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It surprises me how much I like these quiet novellas by Nghi Vo. They are very subdued, and little exciting happens, and yet they leave me quite entranced.
This one is a story of returning home after a long absence as cleric Chih makes their way back to the Singing Hills Abbey after years of traveling and collecting stories. Here we get to see the beauty of some things remaining constant and yet the inevitability of other things chang ...more
“Sometimes, you cannot survive and still be who you were.”
This one is a story of returning home after a long absence as cleric Chih makes their way back to the Singing Hills Abbey after years of traveling and collecting stories. Here we get to see the beauty of some things remaining constant and yet the inevitability of other things chang ...more
After all the adventures in the previous volumes, Cleric Chih is going home to Singing Hills Abbey. When arriving there, there are literal mammoths at the gates. Why? Well, they are at the abbey to kinda stop a funeral. Sounds weird? Well, as is pretty normal for almost every family everywhere, there are fights about the dead person's last will and Chih needs to play mediator.
I have to say, the most impactful element in this installment (apart from being reminded of a funeral or two in my own f ...more
I have to say, the most impactful element in this installment (apart from being reminded of a funeral or two in my own f ...more
*4.5 stars
My favorite in The Singing Hills cycle!
Instead of following cleric Chih on another adventure, this time we come home to the Abbey with them after many years away. They come home right after the dead of one of their mentors, Cleric Thein, has recently passed away. Thein's family, granddaughters have arrived on wolly mammoths, demanding for the Abbey to hand over their grandfather's body.
What follows is a book about grief and love and memories and forgiveness and how to hold on to thos ...more
My favorite in The Singing Hills cycle!
Instead of following cleric Chih on another adventure, this time we come home to the Abbey with them after many years away. They come home right after the dead of one of their mentors, Cleric Thein, has recently passed away. Thein's family, granddaughters have arrived on wolly mammoths, demanding for the Abbey to hand over their grandfather's body.
What follows is a book about grief and love and memories and forgiveness and how to hold on to thos ...more
We finally get to experience the cleric Chih’s monastery, Singing Hills, and get some backstory on their upbringing and childhood friends. We meet Almost Brilliant again, a "neixin" or talking hoopoe with a mythical recall of history. We get to hear stories about their old teacher from various narrators.
I am still trying to parse out the ending, I might have to read this again—the ending was a little too quick. For fans of the series. Probably not the one you should start with, it‘s a little li ...more
I am still trying to parse out the ending, I might have to read this again—the ending was a little too quick. For fans of the series. Probably not the one you should start with, it‘s a little li ...more
While this is named Mammoths at the Gates, it ought to be renamed Memories at the Gates. It's really an honoring of a lost life, a funeral, and yes -- it's more of the signature story-within-story storytelling I've grown to love in the Singing Hills Cycle.
These novellas are very much worth reading -- if only for the altered focus in fantasy.
...more
These novellas are very much worth reading -- if only for the altered focus in fantasy.
...more
At this point, we've spent three books tagging along with cleric Chih as they face down sentient tigers, brave bandits, unearth stories of local folk heroes and uncover the truth of historical events that reshaped the world as they now know it.
Up until now, their adventures have been closely tied with hearing and recording the stories of others.
This time, the story is theirs.
This is the tale of how cleric Chih came home, only to find that home is not quite how they left it all those years ago.
T ...more
Up until now, their adventures have been closely tied with hearing and recording the stories of others.
This time, the story is theirs.
This is the tale of how cleric Chih came home, only to find that home is not quite how they left it all those years ago.
T ...more
Nghi Vo brings us back to the Singing Hills Abbey and Cleric Chih returning with new stories to add to the archives after an absence of two years. Chih is eager to reunite with their neixin companion Almost Brilliant, but notices something seems off at the Abbey, besides the party camped outside the gates, with their two mammoths.
China discovers from childhood friend Ru, and now acting head of the abbey, that their former abbot died during Chih’s absence. Grieving, Chih also finds that Almost Br ...more
China discovers from childhood friend Ru, and now acting head of the abbey, that their former abbot died during Chih’s absence. Grieving, Chih also finds that Almost Br ...more
May 06, 2023
Leticia
marked it as to-read
Jan 03, 2024
Gali
marked it as to-read
Jun 15, 2025
Kent
marked it as to-read
