toc: a time for dragons
Vin Simbulan has posted the table of contents for his upcoming spec fic anthology, "A Time for Dragons". Shamelessly, I'm replicating part of his post here:
Congratulations to all the contributors!
As someone who feels very strongly about Philippine speculative fiction, I am naturally ecstatic about both the list and the notion of the book itself. I'm happy to note that I'm familiar with all but three names, and have published many of the authors myself - which shows that these storytellers have many tales of wonder to tell. Vin also selected an interesting mix of unpublished, rising and established voices (I snuck a peek at Nikki's story while she was editing it, and I was totally floored - I want it for my anthology LOL).
Can you imagine it? A Filipino antho brimming with dragons. Now the poor editor will be pestered by me and the other authors for the next announcement - when is the publishing date? And, will there be dragons at the launch? Hahaha. I can't wait to have the book in my hands!
Here's a bit from my contribution, Dragon Eyes. It is part of my cycle of Hinirang stories.
From Dragon Eyes by Dean Francis Alfar
Each Tsino person has several names that are used at different times in life and death: true name, birth name, family name, milk name, child name, nickname, use name, professional name, the heroic name if you became someone of import, the name you gave to non-members of your immediate family, the name you gave to foreigners, and the name you left as payment at the Black Gates.
If you were a woman you added several more: your young woman name, your smoke name, your name of respect, your seasonal name, and more depending on your circumstances – married, unmarried, widowed, firstborn, lastborn, beautiful, ordinary, tainted or dead.
My mother’s smoke name, given to her by my father when they first met seven days before their wedding, was Lúng Yânjìng, Dragon Eyes. He said that looking into he eyes was like locking stares with a dragon – such was the depth of her gaze that it swallowed him whole, a capitulation he willingly performed because of his duty and her beauty. Even after they were married, my father called her by her smoke name, but only in the privacy of our home.
But growing up, whenever I looked into my mother’s eyes, I did not see a dragon. Her eyes could pierce me as if she saw see directly into my soul, yes, but it had always been something I could fight. She did not have a dragon’s power of dominance, only the ability shared by all mothers which all daughters must, sooner or later, learn to accept.
Here are the stories that will make up A Time for Dragons, pending final sequencing.
The Bridge by Yvette Tan
The Transfiguration of Zhang Bai Long by Elbert Or
Dragon Brother by Cyan Abad-Jugo
3:30 PM Appointment with Sir Galahad by Kate Aton-Osias
Dragon Eyes by Dean Francis Alfar
Moondown and Fugue by Alexander Drilon
Tholomew Mestich and the Tiles of Ganew by Elyss Punsalan
Capture by Gabriela Lee
Glass by Nikki Alfar
The Last Feast of August by Andrew Drilon
Johnny Tato and the Dragon of Pasig by Joseph Nacino
A Fishy Tale by Apol Lejano-Massebieau
Chasing Ouroboros by Vincent Michael Simbulan
Lex Talionis by Paolo Chikiamco-Recio
The Delivery by Ron Cordova
Gunsaddled by Alexander Osias
A Change of Guards by Oscar Alvarez Jr.
Fossil by Sarge Lacuesta
Congratulations to all the contributors!
As someone who feels very strongly about Philippine speculative fiction, I am naturally ecstatic about both the list and the notion of the book itself. I'm happy to note that I'm familiar with all but three names, and have published many of the authors myself - which shows that these storytellers have many tales of wonder to tell. Vin also selected an interesting mix of unpublished, rising and established voices (I snuck a peek at Nikki's story while she was editing it, and I was totally floored - I want it for my anthology LOL).
Can you imagine it? A Filipino antho brimming with dragons. Now the poor editor will be pestered by me and the other authors for the next announcement - when is the publishing date? And, will there be dragons at the launch? Hahaha. I can't wait to have the book in my hands!
Here's a bit from my contribution, Dragon Eyes. It is part of my cycle of Hinirang stories.
From Dragon Eyes by Dean Francis Alfar
Each Tsino person has several names that are used at different times in life and death: true name, birth name, family name, milk name, child name, nickname, use name, professional name, the heroic name if you became someone of import, the name you gave to non-members of your immediate family, the name you gave to foreigners, and the name you left as payment at the Black Gates.
If you were a woman you added several more: your young woman name, your smoke name, your name of respect, your seasonal name, and more depending on your circumstances – married, unmarried, widowed, firstborn, lastborn, beautiful, ordinary, tainted or dead.
My mother’s smoke name, given to her by my father when they first met seven days before their wedding, was Lúng Yânjìng, Dragon Eyes. He said that looking into he eyes was like locking stares with a dragon – such was the depth of her gaze that it swallowed him whole, a capitulation he willingly performed because of his duty and her beauty. Even after they were married, my father called her by her smoke name, but only in the privacy of our home.
But growing up, whenever I looked into my mother’s eyes, I did not see a dragon. Her eyes could pierce me as if she saw see directly into my soul, yes, but it had always been something I could fight. She did not have a dragon’s power of dominance, only the ability shared by all mothers which all daughters must, sooner or later, learn to accept.
posted by Dean at
8:21 AM
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