Nghi Vo

"Dangerous, subtle, unexpected and familiar, angry and ferocious and hopeful. . . . The Empress of Salt and Fortune is a remarkable accomplishment of storytelling."—NPR The cleric Chih finds themself and their companions at the mercy of a band of fierce tigers who ache with hunger. To stay alive until the mammoths can save them, Chih must unwind the intricate, layered story of the tiger and her scholar lover—a woman of courage, intelligence, and beauty—and discover how truth can survive becoming history. Nghi Vo returns to the empire of Ahn and The Singing Hills Cycle in When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain, a mesmerizing, lush standalone follow-up to The Empress of Salt and Fortune. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain

Marz 

They lived well-fed until they were only bones, and even their bones were happy, turning white and sharp as teeth in the moonlight.

When you love a thing too much, it is a special kind of pain to show it to others and to see that it is lacking.

Now your departure crashes like a thunder, and the timbers of the house shake with the force of the space you left behind.

Mari

Sarah Sammis

These books aren't plot heavy, at least if one is expecting Chih to be the main character. Instead, they are mostly a framing device for a series of interconnected tiger themed stories. The conceit being, if Chih can get the stories right (or at least make them entertaining) the tigers will let everyone live.

This book is a good read alike for anyone one enjoyed The Raconteur's Commonplace Book by Kate Milford (2021).

http://pussreboots.com/blog/2023/comm...

Such a good idea to have depicted tigers this way! I enjoyed this book even more than “the empress of salt and fortune”. 

I also liked the narrative, with each part of story retold from the other characters’ perspective. 

Barbara

Such a good idea to have depicted tigers this way! I enjoyed this book even more than “the empress of salt and fortune”. 

I also liked the narrative, with each part of story retold from the other characters’ perspective. 

Michaela Hudson

If you see me go back to re read The Empress of Salt and Fortune it's probably bc I might have under appreciated it since I prefered the plot of that one to this. But that sapphic yearning tho... EXQUISITE.

Kaplan Dagdan Inince

feza

konusunu fazla irdelemeden aldığım her kitabın sapphic çıkması bir işaret olmalı diye düşünmeye başlıyorum

These books are so vividly beautiful, I love every page I read. If I say anything else, then this review will end up being an essay so I’ll leave it at that. 

Floofyflower

Boothby

Perfect sleek hungry tigers. If they wanted to eat me, I'd have no choice but to go, "As you wish, Madam. Fair enough"

dija

So captivating and lyrical, loved how the stories are woven together!!

Janice Hopper

A lovely little story about a storyteller, a trip, and a trio of tigers.

I enjoyed every word of this. And make sure you get your story correct, or the tigers will have to correct it for you!

The charming characters and subtle politics of 

 are notably absent here, and while the former is sorely missed, the latter is more than made up for by 

's fascinating exploration of stories and their inherent inconsistencies from teller to teller. And perhaps unsurprisingly, 

 once again seduces with its prose reminiscent of the sweetest of fairytales.

Nathaniel Washington

The charming characters and subtle politics of The Empress of Salt and Fortune are notably absent here, and while the former is sorely missed, the latter is more than made up for by When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain's fascinating exploration of stories and their inherent inconsistencies from teller to teller. And perhaps unsurprisingly, The Singing Hills Cycle once again seduces with its prose reminiscent of the sweetest of fairytales.

Stephanie Ridiculous

Holy smokes not at all what I was expecting for book 2 & it was so much better than I hoped.

I cannot reccomend this series enough!

Dee B. 

"Dangerous, subtle, unexpected and familiar, angry and ferocious and hopeful. . . . The Empress of Salt and Fortune is a remarkable accomplishment of storytelling."—NPR The cleric Chih finds themself and their companions at the mercy of a band of fierce tigers who ache with hunger. To stay alive until the mammoths can save them, Chih must unwind the intricate, layered story of the tiger and her scholar lover—a woman of courage, intelligence, and beauty—and discover how truth can survive becoming history. Nghi Vo returns to the empire of Ahn and The Singing Hills Cycle in this mesmerizing, lush standalone follow-up to The Empress of Salt and Fortune.

