Synopsis

An allegory about one’s journey to self-actualization. When 17-year-old Alunsinag Bayani accidentally stepped into Driftland, he discovered he could switch places with his alternate self for 58 minutes. During the switch, his alternate self gives him the necessary push to find the courage and regain self-confidence. But trouble looms over Driftland when nightmares attack to diminish hope and dreams through fear. Can Alunsinag and his companions conquer their fears and save Driftland?

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Review

This shorter story is engaging and pulls us into an alternate reality where our excellent self merges with the self we know but only for 58 minutes at a time.

We meet Alunsiang that is like most teens and has a hard time in school with bullies, few friends, and just trying to fit in with the rest of the students. I love his passion for Michael Jackson and how it calms him down if he is anxious. His parents are loving but his father travels a lot and his mother works many hours as a nurse, but you can see the love for her son and husband from making sure they have good food to eat or listening to their issues. She also is observant and realizes that one of his classmate’s mother is possibly being abused. She is willing to go the extra mile to help her if possible.

Alunsiang does have nightmares and wonders if it is real or not. Asking for help from a teacher leads him down a path to save this alternate reality with his friend and they find another classmate might have some knowledge about this, and I wonder if the future books will show them working together as a team or will it tear them apart?

I enjoyed the variety of characters and their interests and backgrounds, it really rounded out the story. I really like this band of misfit friends and how their friendships formed over food, more specifically lunch. I look forward to reading the next two books in this series to see how the story plays out. We give this 4 paws up.

About the Author

I. S.A. Crisostomo Lopez is a writer based in the Philippines. She is married with four children. Her short stories “Si Lola Apura at si Lolo Un Momento” and “Ang Bisikleta ni Kyla” were published by Adarna House and Philam Foundation respectively. Her story “Passage” was anthologized in “Hoard of Thunder 2: Best Philippine Short Stories” by UP Press. Her latest work is the Driftland trilogy available on Amazon.

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