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The Singing Hills Cycle #7
A Long and Speaking Silence
From USA Today bestselling author Nghi Vo comes a beautiful new tale in the Hugo Award-winning Singing Hills Cycle, drawn from the earliest days of Chih's career as a wandering cleric.
"Nghi Vo is so good."—NPR on The Brides of High Hill
Every story begins somewhere.
On the banks of the Ya-lé River, the town of Luntien gathers to celebrate the start of the rainy season, but the celebration is marred by the arrival of refugees from the sea. Everyone has a story about the foreigners newly in their midst—lazy, violent, unwanted—while the refugees themselves grieve the loss of the home they loved.
Cleric Chih, very recently still Novice Chih, is also a stranger in Luntien. A moment of carelessness and bad luck leaves them waiting tables as they struggle to establish themself as a real cleric. A cleric’s job is to listen and record, but the stories emerging in Luntien are ugly and violent, as hard to predict as the river itself. With their hoopoe companion Almost Brilliant by their side, Chih must help the refugees while also unraveling a mystery that may have roots in their own faraway home in the abbey of Singing Hills.
In the seventh entry of the award-winning Singing Hills series, we meet Chih and Almost Brilliant just beginning their journey together as Chih assumes their place on the road and in the world.
The novellas of the Singing Hills series are standalone stories linked by the Cleric Chih, and may be read in any order.
"Nghi Vo is so good."—NPR on The Brides of High Hill
Every story begins somewhere.
On the banks of the Ya-lé River, the town of Luntien gathers to celebrate the start of the rainy season, but the celebration is marred by the arrival of refugees from the sea. Everyone has a story about the foreigners newly in their midst—lazy, violent, unwanted—while the refugees themselves grieve the loss of the home they loved.
Cleric Chih, very recently still Novice Chih, is also a stranger in Luntien. A moment of carelessness and bad luck leaves them waiting tables as they struggle to establish themself as a real cleric. A cleric’s job is to listen and record, but the stories emerging in Luntien are ugly and violent, as hard to predict as the river itself. With their hoopoe companion Almost Brilliant by their side, Chih must help the refugees while also unraveling a mystery that may have roots in their own faraway home in the abbey of Singing Hills.
In the seventh entry of the award-winning Singing Hills series, we meet Chih and Almost Brilliant just beginning their journey together as Chih assumes their place on the road and in the world.
The novellas of the Singing Hills series are standalone stories linked by the Cleric Chih, and may be read in any order.
Audiobook
First published May 5, 2026
About the author
Nghi Vo
45 books4,544 followersNghi Vo is the author of the acclaimed novellas The Empress of Salt and Fortune and When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain. Born in Illinois, she now lives on the shores of Lake Michigan. She believes in the ritual of lipstick, the power of stories, and the right to change your mind. The Chosen and the Beautiful is her debut novel.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 325 reviews
May 7, 2026
need this rn
(thanks to the publisher for the e-arc)
(review to come)
(thanks to the publisher for the e-arc)
(review to come)
July 5, 2026
There is something quietly brave about a prequel that shows you a hero before they became heroic. This seventh novel into the installment takes us all the way back to Cleric Chih's first real mission—young, uncertain, and entirely out of their depth. It is a welcome origin story that reveals how Chih learned the weight of recordkeeping, but it is also the first entry in the series that left me wanting.
The novella follows Chih as they navigate a desperate refugee crisis, grappling with displacement and the hypocrisy of hostile host communities; themes that feel painfully relevant. As always, Vo excels at examining complex topics from fresh angles, and the title itself offers a poignant meditation on immigration and cultural erasure.
But where previous books felt tightly knitted and haunting, this one read as uneven. The structure is looser, juggling too many plot threads at once without fully committing to any. And the ending arrives abruptly, underwhelming after such rich setup.
I have said before that I hope this series never ends, but this installment makes me wonder if it is time to let it rest or if this is quietly hinting to its completion. Vo's choice to set this at Chih's most vulnerable moment was meritorious, but this wavering, fretful version of our protagonist simply is not equipped to carry a story of this magnitude. Going from the eerie, innovative heights of earlier books to something more mundane is jarring, though perhaps it is unfair to hold a prequel to such high standards.
