I postponed reading this for more than 6 months. Not only I know that this would be another cheap offshoot copycat of Twilight with a Bella-like character falling for either a handsome tikbalang or kapre.

I was wrong.

Almost.

Well, Francisco knows how to write a good story. Written in first-person narrative and with consistent and seamless use of point of view, her prose is simple yet this book is hardly a YA. She knew a lot about foreign mythologies and tried to blend them to our own. Example of this is the derivation of the antagonist name Mamon that everyone would thought to be a sponge cake but Francisco said that the name is a derivative of Mammon, the demon of wealth and greedy pursuit. The story can be about mythological macabre characters but the book does not insult your intelligence probably the way I felt reading Suzanne Collin’s Mockingjay. Sorry, I just want to drive the point that this, for me, is not a YA. This is probably the reason why local fantasy fans are still not buying and reading this book based on what I see here in Goodreads.

However, the romance formula of having a love triangel that worked in Twilight with Edward-Bella-Jacob and The Hunger Games with Peeta-Katniss-Gale almost made this book formulaic. Almost because it seemed to me that Francisco is more imaginative than Mayer and Collins by incorporating backstories into the lives of the two gentlemen, Dorian and River who are the two love interests of the female protagonist, Athena a.k.a. Aegis. The men's backstories are about their true identities: who between them is the true Naerymth and Shepherd. I will not answer that question so as not to spoil your fun.

The milleu is the post-apocalyptic Philippines now being ruled by Naermyths relegating the still-human survivors (called Shepherds) into hiding fugitive minorities. Imagine the whole EDSA, Paranaque, Baguio, etc all unlit and you are walking at night with all the duendes lurking in the dark watching you pass by.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book. Francisco should be given the credit not for using a tested formula but incorporating it with a familiar local milleu and using a lot of her imagination to make it scary and believable, at least for this genre's fans. She may be doing this to ride on the bandwagon but with the way she intricately interwoven her characters' lives to come up with a credible denounment is something that is rare in the local literary field. Her command of English and knowledge in both foreign and local mythologies are something that I also admire. I hope there will be more local writers who will write novels in English as readable and sensible as Francisco. Not necessarily in romantic fantasy genre though.

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Original post at One More Page

I spotted Naermyth by Karen Francisco in Fully Booked by sheer accident. I was supposed to get The Giver by Lois Lowry when I felt like ambling over to the Filipiniana section of the store and then I saw the black and orange spine of the book. I thought it was just a new local comics or something but when I read the blurb, I was sold. Could it be? Local dystopian fantasy? This I have to read.

Naermyth is a word play on the phrase "never myth", which is what the people used to describe creatures that caused the apocalypse after they attacked the human race. These are creatures from Philippine mythology that we have often watched or heard stories from as children -- aswang, duwende, kapre, nuno sa punso, diwata , etc -- that we thought were just that: myths. However, it turns out they were never myths at all, and they attacked defenseless humans, quickly wiping out civilizations and most of the population. The only remaining resistance against these creatures are the National Bureau of Conflict and Transport or the NaBuCAT, informally known as the Shepherds, who find remaining survivors and give them refuge against the Naermyth.

The story is set in the Philippines 5 years after the war between human and Naermyth started. We meet Athena "Aegis" Dizon, one of the best Shepherds on their way back to the Ruins after a rescue mission. Aegis is one of the best Shepherds in their NaBuCAT branch, but she is also one of the least affectionate and most brash among all of them, an issue that her brothers often tease her with. Aegis doesn't mind, because she knows that if she wants to live in the world now, there is no room to be soft. On their way back to their headquarters after a particularly bad night with an aswang and a duwende in the morning, Aegis rescues Dorian, a mysterious man who has no memory of the last five years and no knowledge of the Naermyth at all. Aegis brings him to the headquarters, and despite her usually brash nature, she finds herself connected to Dorian in ways she could not explain. When they find out what Dorian is, Aegis goes against all she believed in as a Shepherd to protect him. As Dorian tries to find out about his past, Aegis finds out more about hers, and they uncover a conspiracy that could destroy everything they had worked for.

