A Memory Called Empire, my review.

[gridlore]

A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This novel won Best Novel at the 2020 Hugo Awards. It's easy to see why. Here's the summary blurb"

"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."

The Teixcalaanli people and state are vivid and well-written. You get the grandeur of this mighty empire and that scheming banality of its power players. The book is a mystery wrapped into a court intrigue covered in a looming threat. Mahit makes an excellent narrator as someone familiar with the ideas of Teixcalaanli culture, but unready for the full force of reality of the city/world/empire that is Teixcalaan.

I also appreciate a space opera with actual opera in it, as poetry and historical epics are vital to the empire's identity. There is relatively little action, and it works in this tale. The real action is figuring out what everyone's motives are and how they relate to the previous ambassador's death.

This was a stunningly fun book to read. I am eagerly looking for ward to the sequel being released in paperback (just no room for hardbacks on my shelves) to learn more about this fascinating universe.



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