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Science Fiction: Filipino Fiction for Young Adults
As the second in a planned genre-anthology series for young adults, Science Fiction: Filipino Fiction for Young Adults explores once more the concerns and issues of today's youth, this time through the lens of the science fiction genre. Enjoy these selected young adult short stories written by new as well as experienced authors, chosen and presented by award-winning editors Dean Francis Alfar and Kenneth Yu.
Contributors: Kim Sarabia, Kate Osias, CP Coulter, Lakan Umali, Nikki Alfar, Eliza Victoria, Raymund P. Reyes, Gabriela Lee, Daniel Carlos Tan, and Victor Fernando R. Ocampo
Contributors: Kim Sarabia, Kate Osias, CP Coulter, Lakan Umali, Nikki Alfar, Eliza Victoria, Raymund P. Reyes, Gabriela Lee, Daniel Carlos Tan, and Victor Fernando R. Ocampo
140 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 21, 2017
I find it difficult to rate this book as a whole because my opinions on the individual stories ranged from "I feel like I gained nothing from this" to "That was amazing".
Most of the stories I disliked, I disliked because I felt like they were kind of generic sci-fi stories that didn't do anything new, or they tried to do something new and it ended up either not flowing very well for me or having too many plot holes.
I think I actually ended up disappointed with most of the stories here (which is a shame and I wish I weren't), but there were a few I enjoyed so much that I feel they made up for those disappointments - my favorites were "Erase" by Gabriela Lee, "The Ceres Girl" by Lakan Umali and "Infinite Degrees of Freedom" by Victor Fernando R. Ocampo.
Overall, I enjoyed how a lot of the stories showed sci-fi settings and technologies with themes and problems relating to the lives of Filipinos. In some stories the sci-fi was there more as a backdrop for the main issue or themes being tackled. In other stories, the fascinating world and technology were really the ones that ended up standing out to me - there were some really unique concepts presented here.
So while, sure, I disliked most of the short stories here, there were some pretty amazing ones, and I still look forward to reading so much more Philippine sci-fi in the future!
Most of the stories I disliked, I disliked because I felt like they were kind of generic sci-fi stories that didn't do anything new, or they tried to do something new and it ended up either not flowing very well for me or having too many plot holes.
I think I actually ended up disappointed with most of the stories here (which is a shame and I wish I weren't), but there were a few I enjoyed so much that I feel they made up for those disappointments - my favorites were "Erase" by Gabriela Lee, "The Ceres Girl" by Lakan Umali and "Infinite Degrees of Freedom" by Victor Fernando R. Ocampo.
Overall, I enjoyed how a lot of the stories showed sci-fi settings and technologies with themes and problems relating to the lives of Filipinos. In some stories the sci-fi was there more as a backdrop for the main issue or themes being tackled. In other stories, the fascinating world and technology were really the ones that ended up standing out to me - there were some really unique concepts presented here.
So while, sure, I disliked most of the short stories here, there were some pretty amazing ones, and I still look forward to reading so much more Philippine sci-fi in the future!
January 10, 2024
Jeepney Blues: 4/5
Fortitude: 3/5
Mooneater: 5/5
The Romeo Robot: 2/5
The 13th Unit: 5/5
Erase: 2/5
The Ceres Girl (my favorite): 5/5
Surrogate: 3/5
The Incipient End of the World: 4/5
Infinite Degrees of Freedom: 2/5
Fortitude: 3/5
Mooneater: 5/5
The Romeo Robot: 2/5
The 13th Unit: 5/5
Erase: 2/5
The Ceres Girl (my favorite): 5/5
Surrogate: 3/5
The Incipient End of the World: 4/5
Infinite Degrees of Freedom: 2/5
June 3, 2016
Once again, I am amazed with this anthology, particularly with how it captured the sense of wonder in young adults, the insecurities, successes, and challenges of these tumultous years and juxtaposed it with the mystery and grandeur of technology. I haven't read much in the genre but after reading this anthology, my interest as a reader has peaked. I would love to read more sci-fi stories and will actively make sure I am updated with the works of the authors featured in this book because they've made me a believer. Kudos to the editors as well for a great selection of stories!