I think the best thing about Naermyth is its realistic world building. It's often hard to get into dystopian fiction especially if the world is does not feel real, but Karen Francisco managed to create a very believable post-apocalyptic Philippines, making the different places in the country come alive as a setting. I liked how she used Ruins as a fortress from its bazaar status in the past, and how Makati is Naermyth territory because of how it used to be a swamp. It wasn't contained in Manila, too, but in other provinces in the Philippines: Baguio is a dead spot for Naermyth because of its altitude, as is Pangasinan being the country's salt center (salt was used as a weapon against aswang because it stops them from regenerating), while Capiz is obviously Naermyth headquarters. And it didn't stop there, too, because it's not post-apocalypse if it doesn't involve the rest of the world, right? Other countries were also affected by the uprising of these creatures, but each country has their own kind of Naermyth based on their folklore. Norway has dragons, and yes, even the Loch Ness monster is alive. With all these elements securely in place, it's easy to believe in the world that Aegis lives in, and I don't get surprised when weirder creatures surface.

That being said, however, Naermyth suffers from attempting to cover so much ground in one book. Don't get me wrong -- I liked a good mystery, I liked conspiracies, I liked betrayals in my dystopian fiction. However, I felt a little bit overwhelmed with all the events happening...and then, that feeling would be abruptly interrupted with information overload, in the form of a dialogue. It seemed like some parts of the book were too much tell rather show, and even the encounter with the bad guy at the end felt more telling than showing. Also, while I liked Aegis as a heroine, I wasn't sold on her past. I felt that it was opened up a little too late. If Aegis' past was so important in the end, I didn't feel it was stressed too much at the start since most of the focus was on her family and Dorian's past. The romantic angle was kind of weak, too, and personally, I could have done without it. And if you would allow me to nitpick a bit -- I was very distracted at how many synonyms of "said" were used. I'd like to believe that the characters don't always roar or scream when they're in a normal conversation. It is true what they said: replacing "said" a bit too many times in the text is very distracting.

I think Naermyth is the first of its kind that is not a graphic novel (correct me if I am wrong, though), and I think it's a feat in itself. This book is a fulfillment of what some friends and I were wishing for a few months back: a fantasy novel written by a Filipino that makes use of the plethora of creatures from our own mythology. Despite my slight issue with the plot and the pacing and that little nitpick, I still enjoyed reading Naermyth . This is not YA, but I think YA dystopian fantasy fans will like this well enough. It's a solid debut, and this book gives me hope that we will see more Filipino fantasy books on shelves (virtual or not) soon. It's about time, don't you think? :)

[Kristel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Originally posted on my blog.

It's a little weird, writing this post months after having read the book and having given my copy away, but my personal need to chronicle my reading life is compelling me, so here we go.

Naermyth by Karen Francisco is a take on post-apocalyptic YA that combines the tropes of the genre with uniquely Filipino references. In this world, the creatures of mythology suddenly emerge and lay waste to most of civilization. In the Philippines, these are the creatures parents used to invoke to strike fear into children's hearts, such as the aswang, sigben, and the manananggal. Only pockets of surviving and resisting bands of humanity continue to exist, including a fort in Manila that is protected by the so-called Shepherds.

The Shepherds venture to the aswang-infested territories of Manila to find surviving humans and lead them to relative safety. One of the most efficient and competent aswang-killers among this ragtag group is a girl that answers to the name Aegis. One day, she finds an unconscious man who is about to be attacked by aswangs and saves him, only to find out that this man has absolutely no recollection that the end of the civilization has occurred.

So far so good, right? I was initially interested in reading this book because of the premise. A sustained novel of this genre from a Filipino author has been a long time coming. I was ready to experience some intricate worldbuilding, a spunky heroine, and copious amount of Filipino mythology thrown. All requisite boxes are checked. However, I found no pleasure in reading it because the first person point of view, the dialogue, and the plot twists struck me as utterly unconvincing.

