This was such a twisty and intelligent science fiction novel, and I loved every second of it! I thought the world building was excellent and found the Teixcalaan Empire absolutely fascinating. Similarly, I I loved the characters and their interactions, particularly those between Mahit, Three Seagrass and Twelve Azalea. I was expecting a complicated and detailed narrative with a lot of political machinations and impending war and the plot provided all of these elements. What I wasn't expecting, but which was a wonderful surprise, was how wryly funny the narrative was. Overall, I was blown away by this book and will be picking up it's sequel immediately. I would encourage anyone with a passion for well told sci-fi to give this one a try.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Am I late to the game here? Yes. Was it absolutely worth it to finally sit down with this book? YES.

A Memory Called Empire is a smash hit for a reason. It has some of the best world building I've ever read. The way Martine combines linguistics and poetry to create a complex and layered culture is just incredible. I loved the clash between Mahit's culture with the Teixcalaani empire's complexity -- Martine creates a powerful fish-out-of-water story. The characters had so much depth and I loved every single one.

I have a feeling this book will be a fantastic reread, with many new things discovered upon each reread.

A Memory Called Empire is an excellent book, without a shadow of a doubt. There was such depth to the worldbuilding, the characters, the languages, the poetry, the history. Teixcalaan and Lsel Station and everything and everyone in-between felt real rather than imagined.

Wow, wow, WOW. What a powerhouse of a science fiction debut. Arkady Martine has written an utter tour de force with some of the most sweeping and mind blowing world building I have ever come across. Easily one of the most inventive and compelling sci-fi novels I've read in recent years, this should be on everyone's Top Ten lists of 2019.

It did take a little getting used to as you're thrown into a completely alien world when compared to our own, but everything soon starts to fall into place. It's hard to describe all of the elements I relished without giving too much away, but from page one the twists and turns in this novel kept me riveted. At times claustrophobic, you really felt for the narrator as she tried to navigate not just this new world and culture, but navigate the things going on inside her head as well.

Full of intrigue, action, and incredible dialogue, this was a seriously interesting look into how much a species can diverge just by simply developing in different environments.

Review to come on my blog.

I love space opera.  I particularly love post-colonial space opera of the kind that Ann Leckie and Yoon Ha Lee have been writing.  So Arkady Martine's novel A Memory Called Empire (review copy from Tor) was always going to pique my interest.  Add to that a main character who is a diplomat, and this is right in my wheelhouse.  And I loved it. 


Mahit Dzmare is sent from the tiny independent mining station of Lsel to be the new ambassador to the Teixcalaanli Empire.  Lsel is tiny, and Mahit's main mission is to prevent her home from being swallowed up by the Empire, whilst investigating the mysterious disappearance and murder of her predecessor.  Mahit has been selected for her love of Teixcalaanli culture, and her knowledge of its society.  That and her psychological compatibility with the last ambassador, as she will carry an embedded device with a download of his knowledge and memories, adding her own to the store. 

These themes of identity run through the novel extremely strongly.  Mahit is a product of her childhood on Lsel, and her study of Teixcalaanli culture, but she also carries the memories and reactions of her ambassador predecessor within her.  These rise up at odd moments, to the point where she sometimes struggles to disentangle her thoughts and feelings from sense memories and the reactions of her predecessor.  Much of that plays out through Mahit's sexuality - she experiences flashes of her predecessor's desire and his memories of sexual encounters, muddying Mahit's own burgeoning feelings.


Mahit's love for the Empire's culture and her joy at being able to visit it and experience it at first hand wars with her mission to protect Lsel's independence.  This tension runs throughout the novel, as Mahit is confronted with the difference between her experience and the reality of Teixcalaanli culture for those born and raised within it.  She regularly fails to appreciate the subtleties and nuances around her, never more so that when she is bewildered by the layering of sophistication of the Empire's poetry. 


Mahit finds herself plunged into the heart of a succession crisis for the Empire, as the aging Emperor's health begins to fail and various rivals start jockeying for position.  War seems inevitable, with Lsel one of the possible casualties as the various rivals seek to cement their claims.  She has to navigate her way through this, brokering Lsel's safety through political turmoil.  In this she is assisted by ambitious young civil servant Three Seagrass, who has been appointed as her liaison to the Empire.  Three Seagrass is herself walking a fine line between her loyalty to Teixcalaan, her own personal ambition, and her duties supporting Mahit. 


It's an incredibly satisfying novel that leaves me extremely excited about the next book in the series.


Goodreads rating: 5*

A Memory Called Empire begins with a mystery and quickly develops into a political thriller as the cracks within the edifice of empire begin to show. It never flags, steadily escalating the tension by degrees as Arkady Martine increases the scope of her tale and pulls together the many threads of her carefully-constructed spiderweb of world-buildng. Everything becomes relevant, everything is personal, everything is political. And in the end, everything is poetic.

