The Empress of Salt and Fortune Audiobook By Nghi Vo cover art

The Empress of Salt and Fortune

Singing Hills Cycle, Book 1

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The Empress of Salt and Fortune

By: Nghi Vo
Narrated by: Cindy Kay
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About this listen

With the heart of an Atwood tale and the visuals of a classic Asian period drama, Nghi Vo's The Empress of Salt and Fortune is a tightly and lushly written narrative about empire, storytelling, and the anger of women.

A young royal from the far north, is sent south for a political marriage in an empire reminiscent of imperial China. Her brothers are dead, her armies and their war mammoths long defeated and caged behind their borders. Alone and sometimes reviled, she must choose her allies carefully.

Rabbit, a handmaiden, sold by her parents to the palace for the lack of five baskets of dye, befriends the emperor's lonely new wife and gets more than she bargained for.

At once feminist high fantasy and an indictment of monarchy, this evocative debut follows the rise of the empress In-yo, who has few resources and fewer friends. She's a northern daughter in a mage-made summer exile, but she will bend history to her will and bring down her enemies, piece by piece.

©2020 Nghi Vo (P)2020 Tantor
Action & Adventure Coming of Age Epic Epic Fantasy Fairy Tales Fantasy Fiction Genre Fiction Literature & Fiction Science Fiction & Fantasy Marriage Heartfelt
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Captivating Storytelling • Immersive World-building • Beautiful Descriptive Writing • Unique Narrative Style • Dreamy Tone
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I really loved this book! The writing style made it sound like a fairy tale, which is very fitting.

Really well written!

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Listened in one day, with few interruptions. A beautiful, touching story that’s well written and amazingly descriptive. The narrator was wonderful, telling the tale with good pace and wonderful tone.

Excellent

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I chose this story as a change of pace. It definitely was. I really had no idea where this story was going until the very end. Actually I hope I understood the ending but I am not sure. Very different but worth a couple of hours time listening before going back to my normal fare.

Empress of Salt & Fortune - Interesting book

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just a gorgeous listen. truly. beautifully read and delicately structured. I really loved it and will continue on to the next one.

wonderful

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This is a rather short novella, but it is exactly as long as it needs to be. It’s truly a testament to Nghi Vo’s ability as a storyteller, and Cindy Kay’s ability as a narrator, that I spent every second of this book under a spell. It reminded me of listening to my mother tell me stories from our island late at night, about a time and place that can no longer be reached but must always be remembered. Every syllable seemed important, every reveal monumental, despite the quiet nature of the story itself. I loved this book more than I can describe, and recommend it to anyone who enjoys quiet fantasy, tales of resistance, and deeply immersive storytelling.

An Entrancing Experience

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It was like a fairytale, with amazing out of this world creatures, powerful women and beautiful writing.

4.5 stars

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Did not expect the story, at all. I had no information going to it, but ended up liking it all the better for it. The narrator was mellow, well-paced and with gorgeous diction. Overall a wonderful time.

Incredible Voice, Surprising Story

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This book was a short and beautiful listen. The imagery and language was really well-crafted. I really enjoyed the story-told-inside-a-story format. I think it's deceptively simple for something that tackles the topics it does as well as it does. Loved it.

Short and Beautiful

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This story was delightful. I would say it was almost like a poem. Brutal meditation.

Marvelous

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At first I was a bit put off by the formal tone and halting unfurling of the story in the beginning, but I was quickly captivated by the world and the characters so deftly and efficiently built. By the end, I was enthralled!

Well crafted, engaging story

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