The earliest obstacle for me was the use of the 1st person POV. We see the world from Aegis's eyes and we are led to believe that her experiences with death and violence has hardened her into a jaded person that keeps her emotions to herself. And yet, throughout the novel, she ends up shouting at people and wordvomiting at the slightest provocation. The strange connection that she feel with the man with the amnesia--named Dorian--is alluded to over and over again. For someone who keeps her cards so close to the vest, she sure talks a lot.

Comparisons with The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins inevitably crop up. Mind you, I read the THG series a couple of months after Naermyth, so my dislike doesn't stem from unfair expectations I may have heaped upon Francisco's novel. Collins managed to grip my attention from the very first chapter by using punchy language that smartly reveals Katniss's laconic personality and sustaining it for an entire trilogy. This is quite a feat considering that FIRST PERSON NARRATIVES ARE HARD.

An untrustworthy narrator can destroy all the groundwork the writer has done and makes the story topple like a house of cards. Naermyth illustrates this quite clearly. It's easy to lose the tension because you already know what the most important person in the scene is thinking. Making it work requires judicious editing and making sound decisions on what to say and what to leave out. Speaking of leaving things out, all the characters are invariably given chewy mouthfuls of exposition to advance the story. There are effective ways of conveying the details of a world--Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass did this admirably--and an inexpertly rendered exposition can destroy the promise of an interesting fantasy universe.

These elements may have been easy to overcome in my head if it wasn't for the inclusion of a clumsily handled, overwrought, and entirely unnecessary romantic (triangle?!) subplot. I get that this is another trope of the YA genre, but every time the action grinds to a halt for the sole purpose of having Aegis, Dorian, or River (he's some guy, don't ask) talk about their feelings, I wanted to curl up into a ball and never see the sun again. And I don't want to spoil the story but let's just say that the fate of the world ends up hanging in the balance unless it is saved by ~The One~.

There were interesting and pleasurable elements. I like how certain Filipino supertitions are woven into the story and the sort of road trip to Pampanga's diwata-controlled territories is easily the most interesting part of the novel. If only the characters were given more nuance and more narrative real estate was freed of certain tired plot points, the obvious amount of work that has gone into the research and worldbuilding would have shone through. For me, Naermyth was unconvincing from the get go and never quite managed to make me change my mind.

[Joyzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Book Review as Promise that might Suck because I'm watching something

So okay I'll just use pros and cons

Pros:

1. Some parts are original (or rather I first know from it) like the Rumpelstiltskin Anomaly etc.
2. Okay the filipino lore was cool like the Kapre, dwende, aswang, diwata etc.
3. She actually writes decent action scenes which reminds me of how Cassandra Clare would write it.
4. The ending was really good and unpredictable though the epilogue was just meh.
5. I do love the Macky part but I think there's a typo with how Fey should be spelled because in this one it was spelled as Fay.

Cons:
1. This reminds me of a lot of things like:

>Mockingjay(with the Mamon thingy--Coin in Mockingjay)

>Naruto(with the Mamon's conspiracy against the Shepherds--Konoha conspiracy against the annihilation of the Uchiha Clan)

>Twilight (with the romance-- the girl, the paranormal guy and the best friend and this star-crossed lovers thingy)

>Gundam Seed (with the your parent are the one responsible with the experimentation of human lives bomb)

>City of Bones (with the sister/brother bomb)

>Resiklo(this is a movie of Bong Revilla btw)-- with the Blood transfusion can make you into an enemy

2. The characters are also similar with:

Athena- Rose Hathaway from VA
River- Adrian Ivashkov from VA
Dorian- Edward Cullen from Twilight

***I'll probably edit this one...youtube is winning***
Check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lonRfy...
____________________________________________________
Nyahaha finally I finish this one Phew! *wipes imaginary sweat on the forehead*

Well this reminds me of Beautiful Creatures, a book that I give up on because it bored me, and I pick up another set of books instead. But when I finally find the time to finish it...Boy I was so wrong. Actually the beginning was good, in the middle it dragged *here's when I gave up* but the ending was great thus the 4 stars. I might have given it a 5 but the fact that I gave up on it was a major turn off so I have to minus 1 star.

