The Brides of High Hill

Sometimes I like to read in the middle of the night, when the roads outside are quiet and the day's wind has stilled. And this is a middle of the night sort of book.

It's the fifth in a series of fantasy novellas that can be read in just about any order (but don't start with the 4th) and follows Cleric Chih as they go around their world collecting stories and running into trouble, sometimes the other way 'round.

Each volume is a very different kind of story from the others, some adventurous and some melancholy. This one is gothic and creepy. By the end, especially if you read it in the gloom of night, you might be looking for monsters in the corners and the rafters.

I love everything Nghi Vo writes but these novellas are particular show more favorites and this one is no exception. The details are lush, the worldbuilding exquisite in such a tight space, and the voice of Chih, as ever, comforts and intrigues at once. Perfect little morsels, each and every one, delicious. Read them! show less

I loved books one through four of Nghi Vo's Singing Hills Cycle of novellas, so I had the fifth book, The Brides of High Hill, on pre-order. Did it live up to my high expectations?

Cleric Chih is traveling with the Pham family in one of their 15 ox carts. Master Pham is a merchant. He and his wife are bringing their lovely daughter, Nhung, to Doi Cao. The reputedly beautiful estate is a relic of the defunct Ku Dynasty, and Nhung is going there to marry its current master, Lord Guo. Madam Pham doesn't think much of Cleric Chih, but Nhung likes them.

Doi Cao is surrounded by a high, thick wall of gray stone. This is hardly surprising considering that Doi Cao is in western Ji. The empire considers Ji one of its provinces. Ji considers itself show more to be independent. The empire has mammoths. That wall is strong enough to resist mammoths. Lord Guo is a warrior of the empire who has managed to acquire Doi Cao. What a relief that those walls are there, right? There are even slithering beast figures on the roof to repel misfortune.

The first problem with Lord Guo, is that, while powerfully built, he's much closer in age to Master Pham than his daughter. The second is that his handsome young son, Guo Zhihao, tells Cleric Chi to tell Nhung to ask his father how many wives he's had. Zhihao adds that they are not in Shu. Then he walks away, looking as if he's going to vomit.

It's also strange that the Pham's retainers don't want Cleric Chih to help them carry goods from the carts. All they are allowed to carry is a ordinary teapot. The retainers will be staying outside the wall. Nhung wants Cleric Chih to check out the guest house, Eighth Peony. The reasons Cleric Chih is told sound good. I also would have liked to have heard the story Nhung's Ba (dad) told her about house sprites.

Nhung is terrified when she has Cleric Chih accompany her to the first night banquet. Cleric Chih is seated in the cleric alcove on Lord Guo's right, hidden behind a screen. She can observe the couple-to-be and not be observed by the guests. Then Guo Zhihao shows up saying Nhung mustn't. Nhung treats him gently, but the young man is taken away by two men. Later, Cleric Chih learns some gossip about Zhihao from a kitchen apprentice named Five.

Chih and Nhung are exploring the estate at night when they come up on Guo Zhihao sleepwalking. It was interesting that Cleric Chih said that sleepwalkers used to be said to be fox-led and why and Nhung gave a more plausible explanation. After they settle Zhihao in a safe place, the two give two different reasons for a pearl thrush's singing. The cleric gives a poetic one, and the bride-to-be a practical one.

While Nhung and her parents are enjoying an entertainment Lord Guo has had created for them, Chih has a very unsettling encounter with Zhihao in the Jonquil Pavilian, where he is kept under guard.

The second night banquet of the negotiations for the marriage is briefly marred by Madam Pham trying to make a drunken show of herself. Afterward, Chih and Nhung meet Zhihao. They are shown something that suggests Lord Guo's son's warnings have a firm basis in fact. Nhung is most upset, but Chih assures her that they and Almost Brilliant have gotten out of worse situations. The earlier books prove that's true.

Matters turn worse and Cleric Chih is very, very worried. What happened to Nhung?

Nhung does turn up at the final banquet. I was as worried as Chih while I read about it. Is Cleric Chih correct about the only safe place for hiding? Is there anything that can be done to get out of Doi Cao alive?

