The Brides of High Hills

Nghi Vo
Completed 5/27/2025, Reviewed 5/28/2025
3 stars

I was rather meh on this fifth novella in The Singing Hills Cycle.  It didn’t grab me until the end.  The beginning was rather muddled, although I realize that was intentional, as our favorite non-binary Cleric Chih is also muddled in this short adventure.  The previous three novellas, including the wonderful Mammoths at the Gates, were all much more lovely and interesting.  Nevertheless, the prose was gorgeous and Chih is such a wonderful character.  This novella was nominated for the 2025 Best Novella Hugo Award.

The story begins with Cleric Chih accompanying a family caravan on the way a rich ruler’s estate to their daughter to the ruler.  When they arrive, things are not as they seem.  There is no information about what happened to the ruler’s previous wives.  The ruler has a son who seems quite out of his mind, though he seems to try to communicate to Chih and the daughter.  As the three-day courtship progresses, things get stranger and stranger until Chih is certain the daughter and her family are in mortal danger.

While I was excited to be back in the Singing Hills setting, I was disappointed by the first half or so of the book.  As I said above, it felt disjointed.  However, I guess it was necessary because we are experiencing this book from Chih’s perspective (from a third person narrator) and they are confused by this arrangement as well.  In fact, Chih doesn’t remember how they came upon the family caravan in the first place.  Chih’s neixin, Almost Brilliant, is missing from the story as well.  Chih (and I) regulary notices the spirit-bird’s absence from their shoulder and the lack of banter and insight.  However, Chih is intrigued by the daughter who is afraid of ghosts and bad spirits and this ruler’s estate seems chock full of them.

I finally got through the first half of the book when the plot starts to take turns, resulting in a big twist ending.  It was very satisfying, but not enough to give this book a higher rating.  I give it three stars out of five.  I really like Vo as a writer, from this cycle of novellas to her novels like Siren Queen.  Each book has beautiful prose and great world building.  But like most authors, not every book is a winner.  Still, I look forward to her releases and probably will continue reading her output for the foreseeable future.