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    A Memory Called Empire
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    A Memory Called Empire
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    A Memory Called Empire
    Ebook526 pages10 hours

    A Memory Called Empire

    By Arkady Martine

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Winner of the 2020 Hugo Award for Best Novel
    A Locus, and Nebula Award nominee for 2019
    A Best Book of 2019: Library Journal, Polygon, Den of Geek
    An NPR Favorite Book of 2019
    A Guardian Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Book of 2019 and “Not the Booker Prize” Nominee
    A Goodreads Biggest SFF Book of 2019 and Goodreads Choice Awards Nominee

    "A Memory Called Empire perfectly balances action and intrigue with matters of empire and identity. All around brilliant space opera, I absolutely love it."—Ann Leckie, author of Ancillary Justice

    Ambassador Mahit Dzmare arrives in the center of the multi-system Teixcalaanli Empire only to discover that her predecessor, the previous ambassador from their small but fiercely independent mining Station, has died. But no one will admit that his death wasn't an accident—or that Mahit might be next to die, during a time of political instability in the highest echelons of the imperial court.

    Now, Mahit must discover who is behind the murder, rescue herself, and save her Station from Teixcalaan's unceasing expansion—all while navigating an alien culture that is all too seductive, engaging in intrigues of her own, and hiding a deadly technological secret—one that might spell the end of her Station and her way of life—or rescue it from annihilation.

    A fascinating space opera debut novel, Arkady Martine's A Memory Called Empire is an interstellar mystery adventure.

    "The most thrilling ride ever. This book has everything I love."    —Charlie Jane Anders, author of All the Birds in the Sky

    And coming soon, the brilliant sequel, A Desolation Called Peace!

    At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Publishers
    Release dateMar 26, 2019
    ISBN9781250186454
    Unavailable
    A Memory Called Empire
    Author

    Arkady Martine

    Arkady Martine is a speculative fiction writer and, as Dr AnnaLinden Weller, a historian of the Byzantine Empire and an apprentice city planner. Under both names she writes about border politics, rhetoric, propaganda and the edges of the world. Arkady grew up in New York City and, after some time in Turkey, Canada and Sweden, lives in Baltimore with her wife, the author Vivian Shaw. A Memory Called Empire is her debut novel, which is followed by A Desolation Called Peace.

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    Reviews for A Memory Called Empire