Still, there are beautiful moments. Watching Chih stumble while Almost Brilliant brims with confidence offers a different kind of charm. And the book's exploration of empathy in the face of displacement feels urgent and necessary. Still and all, it is a thoughtful look at where Chih's journey began, even if it doesn't quite reach the heights of the series' best.
By and large, the novella is still enjoyable, but it is the first time the Singing Hills Cycle has felt like it is marking time rather than breaking ground.
The novella follows Chih as they navigate a desperate refugee crisis, grappling with displacement and the hypocrisy of hostile host communities; themes that feel painfully relevant. As always, Vo excels at examining complex topics from fresh angles, and the title itself offers a poignant meditation on immigration and cultural erasure.
But where previous books felt tightly knitted and haunting, this one read as uneven. The structure is looser, juggling too many plot threads at once without fully committing to any. And the ending arrives abruptly, underwhelming after such rich setup.
I have said before that I hope this series never ends, but this installment makes me wonder if it is time to let it rest or if this is quietly hinting to its completion. Vo's choice to set this at Chih's most vulnerable moment was meritorious, but this wavering, fretful version of our protagonist simply is not equipped to carry a story of this magnitude. Going from the eerie, innovative heights of earlier books to something more mundane is jarring, though perhaps it is unfair to hold a prequel to such high standards.
Still, there are beautiful moments. Watching Chih stumble while Almost Brilliant brims with confidence offers a different kind of charm. And the book's exploration of empathy in the face of displacement feels urgent and necessary. Still and all, it is a thoughtful look at where Chih's journey began, even if it doesn't quite reach the heights of the series' best.
By and large, the novella is still enjoyable, but it is the first time the Singing Hills Cycle has felt like it is marking time rather than breaking ground.
Want to Read
December 31, 20251.) The Empress of Salt and Fortune ★★★★★
2.) When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain ★★★★★
3.) Into the Riverlands ★★★★
4.) Mammoths at the Gates ★★★★
5.) The Brides of High Hill ★★★★★
6.) A Mouthful of Dust ★★★★
2.) When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain ★★★★★
3.) Into the Riverlands ★★★★
4.) Mammoths at the Gates ★★★★
5.) The Brides of High Hill ★★★★★
6.) A Mouthful of Dust ★★★★
June 18, 2026
This was so fun!! We get to see a young cleric Chih on their first assignment back in the day. This whole series is excellent and I wasn't expecting a prequel novella but it was fantastic. Thematically it's a story about refugees, their treatment (and often mistreatment) as immigrants in new places, and the power of storytelling as a way of holding onto history and creating a sense of culture even in a new place. Loved it. I received a copy of this book for review from the publisher, all opinions are my own.
July 3, 2026
“Begging you pardon, cleric, but we are not yet ready to be history.”
At a time when we are witnessing democratic countries closing their doors to migrants and refugees, I believe Nghi Vo has perfectly translated the terrifying reality we see every day into this fantasy world. A Long and Speaking Silence follows Chih on their first trip as a Cleric. The town of Luntien is receiving visitors to celebrate the start of the rainy season, but Muyese refugees continue to arrive, something that is not well received by the townspeople. Cleric Chih will begin to collect the names of these refugees and their families, in case they encounter any of their relatives in other towns.
For those who haven’t read any of the novellas in The Singing Hills Cycle, these are self-contained, non-chronological stories that follow Cleric Chih and their hoopoe companion, Almost Brilliant, as they travel the world collecting stories. So, although A Long and Speaking Silence is technically the seventh installment, it is a prequel to all the previous ones and can perfectly serve as an entry point into the series.
I always eagerly await the publication of these novellas because Nghi Vo has created a world that fascinates me, and because in each story she always offers the reader something unique—different stories, as well as different subgenres or narrative styles. As I mentioned at the beginning, I think a story dealing with the displacement of an entire people and the hypocrisy and unjustified hostility of host communities feels particularly timely, reminding us of the need for empathy.
