Moymoy Lulumboy’s adventures with Filipino mythological creatures at the magical world of Gabun continues at Segundo Matias Jr.’s fourth book entitled “Mga Dulot ng Digmaan.”
Published by Lampara and launched at the 38th Manila International Book Fair the fourth book of the series will once again take the audience into a gripping reading experience as new characters and challenges were introduced in the series.
The novel follows the story of Moymoy who, although raised by humans, discovers that he is a child of a goddess. Upon learning that he has magical skills like shape-shifting, he journeys back to the world of Gabun, where creatures such as aswang, tikbalang, manananggal, kapre, and duwende exist.
From an innocent and bullied kid in book one to discovery and acceptance of his identity in the succeeding books, Moymoy’s journey continues in the fourth book as his character matures and is yet again faced with new challenges.
“It is when Moymoy’s character really developed. There is a drastic change in him, and he has a bit of a dark side as a growing teen,” Matias told reporters.
“Mas may angas na siya. (He’s gutsier now.)”
Moymoy’s character development and emotional maturity is what makes Matias excited about the latest book.
With additional invented characters apart from the familiar Filipino mythological characters, Matias shared that he was able to imagine these creatures because of his own childhood experiences.
“I grew up listening to stories about aswang, manananggal, kapre, duwende, and many others. As a writer, the stories continued to tickle my imagination. I have been continuously amazed by their magical world,” he noted.
“I have heard so many stories from my elders that kept my imagination alive with different mystical and magical characters.”
Apart from these childhood stories as inspiration for the series, Matias did further research on the topic and partnered with illustrator Jomike Tejido to flesh out the magical characters into vivid illustrations on the book, which then takes the readers deeper into the magical world of Moymoy.
Book Nine and beyond
Matias said readers can look forward to Book Seven, even Nine, and more because he had already planned how the story will end.
Currently, the available books of the series are: “Moymoy Lulumboy: Ang Batang Aswang;” “Moymoy Lulumboy: Ang Nawawalang Birtud;” “Moymoy Lulumboy: Ang Paghahanap Kay Inay;” and “Moymoy Lulumboy: Mga Dulot ng Digmaan.”
Meanwhile, Matias, a Palanca Awardee, has already published over 1,500 books for children and young adults including “Ang Makabagong Alamat,” “Mga Kuwentong Nanay,” and “Mga Kuwentong Dapat Mong Malaman.” Jomike, on the other hand, an award-winning artist-illustrator, has authored and illustrated almost 100 children’s books.
