User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
Hello, can I interest you in:
- a non-binary cleric with little sense of self-preservation and the misfortune of being tragically curious
- a girl, a mammoth, and a lance
- scholar/apex predator slow-burn sapphic courtship (and they were wives!)
- the inherent homoeroticism of reading poetry out loud
- queer love — how cruel, how unbearably and profoundly tender
- the power of stories: stories that slip like sand held in a curled palm, uncontainable; stories like treasures from sunken ships the waves left behind, returning; stories that rise from the dust and whirl defiantly into the wind, refusing to die; stories sharp enough to cut ourselves on, and others that bring us back from the brink.
I love this novella so fiercely. Nghi Vo truly has a voice unlike any other, and I already yearn for more.
Rating: really liked it
➵ The Empress of Salt and Fortune ★★★★★
“When you love a thing too much, it is a special kind of pain to show it to others and to see that it is lacking.” oh, this was a complete and utter masterpiece. 128 pages of power and perfection. not only a love letter to love, but a love letter to stories being told through generations and the power of stories being audibly passed down. and how those stories get distorted over time when others write them down, sometimes trying to make them fit in boxes they never belonged in.
and if you all are looking for sapphic yearning, and angst, and one liners that you will physically feel in your heart and soul, i recommend this story with everything. truly unforgettable, and the layers and depth to it all is so expertly done. nghi vo is actually out of her mind for these novellas, and i am blown away way passed the point of coherent words. but i can't wait to see what stories our cleric experiences next!
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Rating: really liked it
sometimes, clichés exist for a reason.
"it's not you, it's me," for example.
when i first read this, i listened to it as an audiobook on a bad brain day (which is my cutesy term for a mental health emergency). it didn't hit the same as the first one and i was all, my bad, y'all. that one's on me. i probably just didn't do it justice.
so here i am, rereading it an unprecedented 2 months after my first read, and i'm ready to say i'm not taking the fall on this one.
this is a very fun story, but to me, it lacked the complexity, poeticism, and thematic richness of the first one.
onto the next!
bottom line: maybe clichés don't exist for a reason.
3.5
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rereading updatesthis meeting of the nghi vo fan club begins now
take 2!!!
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reading books by asian authors for aapi month!
book 1: kim jiyoung, born 1982
book 2: siren queen
book 3: the heart principle
book 4: n.p.
book 5: the hole
book 6: set on you
book 7: disorientation
book 8: parade
book 9: if i had your face
book 10: joan is okay
book 11: strange weather in tokyo
book 12: sarong party girls
book 13: the wind-up bird chronicle
book 14: portrait of a thief
book 15: sophie go's lonely hearts club
book 16: chemistry
book 17: heaven
book 18: the atlas six
book 19: the remains of the day
book 20: is everyone hanging out without me? and other concerns
book 21: why not me?
book 22: when the tiger came down the mountain-------------
currently-reading updatesthis meeting of the nghi vo fan club begins now
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tbr reviewi need to read this with great swiftness
Rating: really liked it
Hey everyone, this is my 250th book review on Goodreads!!!
I didn't even realize that until after the review was posted. While purely unintentional, I'm glad this book was on one of the landmark numbers.
There is a line in this book that spoke to me in a way that I've never been able to put into words before. In the scene a scholar reads a line from her favorite book, hoping that the reading can pay a tiger to let her have access to proceed (read the story to understand that, I'll not explain it here). After reading we receive the following line: "They were Dieu's favorite lines, and she was almost afraid to look up to see how the tiger took them. When you love a thing too much, it is a special kind of pain to show it to others and to see that it is lacking." That's wonderful, it gets across my own concerns as I start my review... will others see in this what I did?
When I read the author's previous book, The Empress of Salt and Fortune, I said the following in my review "This is without a doubt my favorite read of 2020, and while I know there is still over a month for that to change, I find it extraordinarily unlikely. This is as close to perfection as a read can get for me. A rare 5/5 stars" I was proven wrong. It was not my favorite, that honor goes to it's companion book (I hesitate to call it a sequel, as though one main character returns, it is very much a stand-alone as well). When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain is not only my favorite book I've read this year, it could be one of my top ten I've ever read. It's short (as one expects from Tor.com's novella), but it does not use a single unneeded word, and therefore does not need any added.
