The Empress of Salt and Fortune
Ratings187
Average rating3.9
15
Ratings187
Average rating3.9
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.
Featured Series
5 primary booksThe Singing Hills Cycle is a 5-book series with 5 primary works first released in 2020 with contributions by Nghi Vo.
Reviews with the most likes.
This was good, but I would rather have seen the actual story unfold, without the frame tale. I couldn't have cared less about Chih and their dumb bird. Needs more badass empress!
The Empress of Salt and Fortune is the story of an exiled bride who became a conqueror, as told by her closest confidante. It is simply but poetically told. I think what's important to impress is that while this is about a woman overthrowing a regime, if you're looking for either exciting military fantasy or even a tightly wound court drama, you should go elsewhere. This is more of a quiet character study, it's about the strength of relationships that are formed between people who are discarded by those in power, and it's about how often the most important element to claiming power is patience.
I liked it well enough. But it felt like something more to fill the time than to get lost in.
I seem to have a new found love for novellas and when I saw the cover for this one, I was completely blown away and purchased it immediately. And if there's one thing I can say, it's that the book is as gorgeous as it's cover.
The writing style of this book took some getting used to but once I got the hang of it, I felt lost within the beautiful words. It's very atmospheric and I loved how the author was able to evoke such wonderful images in my head through her words. The story is also told like snippets from history, each event corresponding to an object from the time; and I found this style to be very unique. This is also the story about a long dead empress told by one of her servants, and I loved the way it highlights the important roles played by forgotten women during a revolution.
True to it's promotions, this is an exquisite Asian inspired fantasy tale about royalty, feminism, friendship and empire; written beautifully and with great representation and I would highly recommend it to anyone who loves feminist fantasy. Don't be disheartened if you are unsure initially - just push through a bit and I have a feeling you'll fall in love with it as much as I did.
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