As with any of Nghi Vo’s spellbinding books, this little novella is a richly drawn and remarkably complex story, with mysterious characters and magical prose. This series of standalones follows cleric Chih’s adventures as they search for stories to record for the Singing Hills Abbey, along with their faithful companion, the mystical bird creature Almost Brilliant. In the third instalment of the series, as they travel through the cutthroat riverlands, Chih and Almost Brilliant encounter new friends with strange pasts, and a series of intertwining stories that are more than they seem.

I’m so glad to have read so many of Vo’s books this year, and I found myself once again mesmerized by her craft and imagination; I’ll be slowly untangling the web of meanings and discoveries for a while yet. Just phenomenal.

Thanks to Macmillan-Tor/Forge and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

i love this series because of how much it accomplishes in such a small page count - there are not only compelling plotlines and interesting characters, but always a masterfully done theme of colonization, etc. all of that felt a little less true with this installment, but overall i think it's one of my favorite active series all the same!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced review copy of “Into the Riverlands” by Nghi Vo. Thoughts and opinions are my own.

I’ve really been enjoying these novellas! You can read them in any order but I’ve read them in order of release so far. While I liked the new characters we meet in this story, I found myself a little frustrated by the number of times a character would tell a story off page or the story would be skipped over. I know it’s a novella and there’s limited page space but I wanted to hear the stories too!

My book also skipped Chapter 5 so I don’t know if I was missing a chapter or if the numbers were off?

I do really like this series and will continue to read them. I usually read these in audiobook form (highly recommend if you like audiobooks) and I didn’t find it a difficult switch to read this eARC instead of listening to the audiobooks.

4/5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I loved this book just as much as I loved the first two installments of the Singing Hills Cycle. I especially enjoyed the fact that Chih was the star of the story here; of course they're the main character of the first two novellas as well, but here, their own story is really at the forefront rather than Chih just being a conduit for the reader to listen to someone else's story. I loved Almost Brilliant here as well; she is really the most charming animal companion. These novellas are so delightfully cozy and has such rich worldbuilding, I can't wait to dive in again with the next installment!

In the continuing adventures of the wandering cleric, this time Chih ends up in the company of several really good fighters while both collecting stories and how these people feel about the stories. Of course, they also end up part of an unexpected adventure rather than just hearing about one, too.

This particular novella left a lingering question to mull over: what happens to legendary characters that are still alive and how do they feel about their "legacy"?

I really enjoy these fantasy novellas - the neixin, Chih's reactions to what happens around them, and the new cast of characters in each one. Although it doesn't matter what order you read them in, I think it makes the most sense to start with the first one because it gives the most background for Chih.

Ah, I just love the Singing Hills Cycle so much. There’s just something about this series that works so well for me, and given that most of the people I recommend it to don’t have the same experience, I can’t say what exactly that thing is, but it’s just … so good.

Into the Riverlands follows the trend of the series at large in showcasing the many ways a story can be told, retold, changed, and twisted (for better or worse) over time. Chih and two martial sisters — not, for those unfamiliar with the cultivation setting, to be confused with actual blood-related sisters — travel with an older married couple through the Riverlands, but not everything is as it seems with any of their traveling companions, and the novella takes a full wuxia turn pretty quickly in. Which. I’m a huge fan of, so this was right up my alley. Did I like this better than When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain? Hard to say, since I am still very much in love with that novella. But Riverlands certainly comes close.

5 out of 5 stars. Endorphins injected straight into my brain. I love this series.

"Nghi Vo's Locus and Igynte Award Finalist, and Crawford and Hugo Award-Winning Series, The Singing Hills Cycle, continues...

Wandering cleric Chih of the Singing Hills travels to the riverlands to record tales of the notorious near-immortal martial artists who haunt the region. On the road to Betony Docks, they fall in with a pair of young women far from home, and an older couple who are more than they seem. As Chih runs headlong into an ancient feud, they find themself far more entangled in the history of the riverlands than they ever expected to be.

Accompanied by Almost Brilliant, a talking bird with an indelible memory, Chih confronts old legends and new dangers alike as they learn that every story - beautiful, ugly, kind, or cruel - bears more than one face.

The Singing Hills Cycle

The Empress of Salt and Fortune
When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain
Into the Riverlands

The novellas of The Singing Hills Cycle are linked by the cleric Chih, but may be read in any order, with each story serving as an entry point."

