All You Zombies by Robert Heinlein

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I saw the movie Predestination and most viewers compare it as Inception or Looper of 2014. Learning that it was inspired by a Robert Heinlein short story titled "All You Zombies" published in 1960, I looked for a copy online and I got lucky.

It's amazing how Robert Heinlein was able to create a very tight narrative in a world composed of one character, special thanks to H.G. Wells's invention of the time machine as a fictional device. There are actually two fictional devices here, but I leave the other for you to find out just to keep this short review spoiler-free.

The temporal agent disguised as a barkeeper wearing the Ouroboros ring is a pretty cool idea as an allusion of predestination stuff where there is no such thing as a parallel universe and one reality is created and recreated.  I think at the time this story was written, Heinlein never thought of a parallel universe as a result when you play with your past.


Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: 4 shots of Old Underwear drink

The Pillar by Ely Buendia

Image©Arnold Arre

"Dark" is a classic and recurrent theme in every dystopic story but I think the better description here is "blur" because of the bleak and empty fate of Ely's protagonist. It may also be an apt description of his place, his setting in the future named Solimar Cluster where the Sun is sacred. It's tempting to believe at first that this Science Fiction attempt by Ely Buendia is maybe looking to Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun Saga as an inspiration but the latter's sun cooling down, and the former's sun that has become sacred are two different things. The same difference between a literal dark planet, and the symbolic hopeless world.

Make no mistake about it, Eheads fans enjoyed Fruitcake (the Xmas storybook) since 1997. But this short story attempt by the Eheads frontman may be a straddle between the boundary of pass and failure. Readers will either remember or forget about the story of a botched cult ritual and Nuclear attack. In a future age of high technology than our own, how can someone deploy a nuclear bomb without an automatic, built-in, portable, or wireless detonation device is a big question, a big plot hole huge as the crater of now-dormant Mt Pinatubo. Luckily, illustrations by Arnold Arre provided additional points to save the sci fi story from being absorbed by a black hole.

Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: 3 steel bolts out of 5


Read the story here:

http://rogue.ph/features/the-pillar-by-ely-buendia-part-one
http://rogue.ph/features/the-pillar-by-ely-buendia-part-two

Dead Stars by Paz Marquez Benitez

It's that time of the year again when the Northeastern Siberian wind--also known as Amihan, is bringing its final breathe of life into the Philippine night skies. It's also that time when you remember the best stories of your grandfather and  your grandmother, much as the story of how your father met your mother that is always accompanied by a certain degree of amusement for the successful union, and sentimentality for the lost loves.

Whether you live or conjure a love story of your own, there is always a blank paper for you to fill and a constellation of stars for your readers to ponder by connecting-the-dots. And while doing it, why not treat yourself with a thoughtful story very far from the formulaic and generic Hollywood style?

Written sometime in 1925 by a female writer, "Dead Stars" is undeniably one of the most eloquent and expressive piece of story that many consider as a work of art, bar none. I agree with the experts; this is the progenitor, the Lola Basyang of Philippine Short Story in English.

Through parental agreement, Señor Alfredo Salazar is about to marry Esperanza. But Julia Salas came along. With the classic country setting of young acacia trees, bunut roofs, madre cacao hedges, church bells and religious processions that are all genuine scenes to behold, you will also desire to know the ending or perhaps, the anti-climax. And after seeing it, Paz Marquez Benitez has just weaved an enchantment---a spell that by just looking at the constellations above, you as a reader realize that mourning for the dead stars also has its own beauty to behold.

my favorite line:
"Was he becoming a poet, or is there a poet lurking in the heart of every man?"

Genre: Short Story, Love Story
Rating: 5 rice-paper lanterns 

read the story here: http://sushidog.com/bpss/stories/stars.htm
image source: http://www.hdwallpaperspics.com/starry-night-sky-wallpapers.html

A Stone of All Ages

Last night I dreamt of my late grandfather. It was not the first time that he made a visit in my dreams but just as usual, I asked him what's new and what's up. Nothing, he said, he just wanted to give me something since this is the best time to do it as I saw him juggle something with his hand hidden in his right pocket, smiling.

I can not remember exactly if he's wearing his sweat shirt--the long-sleeved shirt he always wore while working in the 'pilapil' (rice paddies), or his white long sleeves he wore on Sundays and special occasions but all I'm sure about is what's inside his hand. As he lifted and opened his right palm in a gesture of giving, I saw a white, smooth looking stone (or perhaps seed) the size slightly bigger than a naphthalene mothball or a common marble stone that I used to play with when I was a kid. He told me it was a gift from across the generation of our ancestors and someday, I'm going to pass it to a chosen son, or grandson, or heir.

I was a bit surprised and skeptic. Lolo Jose never joked nor bluffed like this when he was still alive. In the first place, I wasn't so sure if his "gift" would be relevant in these current times. Apparently, there are more powerful things in this materialistic world than this stone like an iPad or Kindle and I am not a kid anymore to play 'jolens.'

He said "Keep it. Don't worry a thing, my grandson. Let the bastards keep blinded by their own delusions because you are still on the right track. You don't need to prove anything. Just stay simple, maintain that low profile, be patient and do what you always loved doing since you were young."

As I examined the cool smooth stone, scratching it in wonderment that it could be a mutant bean seed or a turtle's egg, I asked him in return "But what am I gonna do with this? I hope it wont turn me into a crappy superhero or some lout if I swallow this stone. I'd rather throw this away right now."

"Haha no," he laughed. "Far from it. It's important that you keep it and listen closely since all I can tell you is this: don't forget what David did to Goliath..."

"What? I'm going to slay a giant with this stone?"

Lolo Jose just answered with his usual tired but sincere smile, and I woke up sweating, like a fish that just escaped from an aquarium.

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