Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Empress of Salt and Fortune
    The Empress of Salt and Fortune
    The Empress of Salt and Fortune
    Audiobook2 hours

    The Empress of Salt and Fortune

    Written by Nghi Vo

    Narrated by Cindy Kay

    4/5

    ()

    Switch to ebook

    About this audiobook

    With the heart of an Atwood tale and the visuals of a classic Asian period drama, Nghi Vo's The Empress of Salt and Fortune is a tightly and lushly written narrative about empire, storytelling, and the anger of women.

    A young royal from the far north, is sent south for a political marriage in an empire reminiscent of imperial China. Her brothers are dead, her armies and their war mammoths long defeated and caged behind their borders. Alone and sometimes reviled, she must choose her allies carefully.

    Rabbit, a handmaiden, sold by her parents to the palace for the lack of five baskets of dye, befriends the emperor's lonely new wife and gets more than she bargained for.

    At once feminist high fantasy and an indictment of monarchy, this evocative debut follows the rise of the empress In-yo, who has few resources and fewer friends. She's a northern daughter in a mage-made summer exile, but she will bend history to her will and bring down her enemies, piece by piece.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateJul 31, 2020
    ISBN9781705246863
    Author

    Nghi Vo

    Nghi Vo is the author of the novels Siren Queen and The Chosen and the Beautiful, as well as the acclaimed novellas of the Singing Hills Cycle, which began with The Empress of Salt and Fortune. The series entries have been finalists for the Nebula Award, the Locus Award, and the Lambda Literary Award, and have won the Crawford Award, the Ignyte Award, and the Hugo Award. Born in Illinois, she now lives on the shores of Lake Michigan. She believes in the ritual of lipstick, the power of stories, and the right to change your mind.

    More audiobooks from Nghi Vo

    Related authors

    Related to The Empress of Salt and Fortune

    Titles in the series (4)

    View More
    View More

    Related audiobooks

    LGBTQIA+ Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      The Bone Shard Daughter

      Sep 9, 2020

      RELEASED 10 SEPTEMBER 448 pages | Hardback/ebook/audiobook Author Andrea Stewart Publisher Orbit Books Epic fantasy has long had a thing for One True Kings. You know the drill: a dreadful tyrant is murdering people for fun and generally imperilling t

      1 min read

    • Article

      The Jasmine Throne

      Jun 16, 2021

      The Jasmine Throne
      2 min read

    • Article

      Ursula K. Le Guin

      Jun 15, 2018

      He was thinking of Lookfar, abandoned long ago, beached on the sands of Selidor. Little of her would be left by now, a plank or two down in the sand maybe, a bit of driftwood on the western sea. As he drifted near sleep he began to remember sailing t

      15 min read

    • Article

      Raiders From The Sea

      Sep 1, 2023

      CANNY LIFTED HER head from the swirls of gold and red and put down the brush, stretching her frozen fingers. The sun fell through the scriptorium window in warm panels, but the room was still cold, and she’d been at work on the manuscript in front of

      7 min read

    • Article

      THE GIRL In The TOWER

      May 11, 2020

      THE GIRL In The TOWER
      2 min read

    • Article

      Princess Piper

      Sep 1, 2022

      Princess Piper
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Nightingale

      May 1, 2019

      The Nightingale
      10 min read

    • Article

      Midsummer’s Night

      Sep 10, 2023

      Niki thought she could sense it on all their minds, hovering between the four of them as they threw cushions and sandals into the boat, lowered the wine bottles in, and collected the long pole, but it wasn’t until they were out of the city that they

      14 min read

    • Article

      My Dinner with Denis Johnson

      Jun 25, 2018

      My Dinner with Denis Johnson
      13 min read

    • Article

      Stories Of A Chile Night

      Nov 1, 2022

      Stories Of A Chile Night
      3 min read

    • Article

      Drifting Into Antiquity

      Aug 20, 2019

      Drifting Into Antiquity
      11 min read

    • Article

      Timeless Movement

      Jan 30, 2018

      Timeless Movement
      10 min read

    • Article

      All I Want For Christmas

      Dec 16, 2020

      IT was more than an icicle. More like an icy boulder, oversized and murkily white, faceted like a cartoon jewel and, shortly, dripping. It had lurked beneath a low stone bridge at the bottom of the wood, where sycamore thickets bald for winter gave w

