Early Review – Mammoths at the Gates (The Singing Hills Cycle, Book 4) by Nghi Vo (5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 128 pages
Publisher:‎ Tordotcom
Release Date: September 12, 2023
ASIN: B0BQGJ8J78
Stand Alone or Series: 4th book in The Singing Hills Cycle
Source: eGalley from NetGalley
Rating: 5/5 stars

“The wandering Cleric Chih returns home to the Singing Hills Abbey for the first time in almost three years, to be met with both joy and sorrow. Their mentor, Cleric Thien, has died, and rests among the archivists and storytellers of the storied abbey. But not everyone is prepared to leave them to their rest.

Because Cleric Thien was once the patriarch of Coh clan of Northern Bell Pass–and now their granddaughters have arrived on the backs of royal mammoths, demanding their grandfather’s body for burial. Chih must somehow balance honoring their mentor’s chosen life while keeping the sisters from the north from storming the gates and destroying the history the clerics have worked so hard to preserve.

But as Chih and their neixin Almost Brilliant navigate the looming crisis, Myriad Virtues, Cleric Thien’s own beloved hoopoe companion, grieves her loss as only a being with perfect memory can, and her sorrow may be more powerful than anyone could anticipate. . .”

Series Info/Source: This is the fourth book in The Singing Hills Cycle. I got a copy of this on ebook through NetGalley to review.

Thoughts: This book was just as wonderful as all of the previous Singing Hills Cycle books. I love that we got to journey to Chih’s home of Singing Hills Abbey in this volume. This was a fascinating and heartfelt read with a lot of humor and some wonderful stories within the main story.

This book finds Chih returning to their home abbey only to find that their mentor, Cleric Thien has died. As Chih works through their anguish they end up working with Almost Brilliant to help Myraid Virtues (Cleric Thien’s hoopoe) navigate her grief. Things are complicated by the gates literally being stormed by mammoths as the Coh clan demands Thien’s body for burial.

I continue to love this series’ focus on the importance of stories and the legacy stories leave for the rest of humanity. Chih finds some healing in going through Cleric Thien writings and helping to decide which stories will be kept in the archives and which will be kept eternally in the hoopoe’s minds. The hoopoes’ unique ability to remember things forever across generations is fascinating and is really explored a lot in this book. This book also looks at how different the impact a person has is to different people; Cleric Thien obviously had a huge impact on the Abbey but he also had a huge impact on the Coh clan, but in a different way.

It was a lot of fun to hear about Chih and the trouble they got into growing up at the Abbey. This gave Chih even more history and depth for the reader and getting to know some of Chih’s friends at Singing Hills Abbey was a lot of fun too. There are heavy themes of change in this book as well. With Almost Brilliant having her brood and the abbey leadership moving on, everyone is dealing with both the grief and hope that change can bring.

As with all of these books, this was amazingly well written and the story was very thoughtfully woven. This is entertaining while being thought-provoking. I am always in awe at how much I enjoy these books and how much I think about them afterwards.

My Summary (5/5): Overall this was an amazing continuation of the Singing Hills Cycle. I believe (and hope) there is one more book planned for this series and I eagerly await it. I would recommend this series to everyone, but especially to those who enjoy stories about the importance of stories.