    4/5

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    • 4/5
      It has a lot of world-building but that intertwines beautifully with the slow unfolding of the plot. I'm find it fascinating and very immersive, and enjoying the wry wit of the central character - she doesn't take herself too seriously - which gives the whole book a light touch even though it deals with political maneouvring and intrigue.
    • 4/5
      Mahit is the new ambassador to the Teixcalaanli Empire from her small station, which is facing down the Empire’s hunger for territory. The old ambassador died, probably murdered, and Mahit is supposed to have the help of his imago (his preserved memories, using technology the Empire considers taboo) but all she has is an outdated version, and there are some problems even with that. Also, Mahit loves all things Imperial and kind of hates herself for wanting to be an Imperial citizen. When she arrives, she finds herself immersed in palace intrigue and no one is quite sure how much she resembles her predecessor. It’s engaging, especially if you like people speaking in indirection and having to infer what’s going on from statements pregnant with multiple meanings, which isn’t exactly my jam but I could roll with it.
    • 3/5
      A Memory Called EmpireAuthor: Arkady MartinePublisher: Tor BooksPublishing Date: 2019Pgs: 462Dewey: F MARDisposition: Irving Public Library - South Campus - Irving, TX_________________________________________________REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERSSummary:The mighty Teixcalaanli Empire is a hungry neighbor for the small system of space stations that make up Lsel space. And something has gone wrong with Lsel’s longtime ambassador. The Empire has requested a new ambassador immediately. Murder, mayhem, riots, coups within coups, and an Emperor who wants eternal life at the cost of his clone’s soul and mind. But Lsel has a trump card. Problem being the new ambassador doesn’t know what it is or how to get it amidst the foibles of Teixcalaanli culture and the encroaching of palace intrigue turned up to 11. Agendas swirl, new allies, former allies of the previous ambassador, former lovers of the previous ambassador, death, life, the stars...empire. _________________________________________________Genre:Science FictionSpace OperaPalace IntrigueWhy this book:I’m on a bit of a palace intrigue kick at the moment._________________________________________________Hmm Moments:Was beginning to wonder if the Yskander imago was going to try and pull a body coup and take control of their shared consciousness.Palace intrigue with no romance except for what I’m reading into it. Nice. I don’t have a problem with romance being part of the story. I just don’t like it when stories are stopped down for the romantic subplot. I’m looking at your CW’s Supergirl. Nice the way that Martine slips the growth between Three Seagrass and Ambassador Mahit into the story. Smooth.So...multiple usurpers readying their forces. Or is it all smoke and wag the dog. Is only one of them making a move and the rest being set up? Hmmm.Juxtaposition:A grow or die empire that has found peace. A peace marred by the recently quelled Odile insurrection. Or is it as quelled as the public is lead to believe.The plot, not the story’s plot, but the plot is an onion that Mahit is trying to decipher without nearly any pieces. Author did a great job of not telegraphing. I dig it.The Unexpected:One Lightning trying to be a warrior emperor with no victories to his name.Well of course the other Ygravan has to come into play. God’s eye view.Missed Opportunity:Lots of dangerous friends at the party. Veiled threats all around. Is the 10-year old, 90% clone of the current Emperor, co-heir to the throne, the most dangerous of all?Despite my feelings about romance in stories, Three Seagrass and Mahit orbitted each other and failed to truly come together. Though I guess it could have been an offscreen kind of thing. But there wasn’t a payoff to the tension.Predictability/Non-Predictability: They’re all in on it. Just a bit of jumping to conclusions there.Movies and Television:It’s too internalized, too much thought and conversation with their own id, to make this into a decent movie...without totally leaving the story in the dust._________________________________________________Pacing:Very well paced.Last Page Sound:I love this book, but I hate the ending.Questions I’m Left With:Why the sabotage? What’s up with the wheeled ships? Where do they come from? Are they the Ebrekti?Disagreements: Mahit stated that poetry is more for the old because they feel the works differently than the young. I say that the passion of youth and their naivety makes the words leap off the page differently than they do for the older reader.Author Assessment:In the beginning, there is a whole lot more tell than show in this story. The heavy exposition of the story, once you are used to it, works in this context._________________________________________________
    • 5/5
      This book is an instant #scifi classic. Otherworldly, expansive, rich--and despite the layers of political intrigue and layering, the plot is primarily character and relationship driven. Protagonist Mahit is introspective, clever, and curious even as the world starts to disintegrate around her, as she questions who she can trust, as she defies expectation at every turn. She comes to a civilization of colonizers aware that her love of it is a form of betraying her people, and tries to walk the fine line between immersion in a new world and losing her culture. A portrait of an empire as unflattering as it is beautiful, that holds gently the way we can love a thing even as it tries to destroy us. I hope to see much more from this author, and can't wait to revisit this book again and again.