Will Review later...
_____________________________________________________
Thoughts Before Reading
I'm going to buy you baby, just wait for me!

Geeeeeezuuuussssss! I now have my own copy! sweeeeeetsauce ^_____^

Awesomesauce book trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GG0z_k...

[Aljohn Laid · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the first novel written in English by a Filipino author that I read from start to finish as far as I could remember. I picked the book because of my love for apocalyptic literature and Philippine folklore, but it took me too long to finish it; this book is not an easy "speedy" read. This is a promising debut from Karen Francisco I should say because it is rather uncommon among Filipino writers to produce a project that is set in the backdrop of apocalyptic/dystopian universe.

Naermyth is set five years after the war between humans and supernatural creatures broke. It follows Athena's (codename Aegis) point-of-view. Athena is one of the Shepherds, a group of fighters, who slay every supernatural beast and save those who remain alive until she encounters a boy her age called Dorian. Little by little, Athena discovers something mystical about Dorian that Dorian himself isn't aware of. And what Athena unfolds can potentially put herself in grave danger.

The downside of the novel are as follows: (1) the book looks like a school textbook or manual because of its size, minimizing its appeal to the readers, although the cover art (done by Francisco herself) is really catchy. (2) The codenames of the Shepherds are confusing. (3) The book can be too trivial because Athena explains the background/niche/weaknesses of every creature featured. (4) I spotted quite a few grammatical errors/typos, and the writing can be painstaking sometimes maybe because Francisco studies/d Law; the language can be a "hard pill to shallow". (5) Pacing and transitions are very terrible, too much words; the writer could've increased the tension and added action/fight sequences rather than have the characters relax and play chess 65 pages before the book ends! (6) I was expecting too much action scenes for a dystopian literature stuffed with folkloric beings; I mean, there are action scenes but not enough to suffice the hype of the story. (7) Creatures are all over the place (i.e. aswangs, batibat, dewende, elves) losing the novel's focus. (8) And it took too long to get to its focus which is to confront Mamon and to battle Valarao. (9) And everything is just about the whiny main character Athena, I'm so full of her! I think it's too late to discuss the love story element and some character backgrounds toward the end of the book.

On the brighter side, what I like about Naermyth is the idea of conspiracy and self-interest, that the last of the human beings can push others down for power in the midst of their survival. Mamon reminds me of Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter; fat and comparable to a poisoned honey.

Francisco said in her official facebook page that Naermyth can expand into a quartet but she is not willing to commit to it as of yet, although the sequel has been rumored to be out soon. Nevertheless, I look forward to book 2. If young Filipino readers have appreciated YA dystopian literature from "best-selling" American authors like Suzanne Collins, Cassandra Claire, and Marie Lu, surely they'd consider such stories from local talents.

[LailaBC · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was an awesome read. It was refreshing for me, since the lore used by the author in this urban fantasy was distinctively of Philippine myths. I immediately got hooked on the main heroine of the story Aegis or Athena her real name. She kind of reminded me of Katniss in Hunger Games. She is badass and can kick ass of many many Naermyths. She is ruthless as a shepherd, and even lacking emotion sometimes but war does that to people. I like many of the characters in this story like her brothers in arms, Dorian and most especially River! there is also the eccentric mad historian Tito Bing he was such a riot! The world building in this one is fascinating because of the familiar mythical creatures used and maybe only in the filipino teleserye do I come to appreciate such kind of stories. I am happy that this is one author who was brave enough to write this kind of popular genre in the filipino lore context. There were still some phrases or perhaps the writing style that don't flow together. This was written in English and a handful of filipino phrases were being incorporated. I do sense that you cannot read this book in a purely American english intotation in your head though. Well at least in my reading experience.
But this is an exciting action packed fantasy adventure. The twist and turns keeps turning up after every end of a chapter. So I have quite a number of WTF and OMGEEE moments in this one as well. Since I am also a die hard romantic I am rooting for Athena and River this two need to get together. Ano naman kasi etong si Athena super in denial..hehehe.
The pacing of the story is good. I look forward to the sequel of this book since that traitor Sponge Cake named person is still out there. She gave Mamon one of my fave snack a bad name...boooo! However, its villains like her that also made the story more compelling. Over all I really dig this one :-)

[RE de Leon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I originally gave this book only two stars, but decided the reader of this review, if used to the usual scale of ambition among Filipino novels, might misunderstand me.

