Chih, raised in the deep archives of Singing Hills since they were two, thought that it would. They tried their best to be kind, but they were also patient. Singing Hills knew that the truth showed up in its own time, often late and sometimes entirely unlooked for. Lao Bingyi was old, and her life might last years, decades, centuries more. Singing Hills was older still.

They could wait.

Acknowledgments

Sometimes, I think it’s a little sad that it’s impossible to know all of a person, no matter how long you’ve been together or how well you love them. That’s part of what Into the Riverlands is about, I think, about how many moving parts go into making a person, and how the stories you’re told are only ever going to get you halfway there. It’s sort of sad, what you don’t know about the people around you. Then you turn around and realize that someone you’ve known for years is out back riding the unicycle that you never even suspected, and honestly, it can also be a delight.

Similarly delightful are Diana Fox, my agent, and Ruoxi Chen, my editor, who are always asking me the right questions to make sure that my work is saying what I want it to say. Thank you to you both, because this book wouldn’t be this book without the two of you, and I wouldn’t be the writer I am today.

Thank you as well to the Tordotcom team. You have been amazing to work with, and I can’t imagine Chih, Almost Brilliant, and their story with anyone else. To Irene Gallo, Sanaa Ali-Virani, Lauren Hougen, Jim Kapp, Greg Collins, Amanda Hong, Kyle Avery, Alexis Saarela, Michael Dudding, Isa Caban, Samantha Friedlander, Megan Barnard, Christine Foltzer, and Jess Kiley, thank you so much!

Thank you as well to my cover artist, Alyssa Winans, and my audiobook narrator, Cindy Kay, who tell this story in ways I can’t even begin to understand.

To my friends Cris Chingwa, Victoria Coy, Leah Kolman, Amy Lepke, and Meredy Shipp, thank you for everything you do. Wanna get some food after this? I’m kind of feeling like Vietnamese or Thai.

Shane Hochstetler, Grace Palmer, and Carolyn Mulroney, I can’t thank you guys enough, and I’m not even going to try anymore. I’m just going to buy you lots of cheese and baked goods and assume it gets the point across.

The world’s changed from what it was when I wrote this book in 2021, and it will have changed even more by the time you have it in your hands. Wherever you are, I hope you’re okay. I hope you’re having fun. I hope you’re safe. I promise you I’m doing my best, and if you are too, we just might be okay.

Also by Nghi Vo

ALSO BY NGHI VO

THE SINGING HILLS CYCLE