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A Mouthful of Dust

By Nghi Vo
Series: The Singing Hills Cycle
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Brief Description
"Nghi Vo is so good."-NPR on The Brides of High Hill Wandering Cleric Chih of Singing Hills and their hoopoe companion Almost Brilliant come to the river town of Baolin chasing stories of a legendary famine. Amid tales of dishes served to royalty and desserts made... Read More
Format: Hardback
$4900
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The Hugo Award-Winning Series returns with its newest standalone entry: a story of hunger, dreams, and dark secrets that refuse to stay buried.

Hunger makes monsters in this dark new tale in Nghi Vo's Hugo Award-winning Singing Hills Cycle. Now in paperback

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description
"Nghi Vo is so good."-NPR on The Brides of High Hill Wandering Cleric Chih of Singing Hills and their hoopoe companion Almost Brilliant come to the river town of Baolin chasing stories of a legendary famine. Amid tales of dishes served to royalty and desserts made of dust, they discover the secrets of what happens when hunger stalks the land and what the powerful will do to hide their crimes. Trapped in the mansion of a sinister magistrate, Chih and Almost Brilliant must learn what happened in Baolin when the famine came to call, and they must do so quickly... because the things in the shadows are only growing hungrier. The Singing Hills Cycle has been shortlisted for the Lambda Literary Award, the Locus Award, and the Ignyte Award, and has won the Crawford Award and the Hugo Award. The novellas are standalone stories linked by the Cleric Chih, and may be read in any order. The Empress of Salt and Fortune When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain Into the Riverlands Mammoths at the Gates The Brides of High Hill A Mouthful of Dust

Series: The Singing Hills Cycle

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  • A Mouthful of Dust
    "Nghi Vo is so good."-NPR on The Brides of High Hill Wandering Cleric Chih of Singing Hills and their hoopoe companion Almost Brilliant come to the river town of Baolin chasing stories of a legendary famine. Amid tales of dishes served to royalty and desserts made of dust, they discover the secrets of what happens when hunger stalks the land...
    By Nghi Vo
    Hardback
    $4900
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Empress of Salt and Fortune
    The Empress of Salt and Fortune
    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...
    By Nghi Vo
    Paperback
    $5000
    Available
    Ships in 2-3 weeks

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781250386403

Publisher: Tor Publishing Group

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 26 February 2026

Country: United States

Imprint: Tordotcom

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 15.0mm

Width: 136.0mm

Height: 211.0mm

Weight: 194g

Pages: 96

Collections

Fantasy Fiction General Fiction LGBTQ+ Nghi Vo Sci-Fi & Fantasy Series: The Singing Hills Cycle

About the Author

Nghi Vo is the author of the novels Siren Queen and The Chosen and the Beautiful, as well as the acclaimed novellas of the Singing Hills Cycle, which began with The Empress of Salt and Fortune. The series entries have been finalists for the Nebula Award, the Locus Award, and the Lambda Literary Award, and have won the Crawford Award, the Ignyte Award, and the Hugo Award. 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.

Also by Nghi Vo

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  • The City in Glass
    In this new standalone novel, Hugo Award-winning author Nghi Vo introduces a beguiling fantasy city in the tradition of Calvino, Mieville, and Le Guin. A Publishers Weekly Top 10 Fall 2024 SF&F pick A demon. An angel. A city. The demon Vitrine—immortal, powerful, and capricious—loves the dazzling city of Azril. She has mothered, married, and maddened the city and its...
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  • The Empress of Salt and Fortune
    The Empress of Salt and Fortune
    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...
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  • Long and Speaking Silence, A
    Long and Speaking Silence, A
    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...
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  • The Scarlet Ball
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    A dark and magical tale of ballrooms and bloodshed in the Gilded Age, from multi-award winning fantasy author Nghi Vo. Judith Ban - convent girl, courtesan, and failed thief - is looking for her next identity. She's no stranger to wealth or danger, but the glitter of New York's Gilded Age hides a darkness even she has never imagined. Here,...
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