A Look Back at the Unmasked Ones, Part 2
(Ah, this is what I get for always coming in late. Hope you guys can keep up.)
Where was I? Ah yes... prose is all. Unfortunately, since "A Song of Vargas" relies on an almost-dreamlike prose to keep the reader within the story, even a simple case of wrong grammar can ruin the whole effect. This is one case wherein the writer's skills were not up to the task.
On the other hand, Ian Casocot's "A Strange Map of Time" was written in the same style but suffers from the a different problem. I thought Casocot's story in the last Story Philippines issue was the best of the non-speculative fiction lot in both tone and writing, being quite proficient in the use of the literary language. However, though he managed to do better than the writer of "A Song of Vargas", he did lapse into occasional epiphanic passages during the story. This is par for the course for more literary stories but unfortunately, in magical realism, proves to be stumbling blocks for the flow of the story. (To see my point, try comparing this story with Dean's "A Kite of Stars".)
Mike Co's "The God Equation" fits in the other end of the spectrum, a no-frills true-blue thriller that calls on the reader's intelligence-- something that The Da Vinci Code could have been if Dan Brown (snark alert!) wasn't writing for the masses. The fact that the protagonist is an avenging angel is just cherry on top. However, I had some problems with the mathematical info-dump in the middle of the story to prove the theoretician's a genius. I also had trouble with the clumsy elaboration in the last section: nobody tells what they did for that day, complete with dialogue and a blow-by-blow fight sequence. But otherwise, it was quite an enjoyable read.
I'd leave the fan-boy gibbering to skinny on Mikey's "Atha" but among all the stories, this one scored more points with me for its well-handled use of the language and being more true to the idea of speculative fiction. In fact, this actually reminded me of Kevin Brockmeier's "A Brief History of the Dead", balancing both what China Mieville mentioned as the required detailed yet vague-ness of the story inherent in any work of speculative fiction. Critic Matt Cheney put it aptly, saying:
This tension between the desire for that-which-is-so-amazing-it's-incomprehensible and that-which-can-be-quantified is one most of us who are readers of SF probably share to some extent or another, and it can be a productive tension, perhaps even one of the foundational tensions in fantastic literature, the tension that propels much good fantasy writing into a realm that borrows from traditions of allegory, surrealism, and slice-of-life realism but doesn't comfortably fit into any one camp, and, at its best, is therefore richer than each.
This, I think fit "Atha" to a T.
On the other hand, Phil's "The Great Philippine Space Mission" is an out-and-out SF-nal story that harkens back to the Golden Age of SF but then proceeds to skewer Filipino sensibilities in the same vein as the late SF writer Robert Sheckley. The story itself was saved by a rather contrived opening by the weird elements at the middle (Kris Aquino and the power of gossip? The Buzz? And where was Boy Abunda in all of this?) such that by the end of the story, all is forgiven. Another good read.
I won't be reviewing the other stories here-- I did promise not to-- as I figured the others have said what I would have wanted to say anyway. However, I do want to say that stories like "Stella for Star," "Monstrous Cycle," "The Omega Project" were good stories but I expected more considering these were regarded as the best of the lot.
I also have to admit that none of the stories set me afire. However, the top stories were a good cross-section of Philippine speculative fiction and am proud to say that these were Filipino-made. Thanks to this contest and the new writers it has brought to the fore, I can see that the Philippine speculative fiction is slowly coming alive in the light of the sun.
41 comments:
For me The God Equation pulled off the most points but Atha was quite close. It may be due to the fact that the god Equation's math geekery appealed more to me.
As for Atha, it did get me thinking about how the monster looked. I liked the fact that Mikey left the monster to our imagination.
You liked Ian's story in that humongous mag? I thought it was a load of bull.
or maybe it just needs a second reading.
although I was really disappointed with the quality of the stories in Story Philippines, like what Nick said, most of them were pedestrian and lame.
Like I said, it was non-speculative fiction and I'm not well-versed in that.
