Review: Mammoths at the Gates by Nghi Vo

I swear it was January two days ago, but I blinked and now it’s March. I read Mammoths at the Gates last year and meant to write my review right away, but time flew by. Luckily, I’ve gotten in the habit of taking notes while I’m reading books I intend to review, so I already had most of what I wanted to say written down. I just had to go back and edit my thoughts. The Singing Hills Cycle has become one of my favorite fantasy series. The shorter length of the stories makes them easy to pick up when I have an afternoon off, and Nghi Vo always creates such vivid, imaginative worlds. Mammoths at the Gates brings the reader and our favorite wandering cleric home to the Singing Hills Abbey.

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Blurb

The wandering Cleric Chih returns home to the Singing Hills Abbey for the first time in almost three years, to be met with both joy and sorrow. Their mentor, Cleric Thien, has died, and rests among the archivists and storytellers of the storied abbey. But not everyone is prepared to leave them to their rest.

Because Cleric Thien was once the patriarch of Coh clan of Northern Bell Pass–and now their granddaughters have arrived on the backs of royal mammoths, demanding their grandfather’s body for burial. Chih must somehow balance honoring their mentor’s chosen life while keeping the sisters from the north from storming the gates and destroying the history the clerics have worked so hard to preserve.

But as Chih and their neixin Almost Brilliant navigate the looming crisis, Myriad Virtues, Cleric Thien’s own beloved hoopoe companion, grieves her loss as only a being with perfect memory can, and her sorrow may be more powerful than anyone could anticipate. . .

The novellas of The Singing Hills Cycle are linked by the cleric Chih, but may be read in any order, with each story serving as an entrypoint. 

Review of

• Format: physical copy
• Pacing: fast
• Plot or character-driven: character
• Multiple POVs: no
• Representation: non binary mc, non binary side characters

Mammoths at the Gates has a very nostalgic feel. Chih comes home after a very long absence, so we get to see them grieve how things have changed. They are no longer the same and neither is their home, so they have to rediscover how they fit.

I loved getting a deeper dive into Chih’s history. We’ve briefly seen how Chih is perceived by the people they meet, but most of the previous novellas have focused on the stories Chih tells and experiences. In Mammoths at the Gates, we get to see where Chih comes from and how they are perceived by their family, which really shapes them as a character.

Like with Chih, we get to learn more about Almost Brilliant. Her personality comes out the most in Mammoths at the Gates, as we knew almost nothing about Chih’s Nexian companion before. I enjoyed how fiercely Almost Brilliant advocates for her grieving aunt, and getting to see how Chih supported her. I liked that the Nexien had unique magic and cultural practices despite being closely bonded to the clerics as it made their relationships more interesting.

There’s only so much an author can fit into a fantasy novella. In the previous 3 stories, Nghi Vo primarily focuses on Chih’s adventures, but Mammoths at the Gates serves as more of a character study. The story was very theme-oriented around chosen vs. inherited family, identity, and the different lives people can live. Mostly, I just enjoyed getting to learn more background information about our main characters.

I would recommend Mammoths at the Gates to people who already enjoy the Singing Hills Cycle series, but I personally wouldn’t start with this novella as I think it’s more impactful after reading about Chih’s adventures.

You’ll Like This Book if You Enjoy…

• Creative worldbuilding
• Character-focused stories
• Nuanced morality of characters

Where to find Mammoths at the Gates by Nghi Vo

Have you read Mammoths at the Gates? Let’s chat in the comments!