    • 5/5
      This has so far been a good year for space opera, and this is one of the best. This is a story of colonization and striving to hang on to your civilization and culture in the face of a monolithic empire that "annexes" (forcibly) nearly every star system it comes across. It's rich with nuances of language and culture, rife with politics and court intrigue, and has a neat little murder mystery at its heart. The mystery isn't really the story's focus--the overarching themes of identity and independence are--but it certainly serves to ratchet up the tension. This is a very fine book.Mahit Dzmare is the new Ambassador for Lsel Station, a mining system where people live on stations instead of planets. As the story opens, she is bound for the City, the planet that is the heart of the Teixcalaanli Empire, to take the place of the previous Ambassador, Yskander Aghavn, who she eventually discovers has been murdered. Lsel Station is no financial or military match for Teixcalaan, but they do have a technological advantage in their imagos, implants that record the memories and experiences of several generations of previous holders so that precious knowledge is not lost. But Marit's imago is fifteen years out of date, so she is heading into this new assignment with one hand tied behind her back.I'm sure some will say that this story is slow, and if a reader is accustomed to periodic explosions, desperate fights, and breakneck pacing, I guess it is. But the vividly realized richness of the world and characters more than makes up for it. There are many layers here, both in worldbuilding and characterization, and the author takes the proper time to explore them. (Just as an example: the character names are so gloriously alien. Six Direction, Nineteen Adze, Three Seagrass--numbers and nouns. And there are quotes at the beginning of each chapter: snippets of poetry and history, paragraphs from manuals and news broadcasts, that convey the sense of an entire complex culture without intrusive or tiresome infodumping. It's masterfully done.) But at the same time, the ticking of the plot gradually becomes louder and louder, until that moment about two-thirds of the way through the book when it explodes--and because it has all been so well set up, the reader's heart is thumping as they race to the end.After the revolution and the installation of a new Emperor--an event in which Mahit is intimately involved--she returns to Lsel Station, irrevocably changed by what she has experienced. The next book, hopefully, will deal with that. There is also an overarching alien threat in the background, scarcely touched on in this book, which I presume will loom larger and larger as the series progresses. Don't miss it.
    • 5/5
      This is an amazing read. The plot, the world, the characters - everything is there. What fascinates me is all the reviews and even the author's own writing about the book say it's about the uneasy relationship subjects have with an empire - and I'm sure it is. But I've never lived outside of the USA so I've never experienced that dynamic. The tensions, though, remind me of being a woman in the patriarchy. You have to live with and negotiate rules that control you without having a choice in those rules and without agreeing to play by them. It's... interesting. At one point Mahit thinks, "She found herself in a state of simultaneous gratitude and fury. She was getting used to the combination, the doubling, the strangeness of being grateful for something she should never have had to experience in the first place." That piece of writing stopped me dead. It nails a concept I've spent so much effort failing to explain. This is a great book.
    • 5/5
      It's hard to imagine that a better SF book will be written this year. Arkady Martine has done a fantastic job at world and character building while deftly celebrating "Left Hand of Darkness".I have some quibbles about Ms Martine's refusal to use the subjunctive (she's a linguist, she knows what that is), and I think she is on shaky ground exploring the sexual attraction between the Ambassador Mahit Dzmare and her aide. In a bit of diplomatic geekiness I would remind everyone that an embassy is supposed to be the safest place for an ambassador because it is legally the sovereign territory of the ambassador's country that is to be protected by the hosting state. I found the pace of events to hasty, there was no need for all the drama in the first days of Mahit's arrival. And why couldn't somewhere retrieve Mahit's official mail when she was sequestered for her own safety?But these are quibbles. It's a great book. "A Memory Called Empire: Teixcalaan Book 1" by Arkady Martine is published by Tor.
    • 4/5
      With an out of date version of the previous ambassador in her head Mahit goes to the center of the Teixcalaanli Empire as requested by them to find her predecessor dead and the capital up to its eyeballs in political intrigue. Mahit must trust her liaison from the empire in order to do anything from reading her mail to what happened to Ambassador Aghavn. The station she represents is small but they have one piece of tech the empire doesn’t have, the ability to record another person’s memories to pass along knowledge and skills. The station is holding one other secret as an ace in the hole with the empire to buy peace before the expansion hungry Teixcalaan take them over.