Funny thing, in the contents page, Ian's story was the first among the NSF stories so it was the first I read. However, I found myself nasusuya after I read the last story, suffering from the too-rich literary language. Didn't know I could suffer from that.
I always surrender when I'm reading SP, so there, nabubulok lang yung copy ko.
i'd have to disagree... Atha wasn't true to the "spec fic" genre... it was definitely SFF, but i wouldn't call it "speculative"
on that count, The God Equation ruled all
I liked your two posts, BC. Well-reasoned and observed. I enjoyed three stories: God, Map and Atha, but felt all of them could have been improved by editing, rewriting and (especially in Ian's case) shortening. What disappoints me most is the lack of pure imaginative fiction, which I tend to blame the judges for, given their (mostly) realist orientation. It seems that even in Filipino spec fic, the call of the carabao is strong.
der fuhrer - What a blistering condemnation for SP! LOL! I hope my little story there entertained you, even just a little bit though.
dean: you don't consider Atha "pure imaginative fiction"?
i'd even consider The God Equation "pure imaginative fiction", though with the qualifier "with realist elements."
Sorry, should have been more clear. Yes, I consider "Atha" pure imaginative fiction, which is why I liked it ;)
dean: oh, good. you had me worried. i thought i may have missed some hidden social realist elements in the story... and i agree, that, too, is one of my reasons for loving Atha, and for being happy about Atha's win.
however, i don't think one can complain about The God Equation making or not making it to your standards of "pure imaginative fiction"--- it's still the purest spec fic work and the hardest SF story on the list, despite the elements that some people might interpret as an attempt to inject social realism into the story. it's still firmly a story of imagination above all else (a rigidly intellectual and logical imagination, admittedly, but then that's what spec fic, strictly speaking, is all about, as opposed to fantasy).
that there aren't more of either Atha or The God Equation on the shortlist, however, i agree, is something wanting in the awards.
fuhrer: Heh. I sympathize my friend.
skinny: Really, why do you say that? Or is this a difference on the meaning of speculative?
dean: Heh thanks. I saw your post on the judges and have to agree. But then again, I don't think we have enough people experienced enough to oversee as judges-- unless you took part in the contest as a judge. ;-)
guys, what the hell is the difference between SF and SFF?
dean: yeah, yours and marie la vina's stories made the compensation for buying SP. at least, there was something imaginative.
Maybe that's what Filipinos think about speculative fiction. It's pretty hard for them to not to incorporate elements of realism. It's probably because we've been raised in a pretty realistic world.
The only realistic bit I saw on The God Equation was man's eternal quest to define God, and ultimately, his exsistence.But that's just me.
I didn't know who were the judges.
But I mean, Peque Gallaga? Really?
And what's your specualtion about A Song For Vargas? I read that it didn't make the honorable entries list because it plagiarized "The Last Unicorn" (which I haven't read).
df: the realistic bits in The God Equation? are you kidding? the treatment, despite the concessions to the fantastic elements which follow from Mike's initial "what if" and define the story as spec fic (see my reply to bc below), is realistic. just look at the attention to detail for one thing.
SFF (or, more correctly, SF/F) simply means sci-fi and fantasy. SF means either sci-fi or spec fic, depending on who you ask or what you mean.
bc: i'm afraid i don't get what you're asking about. are you asking why i think the God Equation is the most truly spec fic of the stories? well, it's the story that best adheres to the strictest definition of spec fic: you start from a "what if", and rigidly follow the logical progression of events from that "what if" to the conclusion, sticking to plausible, preferably empiric, "truths" or "ideas", making as few allowances for narrative concessions as the "what if" allows it's hard SF because there's a heavy focus on ideas. it's still "pure imaginative fiction" despite the "realistic" treatment in that it proceeds from a wholly imagined re-invention of the world; it is, first and foremost, a story. a story of ideas, certainly, but still more a story than anything else. The God Equation ruled all because it did.
Reposting my comment on Sean's blog as the same discussion is going on here apparently (and involves some of the same people)...
Hi. Wanted to comment on the discussion about the judges.
