"Under Maui Skies" by Wayne Moniz Koa Books $14.95

By Liza Simon / Ka Wai Ola Loa

The central character in Wayne Moniz' new short story collection "Under Maui Skies" is the island of Maui. In the forward to his book, Moniz explains that he intentionally tried to evoke Maui through seven distinctly different genres: from love story to sci-fi to detective tale and more. He has succeeded by constructing each one with a different variant of Maui myths and historical references.

The result is an innovative romp through a place of great beauty and culture. For readers of deep fiction, Moniz' characters may seem too stylized while his plots appear to shuttle too quickly across spaces without enough narrative. This may be the result of Moniz's more experienced hand as a noted Maui playwright. Nonetheless, the book offers an innocent embrace of old-fashioned fun storytelling that ranges in tone from the film noir-ish "Aloha Sweetheart" to the message-laden allegory about over-development in "The Cave of Whispering Spirits."

Wayne Moniz. Photo courtesy Koa Books

Moniz has also included a brief statement for each story, revealing the process and influences that directed him in the writing. Aspiring fiction writers might find this insider mana'o helpful in raising awareness of one author's way of transiting from the realm of the imagination to the act of engagement with a reading audience. Hint: Moniz doesn't only write about what he knows — as the lit class dictum goes, he writes about what he loves. It's Maui Nō Ka 'Oi to the max.

Moniz also shares an appendix of his poetry, where his ear and eye for a single evanescent moment is filled with haunting pathos. In one poem, "Wailuku", his memory of Maui hanabata days flows easy with pidgin and arresting candor.

Brave and bouncy, "Under Maui Skies" is a sight for readers' sore eyes searching out there on the literary landscape for good Hawaiian-inflected entertainment on the printed page.