You see, I'm convinced this book is a milestone for Philippine books, earning it a place in the history of Philippine storytelling. And when I give it 2 stars, I do so on a scale that has Orson Scott Card and Ursula leGuin at the 5-star mark. Karen Francisco's opus, while in many ways technically flawed, is good enough that to not place it on a scale with the greats would do it a disservice -- although on such a scale it might not score as highly as it otherwise might. Francisco's narrative has ambition, chutzpah, and with some editing, an appeal capable of crossing ethnic or national boundaries.

[Review in progress. Need sleep.]

[Kim Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Huuuge disappointment for me. The reason why I gave it an additional star is because I did enjoy the story.

It had promise. The story's original plus I'm very familiar with the antagonists - the aswangs (i have a huge collection of True Philippine Ghost Stories and my thesis was about the reimagination of these creatures in fiction so yeah I have a great love and fascination for them). I mostly had problems with Athena because of how rude and conceited she is. I hate characters like that; I can't stand them. She's not "badass". She's an asshole.

Another problem I had was the dialogue. It's too cheesy for my liking, too saturated with cliches, and some lines felt too awkward (especially River's). Plus some of the things in the plot felt too contrived. Like things were put there for the convenience of the characters to drive the plot. I dunno. I feel like it could have been executed better.

The last problem I can think of is how rushed and info-dumpy the ending became. Just an endless barrage of info in the last 20-30 pages or so and I felt like it was too much. I was satisfied though that I was given answers to questions I had earlier but to have that info dumped like that, it wasn't really a nice experience.

Anyway, I did like aspects about the book. The aswangs were, of course, fascinating. I wish I used this book in my thesis. It was well-researched and I commend the author for that because there aren't a lot of references and books about aswangs. I also liked how most chapters ended with a mini-cliffhanger. These gave me the drive to continue reading because I just had to know what happened next. It's a good tactic to keep the reader going tbh. Plus the chapters were quite short too so yey for that. And that's about it really.

I'm not sure if I'd want to continue with second book which I think hasn't even been published yet. So yeah.

PS Ms Francisco, "you're" is short for "you are". It's different from "your" which is the possessive pronoun you're looking for.

[Henry Arguelles · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would recommend this book to those people with varying interests in Philippine mythology and folklore. It has some touch of history too if I may add. The author did well in blending these elements (I’m not sure if this is the right term.) together.

Overall, I enjoyed both books 1 & 2. I loved the twists, the fight scenes and how the author portrayed the interconnectedness of local and foreign myths. Never were they separate in the first place.

May the author continue sustaining the storyline in the next installment. Surely it would take time (Hopefully not too long.) but if it’s worth reading then I’m willing to wait.

Hmm... Lots of good stuff above. Right?

Hopefully in future editions they would pay more attention to spelling. There were a lot of typos and I almost wanted to email them and point out those errors.

[The Silver King · Rating 2 out of 5]

First of, the premise was really a catch. Instead of the usual foreign zombies and vampires, a finally read a book about our local creatures. Imagining them in a post apocalyptic Philippines is really a treat, and I found that old hermit to be quite a laugh. My problem though, is with the plot twist. It was very predictable. I was not surprised with it at all. And as for the problem in the ending, there's a lot of modern ways to avoid it, which annoyed me too. But most was the tone the author used, specially when describing the two leading men. Too much Twilight in it. But heck it was a girl that wrote it, so I guess it was expected.

Generally a good read, just seems more for the female crowd though. Guys beware. This is Twilight in the Philippines.