Tony Perez has written about the supernatural, Peque Gallaga's made fantasy movies, and Gregorio Brillantes has written science fiction. This doesn't take into account their own personal tastes in reading, which we don't know about for sure.
What kind of an SF perspective, necessarily, should an ideal judge have? I think the variety of perspectives is a good thing; it keeps the contest from being dominated by one group patting itself on the back.
- Casual SF Reader
huh. we were talking about judges here? i'm getting really lost on this blogging thing.
well, i'd really like to say anyone who can tell "good" writing from "bad", but, first of all, those are loaded definitions, and it may be more complicated than that...
skinny: I'm getting lost here. The God Equation is the only pure SF in the entries--yes. But what's that about it being realistic and it's attention to detail. I'm really getting confused.
Casual SF reader: Dean should've been one of the judges but I think he sent an entry.
We don't have enough pinoys who digest SF like those who write/eat social realism. The SF community here is just on it's early stages.
der fuhrer: I guess it's true about the community, but I think the organizers and the contest participants should definitely go beyond satisfying just the "community".
I enjoyed reading the finalist's entries, and they seem to have covered a broad scope of what you could do with SF. That's not the same for other literary contests, but probably because the participants for that already know the judges and community all too well, and maybe unintentionally pander to it.
I fear that if someone speaks with too much accepted authority on SF, then everyone will just pander to that perspective so they'll be accepted as well. That's why I find the discussion in this blog (among others) cool -- because everyone can still have a say apparently, and no one's being a snob about that.
- Casual SF Reader
df: sorry for the confusion. i muffed it.
The God Equation, arguably, holds apparently "social realist" elements in its detailed treatment of the divine as something that almost parodies the human world. and then there are the characters themselves, which may be interpreted as attempts at social commentary. but these aren't even really "social realist" elements; they are just the elements in his story that correspond to what might be found in social realist works.
i was taking off from the implication in Dean's comment that Atha and The God Equation weren't "pure imaginative works", further muddled by his reply that only accepted "Atha" as "pure imaginative". i was allowing that The God Equation might be read by some as "social realistic", but that i didn't. Dean may have just not mentioned The God Equation in his reply comment for brevity, but i was hoping he'd clarify, me working as a stubborn empiricist.
reading my comment again, yeah it sounded like i was saying God Eq is social realist. no wonder you were asking about "realistic elements". my bad.
casual SF reader: your points on not simply satisfying the genre community are valid, but you have to realize that standards "within that community" may be categorically different from the standards of other "non-qualified" judges. it may be as simple as a matter of taste in the judges, the recognition that some things work within the genre that wouldn't normally work without (hard SF, for instance, is notorious for working even without three-dimensional, believable characters) and would require a subjective slant.
Yikes! I'm way behind here...
skinny: I was asking why you said that "Atha" wasn't true to the speculative ideals though in a way, you answered my question below. So you're saying that "Atha" is pure imaginative fiction but not speculative fiction because it doesn't answer the question "what if?" Isn't that a categorizing things a bit too far? The way I understood the meaning of speculative fiction-- rather, I chose the term speculative fiction because it more or less handles all the three legs of imaginative fiction: SF, fantasy and horror. In which case, for me, "Atha" manages to address all three with elements of SF, fantasy and horror in its story.
And you're confused? I'm having a hard time tracking who said what and where. That's the problem of cross-posting. ;-)
anon: Yeah, it's all the same people but what can we do, it's a small world?
(first posted at Sean's) It's true that sometimes an outsider's eye should be needed to judge SFF works. However, I think that a variety of perspectives may be hampered if none of the perspectives has the right background to counter-check. It'll be like the three blind men trying to describe an elephant. As for the ideal judging: say, get one from literature (Brillantes), one from pop (either threatre or movie like Perez and Gallaga), and one from genre or AT LEAST is well-versed. That means that even though he is a writer, he has read enough of the field (both genre and literary). And not necessarily a writer but even a literary critic, someone who knows his stuff. (That's why I mentioned Emil Flores: he teaches a course in U.P.)
