A review by ricksilva
LONTAR #1, by Jason Erik Lundberg, Bryan Thao Worra, Paolo Chikiamco, Kate Osias, Chris Mooney-Singh, Elka Ray, Zen Cho, Ang Si Min, Paolo Bacigalupi, Kristine Ong Muslim
5.0
This is the debut issue of Lontar, a magazine of speculative fiction from and about Southeast Asia (the countries it lists as its focus are the Philippines, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore, Laos, and Vietnam).
The journal contains four short stories, three poems, and an article on magical beliefs and traditions in the Philippines.
I enjoyed everything here. The opening story by Kate Osias presents a unique vision of a postapocalyptic Manila inhabited by the shades of those who died in a supernatural calamity.
This was followed up by story by Zen Cho set in a pleasantly utopian future Malaysia, one where affability is enforced by a rigid system of controls and the lines between utopia and dystopia become blurrier as love becomes part of the equation.
Elka Ray Nguyen's contribution is a straight-up horror story set in rural Vietnam, which was especially interesting for me because I am familiar with the author through the childrens picture books she has written, and this was a very different (and very effective) style.
The last story was Paolo Bacigalupi's The Gambler, which focused on the near-future of the news media with a reporter living in exile from an oppressive regime that has plunged Laos into isolation. I was introduced to Bacigalupi's work last year when I read The Windup Girl, and this shared some themes, but help up very nicely on its own, and its grim prediction of where the news industry is heading felt spot-on prophetic.
The poetry was also enjoyable, and the piece on magic in the Philippines had a clever approach, formatted as a course catalogue for a fictional school of magic.
All in all a very enjoyable collection, with some extra appeal to me with my own connections to Southeast Asia.
The journal contains four short stories, three poems, and an article on magical beliefs and traditions in the Philippines.
I enjoyed everything here. The opening story by Kate Osias presents a unique vision of a postapocalyptic Manila inhabited by the shades of those who died in a supernatural calamity.
This was followed up by story by Zen Cho set in a pleasantly utopian future Malaysia, one where affability is enforced by a rigid system of controls and the lines between utopia and dystopia become blurrier as love becomes part of the equation.
Elka Ray Nguyen's contribution is a straight-up horror story set in rural Vietnam, which was especially interesting for me because I am familiar with the author through the childrens picture books she has written, and this was a very different (and very effective) style.
The last story was Paolo Bacigalupi's The Gambler, which focused on the near-future of the news media with a reporter living in exile from an oppressive regime that has plunged Laos into isolation. I was introduced to Bacigalupi's work last year when I read The Windup Girl, and this shared some themes, but help up very nicely on its own, and its grim prediction of where the news industry is heading felt spot-on prophetic.
The poetry was also enjoyable, and the piece on magic in the Philippines had a clever approach, formatted as a course catalogue for a fictional school of magic.
All in all a very enjoyable collection, with some extra appeal to me with my own connections to Southeast Asia.