Title: Land of Philantasy
Author: Ralph Pilolli
Publisher: Page Publishing Inc.
ISBN: 978-1643509679
Pages: 298
Genre: Fiction / Fantasy
Reviewed by: Susan Brown
Hollywood Book Reviews
If you looked up the word philantasy in Webster’s Unabridged, you wouldn’t find it. After reading this book, however, you might petition Webster’s to add it. The author coined it to reflect his style of writing — “a touch of philosophy (the author’s) with the imagination of fantasy.” This selection of short stories, some very short, one poem-like and one more like a novella, are unique, engaging and compelling.
Each narrative puts its characters in a compromising predicament which, of course, is resolved in an unexpected manner. The stories provide a vehicle, of sorts, to present the author’s philosophy on life, rooted largely in the imaginative storylines the author creates.
Fans of Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone or Alfred Hitchcock Presents, or a more recent show, Amazing Stories from Stephen Spielberg, will be intrigued by the plot twists in each tale. What you might think is going to happen, doesn’t. And the twist is always thought provoking.
As a reader, I was intrigued by the unfolding process of Mr. Pilolli’s writing. From the first story, quite short, to the last much longer one, the author built upon each, creating a bigger and broader fantasy with more detail. As the stories get longer, you have to pay attention to the complexities of the plots to get the full impact of the message in each.
Some of the narratives end with an epilogue … a life lesson of sorts. This is where the author sums up the story’s philosophy with comments like: “The sight of God hath no man seen yet His image is in the mind of His creation, and Souls Shall Live What They Create. Others are Greed is a Windowless Cell and A Judgement Made is a Destiny Fulfilled.” The author says about this book, “For that is where I am in my life. A place where I desire to entertain and yet not preach.” These snippets of philosophical insight, in context with the story, do not preach, they merely add anaha moment to an already mind-bending tale.
This is a book is best understood by reading it. It’s not overly long, and the writing clips along at a good pace. If you’re a fan of the fantasy genre, this book is one worth adding to a collection. It’s the beginning perhaps, thanks to Mr. Pilolli, of a new subset of the fantasy genre. Let’s hope that when he says, “One must live what he creates,” he’s examining his life with the intent of creating new plots for more philantasy-style stories.