A Mouthful of Dust
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Hunger makes monsters in this dark new tale in Nghi Vo's Hugo Award-winning Singing Hills Cycle.
"Nghi Vo is so good."-NPR on The Brides of High Hill
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.
The Singing Hills Cycle has been shortlisted for the Lambda Literary Award, the Locus Award, and the Ignyte Award, and has won the Crawford Award and the Hugo Award.
The novellas are standalone stories linked by the Cleric Chih, and may be read in any order.
The Empress of Salt and Fortune
When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain
Into the Riverlands
Mammoths at the Gates
The Brides of High Hill
A Mouthful of Dust
About this Author
Nghi Vo is the author of the novels Siren Queen and The Chosen and the Beautiful, as well as the acclaimed novellas of the Singing Hills Cycle, which began with The Empress of Salt and Fortune. The series entries have been finalists for the Nebula Award, the Locus Award, and the Lambda Literary Award, and have won the Crawford Award, the Ignyte Award, and the Hugo Award. Born in Illinois, she now lives on the shores of Lake Michigan. She believes in the ritual of lipstick, the power of stories, and the right to change your mind.
Reviews
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
"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
"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
"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
"Both tear-jerking and gut-punching."--The Washington Post
"A thrilling, wuxia-style addition to the series."--BuzzFeed
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