Go on, read it, you know you just don't want to but you need to!

Gosh this series is so lovely! To be fair, this one is a bit more... quietly lovely, perhaps? But still, a quality offering as always. In this installment, cleric Chih hears a story that focuses on women, and more importantly, how stories about women are told. It, as all the others, are applicable in any time and in any world- and certainly, in ours.

While the beginnings of this one felt a bit more low key to me, the ending was incredible, and certainly worth the lead-up. Plus, Nghi Vo's writing is positively stunning, and always, always worth reading.

Bottom Line: If you haven't started this series, you must, and if you have, you certainly won't want to miss this latest installment.

2.5 stars. Objectively, this is a great book. It just wasn’t for me. I know it’s a novella, but I wish it was longer. I was confused the entire time

easily of the strongest of the three singing hills novellas. i loved this, i loved the characters introduced for this story, it feels like vo is levelling up. perhaps start with this one if you’re considering picking up the series

I’ve loved the previous two novellas in this series (if series is the right word - collection?), and Into the Riverlands did not disappoint!

The structure was slightly different, and I felt there was more of a mix of plot and story-in-story, where the previous books were more story-in-story focused. That was not a problem though, as Vo’s writing remained just as enchanting.

‘Into the Riverlands’ is a fantastic third entry into the Singing Hills Cycle novella series; the previous two being ‘The Empress of Salt and Fortune’ and ‘When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain’. As in the previous instalments, we follow non-binary cleric Chih and avian animal companion Almost Brilliant on their travels, picking up stories along the way to record. Just to note - these novellas can be read in any order and as a standalone. However, they have all been great so I highly recommend reading them all.

‘Into the Riverlands’ follows Chih and Almost Brilliant on a journey where they meet a martial artist, her manager and a middle aged couple who all travel together to the Riverlands. The trek there is dangerous, as it’s an area full of bandits. Along the way, numerous stories are told about local legends and old bandits. With a martial arts warrior within their party, you can guarantee you’ll be in for a lot of action.

Something that differentiates between this novella and the other two is we get far more of Chih; usually, Chih is being told one story often while in the same place. In ‘Into the Riverlands’, Chih collects multiple different stories while also being part of the action and the overall story itself. It was a welcome change to see them more involved with the journey that has previously been just relayed to them. Another thing that this instalment brought to the reader was an expansion on the world these novellas take place in - we get even more information about different areas and cultures within it and even more about Chih’s background which was fascinating and a personal favourite thing for me.

The writing is so beautiful; stunning prose with vivid imagery that makes for a whimsical, magical fantasy. The novellas are short, but the number of pages do not reflect the richness of the story within. I’ve read them in one sitting and been blown away with each one. These novellas are stories within stories, with important topics woven throughout, with distinctive and interesting characters and banter that I think will appeal to all readers.

Thank you so much to Tor and to NetGalley for the arc of this book.

“What my story is, cleric, is mine. You have the rest, and you’ll tell the rest. Be happy with that. My story’s mine and you don’t get to have it.”

I would like to thank Macmillian-Tor/Forge for giving me an e-ARC copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Into the Riverlands will be available on October 25th, 2022.

I was beyond ecstatic when Nghi Vo announced that they will be writing a new novella within the Singing Hills Cycle because I absolutely adored and enjoyed The Empress of Salt and Fortune and When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain when I first read them a couple of years ago. And just as I expected it to be, this newest installment has the magic and beauty that captivated me in the first place.

This installment is still featuring our favorite story-gathering cleric Chih and their trusty sidekick and highly witty Almost Brilliant as they now navigate the Riverlands, a bareback and lawless area- and encounter another group of people who have the most interesting tales to tell.

The one distinguishing feature that I could easily pinpoint in this new novella was how this now became much more action-filled compared to its predecessors. It was basically a story within a story type of set-up because unlike the ones before it, this novella still featured the story-telling aspect but at a much more casual and off-character approach, and instead of one massive story that will span the entire novella, we are getting many short stories interspersed in its entirety. I'm not absolutely sure if I prefer that or the ones done in the first two novellas, but I'm still positive that it is just as lush, beautiful, and lyrical as what I have expected Nghi Vo's writing to be. There is no doubt that the author can create an amazing story with highly entertain characters and an intricate plot in just less than 200 pages.

