The Empress of Salt and Fortune (The Singing Hills Cycle, 1)
Winner of the 2020 Crawford Award!
Winner of the 2021 Hugo Award!
A Hugo Award-Winning Series!
A 2021 Locus Award Finalist
A 2021 Ignyte Award Finalist
A Goodreads Choice Award Finalist
A Book Riot Best Debut Fantasy of All Time
"Dangerous, subtle, unexpected and familiar, angry and ferocious and hopeful... The Empress of Salt and Fortune is a remarkable accomplishment of storytelling."—NPR
"Nghi Vo is one of the most original writers we have today."—Taylor Jenkins Reid on Siren Queen
A Book Riot Must Read Book of 2023 | A 2020 ALA Booklist Top Ten SF/F Debut | A Book Riot Must-Read Fantasy of 2020 | A Paste Most Anticipated Novel of 2020 | A Library Journal Debut of the Month | A Buzzfeed Must-Read Fantasy Novel of Spring 2020 | A Washington Post Best SFF of the Year So Far Pick
Named Book Riot's Best Book Cover of 2020
Named a Best of 2020 Pick for NPR | Library Journal | NYPL | Chicago Public Library | The Austen Chronicle | Autostraddle
With the heart of an Atwood tale and the visuals of a classic Asian period drama, Nghi Vo's The Empress of Salt and Fortune is a tightly and lushly written narrative about empire, storytelling, and the anger of women.
A young royal from the far north, is sent south for a political marriage in an empire reminiscent of imperial China. Her brothers are dead, her armies and their war mammoths long defeated and caged behind their borders. Alone and sometimes reviled, she must choose her allies carefully.
Rabbit, a handmaiden, sold by her parents to the palace for the lack of five baskets of dye, befriends the emperor's lonely new wife and gets more than she bargained for.
At once feminist high fantasy and an indictment of monarchy, this evocative debut follows the rise of the empress In-yo, who has few resources and fewer friends. She's a northern daughter in a mage-made summer exile, but she will bend history to her will and bring down her enemies, piece by piece.
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.
Praise for The Empress of Salt and Fortune
“An elegant gut-punch, a puzzle box that unwinds itself in its own way and in its own time. I cannot recommend it highly enough. Gorgeous. Cruel. Perfect. I didn't know I needed to read this until I did.”—Seanan McGuire
"A tale of rebellion and fealty that feels both classic and fresh, The Empress of Salt and Fortune is elegantly told, strongly felt, and brimming with rich detail. An epic in miniature, beautifully realised."—Zen Cho
"Nghi Vo's gracefully told debut . . . resides in the intimate margins of its (beautifully imagined) world's history, portraying how the marginalized may yet shape those narratives and harness the power of stories."—Indrapramit Das
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Community Reviews
Really liked the style of prose. Lyrical and flowing, a wonderful in and out between past and present as the narrative is painted.
I particularly loved the way each chapter is introduced, it adds a tangibility to the story, a sense of physicality. I do wish the magic/world building elements had been stronger though. It was fairly vague and faint, barely an undercurrent the entire story. Except for Almost Brilliant and the intro section, it barely had any presence. A small but direct story as far as narrative goes, and there is something compelling about that simplicity.
I particularly loved the way each chapter is introduced, it adds a tangibility to the story, a sense of physicality. I do wish the magic/world building elements had been stronger though. It was fairly vague and faint, barely an undercurrent the entire story. Except for Almost Brilliant and the intro section, it barely had any presence. A small but direct story as far as narrative goes, and there is something compelling about that simplicity.
I made a few mistakes before I read this one. I went into it almost blindly. All I really knew was that it was a fantasy novella. I picked it up to fulfill a prompt on my yearly reading challenge and a prompt on a monthly readathon. I wish I would have read through the synopsis several times and maybe even learned the characters. It's so well-done, but with layers upon layers. While I got the gist of the story, I felt like so much of it went over my head. It really deserves a reread, but I don't have the brainpower right now. And no time because of the readathon. Very impressive, though. Especially how the author packed so much into so few pages.
#popsugarreadingchallenge2023 (prompt #24 - A book with a rabbit on the cover)
#popsugarreadingchallenge2023 (prompt #24 - A book with a rabbit on the cover)
I really enjoyed this novella, which is the first of two in the Singing Hills Cycle series. It’s an allegorical and quotable read, wrapped in a fantastic, mythical story. One aspect I particularly appreciated is how it subverts traditional narratives that justify or normalize the mistreatment of women, often depicting them as victims lacking agency or strength. Author Nghi Vo instead of focusing on the characters' suffering, showcases their strengths through their tact, strategy, intelligence, empathy, and subtlety. This is further enhanced by vivid descriptions that bring the characters and scenes to life. The narrative style is pretty unique, too. It drops you straight into this world without much setup or context, and that makes it exciting instead of confusing. Every page feels like an extract from a fortune teller —poetic, full of curiosity, waiting to be deciphered.
“Angry mothers raise daughters fierce enough to fight wolves.”
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