Creators: Mixed Nghi Vo's Hugo and Crawford Award-winning series, The Singing Hills Cycle, continues... Lambda Award Finalist Ignyte Award Finalist Hugo Award Finalist for Best Novella Locus Award Finalist for Best Novella A Best Of Pick for USA Today | Buzzfeed | Ms Magazine | Arlington Magazine | Transfer Orbit | LitHub "A delicious bonbon of a novella about stories and their unreliable narrators, who wink at their listeners (or readers), fully expecting us to catch on."―The Wall Street Journal "Nghi Vo is one of the most original writers we have today."―Taylor Jenkins Reid on Siren Queen Wandering cleric Chih of the Singing Hills travels to the riverlands to record tales of the notorious near-immortal martial artists who haunt the region. On the road to Betony Docks, they fall in with a pair of young women far from home, and an older couple who are more than they seem. As Chih runs headlong into an ancient feud, they find themself far more entangled in the history of the riverlands than they ever expected to be. Accompanied by Almost Brilliant, a talking bird with an indelible memory, Chih confronts old legends and new dangers alike as they learn that every story—beautiful, ugly, kind, or cruel—bears more than one face. The Hugo Award-winning Singing Hills Cycle The Empress of Salt and Fortune When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain Into the Riverlands Mammoths at the Gates The Brides of High Hill The novellas of The Singing Hills Cycle are linked by the cleric Chih, but may be read in any order, with each story serving as an entry point. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
MixedThis installment leaned a little bit too heavily into action and battle scenes and focused a little bit less on the power of stories and the characters and political intrigue. All the aspects that made me love the first novela in this series so much, leaving me feeling pretty emotionally disconnected.
DislikedBut I was just left wanting more like I think there's a reveal in it. That to me felt so obvious from the beginning, which is fine like you're allowed to like predicted thing before it happens. But that means it can't all be like feeling like the payoff is that reveal, which is how I felt it was.
MixedThis had like so many characters and so many elements kind of going on that it got very muddled and I forgot most of this plot in the way that I haven't for the first two. So, this one wasn't my favorite of all of them. Still fine though, 3.5 stars.
LikedI gave into the riverlands a four
What made the match, strongest first
Liked by creators2 reviews
