The Orphan's Tales: In the Cities of Coin and Spice

In the Cities of Coin and Spice is volume 2 of The Orphan's Tales by Catherynne M. Valente, continuing from the Tiptree Award winning The Orphan's Tales: In the Night Garden.

It's a series of nested or frame tales, stories nested within stories, such as the Pancatantra, 1001 Nights or My Name is Red. The stories of In the Night Garden and The Orphan's Tales: In the Cities of Coin and Spice are set in an alternate, mythical, or fantastic Persia, India, and Europe.

This volume explores issues of wealth, capitalism, and globalization through its fantastic interrelated tales, which are closely woven with the tales and characters from Volume 1.

Outline

Here's an outline of the nested tales in the second book.

WARNING: SPOILERS!!!

The Book of the Storm

The Book of the Storm In the Garden # The girl and the boy talk of Dinarzad’s wedding

The Tale of the Crossing (Girl to boy) # Seven, man with one arm, comes to the ferry at the Lake of the Dead

• The Tale of the Twelve Coins # Seven’s birth and captivity in the City of Marrow
  • The Foreman’s Tale # Vhummin of Marrow tells of the market of Asaad in the city-that-was

In the Garden # The girl talks of loneliness and having no name

• • The Foreman’s Tale, continued # Vhummin tells of meeting Golod, the monster made of teeth

The Tale of the Hungry Lord # Maciej and Malgorzata; crops fail; Malgorzata eaten, Golod born

• • The Foreman’s Tale, continued # Vhummin is eaten by Golod

The Tale of the Crossing, continued # Seven speaks further with Idyll, the ferryman

• The Tale of the Twelve Coins, continued # Seven meets Oubilette, the huldra; they work in the horrible Mint
  • The Huldra’s Tale # Oubilette tells of the mythical origin of the huldra, then of her golden ball and how she meets the hedgehog
    • The Tale of the Golden Ball # Ciracio the Hedgehog tells of the mines and meeting the soldier
      • The Soldier’s Tale # The Soldier tells how her father sent their wealth to a distant kinsman

# her brothers went to war for some horses and cows, she goes for chickens In the Garden # The boy thinks of his father sending men to war

• • • • The Soldier’s Tale, continued # The soldier, Widow, serves with a wooden sword, falls to chemical weapons
    • The Tale of the Golden Ball # The hedgehog tells of the soldier’s story and she turns him into a ball
  • The Huldra’s Tale, continued # The hedgehogs go to serve a King; Ciracio ties Oubilette by the hair
• The Tale of the Twelve Coins, continued # Oubilette and Seven begin to work in the Mint
  • The Huldra’s Tale, continued # The unicorn Nevinost comes to Oubilette trapped in her sod house
    • A Tale of Harm # The unicorn tells how she lost her horn to a poisoner named Bryony
      • The Poisoner’s Tale # Bryony tells of his childhood and of two princesses, Hind and Hadil
    • A Tale of Harm, continued # Bryony cuts off the unicorn’s horn
  • The Huldra’s Tale, continued # The unicorn eats Oubilette’s hair, freeing her
• The Tale of the Twelve Coins, continued # Seven stamps his arm into coins

In the Garden # The girl thinks of her stories, and the boy, and sees Dinarzad

• The Tale of the Twelve Coins, continued # Seven and Oubilette buy freedom with 6 coins made of his arm

The Tale of the Crossing, continued # he saved one; another given to Idyll as ferry fee; he tells the tale of the other four

• The Tale of the Twelve Coins, continued # Seven and Oubilette meet Taglio and the Manticore
  • The Tale of the Eunuch and the Odalisque # Taglio met the Heifer-Star, castrated himself, meets Immacolata
    • The Tale of the Tea-Maker and the Shoemaker # Immacolata, the girl made of tea, tells Taglio to meet Zmeya
  • The Tale of the Eunuch and the Odalisque # Immacolata protests the slavery of the women of the harem
• The Tale of the Twelve Coins, continued # Zmeya lets them escape). Seven and Oubilette travel with Taglio
  • The Manticore’s Tale # Her birth, capture, imprisoned in Hadil’s zoo, rescued by Hind
• The Tale of the Twelve Coins, continued # Oubilette and Seven argue what Grotteschi’s story should be about
  • The Manticore’s Tale, continued # Hind and Grotteschi meet Taglio & Immacolata on the road to Ajanabh
    • The Pig-Tamer’s Tale # Mesinyane tells how she saw the Harpoon-Star carrying dead Zmeya
  • The Manticore’s tale, continued # Hind returns to Amberabad. Taglio leaps through Immacolata’s body
• The Tale of the Twelve Coins, continued # Immacolata dies; Oubilette dances as Zmeya; they continue to Ajanabh

The Tale of the Crossing, continued # Idyll asks abotu the last 3 coins, and tells of his lizards

• The Ferryman’s Tale # The origin myth of the Hsien. Idyll goes to seek an immortal rose

In the Garden # The girl and the boy talk of the wedding feast to come

• The Ferryman’s Tale, continued # Idyll’s journey to the Kappa
  • The Tale of the Lizard’s Lesson # Yoi meets Yazo; they go to the Kingdom of Glass Rain
    • The Tale of the Glass Princess # Ostraya tells how she turned to glass, and of the lizard-calculus
  • The Tale of the Lizard’s Lesson # Yoi and Yazo obtain the secret of the immortal rose
• The Ferryman’s Tale, continued # Idyll brings the rose to Shadukiam. The governor kills him.

The Tale of the Crossing, continued # Seven and Idyll endure the Storm of Souls and arrive at the Isle of Lost Light Out of the Garden # Dinarzad sends the girl a red cloak and a clockwork peacock The Tale of the Crossing, continued # Seven and Oubilette meet on the isle

• The Tale of the Dancing Girl’s Descent # Taglio gives Oubilette Immacolata’s leaf. She finds the underworld entrance
  • The Mourner’s Tale # Wept, the harpy by the entrance to the underworld, tells her story
    • The Hoopoe’s Tale # Orange as the Sun tells the harpy her life story
  • The Mourner’s Tale # Wept sings for Captain Tomomo. The mourning of birds.
• The Tale of the Dancing Girl’s Descent # Oubilette sacrifices sap for the harpy

The Tale of the Crossing, continued # She takes Seven to meet dead Zmeya, who is pregnant

• The Tale of the Leaf and the Snake # The Snake-Star tells of her early life, marriage/captivity, and children
  • The Tale of the Birds’ Tears # The moth Fahad foretells Zmeya’s death, and lists all the cities.
• The Tale of the Leaf and the Snake, continued # Zmeya’s death, rebirth, death. She meets Diamond, Itto, and Oubilette.

The Tale of the Crossing, continued # Seven asks why people love Zmeya, or the gods. He asks Oubilette why she left. In the Garden # The boy asks the girl if she will leave him The Tale of the Crossing, continued # Zmeya’s child is born

• The Midwife’s Tale # Aerie tells what happens after she and her brother killed the king

The Tale of the Crossing, concluded # Aerie delivers Zmeya’s child, and takes her into the living world In the Garden # The boy begs to know more, and the girl promises to tell him another time

Note: The Tale of the Twelve Coins was not concluded!

Editions

• Bantam Spectra: 2007 (ISBN 978-0-553-38404-8) 516 pp. Illustrations by Michael Kaluta.