Review: When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo

When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo is an adult fantasy follow up to her book The Empress of Salt and Fortune. This series feels very much like reading a fairytale; the atmosphere of the series is really impeccable. The series is linear, but I don't think you have to pick them up in order. Each book follows Chih, a cleric who collects stories for their organization Singing Hills. This installment in the north in the mountains during winter riding a mammoth until they stop for the night with their guide and an injured man, Chih is forced to tell a story to a trio of hungry tigers. The story Chih knows and the version the tigers know differ, which adds an extra level of danger to the night.

The Empress of Salt and Fortune was one of my favorite books I read last year; it ensured I will be following Nghi Vo's career through whatever she writes. So I was very excited to get to this book.

I did have to reread the beginning of the book three times, I haven't seen literally anyone else with this issue, but I was so confused by the opening two chapters. I read the first 70 pages at the beginning of January, then restarted the book today and had a much better reading experience this go around. I think the way action is written in this book just didn't really gel with my brain for some reason. I don't the story overall is confusing, and I didn't find book one at all confusing, but it seemed notable to mention my confusion here.

The story Chih tells the tigers and her companion Si-yu is so interesting. I love the way Chih tells the side they are familiar with, then the tiger's version follows; the structure of this story is really wonderful. Seeing the differences in one story is an excellent narrative choice. Essentially you are hearing two different people groups' version of the same star-crossed lover's tale. The contention in the book is that each story makes the other group out to have been the badly behaved or villainous one.

I wasn't quite as emotionally connected to this story, but I was just as interested and just as struck by the absolutely beautiful language. If you want to be blown away by prose, run, don't walk to Nghi Vo's work. In particular, Vo's description is stunning; there is a scene about halfway through the book in a ghost-ridden house that floored me. I wish I had been reading this with a highlighter or pencil handy; so much of this book is beautiful.

I gave this book 4 stars on Goodreads and The StoryGraph. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes short fantasy, wants normalized queer stories, or values incredible atmosphere. I am deeply hopeful that The Singing Hills Cycle will have more installments, and I will certainly read whatever Vo publishes next.