      I really enjoyed the world building in this and how the politics of the end of an emperor’s rule played out. A great dive into this new setting and I can’t wait to see more of it.


      Digital review copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley
    • 3/5
      The first 2/3 of this are intriguing, but there are a lot of really slow parts where the plot get bogged down in minutia. The quality of the writing and the strength of the characters are enough to carry you through the sections that feel like you are walking through molasses. And then, the last 1/3 makes it all worthwhile.
    • 4/5
      I wanted to like this more than I did. The writing is superb, the digressions about poetry and language are really fantastic, and the worldbuilding is super interesting. But the plot seems to drag -- I think about halfway through I felt like I could sum up all the events of the last 200 pages fairly quickly because nothing much was going on -- and in places was very predictable. If you enjoyed Ancillary Justice and like reading about poetry, I think the writing will carry you through.
    • 3/5
      I will not be surprised if this appears on a few shortlists later this year. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a good book, merely that’s it’s being pushed a lot… and being talked about a lot. However. Plot first. The Teixcalaani Empire asks Lsel Station, a small space-based polity on the edges of the empire, for a new ambassador. It seems the old one has died – murdered, the new ambassador, Mahit Dzmare, discovers shortly after arrival on the Teixcalaani capital world (which is one giant city). It turns out there’s a bit politicking going on, both on the capital world and on Lsel Station, none of which Dzmare is aware of, even though she should be carrying an “imago” of her predecessor, ie his memories and a copy of his personality, in her own head. First, a popular general is trying to seize the throne. Second, Lsel Station is trying to prevent impending annexation. Third, the Teixcalaani emperor is trying to safeguard his succession, using Lsel imago technology. And, on top of all that, it turns out there are powerful aliens lurking out past Lsel Station and Lsel wants the empire to keep it safe from them. With all that going on, it comes as something of a surprise to find that A Memory Called Empire spends more time on interiority than it does on plot or action. Or on worldbuilding – and there is a lot of worldbuilding. And it is, in the main, done quite well – except all the Teixcalaani words in the prose are italicised. Who still does that? Italicising non-English words in an English text is so twentieth-century. The end result reads a lot like Ann Leckie’s Imperial Radch trilogy, albeit without the advantage of being first or using Leckie’s default gender trick – but fans of that trilogy will no doubt love this novel. The publisher seems to think fans of Le Carré and Banks will love it too, but comparisons to their oeuvres is one hell of a stretch (Dzmare could be a character name from a Culture novel, but that’s about it). In A Memory Called Empire‘s favour, it has a remarkably low bodycount for a space opera, in the high three figures. Space opera as a subgenre relies heavily on well-used tropes and worldbuilding-blocks (to coin a phrase), but there is also one type of space opera that makes a feature of its worldbuilding. A Memory Called Empire falls into the latter category. That makes it interesting, and a better read, than the majority of space operas, but it’s also plain most of the book’s energy has been invested in the worldbuilding… and the romance which forms the emotional core of the novel. As a result the science-fictional elements feel paper-thin – the infrastructure of the capital city, for example, is supposedly controlled by an AI, but the book presents this as little more a big computer, and the controlling “algorithm” for the AI even forms a minor unconvincing subplot. The central murder-mystery isn’t actually much of a mystery – the murderer confesses freely to Dzmare, knowing he won’t be prosecuted – and the offstage threat is so far offstage it only seems to impinge on the plot when the writer remembers it. This is a novel that is essentially all about the worldbuilding. The writer clearly revelled in it, and hopes the reader will too. And, in general, they’ve done an excellent job. A Memory Called Empire is not a great novel, or arguably a good novel, but it is the first novel – long overdue – in a form of space opera which needs to be more prevalent. It is an example of a model of space opera which could have appeared in the late 1990s or early 2000s, and would have made space opera a better subgenre, but which was pretty much squashed at the time. Instead of The Risen Empire or Spirit: the Princess of Bois Dormant, we’ve ended up with the Expanse and assorted clones. Sigh. A Memory Called Empire won’t make any of my award shortlists, but I’d sooner it was a typical example of 21st century space opera rather than something worth remarking on…
    • 4/5
      In this satisfying space empire intrigue, an ambassador, Mahit from a town sized space station to the vast empire Empire of Teixcalaan becomes involved in empire wide politics. The scale didn't quite work for me - I don't believe in space empires, or even planetary ones, but on an emotional and story level it worked well enough, reminding me of C.J. Cherry's Foreigner. The internal concerns with personal and cultural identity and integrity harmonized well with the setting and plot, and the characters felt inhabited.