[AJ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Saw several typos/grammar lapses that distracted me. She kept using the same verbs like growled through out the story that I sometimes imagined Aegis to be a she-lycan or something.

It's not as dark as I wanted it and to a certain degree I find the plot convoluted.

It's a great attempt at Philippine Fantasy Fiction and maybe if there were pictures to accompany the book (only because I'm unfamiliar with some of the mythical beings she mentioned) it would have helped me visualize the story.

If and when a sequel comes out, I will still buy it and see how the story unfolds and the characters develop. Despite my not-so-excited review, I truly am excited for the writer's success.

[Rica Lazo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Don't expect a lot of intense Magandang Gabi Bayan feels like i did when i craved for an aswang novel, which was primarily the reason why i wanted to read this.

The writing was erratic, lost between wanting to give a tough, no nonsense style, to suddenly having a confusing romantic aspect.

The author has a weird choice of words in an effort to be descriptive, but falls short of, and leaves you feeling weirded out coz why won't you just say 'chest' as it is instead of using 'thorax' in a non-medical writing?

Don't know if i will read the second book too soon with the kind of confused writing and considering it's almost thrice as long as this.

[li · Rating 4 out of 5]

RATING: 3.5

It kind of took me a long time to finish this but I was having another reading slump so that’s fair.

I’ve been wanting to read books with Philippine mythology mixed with it. I grew up reading the Percy Jackson series and wished that we have a similar version of it, especially that most Filipinos have no knowledge of our very own mythologies. Fortunately, upon searching books, I found Naermyth. It literally took me seconds to decide whether I was going to buy or not.

The story revolved around dystopian future Philippines. The country—and the rest of the world—were overthrown by their respective mythical creatures (or as they were called in the book, Naermyth, “never were they myth”). I’m amazed at the research that Karen Francisco did. I’m glad that the Philippine creatures in the book like dwende, kapre, aswang, and tikbalang weren’t the generalized versions of them. There were also some that I have never heard of like the pasatsat and the bakunawa. To say the least, this was very informative even if it was only minimal.

To survive, humankind formed a group that are tasked to ensure their survival and kill Naermyth. One of these Shepherds is the main protagonist of the story, Athena Dizon, or mostly known as her code name, Aegis. (I’m just going to call her Athena since that’s what she’s called most of the time on the latter part of the book).

Athena was ruthless to Naermyth, she was quiet and cold. But during a mission, she coincidentally an unconscious Dorian and decided to save him. Only a few chapters later, the two already developed some sort of bond between them that rendered them protective of each other. Then they discovered that Dorian is not purely human. He’s a Naermyth and has a mystery wrapped around him as he is called the Ibig of Bathala. He could also go out of control sometimes, thus making him a threat to others. Still, he has a good heart that only wanted to protect Athena, and Athena felt the same.

I really thought Dorian would be my favorite character in this one. He’s sweet and soft at first but his overprotective nature annoyed the hell out of me. He’s either whining, moaning or growling like man, being a overprotective little shit isn’t a personality trait. To be honest, his overprotectiveness is somewhat unhealthy that it seems like he doesn’t care about Athena’s thoughts and decisions. I truly don’t care about him anymore.

Then they eventually learned that Dorian is the son of Athena’s late mentor (and pseudo-father), Benevidez. They also get attacked by lackeys of their new Shepherd leader, Mamon, who wanted to get rid of older Shepherds for her own gain. But Dorian and Athena survived, thanks to Dorian’s regenerating ability, and they ran away and seeked answers for Dorian’s nature and the Ibig of Bathala. The two found their answers in Baguio where they met Tito Bing, an old friend of Benevidez. Here, they learned that Dorian was more like a three-generations-down angel (Wing Wight) and that he has a sibling. Since female Wing Wights are considered to be extinct because of their destructive nature, they concluded that Dorian has a brother—and it will be most likely River, Athena’s blacksmith/playboy friend who always flirted with her.