As for community, that's true that it should go beyond that to avoid accusation so "ghetto-ization" that the SF community in the US is facing. However, we also have to be careful that the essence of the literature (in this case speculative fiction) is not lost in cases like these because the judges or what-not don't know the history or background of the field.
fuhrer: I think skinny's point is that "God Equation" is realistic in that it was based in the real world but has fantastic elements like angels and demons undercover. On the other hand, "Atha" is imaginative fiction because it's a totally ambiguous setting: it may be a post-apocalyptic world but we're not sure it's Earth.
Sheesh. skinny beat me to the punch again. Don't you have work!?! ;-)
And some people regard "The God Equation" as social realism? WTF? Where did that come from? Geez...
Though to add to skinny's comments on judges and community, here's a perfect example: The Time Traveler's Wife, The Confessions of Max Tivoli and even Harry Potter. For casual readers, these are all new ideas in literature: boy wizards, time-traveling, etc. But for spec readers, these are all old-hat and are just a re-working of old tropes. Which is why if one is going to use 'em, you'd better be damn good at it.
geez, you're absolutely right bc! somehow i'd confused "spec fic" and "sci-fi", as if the terminology wasn't obvious enough.
and no, no one is saying The God Equation is social realist, that's more of my confusion from Mr Alfar's comments...
this thread has been one flub from me after another. sorry for cluttering your blog up with nonsense, bc.
and yes, i have no work at the moment. at least, nothing that i can't procrastinate on...
after all, why put off til tomorrow what you can put off til next week, right?
rjtahni - a strange fruit.
oops. wrong thread.
Hehe not a problem. We're all friends here. Who else can flub a thread if not your online friends, right? :-)
As for social realism in "The God Equation", hahaha! I spit on the idea! Ptui! Ptui!
teori - Filipino translation of "theory"
Sorry, sorry, for the confusion. I've confused myself! To add fuel to fire of clarification, what I meant by a work of pure imagination is what is commonly termed as an "imaginary world" setting, as in not earth or earth-similar. Naturally, all spec fic works are works of pure imagination in a sense. Let me gather my confused thoughts and post about it when able :)
skinny: I get it now. Haha. Some people even compared God Eq with the Matrix. I don't get it.
I kind of biased with TGE because it contains stuff I enjoy reading. The fact that it incorporated existence and math in one fabric is quite intrigiung. I mean God defined as an equation?
banzai: So you mean, if I set my story on a realistic plane, it still doesnt qualify as pure SF?
you guys really have to start a message board, or just join Nick's proboard. Skinny is already there. We're waiting for you Banzai. Haha.
fuhrer: Hehe I think skinny covered that, saying that he had confused the term SF for both "speculative fiction" and "science fiction." Likewise, we're differenting between "realistic" (or based on the real world) and "realism" (which social realism is based on).
So a SF story based in the real world is SF because of the SF elements. But take away the SF elements and you have...
;-)
dean: actually, i think the actual confusion started with my misinterpretations, but thanks for clarifying "pure imaginative fiction"
and on that count, (fanboy alert) yeah Atha ruled all.
hnagftss - the boiling of the fires of hell, lord of the teflonik planes, keeper of the gates of nrzgggrrrlik, concubine of the great ktulu, a tasty dish served with butter.
skinny: Step away from the word verification system. ;-)
qasei: obviously, it's a fake
I read that you and skinny dig Up Dharma Down.
Me too. I just heart Armi's voice. Although I haven't seen them live yet. I'm begging for them to play here on the other side of the world: Olongapo. Haha.
Do you have their album? It's pretty good for a new band. Refreshing.
(fanboy alert) udd are the most totally awesome band on the local scene today. maybe even
"refreshing" is the perfect word for their music amidst all the other stuff that's out there at the moment. also "haunting" and "heart-breakingly beautiful"
sorry, we digress, so we were saying?
aopumx - apo ng pinsan ng kalaban ni shaider
*sigh*
Unfortunately, I sympathize with you fuhrer as, unlike skinny, I haven't found a SINGLE. COPY. OF. THEIR. ALBUM. YET.