All of the books in this series have been excellent, but this one is my favorite by far. I would love to see it in two-dimensional animation. show less

I think this might be my favorite entry in the series, and I still don't know if I can adequately explain why.This entire book feels like a dream. Not in the whimsical sense, but in the way that your subconscious knows something is wrong long before your conscious mind catches up. Everything is wrong, but how could it be when you're floating so high on such a beautiful cloud? Your fears slide right off of you and slip away, and you ask yourself: "was I... saying something?" Chih arrives already changed somehow, and because we know them so well by this point, that wrongness permeates every page.I also found Pham Nhung and her family's struggle, practically a Jihad, to be so moving. The fate of Lord Guo and his ilk at the hands of the show more Nhung spirits was deeply satisfying, akin to Midsommar. There's something delicious about watching a petty, entitled man finally meet the consequences of a lifetime of cruelties.This book is like a very very pleasant gas leak, and I loved every second of it. show less

A novella of the Singing Hills Cycle!

The story beckons, nay entices you to follow Cleric Chih’s journey to Doi Cao. A chance meeting on the road has Chih accompanying the merchant family Pham to the walled estate of Doi Cao for their daughter Pham Nhung’s wedding to Lord Gho.
Chih (they) innocently investigate Nhung’s new home and uncover some places left to rot. “They” become concerned for Nhung. Even more so when Chih discovers that Nhung is not the first bride here. What happened to the previous wives of Lord Gho?
They meet the Lord Gho’s son Zhuhai. Nhung declares him beautiful. Zhuhai is a troubled young lord who appears ill, possibly cursed Chih decides.
“The first time they had met him, he had been full of scorn, and show more the second time, he had been furious. This time, he moved with a faltering step, his arms hanging woodenly down by his sides and his head jerked up towards the sky as if there was a string running from his chin to the rooftops.”
Something is wrong. Chih is concerned for Nhung, yet can’t determine what troubles them. When they find out, they’re already in danger. Survival will be hanging by a thread, or a teapot.
A fabulously told, gothic type fantasy! What is reality? What is false?
The story flowed beautifully. I loved it!

A TOR ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
Please note: Quotes taken from an advanced reading copy maybe subject to change show less

Please write more stories about Chih!

Chih the cleric is accompanying a bride, Nhung, and her parents, to the wedding negotiations. It’s not clear why, but they talk of a chance meeting on the road.

Chih likes Nhung a lot. There is some nice friendly tension between them.

”No one really thought of clerics as gallant, least of all themselves, but for Nhung, they could pretend.”

”So earnest,” Nhung teased. ”Be careful I don’t try to keep you too.”
”Your very own tamed cleric, brought in feral from the highway,” Chih said, finally laughing.

Nhung is to marry Lord Guo, a man who is a lot older than she is. Something is off about Lord Guo, his huge mansion, his servants…

This story veers off into very dark horror territory. I show more shouldn’t have read it so late at night, ouch, ouch. There are monsters that are clearly visible, and there are monsters hiding in plain sight.

I do hope there will be many more stories in this series. I just love reading about Chih, who is simply a wonderfully good person. show less

Having read this book, I am now immensely curious what Nghi Vo would do with a completely standalone gothic horror novel, something not set in the Singing Hills universe. Because while I loved seeing more of Cleric Chih, it was a bit weird having the setting for this story so much darker than the rest of the series. Also, with the focus in this book on the gothic horror / mystery aspect, there was less of the story & memory trope that I'm used to in this series. (Though there are still some great quotes about stories.)

Most of what I want to say about the book involves major spoilers (and it's best to read this book knowing as little as possible about the twists involved—even saying that there are twists feels like it might be saying show more too much) so I will just say that I enjoyed the book, even though it doesn't feel quite like the rest of the series in tone. This is not my favorite of the series (that honor remains with Into the Riverlands) but it is still a very enjoyable book and would be a great book to read for a creepy (yet not too scary) Halloween-time read. show less

The Brides of High Hill is the fifth novella in the Singing Hills Cycle by Nghi Vo.

Plot:
Cleric Chih is accompanying a young bride to a wedding. The bride is welcomed with lavish banquets and festivities by Lord Guo, her husband to be. But the servants are scared, there are warnings of Guo’s son who seems disturbed and wild rumors about Guo’s earlier wives. As Chih tries to figure out what is going on and to protect the bride, things turn stranger and stranger.

The Brides of High Hill really took me by surprise and I loved it. I generally love this entire amazing series, and I think I said it before but I will say it again, each entry manages to go in a new, exciting direction.

Read more on my blog: show more target="_top">https://kalafudra.com/2025/09/09/the-brides-of-high-hill-nghi-vo/ show less