Into the Riverlands (Nghi Vo)

Into the Riverlands
The Singing Hills Cycle, Book 3
Nghi Vo
Tordotcom
Fiction, Fantasy
****+ (Good/Great)

DESCRIPTION: Singing Hills cleric Chih's travels have taken them to many lands, but few are as wild and rough as the riverlands. With their talking hoopoe companion Almost Brilliant, they have come seeking stories and histories... and, again, find themselves caught up in a story of their own, when they fall in with some interesting companions on a journey to Betony Docks through bandit country.

REVIEW: Another great, fast-reading entry in the Singing Hills series, which can be read in any order but which do slowly fill out the wider world of Chih and Almost Brilliant. As in previous installments, the cleric starts out with every intention of being a passive observer (if not always the most virtuous of their order), gathering tales directly from the source and refraining from passing judgement. Also as in previous installments, the stories they record have a way of pulling them in, entwined with adventures in the here-and-now. In this case, Chih finds themselves in the company of an older riverlands couple who seem strangely familiar with the region's history and pathways and tales, as well as two younger companions who might be destined for their own stories someday. Along the way, the cleric gathers more stories and must consider the common conceit that tends to place extra value on beautiful maidens and ignores or vilifies the ordinary or less attractive ones, as if physical beauty conveys inherent virtue and interest. In the riverlands in particular, it would be wise to pay attention to the stories one hears, as they seem particularly prone to coming to life around a traveler in unexpected ways, for all that stories have a way of obscuring and twisting whatever truths they might be based on. The story wends a bit at the start, but soon is off and running, and the Singing Hills world continues to grow in fascinating ways, full of interesting characters and intriguing cultures and stories and legends galore.

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