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The empress of salt and fortune

The empress of salt and fortune

NovellaFantasyHigh Fantasy
Pages
121
Published
2020
Language
English

Synopsis

A young royal from the far north is sent south for a political marriage in an empire reminiscent of imperial China. Alone and sometimes reviled, she must choose her allies carefully. Rabbit, a handmaiden, befriends the emperor's lonely new wife and gets more than she bargained for. This evocative debut follows the rise of the empress In-yo, who will bend history to her will and bring down her enemies, piece by piece.

Prose complexity
7/10

Vibe

AtmosphericThought-ProvokingComplex
Court IntrigueRevengeFish Out of Water

Genres

Fantasy High Fantasy

About the author

N
Nghi Vo

Nghi Vo was born December 4, 1981, in Peoria, Illinois, and lives on the shores of Lake Michigan. Her short fiction has appeared in Strange Horizons, Uncanny Magazine, PodCastle, Lightspeed, and Fireside. Her debut novella, The Empress of Salt and Fortune, opened the Singing Hills Cycle and won the 2021 Hugo Award for Best Novella and the Crawford Award; the series follows a wandering cleric collecting stories across an empire modeled on classical Asian court drama. She has also written the nove...

Characters

In-yoProtagonist

A northern princess sent south for a political marriage who survives exile and quietly builds the network that lets her overthrow her husband and take the throne herself.

ChihProtagonist

A nonbinary cleric of the Singing Hills monastery who travels with the memory bird Almost Brilliant, recording the dead empress's true history from the servant who knew her.

Emperor of Pine and SteelAntagonist

The emperor who marries In-yo to secure the north, then has her sterilized and exiled to a remote palace once she has given him an heir.

Rabbit (Singing Hills Cycle)Supporting

An elderly former palace handmaiden, sold into service as a child, who became the exiled empress's closest confidante and is now the one telling her story to Chih.

Almost BrilliantSupporting

A talking hoopoe with a perfect memory who accompanies Cleric Chih and formally witnesses the oral history being recorded.

All characters in The empress of salt and fortune

Frequently asked questions

  • Do I need to read the other books in the Singing Hills Cycle first?

    This book is the first entry in the Singing Hills Cycle, and because each installment features standalone stories linked primarily by the character of Cleric Chih, they can be read in any order.

  • What is the significance of the cataloged objects mentioned in the story?

    The narrative is structured around a series of physical artifacts that Cleric Chih discovers, with each object serving as a focal point for Rabbit to recount specific memories that piece together the Empress's history.

  • Has this book received any major literary recognition?

    It is the winner of the 2021 Hugo Award for Best Novella and the Crawford Award.

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