Description
The Infinite Library and Other Stories
Victor Fernando R. Ocampo
The Infinite Library and Other Stories is a collection of loosely connected stories that push the boundaries of form and genre, blending realism, speculative fiction, and experimental narrative.
A boy creates monsters from nanotech clay, programming them through the recitation of stories. A young woman uncovers a secret within a children's primer that holds the key to saving a doomed generation ship. In Bukit Batok, residents face a slow-motion disaster that threatens to transform them into living mathematical equations. Three Filipino siblings venture into a black hole to confront an enemy that wields words as weapons.
These tales explore the tension between infinite possibilities and the limitations of human experience. Each narrative delves into a different aspect of the human struggle to navigate an increasingly complex world.
At the heart of the collection is the discomfort of existing between two worlds feeling both disconnected and yet tethered to something larger. Despite these challenges, a recurring theme emerges: the solace found in words and books. In moments of uncertainty, they offer -guidance and illumination. Through these stories, the collection highlights storytelling, knowledge, and language can serve not only as a means of survival but also as a way to find meaning in an ever-evolving universe.
Fantastic and lyrical, like glimpses into the infinite potential of the universe.
- Ken Liu, Author of The Grace of Kings and The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories
Ocampo weaves together elements of the speculative, the metaphysical, and the real in his elegant short stories to explore the past, present, and potential futures of Southeast Asia. The Infinite Library and Other Stories is a fine contribution to Asian speculative fiction.
- Zen Cho, Author of Sorcerer to the Crown and Spirits Abroad
By turns funny heartbreaking and creepy, those arresting linked stories will long linger in memory.
- Aliette De Bodard, Author of The House of Shattered Wings and on a Red Station, Drifting
Victor Fernando R. Ocampo is the author of the International Rubery Book Award shortlisted The Infinite Library and Other Stories (Math Paper Press, 2017; US edition: Gaudy Boy, 2021; Philippine edition: Vibal, 2024) and Here be Dragons (Canvas Press, 2015), which won the Romeo Forbes Children's Story Award in 2012. His interactive fiction piece "The Book of Red Shadows" debuted at the Singapore Writers Festival in 2020. His writing has appeared in many publications including Apex Magazine, Daily Science Fiction, Future Fiction, Likhaan Journal, Strange Horizons, (Science Fiction World), and The Quarterly Literature Review of Singapore, as well as anthologies like The Best New Singapore Short Stories, Fish Eats Lion: New Singaporean Speculative Fiction, Maximum Volume: Best New Philippine Fiction, LONTAR: The Journal of Southeast Asian Speculative Fiction, the Philippine Speculative Fiction series, and Mapping New Stars: A Sourcebook on Philippine Speculative Fiction. He is a fellow at the Milford Science Fiction Writers' Conference (UK) and the Cinemalaya Ricky Lee Film Scriptwriting Workshop (PH), as well as a Jalan Besar writer-in-residence at Singapore Literature Station (2020/2021)Visit his blog at https://www.vrocampo.com, or follow him at https://beacons.ai/vrocampo.
Size: 6 x 9 inches
Pages: 224
Copyright 2025, Vibal Foundation, Inc.
ABOUT THE IMPRINT
Paradox, Vibal's imprint for speculative fiction, offers readers the fruits of unfettered imagination. Fantasy, science fiction, and horror celebrate Filipino creativity, simultaneously anchored in the here and now while soaring to far-flung futures and diving deep into the mythic past. Everything is unreal- but everything is always, always, true.
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