It's always sold out.
*sigh*
jfcfbga - the alphabet choo-choo train
Haha. I have a copy of Fragmented. I think it'll be available soon at Fully Booked
I didn't realize God Equation would stir a small debate. I'm actually flattered, but I would like to share a few things and perhaps resolve a few questions. (btw, this isn't a defense of my work; I just want to open a small window into my mind...)
1. The version of the story that was made available online is not the version that I'd like readers to remember. I wrote the second half of the story (the last 17 pages) from Feb 27 to 28, the deadline for submission. I didn't have time to edit. And yes, I'm ashamed of it. But I hope FB will publish my revised version, which I'm willing to send to Skinny, Dean, and Fuhrer if any of you are interested. It's still the same story, but with cleaner language and dialogue.
2. I believe that one of the marks of a successful piece of fiction is if the writer's intention matches the reader's impression. In the case of TGE, opinion was divided, and this made me a bit sheepish. While Fuhrer and Skinny correctly understood my 'geek noir' approach, many readers (my friends included) didn't get my real aim: it's not about angels or computers; it's about faith and free will.
I blame my muddy prose. But I hope the published version will make more sense.
3. I wanted TGE to be made into a graphic novel. This is why it reads like a script. Banzai wasn't the first to mention his dislike for the story-within-a-story approach I took in the last few pages, but I was really imagining it as a panel-within-a-panel. Not the best way to write a short story, but the comic book would've been kick-ass fun! Perhaps one day. Sigh.
(see also point no. 8)
4. The only thing realistic about TGE are (a) the epigrams, and (b) the math. The rest is pure speculation (the nature of God, angels, the afterlife, etc.) I was very disappointed with the vignette that was created for TGE; the artist made it look like a story about angels ... the math part was completely absent! i would've preferred an image of the Mandelbrot Set; if you rotate it 90 degrees it looks like a flaming heart. And no, I wasn't trying to consciously inject any "social realism" in the tale. Sorry to disappoint.
5. And neither was I trying to do a take on the Da Vinci Code or the Matrix. I was aiming for James Bond. Nobody got it (except Skinny who mentioned "divine cloak and dagger" in his review). I failed here, apparently. :)
6. I wanted to create something fun to read. Ok, so I tried to bludgeon the reader with heavy ideas. But this is just a matter of technique which I hope to refine in my future work.
7. For a short story, TGE has too many characters and too many settings. Major booboo. It also has too many easter eggs which most readers didn't care about or notice. (e.g. I chose to give Azrael six wings to make him a seraph.)
8. Finally, and this probably didn't occur to anyone, but I intentionally made Azrael an unreliable narrator. He's capable of lying. He lied several times in the story, and I've hinted that he's being recruited to join the Fallen. And that's why he can quote dialogue verbatim in his report to Mikhail/M ... that's his version of the what happened. I tried my best to assemble a story without cheating the reader, and I tried to plug all the holes. Again I just need to refine my technique.
Anyway, this has been a long comment. I think it's crass of me to even talk about my work. If my girlfriend found out, she'd be disappointed at my lack of class. But I'm still giddy, and it's not every day that people talk about something I wrote. So Banzai, please forgive me :)
Mike: Cool, send me your revised version. Haha.
I didn't get the cloak and dagger part because I haven't read any of those
hey mike. can't wait for your revised edition, but i hope you don't take the reader's reaction too hard. i personally love it when readers see different things in one work.
of course, it that isn't your intention, i totally respect the way you feel about it. just don't take it too hard.
now, a few of your points... you did manage to create something that was a hell of a lot of fun to read... for as Neal Stephensonite readers, that is (i.e. geeks)... but still.
the settings... actually, this is one of the major flubs i saw in TGE. not that there were too many of them, but that they weren't necessarily the places that were in the story. i.e., you could have taken out all the bits of the story that told you some of it was happening in the Philippines, said they were in, say, Hawaii, instead, and it wouldn't have made much difference. now this isn't too bad if the settings are merely incidental, but if you were trying to place import on the locations, or even just to create a more solid "ambience" or impression for the reader of the settings, then you are going to have to work it a bit more.
point no. 8 is interesting. i admit to not really noticing that. i'll have to re-read the story to see if i pick-up on the clues. it's interesting to note at this point, however, that i did think that at the beginning, but the impression i got by the end was that Azrael was very reliable as a narrator, because of his detachment, attention to detail, etc... it's a cool detail to note, but if it was really important to you or the story, you might want to play it up a bit more.