The plot this time follows Cleric Chih who has gotten into a rather dangerous situation along with their guide. This time three tigers have chased them into a barn where they must hope that someone will come to save them in the morning. In order to pass the night, and keep the tigers from attacking, they tell the story of Ho Thi Thao, a tiger who fell in love with a woman and tried to woo her. As they tell this tale though, the tigers begin to correct them, as they too know this story, but their version is often quite different.
As with the previous book, a main theme of these books is how we tell stories. In the first one it was about the details left out of history. This time it is about the nature of narrative, and how it can change from culture to culture. As Chih tells the story, the tigers will frequently interrupt and retell the same portion in a very different way. While the stories are essentially the same in terms of plot, we are shown how different cultures could highlight different aspects of the tale or rework something they find unacceptable to be more tolerable (a non-spoiler example would be that humans would not necessarily want a higher tiger kill count unless the people had done horrible deeds in the past, whereas in the tiger version it would be boring if the tiger didn't eat a person or two to show their "heroic" nature).
As with the previous book, Chih's section offers some great world building, but the heart of the book is the story being told. The narratives (both variations of it) are frequently amusing and both have their own level of heartwarming elements. Some of the best scenes are when characters comment on the other's version of the tale, and a human finds merit in the tiger's version and vice versa. It makes you wonder, if the story is true, which version has the more accurate elements and if the truth is somewhere in-between. In the end though, does it matter? It's about narrating to your audience, and understanding from a story teller perspective, what the group you're speaking to is fascinated by.
I truly hope Vo continues writing this series. I hope there are many more tales for the clerics of Singing Hills to collect. If there was ever a book tailor made for me as a reader it would be this. While I highly recommend both books (I remind you that the first one did receive five stars, and I'm not one who just hands them out frequently), this one is simply stunning. The prose is beautiful, the stories are the perfect blend of fairy tale and reality, the world presented stunning... there is simply nothing I am not impressed with. I said the other book was "as close to perfection as a read can get," well, this one isn't close. To me this was the perfect read... and those were words I never thought I would type. A perfect 5/5 and my highest possible recommendation.
Rating: really liked it
“They were Dieu’s favorite lines, and she was almost afraid to look up to see how the tiger took them. When you love a thing too much, it is a special kind of pain to show it to others and to see that it is lacking.”
Well, those lines are speaking to me right now. Because you see, I’m a bit torn. This was objectively a well-written book, no doubt, but unlike its predecessor The Empress of Salt and Fortune this one just did not resonate with me that much and left me a bit indifferent while still appreciating good quality work, written so crisply and beautifully — and yet not speaking to me in the way I was hoping to. I seem to be one of the few of my GR friends who preferred the first novella to this one, actually.
It’s only loosely related to the previous novella in this not-quite series. The only commonality is cleric Chih, traveling (by mammoth!!!) to collect stories and legends. This time they end up trapped by tigers (who can shapeshift into a human form) and Scheherazade-style must entertain those tigers with a story of a legendary love between a scholar and a tiger, with periodic corrections from tigers themselves (
“There is an addition for your books, cleric. Make a note of it so that they will find it after we eat you.” ) The alternative to this storytelling is becoming a tiger snack, obviously.
“Some people are just more… edible than others if you are a tiger.”
It’s again a story about stories, about how they are told and what that shows us about us and our nature and cultures — and those who are “others”. Perspective matters indeed, and those interludes with about disagreements in the way the story is told and “fixing” the story to suit a different viewpoint were quite interesting.
The stories are not really about history but rather about how we - whichever “we” it is - see ourselves and others and how we want to be remembered. And truth is arbitrary, depending on which viewpoint is filtered through. And that intricate worldbuilding yet again manages to deftly balance rich and economical at the same time.
“She killed, for she was angry, and she did not eat what she killed, for she was heartsick.”
