Ah man, did I ever cry some ugly tears at the end of this one, folks.

Mammoths at the Gates is the fourth instalment of this Singing Hills series by Nghi Vo, where we follow Cleric Chih on their wanderings. But this time, they are wandering home, to an almost empty abby. I just realised that I haven’t actually read book 3, which I am shocked, but also delighted, because now I can go buy it.

This book was a tear jerker. Chih arrives home to sad news, that their mentor has died. So grief is obviously a main theme of this novella. But Chih and Acting Divine Ru (Chih’s childhood friend) have to deal with the main conflict: the aforementioned mammoths at the gate. There’s tension because both Ru and Chih have changed over the four years, but also the threat outside. Not to mention the grief they both experience. There is also the searing grief of Cleric Thien’s companion Neixin, Myriad Virtues. I kind of imagine Neixin’s as very talkative parrots, who remember everything.

It’s a very sweet, somber little novella. But I love this series, it’s so beautiful woven even when dealing with sad topics. It’s another one of those fictional worlds that you wish you could actually go spend time in. Every novella just weaves another layer of texture and beauty into the world. It is really quite a special series.