The Brides of High Hill
The Singing Hills Cycle, Book 5
Nghi Vo
Tordotcom
Fiction, Fantasy
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Cleric Chih continues their travels about the land in search of stories to record for the archives of Singing Hills. After a chance meeting on the road, they are asked to accompany young Pham Nhung and her parents on the way to an arranged marriage with the wealthy lord of Doi Cau. The man is much older than her, but such arranged marriages are not uncommon, and her family needs the wealth the union will bring. But something is not right in the home of Nhung's intended. The servants are sullen. The lord's son is acting very strange. And nobody seems willing to answer Chih's questions, especially about what happened to the lord of Doi Cau's previous brides...
REVIEW: Once again, the traveling cleric of Singing Hills finds themself pulled into another story brought to life around them, this time compelled by their heart as much as their calling: their feelings toward the young bride-to-be are more than friendly, and Nhung does not actively discourage the attention. This makes Chih a little more protective than they would be of most traveling companions, and a little more prone to sticking their nose into the matter of the arranged marriage, which was already far from a love match but starts to take on very sinister tones from the moment they pass through the lord's gates. There is a story here indeed, but not the one the cleric expects - one that may well be the last story they ever witness. Their talking hoopoe companion Almost Brilliant would be an asset in figuring things out, but the bird has not traveled to the compound with Chih, an absence they feel keenly, even as they pine for the woman they know they can never really be with. Something about this entry in the series felt a little bit thin or stretched compared to previous tales, in a way I can't quite identify but with left me a little less satisfied than I should have been by the end. It's still a decent, if dark, tale, and I still enjoy the characters and the world.
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