Publishers Weekly
06/12/2023
Hugo Award winner Vo’s lovely standalone fourth Singing Hills Cycle fantasy (after Into the Riverlands) is the most personal adventure yet for travelling Cleric Chih. It begins with them returning to the Singing Hills abbey, their childhood home and a sacred temple to stories and memory, full of rumors, ghosts, and magical neixin, or memory spirits who never forget. Chih is shocked to discover the abbey’s usually bustling halls are nearly deserted, and that their mentor, Cleric Thien, is dead and interred in the manner of all respected clerics. This becomes a problem when two mammoth-riding northern soldiers charge the gates of the abbey, claiming Cleric Thien as their grandfather and demanding the release of his remains. Now Chih must navigate conflict with the riders and their own grief in a home that will never again be what they remember. The worldbuilding isn’t the focus, but Vo’s mythologically infused alternate Southeast Asia draws readers in just enough to keep their attention and elevate her characters as they move through the plot, which gets off to a slow start but picks up the pace in later chapters. This timeless story of grief and growth is sure to resonate. (Sept.) Correction: An earlier version of this review misspelled a character’s name and misidentified the setting.
From the Publisher
Hugo Award-winning Series | Crawford Award-winning Series | Locus Award-finalist Series | Ignyte Award-nominated Series
"This fourth entry in the “Singing Hills Cycle” series, after Into the Riverlands, is every bit as beautiful and thought-provoking as its predecessors. Highly recommended for fans of the previous books in the series and for anyone who loves their fantasy colored with myth, legend, and bittersweet truth."—Library Journal, starred view
"Both tear-jerking and gut-punching. . . . Entirely accessible on its own, it is an excellent place to start if you haven’t read any of Vo’s novellas yet."—The Washington Post
"Hugo Award winner Vo’s lovely standalone fourth Singing Hills Cycle fantasy is the most personal adventure yet for travelling Cleric Chih. . . . This timeless story of grief and growth is sure to resonate."—Publishers Weekly
“[T]he novella is short but meaty, with rich language and small details and stories that flesh it out into feeling much longer than it is. It’s a quick, satisfying read.”—Booklist
"With its themes of friendship, loyalty, continuity, and loss, [Mammoths at the Gates's] main strengths derive from an appealing cast of characters, some of whom, like Chih, have grown more complex over the four volumes of the series. . . . Adds considerable emotional resonance to an already impressive series."—Locus
"This moving novella handles different methods of grieving with care and love. Not everyone is remembered the same by the living, and it is a beautiful reminder of how loved ones live on through memory and story."—Powell's, Best of 2023
"This brief fable explores love, grief, guilt, atonement, memory and transformation. In spite of the deep wounds various characters carry and the serious nature of the themes, this is a gentle tale. . . . I enjoyed it—I think you will too."—FantasyLiterature
"An exceptional fantasy novella."—Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Praise for the Singing Hills Cycle
"A delicious bonbon of a novella about stories and their unreliable narrators, who wink at their listeners (or readers), fully expecting us to catch on."—The Wall Street Journal
"Dangerous, subtle, unexpected and familiar, angry and ferocious and hopeful. . . . A remarkable accomplishment of storytelling."—NPR
"Spellbinding. . . . Vo expertly weaves myths and histories of this fantastical land throughout, while also offering readers a deeper understanding of Chih themself, a character who may have been left as a framing device in lesser hands. The result is a pitch-perfect series installment."—Publishers Weekly, (starred review)
"Rides the knife edge between telling a story and being in the middle of it and explores how tales become legends. . . . Highly recommended for . . . anyone who likes high fantasy inspired by Imperial China or wuxia movies and stories."—Library Journal (starred review)
"Vo's debut has it all: from sapphic love to cruel betrayals; from political intrigue to lakes that glow red to ghosts that continue to walk old paths."—Booklist, starred review
"A stunning feminist fantasy."—Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Gorgeous. Cruel. Perfect."—Seanan McGuire
"So good I want to marry it."—Martha Wells
"A quiet, wrenching tale of resistance, resilience, and court intrigue."—R. F. Kuang
“A stunning gem . . . celebrates the wonder of queer love. I could read about Chih recording tales forever.”—Samantha Shannon
"A glorious, beautifully-written tale that is both tragic and triumphant, unfolding a secret history through the ordinary artifacts of everyday life."—Kate Elliott
"An epic in miniature, beautifully realised."—Zen Cho
"At once epic and intimate, this story of revenge, power and the weight of history is a small, masterful jewel."—Aliette de Bodard
"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."—Indra Das
“Uncovers a nuanced history of how the disenfranchised shape history, and can come to rule it, though at great cost."—Buzzfeed
"A thrilling, wuxia-style addition to the series."—BuzzFeed News
"A masterpiece of understatement and implication. . . it gives the impression of effortlessness while being quietly meticulous in every stitch."—Nerd Daily
"[A] gorgeous debut novella."—Paste
"Rich details and emotional prose captures readers from the first page of this imaginative and powerful novella. "—Library Journal
“Those familiar with the Singing Hills Cycle know by now to expect marvelous little novellas like perfectly cut jewels, dense with facets and brilliance. Into the Riverlands, Nghi Vo’s third installment, is of course no different….buy this book, because you’ll want to revisit these particular stories again and again.”—Geekly, Inc
"The novella is written in Vo’s rich, lovely language, and it’s nice to have such a wonderful fantasy series be totally accessible in standalone volumes. . . . Fans of folklore-inspired fantasy will eat this one up."—Booklist
“Continues the magical, mythical and memorable adventures of Chih . . . . The series . . . can be read in any order—and you don’t want to miss them!”—Ms. Magazine
“This is a beautiful, cozy, fantasy tale. . . . gentle, soothing, whimsical, feminist.”—Fantasy Book Critic
“Novelist Nghi Vo has a fantastic gift for creating sweeping epics that weave together history and myth.”—Arlington Magazine
Library Journal
★ 07/01/2023
The steps of wandering Cleric Chih have turned towards home. They expect to find the monastery much as they left it, but they return to mammoths blocking the gate and their oldest friend in mid-argument with the commander of the force. Chih learns that their mentor is dead, the clerics and apprentices have rushed to the site of a new discovery, and the home they expected to be a haven is nearly a battleground. Expecting peace, instead Chih finds chaos and change, but amid the depths of mourning and regret there might just be a space where the nearly warring forces can meet in an uneasy middle. Chih finds themself an outsider in the place they call home and grieves for not just the loss of their mentor but also the changes in themself and their once closest companion. But grief proves to be bittersweet as their late mentor's experience continues through one profoundly grieving bird. VERDICT This fourth entry in the "Singing Hills Cycle" series, after Into the Riverlands, is every bit as beautiful and thought-provoking as its predecessors. Highly recommended for fans of the previous books in the series and for anyone who loves their fantasy colored with myth, legend, and bittersweet truth.—Marlene Harris
