5/5 stars
Recommended if you like: fantasy, novellas, grief stories, character driven stories, queer characters

This review has been posted to Goodreads as of 5/5 and will be posted to Instagram on 5/23 and to my review blog on 5/24.

Another fantastic chronicle from the Singing Hills Cycle! I'm so hoping that the series expands beyond the 5 books that are currently planned because I love exploring Chih and Almost Brilliant's world!

In this story, Chih returns home for the first time in several years and finds much changed. The old Divine has recently died and Chih arrives in enough time for the interment ceremony. The death of their old mentor and the new maturity in their friend Ru results in some growing pains for Chih as they come to realize that not even the Singing Hills Abbey is immutable in time. That realization and the feelings they grapple with over it are very relatable since it pertains so much to the way friendships change and grow (or even end) as people grow older and move into different phases of their lives.

In a similar vein, Cleric Thien's (the previous Divine who died) neixin, Myriad Virtues, is grieving terribly as a result of her loss. While much of the story focuses on Chih and their relationships and feelings re: coming back to the abbey and seeing or not seeing old friends, a similar bulk of the story is dedicated to Myriad Virtues' grieving process. The way she grieves doesn't make sense to everyone around her, neixin and human alike, resulting in multiple discussions of how grief affects people differently and the strange things people do as they feel it.

The mammoths are also a part of the grieving story as they belong to two young women who were Cleric Thien's granddaughters. In opposition of the traditional practices for clerics, they want Thien's body so the can bury them in their homeland. There's a lot of debate about this and the discussion of grief is brought in here as well.

I liked getting to see the abbey and some of Chih's friends. I also liked that we get to see Almost Brilliant (she wasn't in Into the Riverlands) and that we get to meet Almost Brilliant's chick, Chiep. Chiep is definitely a personality and was quite funny, so she was an enjoyable addition to the book.

This provided some nice insight into Chih's backstory and is a good addition to the series. Vo does a good job of mixing the heavy topics with lighter moments, and it's a bit more character-led than in previous books. I was quite invested in what the characters were experiencing and sped through the book.

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

I LOVED this book. I think this is my favorite installment of this series yet - I loved that it focused more on Chih, and that we finally got to learn more about their background at the Singing Hills Abbey and the other clerics. I really appreciated how this book dealt with grief. Chih finally returns to the Singing Hills Abbey after their travels, only to learn that one of their beloved elder clerics has passed away. The way Nghi Vo deals with the complexity of grief was very well done, and I loved that this book was more emotionally-driven rather than action-driven like the other installments of this series. I love the worldbuilding of the Abbey and the idea of the neixin birds who are the clerics' companions.

I will never stop recommending this series! 5 stars.

tl;dr 3.5 rounded up to 4

This wasn't my favorite of the Singing Hills Cycle, but it was still very good. Unlike the first three novellas, which focus on world-building and collecting stories from around the fantastical world Chih lives in, MAMMOTHS AT THE GATES is more introspective: we learn how the clerics grieve, how they honor their dead, and the different facets of a person throughout their long life.

Cleric Chih returns home to the Singing Hills Abbey to find both home and himself changed. I loved that this novella focused on Chih's background and the stories were related to those he knows. I really enjoyed havig more time with Almost Brilliant and learning more about the other neixim.

I think this addition might be my favourite of the series thus far and I'm not entirely sure why!

This novella just captured me from the start, I was so thrilled to be back in this world with Cleric Chih and Almost Brilliant as we followed new important messages and found new (and old) characters to adore.

I think my favourite thing about these little novellas is how much heart, love and hope can be packed into so few pages.

Especially as this one had an extra layer of tension at the beginning (much like the others but this felt BETTER). I loved it. I hope there are many more of these stories to come!! Whether you need hope or something just entirely philosophical - these books will have a message you'll need to read.

Thank you to TorDotCom and NetGalley for giving me an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Mammoths at the Gate is easily my favorite installment out of all four Singing Hills Cycle books. The reader is finally taken to the Singing Hills Abbey for the first time in the series, and we get a glimpse of Chih’s life before they began traveling. We also get to learn more about the neixin, the companions of the Clerics, who act as recorders for stories.

