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Into the Riverlands: The Singing Hills #3    by Nghi Vo Amazon.com order for
Into the Riverlands
by Nghi Vo
Order:  USA  Can
Tor, 2022 (2022)
Hardcover, e-Book
* * *   Reviewed by Hilary Williamson

Nghi Vo's Into the Riverlands follows When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain and The Empress of Salt and Fortune as the third in her excellent Singing Hills cycle, set in the empire of Ahn. Cleric Chih, who travels the empire, collecting and comparing stories, narrates their adventures. Accompanying him, and recording what happens, is rufous-striped talking bird Almost Brilliant.

This third episode takes them to the Riverlands, notorious for its martial artists. In the Running Fox inn, they encounter two young women - Wei Jintai is the small, elegant one dressed in silks and Mac Sang looks like a field worker. When a rough miner harasses the waitress, Chih intervenes and is attacked for his trouble. Wei Jintai deals with him in Southern Monkey style.

A middle-aged couple joins them - Lao Bingyi and Mac Khanh. They decide to travel west together on the foot road and share stories as they go. When they're attacked, Wei Jintai Lao Bingyi and Mac Khanh defend them. They arrive to a battle at Betony Docks, where Chih sees 'a battle between people who don't fight like people, who are what legends come from.'

Chih can't fight but his stories help too. When it all ends, Lao Bingyi tells Chih, 'Not all stories are worth telling, cleric.' This is a brilliant series, well worth following!

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