The Empress of Salt and Fortune

I picked this up as I wanted to contine my reading of Asian-themed books after The Water Outlaws, but wanted something short. Getting talked to by my supe for reading on the job is the main reason I didn't finish this sooner.

Its casually queer, has a rich world, and an interesting story telling method of following Cleric Chih ("Cheech"?) inspecting the items of the place, their own observations, and the Flashbacks from Rabbit gave the whole book a good feel.

Well worth a read.

I had been wondering about this series for a while - how is it possible to read the books in any order? I believe I understand that better now. I this one, a lot of the world is laid out sort of in the background with the help of the framing story and the story told by Rabbit. A lot is left unsaid but still adds layers to the world and the narrative. I especially liked how each chapter began with objects that were then given meaning and context. While I felt that this story was perhaps a bit too short to really get to know the characters I'm interested in reading the other books in the series.

I love the basic premise of this book: telling a story about a tough, resourceful woman through the framing of an archivist going through objects in her house and getting context for them as flashbacks. It's beautifully written, and the Empress is a compelling character. But somehow the world didn't manage to draw me in. I'm honestly not sure if that's any fault of the book, or just that I'm a bit saturated with new fictional worlds having read a lot of fantasy this year.

– which, in case you were unsure, is a good thing, because you can enjoy peeling away fine layer after fine layer from the story Nghi Vo so intricately wrapped for you. The experience is, there is no other word for it, exquisite.