This is one of the installments I’ve enjoyed the most in the series. It made me angry thinking about the injustice and suffering that hundreds of thousands of people are forced to live with every day: the persecution of migrants that we see in the news while far-right groups continue to gain more followers in democratic countries, and seeing how humanity looks the other way while a genocide is being committed. I’m not sure whether to give it 3 or 4 stars because, although I loved the author’s commentary, I wasn’t fully captivated by the story itself, and the ending in particular felt a bit underwhelming. However, it’s an installment I wholeheartedly recommend to both fans of the series and new readers.
Previous installments:
1. The Empress of Salt and Fortune ★★★★
2. When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain ★★★
3. Into the Riverlands ★★★
4. Mammoths at the Gates ★★★
5. The Brides of High Hill ★★★
6. A Mouthful of Dust ★★★
Want to Read
August 16, 2025OMG A PREQUEL STORY ABOUT YOUNG CHIH!!!! Look at that cover those hands are making me cry, can’t say why, I just know this is gonna be amazing. I need this in my hands asap!!
//Anyone else periodically checking if any new info about the upcoming 3 books released or is it just me with Chih and Almost Brilliant living rent-free in my head??
//Anyone else periodically checking if any new info about the upcoming 3 books released or is it just me with Chih and Almost Brilliant living rent-free in my head??
May 8, 2026
"…so day after day, the loneliness grew more at home inside her chest. It hollowed out a place next to her heart, curled up tight at first, but after a while, it started to stretch and to paw at the cage of her ribs."
it was actually nice seeing Chih as a novice cleric.
it was actually nice seeing Chih as a novice cleric.
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May 16, 2026Sedma stavka u ciklusu pripovedaka s istim glavnim likom ne može imati istu svežinu kao prva, a u ovom slučaju nema ni prekrasnu, složenu narativnu strukturu zbog koje su prve priče iz ovog ciklusa bile čista čitalačka radost. Ono što i dalje poseduje - a možda i u većoj meri - jeste promišljeno, nijansirano pisanje o konkretnim, višestranim i teškim društvenim situacijama kakva, recimo, može biti izbeglička kriza izazvana velikim prirodnim nepogodama. Sudar kultura i čista fizička preopterećenost društva koje mora nekako da prihvati i amortizuje (a da ne pominjemo nahrani, zaleči i uposli) navalu gladnih, iscrpljenih i umornih ljudi - to danas nikome ne deluje baš jako fantastično ali ovde je smešteno u evokativan, uverljiv i detaljno prikazan fantazijski seting, bez olakih odgovora i površnih rešenja, s bar jednim čisto fantastičnim preokretom koji čitalac može i da previdi.
(I kao i uvek kod Ni Vo, kad se dođe do hrane, njeno spisateljsko pero prosto poleti, dvaput sam ogladnela čitajući. Ne znam nikog drugog ko bi protagonistu smestio u veganski monaški red a onda mu/joj dozvolio da u svakoj izvodljivoj prilici, čim se izmigolji ispod nadzora, štrpne malo mesa.)
(I kao i uvek kod Ni Vo, kad se dođe do hrane, njeno spisateljsko pero prosto poleti, dvaput sam ogladnela čitajući. Ne znam nikog drugog ko bi protagonistu smestio u veganski monaški red a onda mu/joj dozvolio da u svakoj izvodljivoj prilici, čim se izmigolji ispod nadzora, štrpne malo mesa.)
May 15, 2026
I love these books.
Cleric Chih has a purse stolen and so has to work in a restaurant to pay their way. Meanwhile, many immigrants are coming to town from their ravaged home islands, and not exactly welcomed. Chih tries to help as much as possible, but doesn't always understand the complexity of the situation. They are a little naive, frankly. Fortunately they have their helpmate and bird Almost Brilliant to straighten things out.
This is a bit of an origin story where Chih has just recently become a cleric rather than a novice, and their inexperience shows.
As with the previous book 'A Mouthful of Dust', Vo is incorporating some big and timely topics into these tales of capturing people's stories. in 'Dust' it was famine, and in this one it's mass immigration of refugees and the tensions that causes.
Despite the seriousness of the topics, the books have a gentleness about them due to the nature of Chih and Almost Brilliant, and the stories that people tell are often delightful vignettes or cultural legends that are, by themselves, little masterpieces of storytelling.
