A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
Synopsis
"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."
My Thoughts
This book was so beautifully written. It also had such an intriguing societal system. A society based around poetry that not just influences the language but the political systems as well. Every action seems to have two meanings. And the Lsel Station inhabitants who literally pass down their generational memory was such an intriguing concept. There was also a lesbian romance subplot that was the slowest of slow burns. But it felt like it grew organically and realistically for the story and I really enjoyed seeing the quiet flirting through the book.
Now, for the things that bugged me and why I rated it 3 stars... I was really bothered by the fact that the MC, Mahit, is viewed as less than human throughout the whole book. She's referred to as a "barbarian" and the characters around her are constantly surprised by how smart she is. It was a view that never seems to leave most of the characters around her, even towards the end, "for a barbarian" is still used as a qualifier to talk about her. This book is very political. The mystery of the story is political in nature and there are so many characters. It was a lot to keep track of. I listened to this as an audiobook, which of course is going to skew my experience, but the narrator wasn't terribly engaging and that fact with the political nature of this book made it VERY hard to get through. I also keep seeing this one referred to as a space-opera, which it didn't really feel like to me. You're with Mahit on a planet in a political drama nearly the whole time.
“Histories are always worse by the time they get written down.”
― Arkady Martine, A Memory Called Empire
This book is a great one if you're looking for an intricate political mystery set in sprawling futuristic society, with a little bit of a lesbian love story on throughout.
Genre: sci-fi, political mystery, lgbtqia+
Representation: lesbian, bi, gay
Content Warnings: Suicide, death, bombings, violence, body dysmorphia
Comments