    • 4/5
      This is only an excerpt but based on what I read, I think I would like to read the completed book. Mahit is sent as an ambassador to the center of the Teixcalaanli Empire. This alien world is new to her and the political instability makes her new job difficult. Before she was sent, she received a cerebral implant that contains the outdated memories of her predecessor in order to understand him and what might have happened to him. No one will explain the circumstances of how he died and she must find out the truth in order to avoid his same fate. It took me a while to get into this story because there was so much detailed world building in the first few chapters and I found that the author was a bit verbose. She would introduce a place with a short sentence and then write at least five or more sentences describing it. It sometimes got in the way of the flow of action in the story and was a little distracting but I liked the story and am looking forward to reading the finished product. Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for giving me an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.
    • 5/5
      Read this as an advanced proof - absolutely excellent. Reminded me pleasantly of the Goblin Emperor - the same warmth and joy in an intricately built political world.
    • 5/5
      "That was the problem. Empire was empire – the part that seduced and the part that clamped down, jaws like a vise, and shook a planet until its neck was broken and it died."A Memory Called Empire follows Mahit Dzmare – a young Ambassador from an independent mining Station – arrives in the Teixcalaanli Empire to find that her predecessor has died, and she is left alone to navigate the changing political culture of the heart of the Empire. Not only must she figure out how her predecessor has died (not accidentally, as some would have her believe), but she must also tread carefully to avoid the same fate. When the political unrest hints at expansion of the Empire, she must also figure out how to avoid annexation of her Station she calls home.This book was so much better than I thought it would be. Although it was a little hard to get into toward the beginning – there is so much detailed world-building that it was initially hard to follow – it was worth sticking it through for the journey.Arkady Martine’s world-building was breathtaking – it was so layered and complex. Although it was a little overwhelming in the beginning – as it should be, when introducing a whole fantastical world – it was done in a way that wasn’t overly heavy-handed. World-building is a crucial element to any story of this breadth, and in A Memory Called Empire, these elements are so intricately woven into the story that it blends more-or-less seamlessly into the narrative.The plot, also, was interesting and nuanced. I enjoyed watching as Mahit peeled back the layers of political intrigue and learned more about Teixcalaanli culture. She together with her “cultural liaison” Three Seagrass, had to navigate an increasingly tumultuous political landscape that quite literally put them into serious danger more than once.All-in-all, this was an exciting and intricately detailed space opera, and I wish I didn’t have to wait an entire year for the next book in the series…Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Books for a copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.
    • 4/5
      I received this novel from the publisher, through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review: my thanks to both of them for this opportunity.From the very first time I saw this book mentioned in the blogosphere I knew I would love to read it, since it promised to offer many of the themes I enjoy in speculative fiction, especially the in-depth examination of the cultural and political implications of a huge empire, one where the Dune-like vibes appeared to be quite strong - which never fails to attract my attention. What I ultimately found was quite different, but in the end it did not matter much because A Memory Called Empire turned out to be a thought-provoking read.The Teixcalaanli Empire has not extended its influence only through political or military annexation, but more subtly through the impact of its culture, one which is based on a poetry-inclined mode of expression that has become the model for what is viewed as 'in' - the very model of civilization. Even the systems not directly placed under the Empire's control can fall prey to this fascination for Teixcalaanli civilization, as is the case with Lsel Station, a mining space enclave whose only political tie with the Empire is represented by its ambassador in the City, the central planet at the heart of the dominion. Mahit Dzmare, a young woman who has long been a student and enthusiast of all things Teixcalaanli, is summoned to replace the former ambassador, only to discover upon arrival that her predecessor is dead.Stationer culture offers a unique perspective on the preservation of past experiences: they have developed a neural implant called imago machine which can store the memories of its holder and share them with a different host - the mechanical equivalent of a Trill symbiont from Star Trek or the ancestral memories