Title The Fisher Queen Series --- Author Alyssa Wong Cover Art --- Publisher Fantasy & Science Fiction - 2014 First Printing Fantasy & Science Fiction - 2014 Category Fantasy Warnings None Main Characters Lily Main Elements Mermaids Website fu-gen.org

MY MOTHER WAS A FISH. That’s why I can swim so well, according to my father, who is a plain fisherman with a fisherman’s plain logic, but uncanny flair for the dramatic. And while it’s true that I can cut through the water like a minnow, or a hand dipped over the edge of a speedboat, I personally think it’s because no one can grow up along the Mekong without learning two things: how to swim, and how to avoid the mermaids.

The mermaids are real, though not what you think they are. In a male dominated world, Lily and her sisters live along the shores of the Mekong, their father a fisherman. Each sister has a dream and Lily's is to fish with her father. Finally she is old enough to go on the dangerous journey and in the process is exposed to the other men on the ship, as well as the strange mermaid creature they capture in their nets, a delicacy they are eager to bring back to port to sell for a good price. As Lily watches how the other sailors treat the poor creature in the meantime, she comes to a horrible realization. And as in many fairy tales, some creatures can grant wishes in exchange for their freedom, wishes that almost always come at a price...but one that doesn't always have to be paid by the one making the wish.

It was dark and a little creepy and disturbing but given I come out of most short stories not getting the point but I got it fine in this one. And being female, I must admit there was a certain satisfaction in the ending. Should make anyone think twice about how they treat another...