The Empress of Salt and Fortune (The Singing Hills #1) by Nghi Vo

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A young royal from the far north is sent south for a political marriage in an empire reminiscent of imperial China. Her brothers are dead, her armies and their war mammoths long defeated and caged behind their borders. Alone and sometimes reviled, she must choose her allies carefully.

Rabbit, a handmaiden, sold by her parents to the palace for the lack of five baskets of dye, befriends the emperor's lonely new wife and gets more than she bargained for.

At once feminist high fantasy and an indictment of monarchy, this evocative debut follows the rise of the empress In-yo, who has few resources and fewer friends. She's a northern daughter in a mage-made summer exile, but she will bend history to her will and bring down her enemies, piece by piece.
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First line:
"Something wants to eat you," called Almost Brilliant from her perch in a nearby tree, "and I shall not be sorry if it does."
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Source:
Paperback
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Rating:
4 tales out of 5
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This novella was a great read! I loved getting to experience the story as Chih does, an outsider gaining new knowledge and having the read between the lines to hear the unsaid. The Empress of Salt and Fortune is a quick read but has a lot of depth to it. When I see a book labeled as fantasy, I automatically am expecting magic and world building and mythical creatures. This book is not that. The magic is subtle and came through more as you got farther into the novella. I definitely recommend this book!



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