Kinds of Fiction

Author: Cecilia Manguerra Brainard

Flash Fiction

A style of fictional literature or fiction of extreme brevity.

A VERY SHORT STORY

Your world -- or your mind -- does not allow for an afternoon walk to the museum, nor a stop at the chapel for silent prayer, a glass of halo-halo under the ipil-ipil, laughter and stories, for old time’s sake.

It allows for a few hours at the Hilton. Face like stone you give a false name to the man at the registry, pay in cash, and ascend to the sun-streamed room, for an afternoon of sad, hot-blooded lovemaking.

Face like stone, you tell your wife whom you have long-ago stopped loving, that you had a late business meeting with some Japanese clients. (It’s the same story you had left at your office earlier that day.)

And you wonder why you go about in muted sorrow and anger.

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Science Fiction

Writing based on real or imaginary scientific developments and often set in the future.

The anthology Diaspora Ad Astra: An Anthology of Science Fiction from the Philippines represents science fiction made by Filipinos for Filipinos. This collection of stories looks at the future of Filipinos as we ask and wonder: will we be exporting human workers to Mars or will we be ruling a new Empire of Humanity? Or will we be running a guerrilla war against mad robots as the rest of homo sapiens flee into space in derelict battleships?

Because of this, we’ve collected these Filipino stories that look into a multitude of possible futures. Moreover, with these stories, we offer you hope that there will be a future where Filipinos will still—whether we attain greatness or not—play a role on the stage of humanity.

Welcome to the future of Filipinos shaped by Filipino dreams.

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Speculative Fiction

an umbrella term encompassing the more fantastical fiction genres, specifically science fiction, fantasy horror, weird fiction, supernatural fiction, superhero fiction, utopian and dystopian fiction, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction and alternate history in literature as well as related static motion and visual arts.

Author: Isabel Yap

Makino’s mother taught her caution, showed her how to carve her name into cucumbers, and insisted that she never let a kappa touch her. But when she grows up and her husband Tetsuya falls deathly ill, a kappa that claims to know her comes calling with a barbed promise. “A Cup of Salt Tears” is a dark fantasy leaning towards horror that asks how much someone should sacrifice for the one she loves.
At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied. 

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Historical Fiction

A made-up story that is based on a real time and place in history, so fact is mixed with fiction.

"It may be unfair, but what happens in a few days, sometimes even a single day, can change the course of a whole lifetime.”

Amir is the son of a wealthy Kabul merchant, a member of the ruling caste of Pashtuns. Hassan, his servant and constant companion, is a Hazara, a despised and impoverished caste. Their uncommon bond is torn by Amir’s choice to abandon his friend amidst the increasing ethnic, religious, and political tensions of the dying years of the Afghan monarchy, wrenching them far apart. But so strong is the bond between the two boys that Amir journeys back to a distant world, to try to right past wrongs against the only true friend he ever had.

The unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father’s servant, The Kite Runner is a beautifully crafted novel set in a country that is in the process of being destroyed. It is about the power of reading, the price of betrayal, and the possibility of redemption; and an exploration of the power of fathers over sons—their love, their sacrifices, their lies.

A sweeping story of family, love, and friendship told against the devastating backdrop of the history of Afghanistan over the last thirty years, The Kite Runneris an unusual and powerful novel that has become a beloved, one-of-a-kind classic.

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Realistic Fiction

is a genre consisting of stories that could have actually occurred to people or animals in a believable setting. These stories resemble real life, and fictional characters within these stories react similarly to real people.

 A young woman pieces together her troubled past in this story of rebellion and romance set in the Marcos-era Philippines.

Soon after she leaves home for university in Manila, Soledad Soliman (Sol) transforms herself from bookish rich girl to communist rebel. But is her allegiance to the principles of Mao or to Jed, the comrade she’s in love with? Can she really be a part of the movement or is she just a “useful fool,” a spoiled brat playing at revolution? 

Far from the Philippines, in a mansion overlooking the Hudson River, Sol confesses her youthful indiscretions, unable to get past the fatal act of communist fervor that locked her memory in an endless loop. Rich with wordplay and unforgettable imagery, Gun Dealers’ Daughter combines the momentum of an amnesiac thriller with the intellectual delights of a Borgesian puzzle. In her American debut, award-winning author Gina Apostol delivers a riveting novel that illuminates the conflicted and little-known history of the Philippines, a country deeply entwined with our own.