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The Empress of Salt and Fortune (The Singing Hills Cycle, #1)

Nghi Vo

Start date: May 1, 2020

Finish date: May 31, 2020

Discussion: FIF

Why we're reading this: FIF Book, May 2020
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What Members Thought

Jan 01, 2022 ♥Xeni♥ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ebook, lgbtq, novella, asia, protag-female, 2022-books-read, bingo-21-22, fantasy, audiobook

Such a haunting story to listen to - it starts out so simply: a Cleric traveling to visit a forgotten lake, and discovering there instead great history that slowly unravels before us. There is an element of *The Things They Carried* by listing out items gathered and kept and preserved, that adds to the haunting element. Ghost might be real in this world, but the ones we encounter are ghosts in the form of memories and tales told. I also loved the element of *A History of the World in 100 Objects ...more

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Mar 05, 2022 Caitlin rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fic-fantasy, owned-kindle, format-novellas

The Empress of Salt and Fortune is a fantasy novella that is somewhat light on the world-building in order to reveal an intriguing story told by a cleric whose role is to tell the history of their empire and after years of silence, is aiming to finally tell the story of the empress who made her way to power despite all the odds stacked against her.

Somehow I managed to never write a review of this and I'm not sure I feel entirely equal to the task since I read this in the first quarter of the ye The Empress of Salt and Fortune is a fantasy novella that is somewhat light on the world-building in order to reveal an intriguing story told by a cleric whose role is to tell the history of their empire and after years of silence, is aiming to finally tell the story of the empress who made her way to power despite all the odds stacked against her.

Somehow I managed to never write a review of this and I'm not sure I feel entirely equal to the task since I read this in the first quarter of the year but I'll give it my best shot. What I loved most about this novella is the unusual way that the story was told as well as the feminist themes which felt very present but not overt in a way that annoys me.

As cleric Chih interviews the handmaiden of the empress, the history is revealed to Chih in the form of sections all beginning with an artifact or piece of clothing that belonged to the empress and is related to the section of that part of the story. It was a masterful touch that instantly made me more intrigued in the world that you only get glimpses of. And since you're getting the story of the empress via Rabbit (the handmaiden) via Chih, you get a specific perspective of the type of woman that the empress was and what drove her. Chih balances that with the knowledge of the legacy that the empress is said to have left behind and you kind of have to piece together the perspectives to get a real sense of it.

The Empress of Salt and Fortune is one of those stories whose appeal will be based largely on how much you enjoy different narrative styles and piecing together somewhat limited info to get part of the picture but by no means are given all of the details. I really liked what it had to say about women in power and the dangers of underestimating them while at the same time not ever saying that the women in question are perfect or even necessarily nice people. This was very much a me kind of book and it made me want to pick up similar stories by Nghi Vo because I really like her style. ...more

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Apr 27, 2021 Sneha rated it really liked it

Wow!
For a short fiction I am blown. I loved the story telling, its whimsical, easy to read and you just flow through it with so much ease. Its beautiful ❤️

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