In a land that resembles Imperial China, a travelling cleric called Chih travels with their talking Hoopoe to the new empress’s first Dragon Court. Along the way she meets an old woman called Rabbit who, it turns out, was the handmaiden to the previous Empress, In-yo. Eager to record her story, Chih sits with Rabbit and listens.
This novella was lauded by the sf&f community, being awarded the Hugo Award for Best Novella in 2021 as well as being shortlisted for other awards in the field. Vo is an innovative new voice in the field. I'll be interested to see what you think of the sequel, as I didn't think it showed the innovation of this first story - which is hardly surprising. The third in the series has just been published, but I haven't gotten to it yet.
Thank you for this review. I have now ordered it.
This novella was lauded by the sf&f community, being awarded the Hugo Award for Best Novella in 2021 as well as being shortlisted for other awards in the field. Vo is an innovative new voice in the field. I'll be interested to see what you think of the sequel, as I didn't think it showed the innovation of this first story - which is hardly surprising. The third in the series has just been published, but I haven't gotten to it yet.