Kristin Mandigma's "Excerpt from a Letter by a Social-realist Aswang": A politician's doublespeak

Of the half dozen odd stories I've read to date from Clarkeworld magazine, this is easily the best. Light satire about the doublespeak of a Filipino politician professing the communist cause.

Satire is a bit sharpened by declaring the politician to be an aswang (a mythological Filipino counterpart of a western vampire), rather than an ordinary human.

There is a bit of unnecessary banter about sf literature & Heinlein's "Starship Troppers". Except for that, & with a sharper focus on political satire, this story could have made it to my best of the year 2007 picks. In its current form, I'll say it's a "not bad" light reading.

Full story text is available as a free download.

Fact sheet.

"Excerpt from a Letter by a Social-realist Aswang", short story, review
First published: Clarkesworld, October 2007.
Rating: B