Cleric Chih has a purse stolen and so has to work in a restaurant to pay their way. Meanwhile, many immigrants are coming to town from their ravaged home islands, and not exactly welcomed. Chih tries to help as much as possible, but doesn't always understand the complexity of the situation. They are a little naive, frankly. Fortunately they have their helpmate and bird Almost Brilliant to straighten things out.
This is a bit of an origin story where Chih has just recently become a cleric rather than a novice, and their inexperience shows.
As with the previous book 'A Mouthful of Dust', Vo is incorporating some big and timely topics into these tales of capturing people's stories. in 'Dust' it was famine, and in this one it's mass immigration of refugees and the tensions that causes.
Despite the seriousness of the topics, the books have a gentleness about them due to the nature of Chih and Almost Brilliant, and the stories that people tell are often delightful vignettes or cultural legends that are, by themselves, little masterpieces of storytelling.
June 30, 2026
I have been a fan of Nghi Vo's vision for The Singing Hills Cycle ever since the very first novella, but I think A Long and Speaking Silence might be one of my favourites so far. Even though this is the seventh instalment, it works perfectly as a standalone prequel and takes us all the way back to Cleric Chih's very first adventure as a newly appointed cleric, which turned out to be exactly the story I never knew I needed.
It was so much fun seeing young Chih still trying to find their footing and figuring out what kind of cleric they wanted to be, and I loved how that more innocently youthful gaze made the whole novella feel a little lighter than some of the dark and disturbing previous entries. And then my tiny, feathery menace Almost Brilliant also once again stole the show, and every bit of banter between Chih and their animal companion had me grinning from ear to ear.
Of course, this is still a Singing Hills novella, so something much heavier is lurking just beneath all that warmth. The themes surrounding refugees, displacement, the way immigrants are treated in unfamiliar places, and the importance of stories as a way to preserve history, identity, and culture felt especially poignant, and it is impossible not to draw parallels to what is happening in the world right now. Yet somehow it never felt forced, and I loved how Nghi Vo wove it all so beautifully into the narrative with the same quiet care that she always brings to these stories.
These novellas might not ever quite reach favourite status for me simply because they are over before they can really carve themselves into my heart, but I still continue to adore this series. I inhaled A Long and Speaking Silence in a single sitting like I do every instalment, and I already know that I will be thinking about it for the next several days... or weeks. At this point I have accepted that this is just my relationship with The Singing Hills Cycle, and I am honestly more than happy to keep coming back for more as long as Nghi Vo keeps writing them.
It was so much fun seeing young Chih still trying to find their footing and figuring out what kind of cleric they wanted to be, and I loved how that more innocently youthful gaze made the whole novella feel a little lighter than some of the dark and disturbing previous entries. And then my tiny, feathery menace Almost Brilliant also once again stole the show, and every bit of banter between Chih and their animal companion had me grinning from ear to ear.
Of course, this is still a Singing Hills novella, so something much heavier is lurking just beneath all that warmth. The themes surrounding refugees, displacement, the way immigrants are treated in unfamiliar places, and the importance of stories as a way to preserve history, identity, and culture felt especially poignant, and it is impossible not to draw parallels to what is happening in the world right now. Yet somehow it never felt forced, and I loved how Nghi Vo wove it all so beautifully into the narrative with the same quiet care that she always brings to these stories.
These novellas might not ever quite reach favourite status for me simply because they are over before they can really carve themselves into my heart, but I still continue to adore this series. I inhaled A Long and Speaking Silence in a single sitting like I do every instalment, and I already know that I will be thinking about it for the next several days... or weeks. At this point I have accepted that this is just my relationship with The Singing Hills Cycle, and I am honestly more than happy to keep coming back for more as long as Nghi Vo keeps writing them.
May 14, 2026
When Chih was a young cleric
A Long and Speaking Silence is the seventh book in Nghi Vo's Singing Hills Cycle. It is probably the first of the series in chronological order.
Chih is a very young cleric. In fact, we are told near the beginning "Chih had finished their novitiate ten months earlier." They are sill a teenager, a little uncomfortable being addressed as a cleric. More than that, they are not entirely comfortable with their role as a mere recorder of stories and histories. They are in the river town Luntien, far from home, home being the Singing Hills Monastery. They are destitute, their purse having been cut when they disembarked. They are waiting table at a restaurant so as not to starve.