January 4, 2025
I must make two confessions. First, I almost DNFed (did not finish) this anthology of young adult sci-fi stories. After reading the first three, I did not continue reading for a month. Sure, Kim Sarabia's "Jeepney Blues" was a thrilling action-adventure, but the two stories after it—Eliza Victoria's "Fortitude" and Kate Osias's "Mooneater"—left me unsatisfied.
Victoria, as always, remains vague and difficult to understand. I can understand when she does it in her own short story collection, but this is an anthology for young adults—honestly, some of her stories from A Bottle of Storm Clouds would have been better here.
And Kate Osias, as much as I love her, just made me even more disappointed. She foreshadows this huge villain for several pages, but the main character just defeats them in a few uneventful sentences. Ironic, considering one of my favorite stories from her, "James Robot," is also sci-fi.
Seems like these established writers of speculative fiction had a hard time adjusting to the young adult mindset. On that note, I'd like to mention the third of what I consider the triumvirate of speculative fiction—Gabriela Lee. She's also in this anthology, but she also has a young adult sci-fi short story titled "Shadowboxing" in Friend Zones, which is one of my favorite stories of hers.
This anthology was only salvaged later for me by Raymund Reyes's "Romeo Robot" and eventually, my favorite in the entire anthology, CP Coulter's "The 13th Unit." And my second favorite, Lakan Umali's "Ceres Girl"—which I'd like to praise by the way for its sci-fi rendition of the OFW story. The anthology, however, ended underwhelmingly with Nikki Alfar's somewhat predictable "The Incipient End of the World" and Victor Ocampo's somewhat confusing "Infinite Degrees of Freedom."
I probably would have appreciated Victor Ocampo's story if it was in the middle of the book rather than at the end, especially since it makes use of Philippine mythology, but coming after Nikki Alfar's story, I was much less hesitant to rack my brains figuring out the timeline of a nonlinear narrative.
What ruined a lot of good stories in this anthology for mw was the forced romance. Nikki Alfar did it in her ending. Kate Osias did it. I think Eliza Victoria also did, but I don't really have any idea what was going on there. Gabriela Lee did an anti-romance, which I appreciate the subversion, but coming after several pages of showing us a very cool VRMMORPG? Huge whiplash. It's almost as if the authors think young adults' biggest problem is romance.
Not that I'm anti-romantic. I liked the other stories in the anthology that had a romantic subplot like "Jeepney Blues" and "Surrogate." Heck, "Romeo Robot" is a romance!
On to my second confession: I don't really read a lot of sci-fi stories, even Western ones, so I'm not exactly an authority on this. I've only read Isaac Asimov and Douglas Adams. And Robert Young's "Dandelion Girl." And Brandon Sanderson, which for some reason is considered sci-fi/fantasy.
But I did notice that the brand of sci-fi in this anthology is way different from Western sci-fi stories, aside from being young adult. You'd think that since the stories are set in the future, there wouldn't be much difference. Except for the role of family, which is integral in Filipino culture.
It's there in "Jeepney Blues" from the siblings' fight. It's there in "Mooneater," with the father's relationship with his daughter. It's there in "Romeo Robot" with the absent father. It's there in "The 13th Unit" with everyone the main character spares is because of the victims' families. In "Erase," we have another story of absent parents. "The Ceres Girl" is literally about a mother and daughter. "Surrogate" is about a father and daughter moving on from a wife and mother's death, respectively. "The Incipient End of the World" shows how when the end of the world is near, families decide to stay together. And "Infinite Degrees of Freedom" is about a father and son's relationship.
It reminds me of Eugene Evasco's introduction in Bagets, how young adult literature in the Philippines focuses on the role of the family or elders, while young adult literature in the West wants to show that the young main characters are independent and do not need adults.
This is not a perfect book by any means, but in a country where sci-fi is almost inexistent, I think it's a good start.
You may read my other reviews at https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...