Whew! This is a long scroll...
fuhrer: Hehe serendipitously, I found a copy of updharmadown's album this weekend at Music One Greenbelt. Looks like the last copy. Excellent!
mikey: Hey! I'd also be interested in seeing a final version. :-)
Funny enough, I figure there are a lot of us who made a crash course submission with FB. You know, rush-rush-rush and to hell with editing the damn thing.
On the other hand, I normally read a work on a surface-level first and then think about the intentions later. In this case, I did pick up the noir aspects of the story but the DVC echoes were a bit strong, especially in the first part. (My fault, I think.) On the other hand, I guess I wasn't surprised with the idea of Azazel as an unreliable narrator but then, this is what I expect for noir stories. Likewise, I didn't get the James Bond echoes but then, I thought that Azazel seemed too unglamorous an assassin, which is antithetical to Ian Fleming's dapper killer.
On the other hand, I love the idea of easter eggs in a story, which is why I did pick up that thing about Azazel's wings but only in connection with Neil Gaiman's Death.
Not to worry about making comments on your work though:: it's actually enjoyable and we're all friends here. :-)
skinny: Exactly, exactly EXACTLY. I wondering about that: if we take out the Filipino ideas and concept in a number of stories in the shortlist (with the exception of "Atha" since there doesn't seem any), would the story still work? It's an interesting idea.
bc: well, some stories won't (can't think of a substitute for Kris Aquino, for instance), some will.
just wanted to point out, dude, you it's Azrael, not Azazel. Azrael is the angel of death, Azazel is another name (in some uses, but not really) for Beelzebub.
incidentally, Azrael is also Gargamel's cat in the Smurfs. sick, diseased little bunch, those Smurfs. can't understand why anyone would want to eat them. ick.
Heh. Mea culpa. Just finished reading Boris Akunin's The Winter Queen and the name stuck to my head.
As for Filipino concepts, was wondering if local spec fic short stories should have a gratuitious Filipino element test, for those that are applicable. ;-)
that's an interesting way of putting it... the Gratuitous Filipino Element Test. only i don't really feel like re-reading the entries.
however, if ever you have your own writing contest, you should have a Gratuitous Filipino Element Meter...all stories "in the red" would be burned Farenheit 451-style in front of all the rest during the awarding ceremonies, except for one with the absolute most number of Gratuitous Filipino Elements, which will be read out by someone with the "lyrics" running by underneath. (have you seen the YouTube "Keys Me" thing?)
oh, yeah... how was Akunin?
swxwags - cyberpirates and information swingers
Hehe yeah. Though at first I didn't know what the fuss was when I saw the link. Good grief, talk about notoriety.
As for Akunin, it's actually not bad. The protagonist is kinda naive but quite lucky, always escaping one cliff-hanger to another. Moreover, I want to check out the succeeding books because it supposedly uses different styles: the first one is pulp-ish Sherlock Holmes but the second book is reportedly intrigues ala James Bond I think.
Besides, I like having a multinational bookshelf. ;-)
ppeosel-- a dirty proposal to a lot of people
To Mike if you're still reading this: finally, I decided to sit down and watch the first two Matrix films.
Yes, your stories had some similarities with the film. NEo was also an anomaly whose exsistence will change the fate of the Matrix (or something like that).
ayun. In TGE we keep on stumbling with the word "anomaly" which is the same with the films.
the angels appear as angents-esque.
Haha. Well, that's just me. Your work is still better anyway. I've given the films loads of chances but still, nah. The Animatrix was good though.
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