Into the Riverlands draws from wuxia tales, as cleric Chih journeys into a rugged landscape of steep valleys and rushing rivers which is home to legendary martial artists. Falling in with a young swordswoman named Wei Jintai and her more practical companion Mac Sang, and late-middle aged couple Lao Bingyi and Khanh, Chich and her bird companion share tales of various legendary fighters, and their long-ago victory over the Hollow Heart gang, a group of bandit-necromancers.

Except past is never entirely buried, and the Hollow Heart is coming back in a series of escalating threats: first a hanged traveler at a waystation, then an ambush on the road, and finally a climatic battle at the Betony Docks. This cuts two ways, because Bingyi and Khanh are far more than their exteriors tell, and the bandits rapidly find themselves in over their heads.

Vo has fun with the action without getting into the pornography of violence, and hints at even more fantastic aspects of her setting.