𝐿𝒶𝓌𝓇𝑒𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝒜𝓃𝒹𝓇𝑒𝓌 𝒢. 𝐵𝒶𝓈𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑜𝓉𝑒
4 January 2025
Victoria, as always, remains vague and difficult to understand. I can understand when she does it in her own short story collection, but this is an anthology for young adults—honestly, some of her stories from A Bottle of Storm Clouds would have been better here.
And Kate Osias, as much as I love her, just made me even more disappointed. She foreshadows this huge villain for several pages, but the main character just defeats them in a few uneventful sentences. Ironic, considering one of my favorite stories from her, "James Robot," is also sci-fi.
Seems like these established writers of speculative fiction had a hard time adjusting to the young adult mindset. On that note, I'd like to mention the third of what I consider the triumvirate of speculative fiction—Gabriela Lee. She's also in this anthology, but she also has a young adult sci-fi short story titled "Shadowboxing" in Friend Zones, which is one of my favorite stories of hers.
This anthology was only salvaged later for me by Raymund Reyes's "Romeo Robot" and eventually, my favorite in the entire anthology, CP Coulter's "The 13th Unit." And my second favorite, Lakan Umali's "Ceres Girl"—which I'd like to praise by the way for its sci-fi rendition of the OFW story. The anthology, however, ended underwhelmingly with Nikki Alfar's somewhat predictable "The Incipient End of the World" and Victor Ocampo's somewhat confusing "Infinite Degrees of Freedom."
I probably would have appreciated Victor Ocampo's story if it was in the middle of the book rather than at the end, especially since it makes use of Philippine mythology, but coming after Nikki Alfar's story, I was much less hesitant to rack my brains figuring out the timeline of a nonlinear narrative.
What ruined a lot of good stories in this anthology for mw was the forced romance. Nikki Alfar did it in her ending. Kate Osias did it. I think Eliza Victoria also did, but I don't really have any idea what was going on there. Gabriela Lee did an anti-romance, which I appreciate the subversion, but coming after several pages of showing us a very cool VRMMORPG? Huge whiplash. It's almost as if the authors think young adults' biggest problem is romance.
Not that I'm anti-romantic. I liked the other stories in the anthology that had a romantic subplot like "Jeepney Blues" and "Surrogate." Heck, "Romeo Robot" is a romance!
On to my second confession: I don't really read a lot of sci-fi stories, even Western ones, so I'm not exactly an authority on this. I've only read Isaac Asimov and Douglas Adams. And Robert Young's "Dandelion Girl." And Brandon Sanderson, which for some reason is considered sci-fi/fantasy.
But I did notice that the brand of sci-fi in this anthology is way different from Western sci-fi stories, aside from being young adult. You'd think that since the stories are set in the future, there wouldn't be much difference. Except for the role of family, which is integral in Filipino culture.
It's there in "Jeepney Blues" from the siblings' fight. It's there in "Mooneater," with the father's relationship with his daughter. It's there in "Romeo Robot" with the absent father. It's there in "The 13th Unit" with everyone the main character spares is because of the victims' families. In "Erase," we have another story of absent parents. "The Ceres Girl" is literally about a mother and daughter. "Surrogate" is about a father and daughter moving on from a wife and mother's death, respectively. "The Incipient End of the World" shows how when the end of the world is near, families decide to stay together. And "Infinite Degrees of Freedom" is about a father and son's relationship.
It reminds me of Eugene Evasco's introduction in Bagets, how young adult literature in the Philippines focuses on the role of the family or elders, while young adult literature in the West wants to show that the young main characters are independent and do not need adults.
This is not a perfect book by any means, but in a country where sci-fi is almost inexistent, I think it's a good start.
You may read my other reviews at https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...
𝐿𝒶𝓌𝓇𝑒𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝒜𝓃𝒹𝓇𝑒𝓌 𝒢. 𝐵𝒶𝓈𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑜𝓉𝑒
4 January 2025
February 8, 2018
My favorite story here is “The Ceres Girl.” As with several of the stories, it addresses current issues Filipinos face even with the science fiction backdrop. Here, it’s the effect the forced migration of Filipinos have on the families they must leave behind, and it was the most moving one of the bunch.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews