skygiants | (no subject)

The Empress of Salt and Fortune, an extremely recent novella by Nghi Vo, is more or less specifically targeted to appeal to me in several ways, being as it is:

- the secret history of an unwanted royal wife's secret rebellion and rise to power
- as told through the perspective of her most trusted handmaiden
- to a historian/archivist who is taking an oral history of the handmaiden's memories around various Significant Artifacts as they catalog them in the empress' home of exile!

'wait,' you may say, at this juncture, 'that sounds like two frame stories? that's a lot of frame story for one relatively small novella?' And: okay, yes, perhaps, but also, if what you're interested in is history and historiography and memory and narratives of empire, in my personal opinion it is fine and OK to have a high frame story::actual story ratio (see also: specifically targeted to appeal to my personal interests and enjoyment. If I could change anything I would add even another frame story and have a layer of scholarly commentary and footnotes and that's probably why I'm not in charge of changing things.)

Anyway, I enjoyed it very much and would absolutely recommend; it's a big scope for a little book but at this time, when I don't actually have much attention span for long and meaty books, I would actually rank the fact that it's a mosaic of a story told in curated glimpses and vignettes as more of a pro than a con. Also, beautifully written!

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AND it's four bucks on Kindle! //still guiltily using Amazon between RSI and lack of shelf space

I really enjoyed this as well! I saw people on Goodreads griping that they found the frame narrative distancing, but I found it completely delightful and didn't have that problem at all.

I also really love stories about women exercising power undetected through 'women's work'/in women's spaces, so the novella was super appealling to me in that regard.

Did you hear there is going to be a sequel?

Ooh this sounds delightful!

I vote you in charge of changing things. Who do I talk to about that?

Have you read JY Yang's Tensorate series? Asking because The Ascent To Godhood, the most recent one, is about the late Protector's rise to power as told to a note-taking listener by her former most trusted handmaiden and lover who later fought against her.

YESSSS a layer of scholarly commentary! Especially if the footnotes are salty.

ohhh I've heard goood things about this book but that description makes me extremely more into it than I had been previously!

Ooooh! That sounds excellent!

It's on my holds list and I can't WAIT. I am actually even more excited to read it now I know of the extravagant framing!

This sounds exactly up my alley.

Are they, you know . . . handmaiden and feudal lord?

Oh that sounds lovely! I'm so excited to check it out!

FOUR DOLLARS WELL SPENT

Yeah, I loved it! I thought it was a really cool way to provide some interesting distance and commentary on the story.

... and I had not heard there was going to be a sequel, that's extremely exciting news! I know many of my friends are lukewarm on this trend of series-of-short-novellas but I personally am digging it.

I really enjoyed it, I suspect you would as well!

I do not vote me in charge of changing things, that is far too much responsibility, so you're going to have to put it in as a write-in I think. >.>

I've only read the first one! That actually was a book where the volume of plot it fit into the novella length did not work for me as well as I wished it to, so I never ended up hunting down the others despite hearing vaguely intriguing things about them.

Edited 2020-05-08 18:36 (UTC)

I may have just accidentally bought the ebook today, so you know, probably I will read it eventually!

Salty faux-academic footnotes in fiction ... a truly delightful luxury.

I'm glad, I really enjoyed it!

I would definitely recommend!

I'll look forward to hearing what you think of it! :D

:DDD It was very much up mine, I hope you enjoy it if you read it!

I was actually somewhat surprised to discover that they are not! (The Empress is indeed gay, but not for her.)

I hope you enjoy it when you do!

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