This is a gorgeously constructed debut from a fascinating new voice in space opera - I can't wait to read the sequel.

I have to start off by saying I absolutely loved this book, it was an amazing read! I've looked at one or two other reviews and I completely agree that there are a lot of words in this book but I didn't find that to be a problem. I don't know how, but somehow it worked and fitted the story perfectly. This is a fabulous tale of politics, deception, murder and trying to find your way around a new place that you know well but have never been too before.  Mahit is a fabulous character, she deals with trying to protect her home, wanting to find out who murdered her predecessor and evading being killed herself, all the while keeping a cool head and learning about the city she has only just arrived in. I would say she was my favourite character if it weren't for the astoundingly brilliant Three Seagrass who just stole the show completely. Nothing stopped her from doing her job so she could do well and progress onto bigger and better things but her sense of humour and unwavering devotion to her post made her a stand out character. 

I started reading this book and finding the Teixcalaanli names a bit odd, after all they are so different from ours, but by the end of the book there were as normal to me as my own name is.  I found the other characters to be intriguing in their own ways, I didn't like them all and that's fine there are some that are distinctly unlikable but, even they had their charms. The descriptions of everything were perfect, there was so much detail that the city and the way it operated came to life so clearly for me. There was a list of words and definitions at the end of the book but the descriptions were so good that I never used it. I felt like I knew they city as well as Mahit did and could make a passable attempt at living there and finding my way around from only the information in the book. 

I love science fiction and am slowly getting into reading more of it, however my partner is also a fan and most of his reading is sci-fi and/or fantasy so once I'd finished this book I gave it to him and he devoured it as quickly as I had. He had a serious book hangover after reading it and ended up re-reading small sections because it was that good, and to put this in even better context, in 7 years this is the first time I've ever seen him do that! This was an amazing book and both of us cannot wait for the second one, and are being completely impatient about it. The only consolation that we have is that there is a second book, and a third one so we have something to look forward to over the long, long months before publication of book 2.

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…

A Memory Called Empire is Arkady Martine’s debut novel, but at no point does this feel like a debut. In fact I actually had to double check that it was a debut, such is the excellence of this novel.

Murder mystery, political plots, cultural conformity, this book had me engrossed.

At first I was somewhat overwhelmed trying to get my head around everything, but with the help of the handy glossary, and Martine’s incredible writing, it was no time before I was onboard.

The world building and attention to detail in this novel is quite brilliant. Martine introduces us to the Teixcalaani Empire and the City through the eyes of Stationer, Mahit. Like us, Mahit is venturing there for the first time. Her whole life she has dreamed what it might be like to be Teixcalaani, and is now facing the reality of being a ‘noncitizen’ or ‘Barbarian’ in the political heart of the Empire.

I love the way language is so prominent in this novel. It forms so much of Teixcalaani culture, even adds a political angle, and furthers the ‘difference’ I felt in the Empire.

I could read Martine’s writing all day - her prose is exquisite! Her world building is quite simply fantastic.

It took me a wee while to warm to Mahit, but I ended up very fond of her. I loved her interactions with Three Seagrass (and others).

While this isn’t a fast-paced novel, it’s thoroughly consuming. I genuinely thought about this book when I was going about my life! A ‘space opera’ with political intrigue, rebellions, and murder mystery - ordinarily the term ‘space opera’ has me wary, but I’m SO glad I didn’t go past this book. I genuinely can’t wait to read book two!

https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2019/5/11/a-memory-called-empire-by-arkady-martine

When we use the term space opera we often focus on the HUGE – the fleets battling in the stars, the clash of civilisations and the fate of empires. People are still important however as we need those characters to root for and sometimes those, we want to see get their long-awaited appropriate punishment. A Memory Called Empire often has the space opera happening stage left and instead focuses the fate of one of the galaxy’s largest empires and a small space station being played out with a small group of intriguing players in a capital city where words and actions often are more powerful than any diabolical space weapon. Its such a refreshing approach I think it is clearly already Arkady Martine has written one of the best debuts in 2019.

Mahit is our lead character relatively young but delighted to finally leave Lsel; her space station home; and go to the Empire that since she was a child she has idolised; a place of culture, adventure and high technology. She has been unexpectedly quite early in her career been chosen to replace the previous ambassador Yskandr who no one back home has physically seen for fifteen years. Mahit arrives and considering her station’s relative unimportance is surprised to find herself almost immediately surrounded by some of the most powerful people in the Empire (including its Emperor and his likely successors to the throne). Yskandr appears to have been killed but what exactly would make him such a visible target and be seen as a threat to so many? Mahit must both solve the mystery of the puzzle and stay alive long enough to potentially save her people from being moved from political allies to just another part of the Empire.