      18 min read

    • Article

      Ring Silverbell

      Nov 1, 2021

      Ring Silverbell
      3 min read

    • Article

      The Wildest Place OF ALL

      Mar 2, 2022

      The Wildest Place OF ALL
      9 min read

    • Article

      Until The Sea Closed Over Us And The Light Was Gone

      Jul 1, 2020

      —Dante, Canto XXVI But if the truth is dreamed of toward the morning—El Paso Although it was really last summer’s song,all this summer Despacito played on as slower then I turned myself to gazeupon Juarez. The summer everything hurts my eyes, a dozen

      6 min read

    • Article

      The Thin Place

      Nov 16, 2020

      We looked out of the window at the torrential rain. We’d booked tickets for the Castle’s Halloween event. The Castle was famous for being haunted by the ghost of its last court jester and made the most of this reputation every October, hosting a fair

      6 min read

    • Article

      On Country

      Nov 9, 2016

      On Country
      5 min read

    • Article

      Our Lady Of The Rockies

      Aug 7, 2023

      Our Lady Of The Rockies
      13 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Empress of Salt and Fortune

    4/5

    783 ratings19 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      Very intriguing story. Unique. I really enjoyed the storytelling style and the feel of it all. Lovely narrator too

      2 people found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Albeit a bit confusing at first, The Empress of Salt and Fortune proved to be such a short, yet powerful read. The writing alone deserves all the praise that this book is getting.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      I listened to the audiobook & The Narrator had a lovely voice and was able to bring characters to life with elegance.... this is a story being told within a story of ancient China & how things were, the story is one of growth, and strength, Resilience and smart female characters. The story within a story is told by a woman called Rabbit who used to be the serving girl to Empress In-Yo, the hints of fantasy lay throughout along with female general fiction and I could feel a little magical realism too.... written beautifully and the vocabulary comes off as lyrical.

      I recommend this book and also quite short but has a very deep impact
    • 5/5
      Interesting story. I loved it, because it reminded me of Kdrama. Like the show Empress Ki. The narrator has a soft and intriguing voice. It makes me feel that I am there listening to the story of an old lady. I’m off to listen to the 2nd book.
    • 4/5
      Great story!
      Super interesting, beautiful sentences, a mysterious world with strong women and their relationships to each other. I thought it was beautiful.
    • 3/5
      The narrator is great. It takes a bit to get into and I’m going to listen to the second one. I’m hoping it continues from where it left off and doesn’t take so long to get into it.
    • 1/5
      The book doesn't make sense to me. To much cussing
    • 4/5
      So short but soooo good. Really enjoyed this. Definitely recommend this
    • 3/5
      Short novella set in an historical chinese.
      Love strong female characters
    • 5/5
      Didn't expect the story to impact me as much as it did. It's short and bittersweet. Give it a read.
    • 4/5
      This is one of those deceivingly simple stories that slowly builds up to the denouement. As a non-Asian person, I am sure I missed little insider details that would have made this novella extra delightful but it still allows a peek behind the culture.

      Definitely a different approach to monarchy for women and mothers. Great recommendation.
    • 4/5
      The beginning was a bit difficult to get into and understand. Once you get to Thriving Fortune and meet the grandmother and she begins telling stories I became hooked. The stories of In-yo the Empress of Salt and Fortunes were so interesting. They were sad stories but in the end the Empress prevailed which made it kind of a happy ending.
    • 5/5
      I liked it. A short tale of the life of two women, spoken in a soothing voice. Straightforward, but with just enough intrigue to keep me wondering.
    • 4/5
      It is definitely a bit hard to follow at first, you may have to reread a page or two, but the story is very much worth it and compelling. Quiet love.
    • 3/5
      This was a really interesting little novella. I really enjoyed learning about the characters. Both Rabbit and Chi were really interesting. My only problem was that I had a hard time differentiating from the story that Rabbit was telling and the present day. I'm excited to see what comes next in the series.
    • 5/5
      Beautifully written. Lyrical and almost poetic. The narration is very well done too.
    • 4/5
      Reads like a fairy tale. The her-story is revealed through a number of days.
    • 4/5
      3.5 stars it was a fine tale, nothing exceptional, short enough to be entertaining
    • 5/5
      I didn’t want it to end. Visually stunning prose and fierce women, what’s not to love?