At Singing Hills, we deal in memory. The things we remember last as long as we do and longer. The thing itself, well, it goes away. It breaks. It sinks to the bottom of the river. It dies or leaves or is lost. [p. 71]
Cleric Chih returns to their abbey, Singing Hills, to find the eponymous mammoths at the gate, and their beloved mentor Cleric Thien dead. These two facts are not unrelated. Chih's old friend Ru is now the acting Divine, and Chih isn't sure how to relate to them. There are many stories to be told, and Myriad Virtues, Thien's neixin (magical hoopoe) tells one of the darkest.
Lots here about stories, identity, and the work of the clerics, as well as the inevitability of change. I would have appreciated this story more if I had read the rest of the series, instead of only the first part. (That's a me problem: it was quite clear what was happening, and I wasn't confused, but there is depth and subtlety to the characters which I couldn't appreciate in context).
Shortlisted for the Hugo Award for Best Novella, 2024: read as part of the Hugo Voters' Pack.
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