Lia Yuliana

Update 17/10/2021

Find my reviews on :  An Ode to Fiction
Official Release Date : 8th December 2020
Buy the book :
 Amazon |  Book Depository

4/5 ⭐️


  
    When you love a thing too much, it is a special kind of pain to show it to others and to see that it is lacking.
  


When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain is the continuation of The Singing Hills Cycle series by Nghi Vo following the amazing first book The Empress of Salt and Fortune. In this sequel we follow cleric Chih as she prepares to go on a snowy trek with their guide. During the travel they found an attack which lead to them being cornered by a band of hungry tigers. This band of hungry tigers then gave Chih and her companion a chance by listening to a story and correcting the recorded history of a legendary story that even tigers know of. 

Nghi Vo did it again! This novella succeeded in impressing me yet again with Vo's exquisite writing and amazing prose that left me floored. It is stunning, atmospheric, and immersive with every page I read that I didn't want it to end. Cleric Chih showed a new side to them in this sequel that made me love them even more. Their curiosity, quick thinking, and impulsive acts truly pulled me into their orbit. The side characters also left an impression on me from the guide, to the mammoth, and the band of tigers. But what I love about Nghi Vo is that they manage to contain a story within a story that is also as stunning as the main story. The story being told in this novella is equally as tragic, full of yearning, and longing but doesn't carry the same weight as the first book for me. Personally, I am biased towards The Empress of Salt and Fortune but I still extend my highest praise for When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain as it is a well written and beautiful novella that everyone should definitely read. 


  
    “I am yours, and so I will be your light and your laughter. I am yours, so open your eyes to look at me, and open your mouth so that I may kiss it. I am yours, I am yours, and nevermore will I leave.”
  


Final thoughts, When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain is a promising sequel to an amazing first book that have exceeded my expectations. Vo's highly addicting prose, narrative, and absolute masterful skill in compacting an amazing story within these few pages is remarkable beyond belief. Let's say Nghi Vo has found a new stan. For those who are looking for any short fantasy books to read that packs a punch with compelling characters I highly recommend this series for you to read.

mighty dragon 

I love it I love it I love it

upon reading the first one, i thought the story is so calming and heartbreakingly beautiful. this one was more... exciting and thrilling. and i'm beyond amazed how Nghi Vo could write two books in one series but with different feelings. it was so so great.

Naty Corbett

I enjoyed this book even more than the previous one! One of the few things I had against the first book was how the characters seemed very rigid, even when we weren't being told an old story. Whereas in this book the characters felt more alive and dynamic in a way that drew me even more into the story and helped me get more deeply attached to the characters easily. 
I loved the character of Si-yu; her confidence, humour, and her all around attitude left me wanting to learn more about her.
Plus the differing love story of the Tiger and Dieu, AMAZING!

Sarahi

Really engaging story and easier to follow than the last. The storytelling is great and I love how we get two versions of the tale as we read along.

just as beautifully written as the first part. i found this story very atmospheric and cinematic. i would recommend for anyone who may be looking for a dynamic and interesting quick little read.

jana

i didn’t think it was possible for me to love this any more than i already did but oh my GOD when the “if you bring me out of this place, i will share every meal that i ever have with you. i will let you eat first from every dish and drink first from every cup.” hits!!!!! (i have many many thoughts but. scream <3)

Francis Buggey

3.75 

this wasn’t as good as i expected :/

Leia Douglas

Another 3.5 stars…I think. I don’t know why I am having such a hard time comprehending these books, but there’s still something I like about them. I’ll probably try them again later and hope I’m less dumb then.

