Early Novella Review – A Mouthful of Dust (The Singing Hills Cycle, Book 6) by Nghi Vo (4/5 stars)
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 112 pages
Publisher: Tordotcom
Release Date: October 7, 2025
ASIN : B0DQJ5SQDK
Stand Alone or Series: 14th volume in the Vinland Saga series
Source: Bought hardcover
Rating: 4/5 stars
“Wandering Cleric Chih of Singing Hills and their hoopoe companion Almost Brilliant come to the river town of Baolin chasing stories of a legendary famine. Amid tales of dishes served to royalty and desserts made of dust, they discover the secrets of what happens when hunger stalks the land and what the powerful will do to hide their crimes.
Trapped in the mansion of a sinister magistrate, Chih and Almost Brilliant must learn what happened in Baolin when the famine came to call, and they must do so quickly…because the things in the shadows are only growing hungrier.”
Series Info/Source: This is the 6th book in The Singing Hills Cycle. I got a copy of this on ebook from NetGalley for review.
Thoughts: This was a well done continuation of this novella series about a Cleric who collects stories. I didn’t like this one quite as much as previous books in this series. This one is very dark with none of the ironic humor of the earlier books and none of the coziness either.
Cleric Chih goes to the river town of Baolin trying to find the history behind a legendary famine. What they find there is darker than any stories they expected. They are trapped in the mansion of a magistrate while tales unravel of what the powerful will do when hunger strikes.
I do continue to enjoy the concept behind this series. This was the shortest and darkest novella in this series so far. It was missing a lot of the irony and humor that previous novellas have had, and I definitely missed that. Chih is separated from Almost Brilliant for most of the story, and I missed Almost Brilliant’s sharp comments. It was intriguing to see how Cleric Chih deals with the stress of being trapped in the magistrate’s mission. Despite being in tough situations before, I don’t think we’ve ever seen Chih this stressed and frightened.
This was well written and easy (aside from the dark subject matter) to read. I definitely plan on continuing the series.
My Summary (4/5): Overall I enjoyed this still but found it to be the darkest novella of this series. I missed the irony and humor that usually characterizes these novellas, and I also missed Almost Brilliant not being in the story more. Although I enjoyed this, it is my least favorite of this series so far as well. The seventh book in the Singing Hill Cycle already has a title, “A Long and Speaking Silence”, and is scheduled to be released in May of 2026. I definitely plan to continue this series.
