It’s MIBF week and I’m sure you can’t wait to get your hands on the books we featured in the first two installments of this Pinoy books special. But before you finalize that “Pinoy books to buy” list, here are some more titles that you surely wouldn’t wanna miss:

Naermyth, which comes from the phrase “ne’er myth”, is the Filipino take on a post-apocalyptic dystopian world. Entities that we thought to be just figments of our imagination have proven to be more than just myths and have taken over the world, sending humans to near extinction. But, as Filipinos always do, the remaining humans in the archipelago have risen from the ashes and rebuilt homes over the rubble and destruction caused by the Naermyth. They have also created a special Naermyth-fighting squad called “Shepherds,” whose task is to gather survivors into salt-protected colonies and device a way to defeat Naermyth and reclaim what was once ours. Naermyth is an adventure told from the perspective of the strong but flawed female protagonist Aegis. To add to your excitement for this book, Author Karen Francisco has just released a sequel called “Naermyth: Revelations” earlier this year, which contain masterful illustrations of the world and characters she brought to life.

Exactly what it says on the tin, this is an anthology of science fiction stories by various authors. This is a refreshing collection since not a lot of authors brave the sci-fi genre in the Philippines. The book was edited by Philippine Spec Fiction enthusiasts Dean Francis Alfar and Kenneth Yu who have separately started projects meant to encourage Filipino writers to produce more works for the said genre. The stories in the book contain themes familiar to Filipinos such as working overseas, poverty, disaster, and resiliency, but they are presented to us in high-tech worlds of space colonies, robots, and virtual reality. If you’re interested, the book was published by the University of the Philippines Press and you may find it along with other promising titles at their booth.

These silent comics by Rob Cham have proven that good stories aren’t just about words. These fully-colored comics follow the story of an adventurer, going through dark worlds in search of gems reminiscent of brillantes from Encantadia. Join our nameless hero as he battles monsters, travels dark worlds, and builds a friendship of a lifetime. Rob Cham’s art is so captivating that I was holding my breath the first time I leafed through the book, and the illustrations looked so alive that reading it felt akin to watching an animation unfold.

 

The story of Light was pretty simple, light-hearted, and straightforward adventure. Meanwhile, in Lost, you are in for a deeper story of friendship and belongingness that ends in a bittersweet twist. The comics were published by Anino Comics. They can be found in Adarna House, Inc.’s booth, among other children and young adult books.

And there you have it! That ends our Philippine Speculative Fiction Starter Guide! The books we included are only some of the best ones you’ll find out there. There are definitely more gems from our local publishers and writers just waiting to be discovered. So, enjoy the fair and don’t hesitate to pick up other titles or authors you’re not familiar with! Who knows, it might help kickstart your very own library of awesome speculative fiction works you can call proudly Pinoy.

 

Photo by Freddie Marriage on Unsplash