Scan barcode
jelundberg's review against another edition
5.0
With every successive book, Alfar's prodigious talent continues to soar. There is a feeling of the mythic in so many of his stories, even those that explore the most mundane of activities. There are pieces here that awed me, that made me laugh, that made me weep. What a wonderful gift this collection is.
diwataluna's review against another edition
3.0
I haven’t read Alfar’s Kite of Stars, so this is my first sampling of his writing. And quite a sampling it is. Terra Incognita is like a platter full of food from the same cuisine, but also varying in ingredients and tastes. This is probably why it is categorized as a book on speculative fiction, a label given to works that have supernatural, fantastical, and sci-fi elements.
Like a well-organized platter of delicacies, Terra Incognita is also divided into five different chapters comprising of stories: Research your destination, Take appropriate precautions, When traveling with children, be sensitive to their needs, Understand the culture, and Get to know the locals. These chapters provide a frame for a certain group of stories. I like how the chapters are titled as if the book is really a travel guide to an unknown place.
As one reads through all the stories, the reader feels the unmistakable ability of Alfar to weave stories not just from one thread of the speculative fiction strata but from two or more. For example, “Simon’s Replica” is a story about an architect tasked with recreating a kingdom for the reigning monarch. The names and overall feel of the story is reminiscent of pre-Spanish Philippines. But the execution of Simon’s task has futuristic elements. If the West has steam punk, maybe we can coin a term unique to the East.
Some of the stories also have a fairy tale or folklore style, but with twists in treatment of theme or in the ending. While “Brother and Sister” in Demons of the New Year is a Filipinized retelling of Hansel and Gretel, “East of the Sun” in this collection is a Brothers Grimm-inspired tale about a maiden taken by a tikbalang. Other stories play with forms such as the epistolary story “Azamgal”, which I found very inventive and stalker-scary, and the prose interspersed with poems “The Many Loves of Ramil Alonzo”, which placed female mythological characters in the world of modern love and one-night stands.
Inventiveness and wit are not the only elements Alfar is capable of playing with. He can cook up stories for different literary palates, as I’ve said. These include straightforward genre stories such as the suspenseful “Bruhita” as well as the hard-to-label but emotionally charged “Sunboy”.
After finishing the book of stories, the reader is left with a feeling that terra incognita is not an easily definable place. Everything is open to speculation. Feelings evoked are not fully resolved. Maybe one trip is not enough. Let’s wait for Alfar’s next collection.
Like a well-organized platter of delicacies, Terra Incognita is also divided into five different chapters comprising of stories: Research your destination, Take appropriate precautions, When traveling with children, be sensitive to their needs, Understand the culture, and Get to know the locals. These chapters provide a frame for a certain group of stories. I like how the chapters are titled as if the book is really a travel guide to an unknown place.
As one reads through all the stories, the reader feels the unmistakable ability of Alfar to weave stories not just from one thread of the speculative fiction strata but from two or more. For example, “Simon’s Replica” is a story about an architect tasked with recreating a kingdom for the reigning monarch. The names and overall feel of the story is reminiscent of pre-Spanish Philippines. But the execution of Simon’s task has futuristic elements. If the West has steam punk, maybe we can coin a term unique to the East.
Some of the stories also have a fairy tale or folklore style, but with twists in treatment of theme or in the ending. While “Brother and Sister” in Demons of the New Year is a Filipinized retelling of Hansel and Gretel, “East of the Sun” in this collection is a Brothers Grimm-inspired tale about a maiden taken by a tikbalang. Other stories play with forms such as the epistolary story “Azamgal”, which I found very inventive and stalker-scary, and the prose interspersed with poems “The Many Loves of Ramil Alonzo”, which placed female mythological characters in the world of modern love and one-night stands.
Inventiveness and wit are not the only elements Alfar is capable of playing with. He can cook up stories for different literary palates, as I’ve said. These include straightforward genre stories such as the suspenseful “Bruhita” as well as the hard-to-label but emotionally charged “Sunboy”.
After finishing the book of stories, the reader is left with a feeling that terra incognita is not an easily definable place. Everything is open to speculation. Feelings evoked are not fully resolved. Maybe one trip is not enough. Let’s wait for Alfar’s next collection.
hon_ey's review against another edition
4.0
This is one hell of a book! Very, very refreshing from all the previous book I have read for the past 7 months. The flowy prose—impressive, yet, effortlessly strung together.
Each stories oozes with unimaginable emotional warmth and inventiveness that makes you want to crawl inside each pages, and with sprinkles of some familiar current societal issues every now and then, ranging from Martial Law to sensitive topic such as sexual harassment to feminism to an individual's mundane concerns to dying. The characterization: diverse with a few recognizable faces from Philippine folklore, and superbly executed.
I may sound biased but I must say, every penny spent on this book is worth it. It is something. Special, if I may dare.
Each stories oozes with unimaginable emotional warmth and inventiveness that makes you want to crawl inside each pages, and with sprinkles of some familiar current societal issues every now and then, ranging from Martial Law to sensitive topic such as sexual harassment to feminism to an individual's mundane concerns to dying. The characterization: diverse with a few recognizable faces from Philippine folklore, and superbly executed.
I may sound biased but I must say, every penny spent on this book is worth it. It is something. Special, if I may dare.
moonscapist's review against another edition
4.0
Ang ganda, ang sarap gumulong at magtampisaw sa mga salita ni Master Alfar. <3
dee2799d's review
3.0
I like Dean Alfar best when he's writing those mannerpunk type of stories that he does so well, that kind of Spanish-era Philippines feeling to his work that I associate with him. (It's because of Kite of Stars, I guess.)
Not so sure about stories with sci-fi bent. But then again, those were the sort I didn't like too much in his first collection either, so it's probably just a matter of taste.
Stayed up all night reading story after story, actually. So I guess this is one of those 'compulsively readable' books.
Not so sure about stories with sci-fi bent. But then again, those were the sort I didn't like too much in his first collection either, so it's probably just a matter of taste.
Stayed up all night reading story after story, actually. So I guess this is one of those 'compulsively readable' books.
ginpomelo's review
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
There are less standout stories than Kite of Stars but as a collection of a whole it is much tighter and more fully realized. Alfar is doing something interesting here with the use of the freewheeling omniscient exposition, like an emotional camera that zooms in and out of people's feelings. My favorite story is "Remembrance."
More...