Series: The Singing Hills Cycle #2
Published by Tordotcom on December 8, 2020
Genres: Fantasy, Novella
Pages: 128
Format: Paperback
Source: Library
…it was a story told by humans who never heard it from a tiger.
In this second book of Nghi Vo’s The Singing Hills Cycle, Cleric Chih continues their journey to collect stories. Chih’s travels have taken them to the cold north of the Anh Empire. Seeking safe passage through the Kihir Pass, they enlist the aid of mammoth scout Si-yu and her partner, the mammoth Piluk. On the way, however, they find themselves at the mercy of three tiger sisters, who desire to eat them. To buy time for rescue, Chih narrates the story of the tiger Ho Thi Thao and Dieu, her scholar lover. But every story has two sides. As Chih recounts the version they heard growing up, the tigers interject with their own version of the tale.
Once again, Nghi Vo immerses readers in a fully realized world within the short time. She does this with subtle ease through casual references to details from history, allusions to fictional characters, and tantalizing descriptions of food, all of which suggests the presence of a larger world. I love how she gives us just enough to make us curious without feeling the need to explain herself. These places, people, and cultural elements simply exist.
In the time since the first book, Almost Brilliant has laid a clutch of eggs and is absent, for she must sit on them. While no one can replace the tongue-in-cheek neixin, we have, in her place, Si-yu to offer commentary and ask questions as a third-party audience to the story being told. Si-yu is strong, opinionated, personable. She’s rough around the edges, but fiercely protective and loyal. I especially liked her relationship with Piluk.
Like book 1, When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain invites the reader to question how stories are told. In The Empress of Salt and Fortune, the handmaiden Rabbit is a biased narrator who has spent her life protecting Empress In-yo’s secrets. When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain presents two versions of events: the version that humans tell, and the version that the tigers tell. Both people groups have motivation to present their people in a better light. As a result, while both stories maintain the core elements of Ho Thi Thao and Dieu’s story, certain details are changed, leading to contradictions.
This leads to the question of who has the right telling of the story? The humans or the tigers? Or perhaps both versions have been distorted over time in the telling, and neither have the full truth. As the heroines of the story are long gone, we can only make our best guess—or follow Cleric Chih’s example and lay the two side-by-side to let future readers judge the truth for themselves.
They can talk, and now they’ve seen that we can … that means that they’ll treat us like people.
In a way, When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain is also a story of manners. While tigers and other supernatural creatures are depicted as terrifying beings who wouldn’t hesitate to devour humans, some are shown to abide by rules. If treated as people, they will reciprocate in kind, though they may reserve the right to slay the guest that displeases them.
When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain is a wonderful addition to The Singing Hills Cycle. I look forward to the next book in this novella series and, honestly, to anything else that Nghi Vo puts out!
Representation
Nonbinary (main character), lesbian (side characters)
Let’s Chat
Have you read When The Tiger Came Down the Mountain or plan to read it?
What are your thoughts?
Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight says
I totally agree with you on this one! I loved it, perhaps even more than the first one, and the author has such an incredibly unique and lovely sense of storytelling!
Crystal says
Yes! Nghi Vo has a lovely sense of storytelling!