This review is part of Melody’s Summer Reading: Diversity Spotlight. Enjoy!

The Oiran’s Song by Isabel Yap
Release Date: September/October 2015 Issue
Publisher: Uncanny Magazine
Genre: Fantasy
Source: Read Online
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Wow! Second person. I think I’ve read only one other piece of literature in second person before and it was so long ago, I couldn’t tell you what it was. So this was a pleasant surprise. And I love the voice, oh my God do I love the voice here.

In this story, we are Akira, who shares a room with an oiran (a prostitute in Japan) in the middle of a war and we watch as Akira resists her while he pays a debt that’s not his, a debt left by family. All of the emotions one can have paying such a debt, we see and it is marvelous and heartbreaking as Akira is stuck fighting a battle he can’t escape.

The growth, the character arc from the powerlessness Akira possesses in the beginning to the end as Akira discovers what it means to be strong enough to not succumb or run away but face fear and persevere is so immensely great to see, especially with the superb pacing of this storytelling which I am in awe of.

Though I must warn you, this is a very dark and violent journey, very violent. For everyone. No one is safe here. No man, no woman, no being. So be warned. And be prepared to see war in a diverse fantasy land in a way you never have before.

Favorite Lines:
When she is not servicing someone, she shares your tent, because you’re the youngest and the least dangerous, or perhaps because you know what it’s like to have your body damaged, the way hers is.

As the two of you trudge back through the snow, you think: the wolves aren’t coming; they’re already here.

They do not trust you, but they have never feared you, either. They will not start now.

Humans are inventive; they love to dispose of each other.

Snow keeps falling, right through the darkness that remains long after you’ve opened your eyes again.

The Oiran’s Song by Isabel Yap is available today.