Luntien is a town under strain, because of a large influx of Muyese refugees, fleeing from a natural disaster. Luntien is not treating the refugees with grace or generosity. Chih does the little they can to help them out. Aside from trying to help the refugees with food, Chih and their neixin Almost Brilliant attempt to record names and family relationships of the refugees, with the hope of finding relatives who can take them in.
Chih finds it difficult -- nearly impossible, actually -- to maintain the detachment of a cleric. Besides that, they haven't yet established the comfort with Almost Brilliant that characterizes the earlier (but later in time) novellas of the series. Almost Brilliant is more of an authority figure to Chih than the friend and coworker she will become.
I enjoyed this. The story has more of a bite than the previous novellas. Chih struggles to figure out what the right thing to do is, and then to do it. They struggle with self-doubt.
Blog review.
A Long and Speaking Silence is the seventh book in Nghi Vo's Singing Hills Cycle. It is probably the first of the series in chronological order.
Chih is a very young cleric. In fact, we are told near the beginning "Chih had finished their novitiate ten months earlier." They are sill a teenager, a little uncomfortable being addressed as a cleric. More than that, they are not entirely comfortable with their role as a mere recorder of stories and histories. They are in the river town Luntien, far from home, home being the Singing Hills Monastery. They are destitute, their purse having been cut when they disembarked. They are waiting table at a restaurant so as not to starve.
Luntien is a town under strain, because of a large influx of Muyese refugees, fleeing from a natural disaster. Luntien is not treating the refugees with grace or generosity. Chih does the little they can to help them out. Aside from trying to help the refugees with food, Chih and their neixin Almost Brilliant attempt to record names and family relationships of the refugees, with the hope of finding relatives who can take them in.
Chih finds it difficult -- nearly impossible, actually -- to maintain the detachment of a cleric. Besides that, they haven't yet established the comfort with Almost Brilliant that characterizes the earlier (but later in time) novellas of the series. Almost Brilliant is more of an authority figure to Chih than the friend and coworker she will become.
I enjoyed this. The story has more of a bite than the previous novellas. Chih struggles to figure out what the right thing to do is, and then to do it. They struggle with self-doubt.
Blog review.
June 18, 2026
These novellas are just so cozy and I love them. This one finally gives us backstory about young cleric Chih in Luntien, unsure of themself and their work, working at a restaurant to get by. Luntien is having a festival but also an influx of displaced refugees from The Verdant Isles. As Chih collects their stories (even being corrected on what to call the land they're from), they reflect on a time when clerics were displaced from Anh and also the displacement that made their family give them up to Singing Hills in the first place.
The takeaway from this one underpins the importance of capturing stories, and the "long and speaking silence" that results if you don't. Also, of course, about tolerance and making space for newness and difference, because we were all kinda in that position once.
There's a fun little Easter egg in this story about a cleric from the displacement times that "went local" and started a family. I'm pretty sure - but can't quite remember - that we hear the story of this cleric (Lunmo, "Old Mo") in another, earlier novella.
This particular entry gave me a better appreciation for Cleric Chih's job, whereas with the other novellas it was more of a curiosity / gateway to interesting stories.
I can't wait for the next novella in this series!
The takeaway from this one underpins the importance of capturing stories, and the "long and speaking silence" that results if you don't. Also, of course, about tolerance and making space for newness and difference, because we were all kinda in that position once.
There's a fun little Easter egg in this story about a cleric from the displacement times that "went local" and started a family. I'm pretty sure - but can't quite remember - that we hear the story of this cleric (Lunmo, "Old Mo") in another, earlier novella.
This particular entry gave me a better appreciation for Cleric Chih's job, whereas with the other novellas it was more of a curiosity / gateway to interesting stories.
I can't wait for the next novella in this series!
May 10, 2026
Another fun addition to the Singing Hills Cycle.
In this one, we follow Chih's early days as a Cleric of the Singing Hills, as the are still learning how and when to ask the right questions. This novella also dealt a lot with racism, xenophobia, and the general discrimination faced by immigrants and refugees.
