When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo

This is the second novella in the Singing Hills Cycle series and is absolutely fantastic. I really enjoyed the first novella The Empress of Salt and Fortune when I read it last year and was eagerly awaiting the release of the second novella. Although it took me a couple of months post release to finally pick this one up.

The story follows a non-binary cleric, Chih who collects stories and histories of those around them. In this story, Chih ends up facing three hungry tigers who are fierce and desperate to eat them and the scout Si-yu who is aiding them. To stay alive, Chih decides to retell the story of the tiger and her scholar lover who is smart, beautiful and couragous. In telling the story, Chih unravels the differences to the version the tigers know and we see am intricately layered story show the differences in oral histories.

I love the queerness, the magic and the fantasy woven into Vo's storytelling. I love the richness of the characters and the stories despite the shortness of these novellas.

I actually think I preferred When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain to the first novella, as I particularly fell in love with the hungry tigers and the love story of the tiger and her scholarly wife.

Overall a beautiful fantasy novella, that can be read as a standalone or as a follow on from the first novella in the Singing Hills Cycle.