Into the Riverlands (The Singing Hills Cycle #3) by Nghi Vo

The Empress of Salt and Fortune (Singing Hills Cycle #1)
When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain (Singing Hills Cycle #2) 

Into the Riverlands is the third entry in The Singing Hills Cycle by Nghi Vo. These are short novellas all linked together by the cleric Chih wandering around gathering up stories. Into the Riverlands was not my favorite of the novellas, but is still great writing and storytelling and is just a great yarn.

In these 100 pages, Chih is in the riverlands to gather stories of the martial artists from the region. They run into a pair of young women, one of whom seems to be quite proficient in martial arts, and an older couple and they all travel together. Along the way, as you can imagine, there are cultural exchanges of information, action scenes, and Almost Brilliant, the hoopoe who knows all the stories.  We're really so lucky to have Vo as a modern writer of fantasy.

4.5/5 stars

Line of note:

"And in the stories, at least, if a woman is not beautiful, then of course she must be ugly if she is there at all," Sang said, rolling her eyes...(page 28)

Vo's meta-commentary on storytelling is not always subtle. Ha!