But - of course there’s a “but”. I am not sure exactly why this story did not connect with me on anything but purely intellectual level. Maybe it’s because the first novella in the series had a bit more painful realism to it while this one was a bit more magically surreal fairytale. Maybe it’s because I really did not care about shapeshifting tigers. Maybe it’s because the folktale narrative style tends to mostly leave me a bit cold, and
I really preferred a bit more of political fantasy of the first novel and a bit less folksy whimsy of this one. And I kept wanting our characters to abandon the story that was told and go into the fascinating world surrounding them — who cares about tiger folklore, gimme mammoth herders now! Also, I prefer characters that I care for (like In-yo and Rabbit of the previous novella), and although cleric Chih has some potential, and Si-yu seems interesting, the spotlight is on the story told, and those characters for me mattered little. This was the case of framing story being more interesting and emotionally impactful than the story framed.
Full 4 stars for lovely writing, but 3 for personal enjoyment.
Strong 3.5 stars overall.—————
My review of Nghi Vo’s
The Empress of Salt and Fortune: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Rating: really liked it
When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain was a delightful, beautiful read. The
prose was enchanting and I hung onto Vo’s every word until the very last page. Suffice to say, I loved this very much.
The novella follows Cleric Chih on another one of their adventures to document more stories. They, along with their companions, Si-yu and Piluk stumble across a band of hungry tigers. To ensure their safety, a night of storytelling commences.
As with
The Empress of Salt and Fortune, storytelling was the focal point of the novella. This time, the story explored how different interpretations can help shape stories to fit someone’s history and narrative. Both Chih’s and the tigers’ versions of Scholar Dieu and Ho Thi Thao differentiated a lot from each other and highlighted how
the truth can vary from culture to culture.I was a bit sad that Almost Brilliant was absent in this novella, but fret not, Si-yu and her sweet mammoth Piluk made excellent traveling companions for Chih. Both were sassy and a joy to read about. I hope to see more of them in any future installments.
I hope Nghi Vo keeps writing more The Singing Hills novellas because I can’t get enough of the beautiful prose and imagery. Overall, I highly recommend!
Thank you to Tor Books and Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: really liked it
“When you love a thing too much, it is a special kind of pain to show it to others and see that it is lacking.”So What’s It About?The cleric Chih finds themself and their companions at the mercy of a band of fierce tigers who ache with hunger. To stay alive until the mammoths can save them, Chih must unwind the intricate, layered story of the tiger and her scholar lover—a woman of courage, intelligence, and beauty—and discover how truth can survive becoming history.
What I ThoughtI absolutely adored
The Empress of Salt and Fortune when I read it just a bit ago, so I made a point of reading its sequel novella as soon as possible afterwards. I’m so glad to say that
When the Tiger Came Down The Mountain is wonderful just like its predecessor. As with the first novella it’s all about story-telling -in this case how the same story can be twisted in different ways based on the perspective of the teller.
The humans telling the story of the tiger and her wife are apt to simplify Ho Thi Thao’s story and make it about Dieu, while the tigers tell the story through the lens of a tiger’s way of seeing the world. At one point, for instance, Chih describes a city by talking about all of its people and architecture and culture, but then when the tiger retells this part of the story she describes the city as a place of
“cages by the sea.” Similarly, the tigers hate that Chih’s ending sees Dieu sweep in to save the day by rescuing Ho Thi Thao from her cage, and fix the story by giving Ho Thi Thao a resolution that remains true to the tiger’s ways and gives her more agency.
It’s also just beautifully-written and thoroughly charming and hilarious:
“I have no more food,” she said “I had intended to stop at the village of Nei after the river crossing.”
‘That’s not very interesting to me,” the tiger said, and Scholar Dieu resisted the urge to pick up a river stone and pitch it as hard as she could at the tiger’s round face.I loved the tigers’ way of seeing the world, I liked the new characters and, as a final note, the mammoths were absolutely amazing and adorable. I really hope there are more of these novellas to come in the future because I love them so, so much.
Rating: really liked it
A wonderful story about tales, truth, who gets to remember and what gets remembered--and also the f/f scholar/tiger romance of my heart.
