A Mouthful of Dust

The Singing Hills Cycle, Book 6

By: Nghi Vo

Narrated by: Cindy Kay

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 enjoyed in any order.

©2025 Nghi Vo (P)2025 Tantor Media

Mythology/Paranormal combined with Real-World Horror’s… all mixed up in a quaint book

Read: 31 Jan 2026
Reviewed: 1 Feb 2026

Mythology/Paranormal combined with Real-World Horror’s… all mixed up in a quaint book. It’s a hard, unconventional mix, but Nghi Vo nailed it.

I liked this book a lot. There were a decent amount of twist in the terms, and the supernatural aspect. I love the mythology aspect, combined with real world horrors such as a famine, and have it delve into the differences between how the rich (/basically royalty) and the poor might handle and view such a situation. I listened to A Mouthful Of Dust while running, and it was all-in-all a great book.