Since the start, I’ve always doted on Athena and River being the main couple. As always, Dorian is annoying and “protective” of Athena. He even got so mad when he found Athena and River alone in bed. Anyway, the angst with Athena and River’s relationship was good. I was going to be disappointed if Athena’s feelings were really just the result of River’s “powers.”

Then Athena and her friends got the help of diwata from Maria Makiling (I like the nickname Macky). And there we learned that Dorian’s supposed to be sibling is Athena. Athena turned out to be a Naermyth experiment of his father using Benevidez’s blood. Although she was branded as dangerous for everyone, being a female Wing Wight and all, she was tasked by Maria Makiling to kill Valarao (the leader of the Naermyth). Athena forms a deal that no harm must come to River (since they wanted to get rid of him for having romantic feelings for Athena and Athena must never reproduce) and she accepts the task.

I was so excited for Valarao. He’s that powerful beautiful leader of these horrible creatures but he turned out to be a disappointment. The non-violent nature of Valarao was unexpected but I guess I could go down with that since it’s breaking the norms of mythical creatures being ruthless and brutal. I’ve never considered that after thousands of years had passed, they could be more of a human-like in manners. Still, I expected more from the leader of the Naermyth and didn’t think he’s going to die easily. Anyway, there’s still a sequel and that’s way longer than this one so let’s see how the story will go down.

The letter on the epilogue made me yearn for more Athena and River interactions. I wonder how their relationship will develop on the sequel. And despite being a little shit (also a soft boy), River became my favorite character in this book.

Overall, the story is nice enough. The writing could be better but it was very effective in letting Athena’s emotions be felt. Also, it’s an easy read—most likely to catch more attention of the readers, especially the young ones. Of course, there were disappointing parts in the story but there were a lot that I enjoyed. I just hope more people would read this and get to enjoy and learn at the same time about our very own mythical creature.

[Lylexy]

nice attempt... poor execution. poor printing. poor characters.

only reading it cause i actually bought it.

[Kathryn G. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first thing I noticed about this book once I began was the writing itself. It was pretty poorly written and held no evidence of ever having been edited - by the author or anyone else. This kept up throughout the entire book. Some passages were worse than others; I noticed consistent tense changes (sometimes even in the same sentence) and misspellings. Weird word choices were also present, along with a lot of Philippine terminology that I didn't understand. The author relied very heavily on her readers being familiar with specifically Philippine monsters. There were many passages that could have used more description and a lot of names I needed to keep up with, half of which weren't even important or only appeared once in the book. The author also used some cliches and overused plot devices while trying to portray them as being unexpected. Overall, there were just a lot of things wrong with the presentation of the story. An editor would have been extremely helpful in this area.

Despite all of these shortcomings, the story itself was actually really unique and well-paced; I ended up giving the book three stars. (It would have been four if the writing wasn't so bad.) Essentially, the plot follows a young woman named Athena who comes across a man during one of her missions who has no memories of the past five years, which is when the Naermyth (never myth) began crawling out of their hiding places and destroying the human way of life. It doesn't take long for her to learn that he is actually a Naermyth himself, and the two of them have a strange, inexpiable connection to one another. They go on a quest to uncover the mystery of who he is and why everything she's ever known is suddenly thrown into turmoil because of his arrival, and...that's basically all one should know going in.

I've read a handful of dystopian novels - enough to know that I don't really prefer the genre - but this is by far the most unique one I've read. The idea of creatures that we all thought were only myths coming back to disrupt everything is very different, and this author made it work in a fascinating way. The protagonist, Athena, is a main character that is unexpected in every sense of the word, but by the end of the novel I grew to really like her. Her journey with Dorian was a unique kind of quest, and all of the twists and turns involved throughout kept me guessing right up until the very last page. And speaking of endings, the author nailed the ending of this book. It fit right along with the whole mood of the rest of the novel while still finishing on a hopeful note. All in all, despite the bad writing, the story itself was very unique and very good. It was well worth the hassle it took to get it in my hands.

I feel like if this author had gotten a good editor, Naermyth would be much bigger than it is now. Even if she'd hired a freelancer, a little fine tuning on the presentation would have made this novel stand out big time.