I really enjoyed the traditional stories of the island people in this one!
In this one, we follow Chih's early days as a Cleric of the Singing Hills, as the are still learning how and when to ask the right questions. This novella also dealt a lot with racism, xenophobia, and the general discrimination faced by immigrants and refugees.
I really enjoyed the traditional stories of the island people in this one!
June 21, 2026
All these books do is leave me starving
June 29, 2026
⋆.˚✮ 4.75 stars ✮˚.⋆
⤿ Thank you to Tordotcom and Tor Books for the finished copy in exchange for an honest review!
this entire novella series has been really interesting with important topics discussed and woven into a fantasy world that are critical to talk about in the current state of the world. this one though? has to be the most impactful one i have read as it deals with sooo many issues surrounding racism, immigration and xenophobia that permeates into our present world.
one of the most prominent discussions in here is about the treatment of asylum seekers and immigrants, specifically how they are treated by the people who can help them. there is an entire scene where a cleric of a goddess who opens her arms to ALL people, discusses with Chih about how they are giving them space, the barest bit of food, and shouldn't it all be good enough for them? and mentions how people are asking to take their children from them, seeing if they need fostering and she sees no problem with it as "shouldn't it be a blessing for both parent and child?"
this just highlights how even the people that are there to help asylum seekers and immigrants don't always know how to actually help them and also may treat them not well. Chih themselves is a traveling cleric and has technically immigrated to this land. they lose their money bag and offered work at a restaurant because they are a trustworthy cleric of The Singing Hills. but a lot of the people who found asylum in this city were denied work, as "no one knows how they are" or people already assume the worst of them. so of course, these people feel angry and hurt and some try to steal or do other things to make sure their family can survive.
Chih's record keeping also highlights how easy people's stories can get lost in situations like this. many of the families do not know everything about their history, or where their relatives might be. which makes it difficult for Chih to take all their information down, but they try anyway. it's heartbreaking because as the title says, their empty spots leave a long and speaking silence about whose stories are considered in the world.
my favorite quote of the book was: "There are too many, Chih thought, and then their stomach flopped, because no. There could be too little food, too little water, too little money, too little kindness, too little sense; but there would never too many people." (68). this is just a good reminder that we are ALL human and should be trying to treat others with kindness, and that everyone should be treated as human beings.
just so so impactful and important, i really loved Chih's first venture out into the world with Almost Brilliant and everything they learned from this. it's an important discussion about our current world.
↬ trigger warnings: xenophobia, racism, violence, bullying, depictions of grief, child abuse, animal death, war themes
⤿ Thank you to Tordotcom and Tor Books for the finished copy in exchange for an honest review!
this entire novella series has been really interesting with important topics discussed and woven into a fantasy world that are critical to talk about in the current state of the world. this one though? has to be the most impactful one i have read as it deals with sooo many issues surrounding racism, immigration and xenophobia that permeates into our present world.
one of the most prominent discussions in here is about the treatment of asylum seekers and immigrants, specifically how they are treated by the people who can help them. there is an entire scene where a cleric of a goddess who opens her arms to ALL people, discusses with Chih about how they are giving them space, the barest bit of food, and shouldn't it all be good enough for them? and mentions how people are asking to take their children from them, seeing if they need fostering and she sees no problem with it as "shouldn't it be a blessing for both parent and child?"
this just highlights how even the people that are there to help asylum seekers and immigrants don't always know how to actually help them and also may treat them not well. Chih themselves is a traveling cleric and has technically immigrated to this land. they lose their money bag and offered work at a restaurant because they are a trustworthy cleric of The Singing Hills. but a lot of the people who found asylum in this city were denied work, as "no one knows how they are" or people already assume the worst of them. so of course, these people feel angry and hurt and some try to steal or do other things to make sure their family can survive.
