EMPRESS OF SALT AND FORTUNE - Nghi Vo

5 stars

Stellar. I went in with no expectations and was blown away with its brief perfection.

Pacing: ★★★★★
Characters: ★★★★★
Story: ★★★★★

Now HERE'S what I'm talking about - this is why I read Tor.com novellas.

The Empress of Salt and Fortune is, simply put, the perfect speculative/fantasy novella. This review will be extremely short and sweet, as to be honest I'd rather you read the novella than read my poor retelling of it here. Go read it!

This story is really two layered stories in one. On the surface layer is a traveling cleric named Chih, whose job it is to remember their nation's histories and to observe their present surroundings for the purpose of recording it for the histories. Clerics in this world are essentially history keepers, and they are aided in their quest by magical bird companions with observation and memory skills.

Chih and their magical bird companion, Almost Brilliant, come across an elderly woman in a dwelling on their way to a different location. The elder's name is Rabbit, and she has a story to tell.

The story within the story is Rabbit's tale, which includes the story of an empress and her secrets.

As history keepers, Chih and Almost Brilliant are immediately drawn to this woman and her tale. But all is not what it seems, and some histories are buried for a reason...

My thoughts:
Keeping it brief: perfection.
A note on the best way to read: This novella is best read, not listened to, as the narrative transitions are made more explicit with the breaking of paragraphs on the page and are not noted within the text itself at all.