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A review by legs_n_chins
Into the Riverlands by Nghi Vo
adventurous
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
I’m reading Vo’s novellas sort of out of order, in a sense, so I read Empress of Salt most recently and didn't get to Tiger Came Down in between. I don’t know what the style of storytelling is in Tiger so I don’t have a good frame of reference, but the stark difference between Empress and this one was a little surprising and disappointing. I really, really enjoyed the style of Empress and had hoped that the other novellas would be in the same sort of switching POV, though I do understand how that might get exhausting or repetitive quickly. So, fair enough that this is a very different style.
That said, this is the first of Vo’s works so far I didn’t give a full 5 stars to. Partially for my slight disappointment in the writing style shift, but also because I didn’t find it quite as immersive as her other works. Maybe it was my mood today, I don’t know. Regardless, I preferred how Empress kept the action of the story and the present moments separate. It really wove well into the meta narrative of storytelling as an act, I felt, and having Chih be in a more active setting was a little jarring. Though still an observer, it felt strange to see them at the center of the action rather than the action being communicated through story. Again, I get how it would grow boring to have the same style over and over — and this is the third of Vo’s novellas in this collection so if she’d done them all the same it would certainly be stale by now — but I wasn’t as big a fan of it is all.
But aside from all of that, I really liked the theme of this one. The way stories are all interconnected and all the same but all different. It reminds me so much of Black Sails which does a lot of the same thing. Stories are told and they are passed on, that’s the point of Chih and Almost Brilliant, so they naturally shift and change and grow. It’s all about what someone has seen and what they then say and how they tell it. I really liked the story of Wild Pig Yi and Gravewraith Chen (btw absolutely incredible character name) and their song as they killed the Hollow Hands. I do just wish that wasn’t the only real story told in this one, it felt so short. Understandably, with the theme, Chih had to observe the rest, but I do wish some of the other tales they touched on had been spun out a little more. I think I maybe lost some of the power of how they were connected because I couldn’t quite grasp the plot of the other mentioned stories. Still, for the length, Vo continues to create immersive settings and characters I really care about and I just think that’s so powerful. I love all these characters dearly and I only had them for 100 pages.
A story is true, a story is untrue.
That said, this is the first of Vo’s works so far I didn’t give a full 5 stars to. Partially for my slight disappointment in the writing style shift, but also because I didn’t find it quite as immersive as her other works. Maybe it was my mood today, I don’t know. Regardless, I preferred how Empress kept the action of the story and the present moments separate. It really wove well into the meta narrative of storytelling as an act, I felt, and having Chih be in a more active setting was a little jarring. Though still an observer, it felt strange to see them at the center of the action rather than the action being communicated through story. Again, I get how it would grow boring to have the same style over and over — and this is the third of Vo’s novellas in this collection so if she’d done them all the same it would certainly be stale by now — but I wasn’t as big a fan of it is all.
But aside from all of that, I really liked the theme of this one. The way stories are all interconnected and all the same but all different. It reminds me so much of Black Sails which does a lot of the same thing. Stories are told and they are passed on, that’s the point of Chih and Almost Brilliant, so they naturally shift and change and grow. It’s all about what someone has seen and what they then say and how they tell it. I really liked the story of Wild Pig Yi and Gravewraith Chen (btw absolutely incredible character name) and their song as they killed the Hollow Hands. I do just wish that wasn’t the only real story told in this one, it felt so short. Understandably, with the theme, Chih had to observe the rest, but I do wish some of the other tales they touched on had been spun out a little more. I think I maybe lost some of the power of how they were connected because I couldn’t quite grasp the plot of the other mentioned stories. Still, for the length, Vo continues to create immersive settings and characters I really care about and I just think that’s so powerful. I love all these characters dearly and I only had them for 100 pages.
A story is true, a story is untrue.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
Moderate: Blood and War