Pallavi Kosunam

Beautifully told story within a story. I loved every bit of it, the tension in the present and the poetry of the tale. 
Definitely pick up if you like storytelling and how truth and memory affects storytelling.

Antonia Sonntag 

liked this better than the first one actually 

Sahi K

After loving Empress of Salt and Fortune earlier in the year and just wanting more of the story, I was very excited when I saw the announcement for this sequel and even more happy when I got the ARC. And this one turned out to be even better than I thought. 

I think I did the right thing listening to the audiobook of the first book just last week, because it refreshed my memory of this world and it made me feel connected to this story immediately. As storytelling forms the main narrative of this novella, the author uses her poetic and beautiful writing style to weave a story within a story, while also keeping up the tension taut and us readers hooked to every single word. I was lost to the mesmerizing words and didn’t even realize that the book was almost over. The book is quite fast paced, the story that Chih is narrating builds up slowly and I was quite excited to know what was gonna happen next, and all characters had very interesting personalities. The banter between them was also absolutely perfect and I had such a fun time reading the book even when it was intense. 

I loved the themes that the author was trying to convey with this narrative. I have found many books in recent times deal with the concept of truth and fact, whose truth gets to be told as history and passed on across generations, and what other narratives are lost. In a similar vein, the author here tries to showcase how the same history of a scholar/Tiger couple can be told in different ways based on who is doing the narrating, and the version which gets archived for posterity depends on who controls the scholarly domain. I think this is very relevant to our current times as well and I enjoyed the way the author imparts us this message through the narration of a love story. 

To conclude, this novella is storytelling at its finest, very captivating in tone, and beautiful in the imagery. I’m now more in love with this world and the author than I was before, and I hope we get more books in the Singing Hills series. And if you are someone who loves stories, you just can’t miss this masterpiece.

Jennifer

When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain is an intriguing and more intimate follow-up to The Empress of Salt and Fortune. Nghi Vo's signature style storytelling - the layered stories told in the style of fables & folklores, shines yet again in the second installment of The Singing Hills Cycle that had me crunching through the entirety of novella in a single sitting. 

Thanks to the clever storytelling and concepts, it wasn't a struggle to indulge the entire novella in one go. I'll highlight the strengths of When the Riger Came Down the Mountain briefly in the following section.

+ The storytelling. I found the layered stories pretty intriguing. These stories parallel each other and explore the emotional complexity of queer romance. I also found that the stories helped flesh out the lush worldbuilding.

+ Worldbuilding. When the Riger Came Down the Mountain adds more depth in the lush South East Asian inspired worldbuilding. I really enjoyed the imageries from the previous novella. I think by focusing on the tigers: its symbolism and the stories revolving around them - enhanced the worldbuilding through the novella.

+ Central themes. This follows from the emotional exploration of the romance Chih recounted. The main focus of the novella is centred around the intense romance between the tiger and the scholar: the affection, infatuation, and lust. There's a quote that I really loved in the novella (shown below), which illustrates the painful side of being in an intense relationship. 

"When you love a thing too much, it is a special kind of pain to show it to others and to see that it is lacking."

On the other hand, I do think there are a few notable shortcomings in the novella. If I compare the two novellas, this one felt slightly less impressive.

- As with the previous installment, When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain suffers from the common novella pitfall. There aren't enough opportunities for me to fully warm up to the new characters being introduced. I also think the lack of fleshing out leads to the ending feeling slightly rushed.

- On thing that I found less impressive in this novella is the absence of political tension. Essentially, this novella is quite heavily focused on the romance and the relevant emotions than anything else. Personally, heavy romance is a really big hit or a miss - there needs to be sufficient character development for me to fully engage in the story but I didn't think the new characters are sufficiently fleshed out. 

Despite my concerns, I nevertheless found Nghi Vo's 2nd installment of The Singing Hills Cycle quite a fun and refreshing read. I would certainly look out for any future novellas in the series.

When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain

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