received by Reverend Mothers through the ritual of the water of life in the Dune universe. Mahit carries the fifteen-years out of date imago of her predecessor, Yskander, and is still in the process of fully integrating with it given the swiftness of her assignment, but as soon as she visits Yskander's body in the City's morgue, the voice inside her head goes silent, either because of a shock sustained by the hosted personality or of some kind of unexpected malfunction.By all intents and purposes, Mahit must therefore carry on her mission alone - a stranger in a strange land, no matter how much of the Teixcalaanli culture she has absorbed - and under the double pressure of having to discover what really happened to Yskander, which could very well have been murder, and the political turmoil agitating the Empire, seemingly bent toward a new campaign of expansion, this time headed in the direction of Lsel Station. Not completely alone, though: the cultural attaché she was assigned, Three Seagrass, appears inclined to help her even when that means going against the rules, and the dramatic events they are part of - including a couple of attempts on Mahit's life - keep drawing the two young women closer, in a sort of mirror attraction for each other's culture that slowly turns into a personal one. Still, despite finding a few allies in unexpected places, Mahit's job looks like a mix of improvisation, deception and learning on the fly that never allows her a moment of respite, while the world all around her looks headed down a dangerous, uncertain path, one she must try to deflect at any cost, even personal safety.A Memory Called Empire proved to be an intriguing read, as I expected, largely on the basis of the themes central to the story: one of them is the absolute belief at the root of Teixcalaanli society that it represents the best humanity can offer, the most civilized, refined example of mankind's achievements; a belief that makes them view everyone else as a barbarian, dismissing them all too easily. There are many instances where Mahit finds herself measured by this very yardstick instead of being accepted for her accomplishments in the culture she admires so much and in its aesthetic values, not to mention her own innate abilities. This leads to another interesting concept, the meaning of self and the way it can be defined - especially when confronted with the use of imago memories and the possibility of change introduced by the coexistence of one's experiences with someone else's. Where the initial buildup appears somewhat slow, once the pieces are all set on the board, the action moves forward at a fast pace, with the last segment focused on a fight against time and apparently insurmountable odds, one who certainly kept me on the edge of my seat as I waited for the whole complicated scenario to unfold completely.And yet… As captivating as this story was, as delightful some characters were (Three Seagrass being the winner in this contest, thanks to her elegantly witty repartees), I could not shake the feeling that there was something missing - which does not mean that I did not appreciate this book, only I could not be… captured by it, always remaining on the periphery, so to speak, and never truly losing myself in it. Even now, as I'm writing this, I have not managed to put my finger on the real reason for this perception of distance and the best comparison I can find is through music: I enjoy listening to Mozart, I recognize the beauty of the works he shared with the world, but to me it’s a cold beauty, devoid of the heated passion I can find in Chopin or Rachmaninov, just to quote two of my favorite composers. This does not mean that I view A Memory Called Empire in a negative light - the rating I gave it should dispel any doubt about that: it's only that though I recognize its brilliance, I failed to be engaged by it, probably because my heart wanted to be warmed by the story just as much as my mind had been intrigued by it…
    • 5/5
      This was an excellent story. Often when I get to the end of a book and find it's the first of a series, I'm disappointed as I feel I didn't get the whole story. Clearly, there are going to be sequels to this book and I can hardly wait.The book owes some debt to Isaac Asimov's Foundation series. Think vast interstellar empire ruled by a planet wide city. But many sci fi books owe that debt. I also see a lot of C. J. Cherryh's Foreigner series. Think new ambassador to an alien culture unprepared for the situation. Also in the importance of language, especially, the ability to think in a foreign language.Mahit Dzmare is the newly appointed ambassador from a collection of space stations (another debt to Cherryh), to the vast empire of Teixcalallan. The Empire had asked for a new ambassador with no explanation. It's a 4-month round trip from the station to the Empire capital city. Mahit is to be helped in her assignment by an implanted device which gives her access to the former ambassador's memories, but these memories are 15 years out of date, from the last time the ambassador had been home. When she arrives at the capitol city, she finds that the former ambassador is dead, murdered as far as she can tell, and the political situation is unstable. The aging emperor, sick, has named a triumvirate to take his place. The Empire has thrived for centuries on a culture of expansion, and the next place it's planning