Twenty years after successfully defending a teacher accused of sexual assault, a lawyer finds himself working on behalf of another of the teacher’s young victims. Adapted from the film of the same name, Fantasy World questions whether courtroom victories truly deliver justice, or are some transgressions beyond the scope of legal recourse?

Chang Cheng-hsu, a freshman lawyer of undistinguished looks and family background, devotes all his energies to his first big case. In it, he will defend Tang Shih-cheng, a respected cram school teacher accused of sexually assaulting a female high school student. Too late, Chang discovers he has been manipulated by his client, causing irreparable harm to the girl he loves in the process. As it turns out, the object of his affections, Yen Hsin also had an inappropriate relationship with Tang, and is present in the public seating area of the courtroom as Chang accuses the victim of seducing Tang to secure material benefits, thereby securing victory for his client. Just as Tang intended, Cheng’s fierce interrogation of the accuser scares Yen Hsin into silence. Soon afterward, Yen Hsin disappears, and Chang’s affections slowly wither.

Twenty years later, Tang is once again accused of sexual assault, but this time Chang will represent the young accuser at the request of his social worker wife. For these twenty years, Tang has used his authority and powers of verbal persuasion to seduce one female student after another, convincing them to enter into a fantasy world of his creation, where they are manipulated into indulging his desires. Spurred on by his remorse over Yen Hsin, Chang is determined to finally bring Tang to justice.

However, the young victim never physically resisted the advances of her charismatic teacher. How, then, to prove that this is indeed a case of sexual assault? And will a courtroom victory do anything to heal her psychological wounds? Is the justice Chang seeks for the sake of his client, or is it to expiate his own guilt over defending Tang twenty years earlier?

Adapted from his movie of the same name, author/director Freddy Fu-Jui Tang’s latest novel addresses the role of authority in cases of sexual misconduct and assault, taking inspiration from the shattering impact of the global Me Too movement. The author set about adapting the movie after its strong showing at the 2022 Taipei Film Festival, making use of the expertise gleaned from his law career, and the impeccable pacing mastered in the film industry to deliver a searing novel that convincingly portrays the imbalance of power that underpins many cases of sexual assault.