Novella Review – When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain (Singing Hills Cycle, Book 2) by Nghi Vo (4/5 stars)
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 128 pages
Publisher: Tordotcom
Release Date: December 8, 2020
ASIN : B087P4CSJF
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd volume in the Singing Hills Cycle
Source: Bought for Kindle
Rating: 4/5 stars
“ The cleric Chih finds themself and their companions at the mercy of a band of fierce tigers who ache with hunger. To stay alive until the mammoths can save them, Chih must unwind the intricate, layered story of the tiger and her scholar lover—a woman of courage, intelligence, and beauty—and discover how truth can survive becoming history.”
Series Info/Source: This is the second novella in the Singing Hill Cycle. I bought a copy of this for my Kindle.
Story (4/5): This story continues to follow the cleric Chih on their journeys. This time they find themselves trapped by a fierce band of tigers and forced to tell stories until a mammoth tribe can come to save them. While this still employs a very clever method of telling stories within stories, I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as the first book in this series. I just didn’t find the story within the story quite as fascinating and in depth as it unraveled.
Characters (4/5): The characters were all enjoyable. I really enjoyed the mammoth rider who accompanies Chih and the tiger women were well done too. This was more about the story and the method of delaying the tigers than the characters themselves this time.
Setting (4/5): I enjoyed the frozen mountain setting and really liked the culture that was formed completely around the mammoths that live there. It was very well done. On a side note, I would have liked to be reading about a warmer setting given my current real life frozen setting!
Writing Style (5/5): This was again beautifully written and I love the method of nesting stories within stories. I did feel like this book wasn’t quite as well done as the first one. However, I still really enjoyed it. It is a quick and beautiful read that conveys a wonderful story. Vo is definitely a wonderful storyteller that is focused on the art of telling a good story in an amazing format.
My Summary (4/5): Overall I really enjoyed this but didn’t love it as much as the first book in the series. It was beautifully written and I loved the location that Chih journeys to. I love the concept of nesting stories as well, but just didn’t find the nested stories quite as fascinating in this case. I would definitely recommend to those who enjoy stories within stories, this is very well done.