I finished the entire novella in one sitting, so I'm very sure that other readers and fans of this series will do too.

The third book in the series, Into the Riverlands swerves from the format of the previous two books. Also a standalone, the novella follows Chih as they travel across the riverlands with some unusual companions. It surprised me that instead of receiving pieces of a longer story throughout the journey, we get many smaller stories filling in the character of the people of the riverlands. I still enjoyed this quite a bit, but was not as wowed by this as I was the other two novellas. Still a very solid and enjoyable read for fans of the series.

I was so delighted to see that there was another Cleric Chih story out, and it truly didn't disappoint. Cleric Chih and their avian companion, Almost Brilliant, have headed into the Riverlands -- an area full of bandits, but also full of legends. Here, they travel with some companions who are all headed the same way: two young women (a martial artist, and the woman who manages their finances), and an older couple, a no-nonsense middle-aged woman and a quiet older man.

As they travel, the stories Chih hears about the old bandit gang, and the local heroes who overcame them, begins to intertwine with the reality of the dangers on the road and the strength of their traveling companions.

The writing is so charming, and so, so visual -- even more than the previous books, I'd love to see this one in live action, but the descriptions certainly cover that. The writing and the banter is deeply charming, and Chih is growing and changing, having to deal with the horrors of mortality in a way they haven't before.

I didn't find the twists and turns particularly surprising, but I didn't need them to; the way they paid off was satisfying regardless.

4.5/5 stars (rounded up). Thank you to NetGalley and to Tor for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This has some of the most amazing characters I've read, in such a short period of time. On another adventure with the cleric Chih, this time they aren't being told stories, but they're witnessing one in the making. Being able to see Chih in the infancy of their cleric-hood and getting used to the rumbling of the world was an experience to be on, it made me feel really sorry for them. They always manage to travel with so many interesting people.

And there were so many cool and fascinating characters in this story, so wonderfully interesting and diverse, defeating tropes we typically see in books. And even the bad ass older woman Lao Bingyi! Always thrilled with the people Chih meets.

I adored this delve into a part of the world that rowdy, lawless, and entirely held up by the community and love of others. And learning all the stories that may or may not have been about the people Chih was traveling with really just drew me into the world. And to see a legend in the making!! Ugh, Nighi Vo never disappoints and this was just an amazing addition into the Singing Hills Cycle.

Also... maybe some polyamory?? Maybe??

Can't wait for what comes next!

Such a good installment in a xuanhuan series that in this installment felt like more of a balance of wuxia and xianxia in the most delicious way.

Every installment charms me more with Chih, the monk from Singing Hills, who wanders about with Almost Brilliant, collecting stories. And falling into stories, despite not being at all warlike.

I love the details of this world, and how it resonates with really old tales that I have read in translation, while folding in a more diverse view of character--there are a lot of active women in this one, and beings that present female. And of course Chih is non-binary.

My only criticism--and it's small--is that occasionally the "they" is confusing, especially if the subject of a sentence is more than one person and not Chih, which made for frequent backtracking, especially in action bits, and at the very end. However, I think this is a function of "they" now being accepted for characters who prefer not to own a gender, rather than zie or zir, or some of the other pronoun neologisms that writers have experimented with over the past few decades. Writers learn how to differentiate "he" and "she" if there are more than one of either gender in a bit of action or scene, and that will happen as more writers get used to "they" in the singular.

That extremely minor blip aside, I adore how each installment gets more vivid, and stronger, and weirder, and queerer, while still grounded in the magic of the jianghu world. SOOOOO looking forward to more of Chih and Almost Brilliant, Chih's fine feathered companion!

I loved reading about Chih and their adventure in the riverlands. I think this novella really emphasizes the importance of stories to a culture and its people, while also wrapping the reader up in a mixture of the past and present as Chih and their travelling companions work their way through the area. A story that leaves you wanting to hear stories from everyone you meet, a good one day sort of read.

Vo’s Singing Hills series continues with rich characters and vivid storytelling. This time, the cleric Chih finds themself in the unexpected company of martial arts masters who share the same road. The stories they share and the events that unfold are riveting, fast-paced, and deeply human. I love this book!

Oh, I really, really love this series. I honestly hope there's more than 5 books in it! I could read 234878 more installments of Chih's travels and the people they meet along the way.