The Ultimate Fantasy Series Ranking

Research dossier

The Singing Hills Cycle

#3214.01 of 664 ranked universes · full ranking

Books 7 books Status Ongoing 2020–present Reading commitment High Nghi Vo Last reviewed 2026-08-18

Overview

The wandering cleric Chih and their talking hoopoe companion, Almost Brilliant, travel a richly imagined world collecting oral histories, unraveling the true stories behind legends of empresses, tigers, and ghosts along the way. An ongoing cycle of connected novellas beginning with The Empress of Salt and Fortune. Nghi Vo's second universe in this canon, alongside The Chosen and the Beautiful.

Mythic fantasy, Fairy-tale retelling · For Adult

Core Canon: Reading Order (7 works) counts toward ranking

The Singing Hills Cycle Nghi Vo

WorkYearInternal chron.CanonRating
Cover of The Empress of Salt and FortuneThe Empress of Salt and Fortune20201core3.90 (47,517 ratings)
Cover of When the Tiger Came Down the MountainWhen the Tiger Came Down the Mountain20202core4.15 (19,671 ratings)
Cover of Into the RiverlandsInto the Riverlands20223core3.99 (11,225 ratings)
Cover of Mammoths at the GatesMammoths at the Gates20234core4.20 (8,242 ratings)
Cover of The Brides of High HillThe Brides of High Hill20245core4.12 (6,682 ratings)
Cover of A Mouthful of DustA Mouthful of Dust20256core4.17 (3,755 ratings)
Cover of A Long and Speaking SilenceA Long and Speaking Silence; 7th entry in the Singing Hills Cycle, published May 5, 2026.2026N/Acore4.09 (1,957 ratings)

Ongoing connected-novella cycle following the wandering cleric Chih and their hoopoe companion Almost Brilliant, collecting oral histories across the world of Anh. A seventh entry, A Long and Speaking Silence, has been announced but not yet published as of this record.

Quick answers

Why is it ranked #321?

Ranked #321 of 664 ranked universes.

How the ranking works →

Why explore this universe?

Well rated · 7 books · Ongoing · 99k ratings · Ranks #321 overall

Good choice if you want a long-running mythic fantasy universe that's still ongoing, with new books still coming.

Reading order

Publication order (7 Core Canon books)

  1. The Empress of Salt and Fortune (2020)
  2. When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain (2020)
  3. Into the Riverlands (2022)
  4. Mammoths at the Gates (2023)
  5. The Brides of High Hill (2024)
  6. A Mouthful of Dust (2025)
  7. A Long and Speaking Silence (2026)

Documented internal/story order: 6 of 7 Core Canon books

  1. The Empress of Salt and Fortune (2020)
  2. When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain (2020)
  3. Into the Riverlands (2022)
  4. Mammoths at the Gates (2023)
  5. The Brides of High Hill (2024)
  6. A Mouthful of Dust (2025)

Internal chronology is documented for 6 of 7 Core Canon books; the remaining 1 are not yet mapped onto the same ordinal scale.

Awards (verified)

You might also like

Suggestions computed from what The Singing Hills Cycle and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.

Official resources

Research details

Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.01 across 99,049 ratings on 7 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.

How do we know this?

Admission: The Singing Hills Cycle admitted accepted 2026-08-18

Sources: (see source tier definitions)

Last reviewed: 2026-08-18

Rule: Core = all 6 published novellas to date; a 7th, A Long and Speaking Silence, has been announced but not yet published.

← All universes