on expanding to is her stations. The stations are already straining to keep their culture from being overwhelmed by Empire culture, annexation will be the death of their culture. The former ambassador had made promises to the Emperor which Mahit cannot keep.I really liked the sense of being there that Arkady Martine manages to covey. The story is told from Mahit's perspective. She's really a minor figure from a small barbarian world (as the Teixcalallanzim think) caught up in big doings. She's often overwhelmed but she was trained to be an ambassador and her training was good. She finds some local allies who are very well drawn characters.Martine also has a great sense of humor. This is a serious story, not a comedy, but she brings in little touches of humor. In particular, the names of the Teixcalallan people. Their names are a combination a number and an inanimate object. Mahit's closest ally is named Three Seagrass (who's nickname is Reed). Another ally is Twelve Azalea (called Petal). My favorite name is a minor character called Thirty-Six All-Terrain Tundra Vehicle. As an example of the problem of language, Reed thinks this name is a great joke, which Mahit doesn't get. Martine seems to have solved the problem of naming characters by opening a magazine and naming the character after whatever ad was on the page.The book is a good story. Important things happen. It has a satisfactory conclusion. The ending leaves plenty of room for a sequel as there is a lot more story to tell about the Empire, the stations, and Mahit. There are also background events going on, which would be spoilers to reveal, that will probably drive the series.
    • 5/5
      I absolutely loved this book! Mahit's complicated feelings about the empire and her role are well done. All the characters are great (but Mahit, Three Seagrass, and Nineteen Adze are my favorites). Palace intrigue isn't usually my thing, but this story made it compelling via both personal and society-level stakes for the protagonist. And the world-building is amazing, with the contrast between Empire and Station life. I'm excited to read the next one in the series right away!
    • 3/5
      On the planet Lsel, a technology has been developed that allows people to be implanted with the memories of their deceased predecessors. Mahit, the newly selected ambassador to the galactic empire's capital, has been implanted with the previous ambassador's memories, but they're fifteen years out of date. When she arrives at the capital, she learns that her predecessor has been murdered. Without her predecessor's updated memories, Mahit has to determine the threats that face her and Lsel fully alone.This book didn't quite work for me, but I think that that's mostly a "me" thing--the book is objectively fine, and I totally believe that it would work for a lot of people. I have a few thoughts that hopefully will help me to narrow down my sci-fi preferences:- I'm wondering if the space opera subgenre might generally not be my favorite. This book reminded me a bit too much about what I don't like about high fantasy: made-up language terms thrown around for the sake of it, a sprawling character cast, humans showing up in situations that they really shouldn't be in (truly, why would there be humans in this random corner of a galaxy?), and epic wars.- I might like sci-fi that references or relates to our world, somewhat as we know it. I quite enjoyed, The Sparrow and To Be Taught, If Fortunate, which both involve exploration of alien worlds but more fundamentally are about being human (with and in our earth-based society).- I'm pretty dystopian-ed out at this point (at least of this brand of dystopia). Ugh, lots of politics and automation.So, glad I read it. I don't plan to read the sequel when it comes out, but the story wrapped up nicely with this book and I'm happy to leave it here.
    • 4/5
      Interesting sci-fi about diplomacy, crime and culture in an empire that spans across the stars. Focus is not on military or on the science or technical features of the empire but rather on the cultural aspect that shape the interaction of people. The heroine is a newly appointed ambassador of a small space station that must navigate the complex capital politics in times of turmoil. It is written with a certain charm and has several interesting ideas related to use of languages and habits in such a world.
    • 4/5
      empire is a word, a world, a self, a state of mind. it has no boundaries. it's full of wonders. but also nothing it touches comes away quite clean. it's true for the Emperor Six Direction. and it's just as true for Mahit, the young ambassador who carries her predecessor Yskandr with her into the heart of Teixcalaan to solve a mystery and save her world. this is a marvelous book, about the limits of civilization - and it's at its very best when writing beautifully about confronting poetry: the art of making it, the power of cascading allusions, and the uses to which it might be put.
    • 3/5
      Really good except for the emphasizing italics, which were far too juvenile and should have been removed in editing.
    • 4/5