Chih's record keeping also highlights how easy people's stories can get lost in situations like this. many of the families do not know everything about their history, or where their relatives might be. which makes it difficult for Chih to take all their information down, but they try anyway. it's heartbreaking because as the title says, their empty spots leave a long and speaking silence about whose stories are considered in the world.
my favorite quote of the book was: "There are too many, Chih thought, and then their stomach flopped, because no. There could be too little food, too little water, too little money, too little kindness, too little sense; but there would never too many people." (68). this is just a good reminder that we are ALL human and should be trying to treat others with kindness, and that everyone should be treated as human beings.
just so so impactful and important, i really loved Chih's first venture out into the world with Almost Brilliant and everything they learned from this. it's an important discussion about our current world.
↬ trigger warnings: xenophobia, racism, violence, bullying, depictions of grief, child abuse, animal death, war themes
May 13, 2026
Очень интересно было посмотреть на Чи в самом начале их пути, пожалуй, это будет у меня одна из любимых повестей в серии.
May 6, 2026
there's just something about reading bout cleric chih and their companion's adventures that makes me feel all wholesome and warm inside every single time. this once again was utterly- not ALMOST- brilliant (iykyk)
May 10, 2026
This entry is all about refugee camps and/or communities.
Read
May 24, 2026"I don't care what they do," she muttered as chih passed by. "I truly don't. they just can't do it here."
then where? chih wanted to ask.
hilariously, I managed to miss the fact that this one, chronologically speaking, is a prequel to all the rest. I did think some timeline details were weird, but I chalked that up to it having been a while since I read the last one, you know?
anyway! in this one we briefly meet (devotees of) "the Lady of the Thousand Hands," from which I can infer that that is vo's fictional/ized version of guanyin, with whom I fell rather passionately in love as a small child (we stayed in a hotel room with a statue of her that so enamored me that my parents asked if they could perchance buy it off the hotel; the hotel, understandably, declined, and anyway I have no idea how we would have gotten it home).
some fun idioms, including "swearing fit to blister stone," and others from "the verdant islands" (fictional/ized malaysia and singapore, perhaps, especially given that the book makes reference to "ladies-in-the-water" off one of the islands) with which chih is unfamiliar ("I'll be fine. tough as a seven-day goat, that's me." / "I don't know what a seven-day goat is," chih said with interest; "I am not getting brained by the gods for dancing when it wasn't my turn to do so." / chih resolved to ask bich about that saying later).
as usual, vo's worldbuilding and detail work are lovely (a wooden statue of a woman holding her robe open to show the dog snarling between her bare legs), this time in the service of exploring the tensions that so often arise in times of hardship when a local population is increased by an influx of immigrants and refugees and no one is a perfect saint but everyone is a human being and a brand-new cleric is working hard, and often failing, to get everything right.
"easy was only something you knew how to do. easy's just experience and practice and time put together until you don't notice them any longer. one day, something you coudn't dream of doing a year ago is something you can do without thought, and you think it must have always been that way, but that's not true."
May 12, 2026
Another great installment in The Singing Hills novella series, though I am not even surprised at this point- I head into them simply knowing I am going to get a great story. In this one, we follow Chih when they're a newer cleric, and they're still kind of feeling out how to get people to tell them stories. We get a glimpse into how Chih ended up a cleric, and some of the stumbles that inevitably occur when one is just starting out. There's some great commentary on how difficult life can be for a refugee, and some great reflection on shared humanity. This installment is a bit quieter, but I definitely enjoyed it all the same!
June 3, 2026
Love!! I was so excited for a new Singing Hills book and this one was great! Loved the discussion around refugees and what it means to carry your home with you even if you can’t be there. Beautifully done and a redemption for me after really not vibing with the last novella in this series. I love Almost Brilliant and Chih!
May 10, 2026
One day, everyone will have always born our silence.
June 30, 2026
Oh this hit hard. What a beautiful story.
May 7, 2026
Like all the other books in this series, this one was quite short, but as always, very entertaining and enjoyable. I love our two main characters.
I always find the stories they tell and the ones told to them so interesting and fascinating. Probably because all these stories come from a culture different to my own.
I always find the stories they tell and the ones told to them so interesting and fascinating. Probably because all these stories come from a culture different to my own.
May 11, 2026
As always, I love the way Vo weaves Chih's journey and the stories they hear during their journey. This book mixed an almost coming-of-age story for Chih as a newly minted cleric with a story of the bitter sweetness many immigrants face in their new "home".
