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The wandering Cleric Chih returns home to the Singing Hills Abbey for the first time in almost three years, to be met with both joy and sorrow. Their mentor, Cleric Thien, has died, and rests among the archivists and storytellers of the storied abbey. But not everyone is prepared to leave them to their rest. Because Cleric Thien was once the patriarch of Coh clan of Northern Bell Pass--and now their granddaughters have arrived on the backs of royal mammoths, demanding their grandfather's body for burial. Chih must somehow balance honoring their mentor's chosen life while keeping the sisters from the north from storming the gates and destroying the history the clerics have worked so hard to preserve. But as Chih and their neixin Almost Brilliant navigate the looming crisis, Myriad Virtues, Cleric Thien's own beloved hoopoe companion, grieves her loss as only a being with perfect memory can, and her sorrow may be more powerful than anyone could anticipate.… (more)
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Thoughts: This book was just as wonderful as all of the previous Singing Hills Cycle books. I love that we got to journey to Chih's home of Singing Hills Abbey in this
This book finds Chih returning to their home abbey only to find that their mentor, Cleric Thien has died. As Chih works through their anguish they end up working with Almost Brilliant to help Myraid Virtues (Cleric Thien's hoopoe) navigate her grief. Things are complicated by the gates literally being stormed by mammoths as the Coh clan demands Thien's body for burial.
I continue to love this series' focus on the importance of stories and the legacy stories leave for the rest of humanity. Chih finds some healing in going through Cleric Thien writings and helping to decide which stories will be kept in the archives and which will be kept eternally in the hoopoe's minds. The hoopoes' unique ability to remember things forever across generations is fascinating and is really explored a lot in this book. This book also looks at how different the impact a person has is to different people; Cleric Thien obviously had a huge impact on the Abbey but he also had a huge impact on the Coh clan, but in a different way.
It was a lot of fun to hear about Chih and the trouble they got into growing up at the Abbey. This gave Chih even more history and depth for the reader and getting to know some of Chih's friends at Singing Hills Abbey was a lot of fun too. There are heavy themes of change in this book as well. With Almost Brilliant having her brood and the abbey leadership moving on, everyone is dealing with both the grief and hope that change can bring.
As with all of these books, this was amazingly well written and the story was very thoughtfully woven. This is entertaining while being thought-provoking. I am always in awe at how much I enjoy these books and how much I think about them afterwards.
My Summary (5/5): Overall this was an amazing continuation of the Singing Hills Cycle. I believe (and hope) there is one more book planned for this series and I eagerly await it. I would recommend this series to everyone, but especially to those who enjoy stories about the importance of stories.
It was interesting to observe Cleric Chih without Almost Brilliant (for a short while), as well as to get such a wealth of the world building about the neixin and the Singing Hills abbey. I loved that we don't get a single story, we get a smattering of stories, contradictory and potentially allegorical as they were.
It is obvious that a significant amount of time has passed - Cleric Chih has been away long enough for other members of the order to have changed dramatically. And as such, it is interesting to reflect on how little of Chih's story we get across the four books. Each of them is such a short period of time, although there are references to other happenings, and yet years have passed.
This book was heartbreaking in its beautiful exploration of grief and loss. The emotional joy of being reunited with their neixin Almost Brilliant is tempered by Cleric Chih's deep sadness at the loss of his mentor. And Myriad Virtues, Cleric Thien's devastated hoopoe companion, grieves in a way more moving and powerful than anyone in the abbey could have imagined.
The book ends on a hopeful note and conveys a poignant new beginning for Cleric Chih and their good friend Ru.
I enjoyed the first two books in this series by Vo, and I remember them as lyrical and compelling, but I read them a few years ago and can't remember details. Therefore, I approached this novella as a fresh, stand-alone read--and I loved it.
The story could have been written in a much lighter manner, matching the tone of the series so far. Instead it leaned on the grief angle - both human and neixin (we already knew that these birds are special) - and the backstory of Chih and their friends. It is an exploration of families (both the ones you are born in and the ones you choose to be a part of) and loss. There are some bright moments so the story is not all dark and depressing and Chih shines without even trying - in the middle of personal grief, they somehow end up needing to safe the monastery and its way of life.
Almost Brilliant (and its baby!) provide the usual entertainment but even that is subdued. And of course there are the stories - for all in this world revolves around then so we get to see more of it.
The end may not have been surprising but it still manages to sound as if it may have been - there was really no other way to close that story without undoing all that was done and yet it feels like it only happened due to the stories who made it into people's heart and finally made them understand the others.
As with the rest of the series, it is a story of acceptance and of finding the way to understand the other. It probably won't work as a standalone (or it will lose a lot of its power without the rest of the series) but as a part of the cycle, it fits. And even if I appreciate the change of tone, I hope that we will be back on the road and in happier tales going forward.