Into the Riverlands (The Singing Hills Cycle #3)

Into the Riverlands (The Singing Hills Cycle #3)
Nghi Vo, 2022

Premise: Cleric Chih and Almost Brilliant travel into the riverlands, where the people tell tales while legends walk the roads. 

I wasn't sure, at first, whether I liked this third novella as much as the first two in this series. I ended up reading it a second time, and while I still don't love it quite as wholeheartedly, it is a great book.

This one is more about how stories are retold and twisted. The other characters Chih travels with either inspired great tales long ago or will inspire them in the future, but the stories that are told are far from reality and overlap in unexpected ways. At the same time, the stories still have value, both in themselves and in what each says about the teller. There's a lot to investigate and unravel here if you have a mind to.

There's adventure and horror on the road as well as quiet moments for the characters, each of whom is fascinating. 

The world gets more complicated and more beautiful and more terrible with each story and each little aside. I look eagerly forward to the next work in this series. 

4 Stars - A Very Good Book