I love oral storytelling and the writing style of this book (and all in the series) embodies that spirit. I also like how all the books in series stay true to Chih's purpose as cleric of the Singing Hills abbey and lets everyones stories unfold before Chih. While they might get involved in the periphery, they are never the main character, merely an observer and record keeper.
I love oral storytelling and the writing style of this book (and all in the series) embodies that spirit. I also like how all the books in series stay true to Chih's purpose as cleric of the Singing Hills abbey and lets everyones stories unfold before Chih. While they might get involved in the periphery, they are never the main character, merely an observer and record keeper.
May 13, 2026
(4 stars) I received a free advanced copy from the publisher. This is my honest review. The latest installment of the Singing Hills Cycle does not disappoint! We follow a young Chih during their early months as a cleric. After having their purse stolen, they are waiting tables in a new village until a they are able to obtain enough money to move on. As the village prepares for a large festival, violence simmers as tensions grow between the villagers and refugees fleeing their homeland. A LONG AND SPEAKING SILENCE is a beautiful story about the power of storytelling and remembrance, as well as the importance of empathy and friendship. This series continues to be one of my favorites!
May 8, 2026
Nghi Vo does it again and this time also rubs salt directly into my eyes in the last 5 minutes... 😭
May 28, 2026
I'm convinced this series can't have a bad book. I loved getting to go back into the beginning of Chih's career. Nghi Vo masterfully wrote a younger, less sure version of them while still maintaining the character you love.
Great installment. I really do recommend this series.
Great installment. I really do recommend this series.
June 21, 2026
Edit 6/21/2026: I've thought on this for a while, and adjusted my rating from a 3 to a 4. There was definitely some subtext I missed on my first read, and a lot of the background elements tie into the main themes of the novel in ways I didn't fully grasp at the start. I still think that the central narrative could have more tightly written, and it wasn't as entertaining a read as others in the series, but it's a smart book.
A mixed bag for me, and one that I may need to re-visit in the future to digest a second time. It's a bit less focused than previous books in the series. Previous entries featured gripping central narratives, but this one takes a meandering approach, with Chih navigating a city in the midst of a refugee crisis. There are no grand revelations or conclusions here, which I am now realizing may very well have been a deliberate choice. All books in the Singing Hills Cycle focus on a different aspect of storytelling. In A Long and Speaking Silence, however, the central thesis is about the tragedy of forgotten and lost stories. Entire lineages forgotten across a refugee diaspora, historical records lost in imperial purges, personal histories that no one bothered to write down. It's all a bit uncertain, but what I struggled with was how the various plotlines in the book didn't really coalesce into a cohesive narrative for me. Additionally, and this is a petty complaint, but I was disappointed that the fantastical elements took a back seat to old-fashioned human problems. I don't know, I'm rating a 3 for now, but may upgrade it to a 4 after a re-read or some reflection.
A mixed bag for me, and one that I may need to re-visit in the future to digest a second time. It's a bit less focused than previous books in the series. Previous entries featured gripping central narratives, but this one takes a meandering approach, with Chih navigating a city in the midst of a refugee crisis. There are no grand revelations or conclusions here, which I am now realizing may very well have been a deliberate choice. All books in the Singing Hills Cycle focus on a different aspect of storytelling. In A Long and Speaking Silence, however, the central thesis is about the tragedy of forgotten and lost stories. Entire lineages forgotten across a refugee diaspora, historical records lost in imperial purges, personal histories that no one bothered to write down. It's all a bit uncertain, but what I struggled with was how the various plotlines in the book didn't really coalesce into a cohesive narrative for me. Additionally, and this is a petty complaint, but I was disappointed that the fantastical elements took a back seat to old-fashioned human problems. I don't know, I'm rating a 3 for now, but may upgrade it to a 4 after a re-read or some reflection.
May 21, 2026
I always love this series and I always enjoy every novella. Going back to Cleric Chih's early days was really nice, and this entry focused on themes around immigration that are way too relevant to our cultural landscape today. The title was a very interesting take on immigration and displacement of peoples and cultures, which I think is always the biggest strength of these books - looking at themes from different angles. I just wish there was a tiiiiiny bit more meat to the theme, as the novella just sort of...ends.
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