A short story that is packed with wonderful imagery and beautiful prose, Empress of Salt and Fortune captured not only my attention, but also my imagination.
This features a dynamic cast of queer characters. Rabbit, an old woman whom our travelers meet, goes through her past by telling stories. She is retelling her time as a servant in the palace turned handmaid to the Empress In-Yo. Our travelers are a cleric named Chi and their hoopoe Almost Brilliant. They are enraptured by Rabbit’s stories and ask for more after she finishes each one.
I found Rabbit’s stories to be full of lessons of feminism and hope, overcoming hardships and building friendships even in the most difficult of circumstances. The culture imbued in this story is rich and inspiring. This is what I want to see from our publishing industry and Tor.com does a great job of putting their money where their mouth is when it comes to the books they publish. The fact that they recognize the brilliance of this book and its importance in the fantasy industry is a testament to their dedication of inclusive literature.
This is the start of a series of books (I’m not entirely sure how many will be in the series but they are very short novels so it could be quite a few), and the second one came out December 8, 2020. It’s definitely on my reading list and I hope that these books go onto yours as well.
Just Read It 