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horizonous's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Murder, and Xenophobia
Minor: Child death, Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Sexual content, and Suicide
jjjreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Fatphobia, Grief, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Abandonment, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Death of parent, Murder, Trafficking, Classism, and Slavery
Moderate: Body shaming, Suicide, Pregnancy, and Colonisation
Minor: War and Violence
tinyelfarcanist's review against another edition
inspiring
mysterious
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
This is, undoubtedly, a feminist tale.
There is a story on the books, of the emperor of Anh coming to In-Yo in a dream and pressing a seed into her belly. It is the story that the people of Anh like a great deal, about the great virility of their rulers and how they reach out in their sleep or in death, and it isn't as if the history books aren't full of such things.
In such a short format, the author packs a fleshed-out world you want to delve into. Passing characters leave a mark and the story being told from the past is even more engaging than the present.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, Misogyny, and Sexism
Moderate: Slavery, Kidnapping, War, Abandonment, Pregnancy, Racism, Violence, and Sexual content
Minor: Infidelity
rorikae's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
'The Empress of Salt and Fortune' is an evocative and beautifully written novella that follows a cleric cataloging a house by a distant lake and learning the story of its inhabitant in the process.
Cleric Chi arrives at a recently declassified lake and stumbles upon a woman named Rabbit who lives in a house on the lake's shore. Rabbit invites Chi into her home and begins to tell her story of how she came to live on this lake and her friendship with the woman that would become the Empress of Salt and Fortune. Her story unfolds as Chi catalogs the contents of her house and Rabbit explains how each piece harkens back to her past.
Nghi Vo is such a wonderful writer. Her prose is lush and evocative. Pairing that with a well paced story that unfolds through the items in a house, results in a wonderful novella. We get to learn about Rabbit's past through the items and in the process we get a sense for the people that she once knew. At the same time, Vo utilizes Chi's commentary about the items and how they interact with Rabbit to further flesh out their background as well.
I will be interested to see if the subsequent stories build off of Rabbit's story and the political history of the world or if they will each be their own standalone story as Chi travels. Either way, I can't wait to read what comes next. This is another of the recent Tor novella series that have been some of my favorite things to read.
Cleric Chi arrives at a recently declassified lake and stumbles upon a woman named Rabbit who lives in a house on the lake's shore. Rabbit invites Chi into her home and begins to tell her story of how she came to live on this lake and her friendship with the woman that would become the Empress of Salt and Fortune. Her story unfolds as Chi catalogs the contents of her house and Rabbit explains how each piece harkens back to her past.
Nghi Vo is such a wonderful writer. Her prose is lush and evocative. Pairing that with a well paced story that unfolds through the items in a house, results in a wonderful novella. We get to learn about Rabbit's past through the items and in the process we get a sense for the people that she once knew. At the same time, Vo utilizes Chi's commentary about the items and how they interact with Rabbit to further flesh out their background as well.
I will be interested to see if the subsequent stories build off of Rabbit's story and the political history of the world or if they will each be their own standalone story as Chi travels. Either way, I can't wait to read what comes next. This is another of the recent Tor novella series that have been some of my favorite things to read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Grief, and Pregnancy
moonytoast's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
short but very lovely, a great bite-sized fantasy story about the big and small moments of history and the winding journey of a once-exiled empress from the north to becoming the sole monarch
Content Warnings
Moderate: War, Death, Violence, and Grief
Minor: Pregnancy
loverofeels's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
fascinating story and beautiful writing, but i found it hard to get through for some reason even though it was very short and not particularly dense?
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Pregnancy, Violence, War, and Suicide
thereaderfriend's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Nghi Vo managed to expertly tell a story in a story of a oppressed woman who overthrew a patriarchal empire. Rabbit, a humble handmaiden sold by her parents to the palace for the lack of 5 packets of dye, tells the story of how In-Yo, an exiled princess turned to amazing empress, conquered what saw so little of them, to a servile cleric. Rabbit also gets taken advantage of but is redeemed with a great outcome, as well as In-Yo with her amazing overcoming. Also appreciated how Chih, the cleric, responded to learning this lesson. They were so kind and earnest about how they saw this story and how it would affect Chih's career.
Some fav quotes:
"Accuracy above all things. You will never remember the great if you do not remember the small."
"How do you live with it watching you? .. As you live with anything, I suspect. You bear it, or you end it."
"Time is the thing. I want time to get the words right. To do proper honor to those who died. I don't want them to be ashamed when others speak about them. But I know that there is only so much time left, and it will never be perfect. "
"... if a record cannot be perfect, it should at least be present. Better for it to exist than for it to be perfect and only in your mind."
"Angry mothers raise daughters fierce enough to fight wolves."
Some fav quotes:
"Accuracy above all things. You will never remember the great if you do not remember the small."
"How do you live with it watching you? .. As you live with anything, I suspect. You bear it, or you end it."
"Time is the thing. I want time to get the words right. To do proper honor to those who died. I don't want them to be ashamed when others speak about them. But I know that there is only so much time left, and it will never be perfect. "
"... if a record cannot be perfect, it should at least be present. Better for it to exist than for it to be perfect and only in your mind."
"Angry mothers raise daughters fierce enough to fight wolves."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, War, and Death
Moderate: Pregnancy and Grief
Minor: Suicide, Infertility, and Murder
cheye13's review
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Misogyny, Abandonment, and Death
Moderate: Murder, Grief, Infertility, Pregnancy, Violence, War, and Medical trauma
Minor: Suicide, Sexual content, and Homophobia
aardwyrm's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Lovely prose, clever pacing with few pages, lively characters, and awesome worldbuilding, and it all comes together with elegant craft.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Colonisation, Death, Violence, Suicide, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Medical content, Blood, and War