(Cover of The Seventh Moon by Jeremiah Cordial)
The Seventh Moon is my first novel based
on Philippine Mythology. The story was all about a young boy named Chris
Garcia, a son of the Tagalog goddess of wind and rain, Anitun Tabu. He was
raised by his father in Orlando, Florida, and on his fourteenth birthday, his
life changed when a group of undead vampiric creatures attacked him. After the
incident, Chris woke up in a secret society group called the Society of the
Maharlika, and people explained to him that he is a hinirang, a
term used to refer to mortals who have the vision to see through the reality.
In his case, he is both a hinirang and a half-blood. There, he
met new friends, but an impending threat came. Bacunawa, an evil serpent god,
will rise on August 28 and will eat the seventh and the last moon in the sky.
He must decide whether to save the moon or risk their lives for the sake of his
friends.
The novel was originally created as a fan-fiction inspired of Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. But as I continued writing, I realized making my own original story, characters and etc. might potentially become a good book. I grew to love Philippine Mythology since I was in high school, but many teenagers of my age were not really fond of reading or learning about them. As a kid, my mother used to tell me a lot of scary stories about the aswang, engkanto, santelmo, duwende, manananggal and other Philippine mythical creatures. Although I never experienced those horrifying creatures in my entire childhood, or at least none that I know of, I became curious about them a lot. Things like this get weird when talked about, so sometimes I get it why many kids don't like to study or know about them.
The book was written and inspired by the demigod stories because I like to expand that concept, and thinking that even in Philippine mythology, there exists characters in stories that are born from an immortal deity and a mortal woman, such as Mayari and her sisters who are born from Bathala, Labaw Donggon and his brothers from the epic Hinilawod, and others. The Seventh Moon is also inspired by The Seven Wonders series by Peter Lerangis, but still, nothing was actually taken from any other media but purely inspiration, imagination, and research.
One of the most interesting concepts I formed is by using the epics in Luzon, and I chose the Epic of Ibalong. It was about three legendary heroes of Bicol, who was then called Ibalong, a land of fertility and lush. The whole book will center on the epic, as the creatures will come alive and impede the journey of the main characters.
The Seventh Moon was written in almost two years. Considering I was a high school student while writing it, it became hard for me to finish it immediately. In fact, the novel was revised more than five times before I finally came up with the last one. I wanted to share how much had changed in this novel, but I don’t mean any spoilers if there’s any reader here or those who are just planning to read it, so, maybe not yet for now.
The Seventh Moon was officially released on October 2018 and can be found in all Nation Bookstores and Power Bookstores nationwide.
I decided to dedicate The Seventh Moon for young readers that have the same interests with me in Philippine Mythology. Take the novel as a guide for you and an introduction to the world of mythology in our own country. There are a lot of other stuff you should know besides the mythical creatures. Philippine Mythology is wider that you know, and if you aren’t sure you know any god or goddess other than Bathala, or if you still don’t know other creatures in other parts of the Philippines, then you have to start knowing about them. Through this book, things will get clearer to you, and who knows how interested this could be aside from learning the Western myths? As a Filipino, I think we all need to understand the stories about it. And if you happen to have a copy of the book, I hope you’d enjoy it. Stay tuned if you wanted to learn more about the book.
The novel was originally created as a fan-fiction inspired of Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. But as I continued writing, I realized making my own original story, characters and etc. might potentially become a good book. I grew to love Philippine Mythology since I was in high school, but many teenagers of my age were not really fond of reading or learning about them. As a kid, my mother used to tell me a lot of scary stories about the aswang, engkanto, santelmo, duwende, manananggal and other Philippine mythical creatures. Although I never experienced those horrifying creatures in my entire childhood, or at least none that I know of, I became curious about them a lot. Things like this get weird when talked about, so sometimes I get it why many kids don't like to study or know about them.
The book was written and inspired by the demigod stories because I like to expand that concept, and thinking that even in Philippine mythology, there exists characters in stories that are born from an immortal deity and a mortal woman, such as Mayari and her sisters who are born from Bathala, Labaw Donggon and his brothers from the epic Hinilawod, and others. The Seventh Moon is also inspired by The Seven Wonders series by Peter Lerangis, but still, nothing was actually taken from any other media but purely inspiration, imagination, and research.
One of the most interesting concepts I formed is by using the epics in Luzon, and I chose the Epic of Ibalong. It was about three legendary heroes of Bicol, who was then called Ibalong, a land of fertility and lush. The whole book will center on the epic, as the creatures will come alive and impede the journey of the main characters.
The Seventh Moon was written in almost two years. Considering I was a high school student while writing it, it became hard for me to finish it immediately. In fact, the novel was revised more than five times before I finally came up with the last one. I wanted to share how much had changed in this novel, but I don’t mean any spoilers if there’s any reader here or those who are just planning to read it, so, maybe not yet for now.
The Seventh Moon was officially released on October 2018 and can be found in all Nation Bookstores and Power Bookstores nationwide.
I decided to dedicate The Seventh Moon for young readers that have the same interests with me in Philippine Mythology. Take the novel as a guide for you and an introduction to the world of mythology in our own country. There are a lot of other stuff you should know besides the mythical creatures. Philippine Mythology is wider that you know, and if you aren’t sure you know any god or goddess other than Bathala, or if you still don’t know other creatures in other parts of the Philippines, then you have to start knowing about them. Through this book, things will get clearer to you, and who knows how interested this could be aside from learning the Western myths? As a Filipino, I think we all need to understand the stories about it. And if you happen to have a copy of the book, I hope you’d enjoy it. Stay tuned if you wanted to learn more about the book.
Is there a sequel?
TumugonBurahinYes, there is. It's already being written as of now
BurahinNo offense but I would have enjoyed your book so much more if it weren't for your grammar. I absolutely LOVE your concept as i had thought of a similar concept before I discovered your book in my school's library. ( only my story had baybayin as a spellcasting system and the story was set in the future ) nonetheless i am currently reading your book and loving it so far! and i hope the sequel will spark popularity and achieve your original purpose to help us understand more on our culture :)
TumugonBurahinI had a story created since 2011 and now I'm afraid to ever publish it because I just found out this book somehow resembles my story. I'm afraid that people will criticize me for lack of originality.
TumugonBurahin