Being remembered after death is a subject matter that I always love reading about. So this story, with its Neixin and their infallible memories, and a whole Abbey dedicated to preserving information, was particularly important. I loved how they dealt with the grief and the preservation of memory after a beloved community member passed.

I highly recommend reading Mammoths at the Gate when it releases on September 12, 2023. Thank you again to Tor and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this early.

Thankyou to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group, Tordotcom for a free e-arc in exchange of an honest review.

Iv previously only read the first of the Singing Hills series and felt that it didnt matter that i hadnt gotten round to the other 2 before this one as it takes place within the same world but can be read as a standalone.

Nghi Vo has a colourful and descriptive writing style and writes her characters and their relationships beautifully. This book explores grief and companionship really well and ill definitely be continuing with the series

I love this short story series by Nghi Vo. This particular installment may be my favorite as it touches on grief and letting go. What I love about this book is that it combines Asian culture with mystical beasts and creatures, important themes and morals, and an interesting narrative voice.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

I love this series so much. Cleric Chih returns back home to this one, which made me happy because we get to learn more about them and see Almost Brillant again. I couldn't get enough. Nghi Vo is an auto-read author for me at this point I think. If you liked the previous ones in the series, you like/love this one.

5/5

Amazingly vivid experience. I jumped into this not knowing anything about the series but I was sucked in and I bought the other books. Can’t wait to read more!

When Cleric Chih finally returns to the Singing Hills, they find a small army and a few battle-ready mamoths preparing to lay siege to their home. The mammoth riders have come to claim the body of their grandfather, Cleric Thien, now that they have passed, but the Singing Hills are reluctant to give up one of their own.

With each Singing Hills Cycle novella, Nghi Vo uses oral storytelling from various sources in order to weave her tale. The subjects become mythic yet human, the many facets of their character revealed through the different lives they've touched. In Mammoths at the Gates, however, the stories are told about Cleric Thien, someone much closer to Chih's heart, and so the emotions feel more grounded.

It's a softer story than some of the previous entries in this series, but a fitting end to this series (if it ends up being the last book). I really enjoyed getting to explore the lore of the Singing Hills, finally, and man do I love the birds.

This was another brilliant addition to the Singing Hills Cycle series.
This instalment was less action driven than the previous one, instead Nghi Vo went with a more emotional plot that focuses on grief.
I loved this novella and I wish I could read the next one already. And the one after that. And… okay, I’ll stop here.

Another stunning edition to the Singing Hills. Mammoths at the Gates focuses on loss and love, and how people are a composite of stories that you can't truly know. Overall a beautiful tale of loss and grief told through Vo's amazing story telling ability.

Another great entry in the Singing Hills series, made even better by finally giving us a glimpse of Chih's home monastery. They return home to sad news however, their mentor has died, and their granddaughters are at the gates demanding their body be returned to the family. The focus this time is on Chih's mentor and their life and ties to those around them, and how things change. Chih is often thrown off in this book, their best friend has changed a lot and it seems like the four years Chih was gone has made a much bigger difference than they expected. Alongside this crisis, the aviary, home to the neixin birds that help record history and stories, is in a state of anxiety due to the grief of Myriad Virtues, companion to Chih's former mentor. I enjoyed this entry, it was an interesting change of pace given how fast-paced the previous entry was, and I look forward to seeing more from this series.

Mammoths at the Gates is a deeply moving, beautiful, and all too relatable story of the grief caused by losing a loved one. The characters expressions of sorrow and anger left off the page!

As with all the titles in this series I felt all the emotions. Joy at Chih and Almost Brilliant's reunion, sadness over their losses, pain over the grief felt by Myriad Virtues, and laughter over the beautiful and infectious innocence of Chiep. I was thrilled to finally see inside the Abbey after all the mentions of it in the earlier books. Nghi Vo continues to right these books in a way that pulls in the reader, embeds you in a world with just the right amount of detail, yet leaves you craving more.

4.5 stars. I adore this series. I could read a dozen more novellas set in this world, so I hope that Vo doesn’t see an ending point anytime soon. We finally learn more about Singing Hills and the neixin! After Cleric Chih recording the stories of his travels for the last three installments, it was deeply moving for the story to occupy a place closer to home. Bring tissues because I cried buckets.

Disclaimer: I received a free e-ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.