If anyone is interested in the story of how I (an American) got a copy of this book to read in the first place, I go into detail about that on my blog: http://alwaysendlesspossibilities.blo...

[springcry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Note: I read the 2021 revision so I'm not sure if the rest of the review applies to the previous version

Naermyth presents an engaging, immersive urban fantasy where the world has been overturned by the invasion of the naermyth or mythological creatures. The worldbuilding here is expansive and immersive, painting Metro Manila and the Philippines as a whole as a post-apocalyptic setting with Makati becoming an Aswang den and the few safe zones being surrounded by wastelands and abandoned roads. The characters are strongly written too; Athena's emotionally repression comes across as an important mystery that the rest of the novel attempts to answer particularly as she comes across places and people who change her perspective of the truth and the naermyth. Speaking of such, the twists and turns in the story are well-developed and genuinely, a fun genre-bender of science fiction and fantasy!

The romance too is cute and believable without dragging the plot or taking too much attention away from the main story. My concerns with this novel are mainly the typo errors that still remain and bits of the pacing at the start (it starts a bit slow). But overall, an enjoyable read!

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve read this book years ago but was surprised that I didn’t log this on Goodreads. Anyway, I remember loving this story the first time I read it. I was interested in local mythology before and it still holds true to this day. Naermyth was a great read for all those reasons, but reading it again made me more perceptive to the mishaps of the story, the grammar lapses, the deus ex machina quality of certain scenes and plot devices used, and the problem of a story told in 1st person by a main character who I didn’t feel that much of an affinity. Nevertheless, the author did a splendid job of keeping me glued to the page with incredible fight scenes and fast-paced action. I look forward to reading the 2nd installment in the hopes to read more of what I loved.

[Gaybrielle Asha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finished reading this yesterday. It was a nice book and it was the first time I related to it (somehow) easily due to it being set in the Philippines. I liked how the author humanized the naermyths and saw them as someone with life. Athena/Aegis (protagonist) was a developed character and her flaws was visibly seen in the book, she was badass but she had a heart. Very compelling to read but the later part of the book felt rushed and some arc were hard to understand. Overall it is one of the best I had read this year.

[Nikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish I could rate this higher because I liked the concept and the plot. But the spelling and grammatical errors throughout the book bothered me. I spent more time unconsciously proof-reading/copy-editing the book than enjoying it :(

[Aprilis Rin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recommend this book to those who love reading Philippine mythologies or Philippine creatures.
The only downside to other readers is that you have to be familiar or that you have to be patient with researching what one thing means or looks like.

[Earl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grateful for having read another splendid piece of local sci-fi literature. The story was well-written and the world was well-built that it was easy to imagine and make sense of all that is happening in the novel.

[yel yel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like it

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

"As for how I saw myself, to shed blood that was not your own was to kill; and no legal, social or customary description could paint the truth."

[Spencer Ghreg]

Its my own stories....i like that

[Lindy B · Rating 4 out of 5]

From a Filipino author! So proud! Just realized our myths in the Philippines heavily rotates on monsters and supernatural beings, though.

[Dymar De Claro · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars (i had so much fun reading this book. i haven’t read a fantasy for quite sometime so although some of the subplots and themes were familiar I still enjoyed it).

[Rio · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the worldbuilding, this mythology-meets-apolcalypse is so fresh!

[Odracir Nebriaga · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always liked the idea of living in a post-apocalyptic Philippines and this book just nailed it!
The story of this book is amazing and is not cliched. As someone who likes Philippine mythology, I really appreciate the essence of the story.
The author, Ate Karen, is a really down-to-earth person. She was all-smiles when I met her back in a comic convention and answered every question I just can't help but ask (sorry, Ate Karen! :D ). I just hope she writes the second book as soon as possible because I know I'm not the only who is dying to know what's in River's letter at the end of the story. LOL!

[eu · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great read even if you don't have much knowledge on Filipino myth. I loved everything about this– an easy go to if someone asks me for a book recommendation.

Planning to read this again before catching up with book two!