![]() ![]() ![]() Like the story itself, the significance of these chapter starters eluded me. The most detailed descriptions are of the objects described at the start of each chapter (Like ch10: “Tin shrine token: badger with one paw raised…” or ch2: “robe: silk, silk thread, ruby bead, green background embroidered with darker green leaves…”). Add in the confusion of the cleric Chih being unevenly called “she” on occasion and “they” more often than not, and it took effort to read between the vague lines of this story to see the picture hidden behind the shoji screen. Magic’s role is little more than myth and prophecy. Nghi Vo is the author of the novels Siren Queen and The Chosen and the Beautiful, as well as the acclaimed novellas When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain and The Empress of Salt and Fortune, a Locus and Ignyte Award finalist and the winner of the Crawford Award and the Hugo Award. ![]() Much of the novella is told by indirect references to things, from two characters coupling to the disappearance of this, that, or the other woman. Overall, I loved the mood, liked the concept, but got a little lost in the execution. I realize haikus are from a different Asian venue… but the novella itself mixes themes like feudal Asia, fantasy and modern gender monikers, so I feel like the simile works. ![]()
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