      A rare find: a purely _political_ science fiction space opera. Ambassador Mahit is called from tiny Lsel Station to its giant and distrusted neighbour the Teixcalaanli Empire, famous in song and poetry for thousands of years. Mahit's predecessor Yskandr met with an untimely end, and Mahit and her Tiexcalaanli aide Three Seagrass are soon drawn into a mess of intrigue involving Imperial succession, murder and her own station's attempts to keep the Empire at bay. Mahit is initially swept along by events but she is not just a passive player but quite an adept politician and diplomat.The Teixcalaanli reminded me strongly of M.A.R. Barker's Tsolyani with their obsession for etiquette, poetry, social hierarchy and subtle insults. Mahit is always an outsider though part of her wants to be a citizen. Politics rules this story and it is done well: motivations are murky; no one is fully trustworthy. Even the technology used by the Stationers and the Empire has political uses.
    • 5/5
      A masterpiece. An exhilarating epic poem that drops a pebble called Mahit Dzmare into a pool called the Jewel of the World and uses the ripples to reveal an entire civilization.
    • 4/5
      Martine is an excellent world builder, a remarkably subtle developer of artless attraction and romance, and an evocative linguist, drawing the most consistent nuances from languages unheard and unspoken to surface deep humanity. Here and there, I found it a little heavy to the introspective side for a story with action-oriented plot lines to advance. I don't think it could have been written at another time, she plumbs the depths of our age with truth and authenticity.
    • 5/5
      Mahit is the new, green Lsel ambassador to the Teixcalaan empire sent to, above all, keep Lsel independent from an empire that likes to acquire new planets and stations, and keep their imago technology a secret. Mahit herself should have the imago of the previous ambassador, Yskandr, basically the memory installed in a machine allowing their personalities to merge neurologically. But the one she has is 15 years out of date, and when she sees the body of Yskandr, dead, something begins malfunctioning and she loses access to her imago. Left alone, with only her liaison, Three Seagrass, to help her navigate a culture she loves but that regards her as a barbarian, Mahit must use all her ingenuity and political prowess to work for the good of her planet.If you enjoy space operas with details of politics, culture, and complex characters, this is the story for you. I enjoyed everything about this book, from following Mahit and Three Seagrass's adventures, to learning about both cultures (props to the author for creating not one but two distinct cultures of humans not quite like each other our our own earth), to reflecting on empire and what it means to love a culture that's not your own. I won't wait long to read the sequel.
    • 4/5
      In the hands of a less capable, passionate author I think the story would have fallen flat. Instead, it's a master class of world building, mostly through a single narration which I find is extremely tricky to do. The concept of a dominating/colonializing culture and what that means for cultures/civilizations they absorb is a really interesting theme here, and through language Martine really deepens the mystery and adventure Mahit goes through. I felt similarities with the Goblin Emperor, in that dialogue exchanges are almost treated like action and that makes for a really lean experience, despite the book being about 450 pages. Excited to read the sequel, definitely one of the stronger sci-fi/space opera stories I've read.
    • 4/5
      interesting world-building with fascinating characters... odd that the author claims the language used was based in part on armenian, i was thinking throughout it was more mayan, toltec, or perhaps aztec... i'd like to see where this universe goes in the following books
    • 4/5
      I found the premise of this book interesting; an imago that preserves someone's memory and then is inserted into another person's brain. Eventually the personalities merge. The world building was amazing; that author did a really good job of conveying the confusion often felt when in a foreign society. I also liked to see how the various relationships between the main characters evolved. My only hesitation is that sometimes I didn't fully understand what was going on. I wish there could have been more straightforward explanations of the politics. I might try other books in the series.
    • 3/5
      A solid premise and extremely well done world-building, but the story drags in audio format due to the main character (Mahit Dzmare) worrying, second-guessing, and over-thinking every little thing.For example:The cultural liaison handed her an ice cream. Minutes and minutes of consideration of whether the cultural liaison was about to poison her, how her eating an ice cream reflected on her being a "barbarian" in the "civilized" society of Teixcalaan, etc.Get. On. With. It.Additionally, the main character is the ambassador to a large space empire from a small independent station. But is sent to be an ambassador without any support personnel and criminal under-preparedness. The only qualifications are that she really likes what she thinks the culture of Teixcalaan is, and she has a 15 year old copy of the previous ambassador's memories. But when she arrives, she doesn't even know that her mail is encrypted. You'd think the previous ambassador's memories would tell her at least that, or that would be part of some sort of briefing.Both of these things set up Mahit to fumble her way through the plot incompetently, even though she's a learned person.