The Difficult Loves of Maria Makiling by Wayne Santos
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I like to read books I could never have written. In this case, I don’t know Filipino or Canadian culture from the inside out. I also don’t write a lot of humor, especially not the zany, snappy wit that makes this novella a delight.

A young woman falls in love, and a pattern seems to be emerging that she can’t entirely recall until she has to save her lover from being murdered by a demon. Then Maria realizes she is the goddess of Mount Makiling in the Philippines. And we get dialogue like this:

“Got an errand to run,” Maria said. “I gotta see a horse about a man.”

It’s fast and fun, it has magic swords, and (are you listening, Hollywood?) it would make a great summer movie.


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