Rating: really liked it
“When you love a thing too much, it is a special kind of pain to show it to others and to see that it is lacking.”
[2nd read] Nghi Vo's distinctive writing really makes it so easy to get lost in the story. The amount of depth that is put into these short stories astounds me. It felt like I watched a scene from a movie.
I don't want to give too much away but this takes place in the same world as TEOSAF and it's when these two people find themselves in the mercy of these tigers in a snowwy forest, to be vague. The prose isn't exactly lyrical but the overall vibe does give it that feeling. Reading the actual words and listening the audiobook were both very different experiences and I do recommend both/either one.
[1st read] such charming characters and stories that talk about the wonders
of storytelling?? we love those.
↣
If you’re into short stories that pack a lot of themes and culture into it, you will fall in love with this series. Nghi Vo has such a unique voice and I could listen to the narrator of these audiobooks talk for hours. ↢
— 4.0 —⇢
content warnings// Animal death, Cannibalism, Cheating (minor), Death (on-page), Drug use, Gore, Manipulation, Murder, Sexual content, Violence⇢
representation: Vietnamese cast and setting (coded), Non-binary main character, WLW main and side characters
Rating: really liked it
A rather lovely short featuring the cleric Chih, on a storygathering mission without their talking bird this time, plus mammoth-riders and weretigers. It's a layered tale where we get Chih telling a story to the tigers which they then correct, within the frame of the tigers planning to eat them once the story is over.
Charming and involving, though a much smaller scale story to book 1, but tbh it was about all my brain could cope with (I am virtually unable to read fiction atm). Lovely writing. I really like this world, I hope we get more.
Rating: really liked it
The second story in the
Singing Hills cycle is a standalone tale about the cleric Chih who travels around the kingdom of Anh to record the Singing Hills history of myths and lore. Along the way, they and their companions meet three laughing tigers.
As the tigers are very hungry, Chih needs to get creative in order to keep themselves as well as their companions alive long enough for help to arrive.
Thus begins a Sheherazade-like story with stories within the stories.
There once was a tiger with her scholar lover ... the version Chih knows is quite different from the "true" (corrected) version of Mistress Tiger, but both are colourful and intricate and full of rich Asian imagery. The writing style is that of traditional folk tales which appealed greatly to me.
It's emotional, witty, suspenseful and full of beautiful prose.
I once again loved the worldbuilding of the hills and the creatures populating the region we found ourselves in. I especially loved the lesson on how history can become myth and how different people will experience events differently. A great lesson on storytelling and mythology / history. And yes, the story of the tiger and her scholar lover was lovely.
Rating: really liked it
I think I liked this one even more than the first installment! I'm in love with Chih - can't wait to see their next adventure
Rating: really liked it
I never thought that I would fall in love with a romance between a tiger and a scholar ... but here we are!
In this second book, we once again follow Chih on their adventures. This time, Chih is the one telling a story as they and their companions run into a band of fierce tigers who ache with hunger. And to stay alive until the mammoths can save them, Chih lays out this intricate, layered story of a tiger and her scholar lover.
As with the first book, the writing is incredible, it's atmospheric, it's whimsical and just all-around stunning. The way Nghi Vo is able to create such an intricate world and complex characters in so few pages is truly amazing.
I loved that we got a lot more of Chih in this book and got to know them more. Their curiosity, their impulsivity. I adore them! We also got animal companions. Piluk the mammoth is awesome. The sapphic yearning throughout this was everything. I absolutely adore these novels and highly recommend them! I cannot wait for the next installment.
Rating: really liked it
Almost as good as the first one. A love story of a scholar and a tiger, told from two perspectives. Intricate and layered, set in a fully realized, lived in fantasy world. More please.
Rating: really liked it
I loved
The Empress of Salt and Fortune to an indescribable degree, and I thought this one couldn't possibly surpass it, but I ended up liking it just as much. A real gem of a novella that explores the complexity and layers of storytelling and the wonder of queer love. I could read about Chih recording stories for ever.