Into the mix we have the Empire’s best generals, one of its richest merchants, the Ministers for War and Information and one of the Emperor’s closest friends and advisors. Each group have the benefits of security teams, spyware, spies and all people Mahit would not usually be invited to speak directly to. Clearly Ambassador Yskadr was putting himself into a difficult position that exposed him to some powerful enemies. Mahit now needs to work out why and to who as everyone seems to think she too must be a powerful force that could shape the Empire’s next direction.

This book is very much focused on a study in power, diplomacy and language. Very early on we see that the Teixcalaanli people have over hundreds of years established a great fondness for using words and symbols to represent aims and themes. Their city-planet has a seventeen-thousand-line poem to promote its beauty; its fiction can promote themes of conquest or peace. What you wear can prove your allegiance. Mahit is in her element – she loves the Teixcalaanli culture even though to her eyes she is clearly not one of the Empire and often viewed as a barbarian however much she is versed in the culture. There is an interesting theme of colonialism – the people of Lsel are getting constantly given the propaganda of what the Empire wants people to see it as and at the same time its very clear those within see the other worlds as second class however much they may love the idea of Teixcalaanli life.

But the heart of the novel is the interactions between Mehit and her potential friends and foes. Mehit is extremely likeable and as we are privy to her internal thoughts and emotions, we see her fears and frustrations as a novice ambassador trying to keep her head above water. Over just a week she meets each faction and needs to work out who she can trust. Imagine a poker game where political intrigue and language are the cards and the fate of empires are the chips. Mehit has two key advantages. Firstly, there is the irrepressible Three Seagrass – her Teixcalaanli liaison – an absolutely fantastic character who is also out to prove herself to the wider Empire and government. Witty, doesn’t like to lose and clearly enjoys the intrigue of the Empire more than most. Her growing relationship with Mahit is a beautiful interplay of language and hidden subtext. The other advantage Mehit has is an unheard-of technology in the Empire that culturally they would view as sacrilege – the imago – Mehit has a recording of Ambassador’s personality within her brain. Its from 15 years ago so not going to solve the murder and it doesn’t seem to be fully working but it gives her a few unusual insights in the games that have been going on in the city for decades that may save her. He is more of a rogue than the younger Mehit so the limited interactions they have within her brain make for interesting insights and moral choices.

It isn’t purely a battle of intrigue and wits there are people more than happy to try to go old school and kill Mehit and as she moves out of the government held parts of the city, we get a sign that not everyone within the Empire loves it. It makes for a very tense political thriller and as we are in the same boat as Mehit trying to find our way through this mystery not knowing if we can trust anyone puts the reader on edge. Codes, intrigue and politics are here the more interesting weapons than the battle fleets moving towards unknown targets. This feels much closer to the works of Ann Leckie, Yoon Ha Lee and Lois McMaster Bujold as an examination of what makes a culture and government tick and how power or rebellions are created or exploited.

It’s a very self-contained story but there are enough elements that I would be intrigued how future elements of the Empire could be explored. Those wanting space battles will in this story be disappointed. Those who enjoy battles of wits, political intrigue and language though should run not walk and snap a copy up. I think this book will be rightly praised when we get to the end of the year lists!

Palace intrigue SFF isn't usually my go to sub-genre of sci, but I was immediately drawn into the rich world of A Memory Called Empire. I loved the idea of the imago machines, and the challenges they presented to Mahit Dzmare and her quest to uncover what had happened to her predecessor. The sections that detailed Teixcalaan culture were interesting and engaging, and I found the novel reminiscent of Asimov's Foundations novels. I would definitely read more books set in this world.

The only aspect of the novel that didn't really gel for me was the other POVs. They felt to infrequent, and appeared at seemingly random intervals in the story, so I didn't feel like they added much to the overall story.

I received this book from the publisher via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

A Memory Called Empire is sci fi as I feel sci fi should be - challenging the current state of the real world but doing so in an utterly alien setting. It’s part murder mystery (though really that’s never the point) and part political thriller - both genres I really enjoy - all set in a sci fi world. Lovely!

I did have some problems with pacing, exacerbated by the poor formatting of the e-ARC I received, sadly. First each chapter starts with two excerpts of things relevant to the books from outside what Mahit could know, and I sometimes found they jolted me out of the story - though some of this was down to the formatting as I didn’t always realise I was at one of those sections! And the second was that the poetry really suffered at the hands of the formatting. And poetry is really not my favourite thing anyways, for all that it is a genius plot device used here. I love how it’s used, but very much struggled to read it.

Aside from that, I really loved how clear the differences in culture were from Mahit’s perspective - planet vs ship life; being seen as a barbarian; having a good understanding of culture and language turn into “oh god it’s so much more complicated than I thought”. And the names were just brilliant.

The politics themselves were nuanced and well thought out, and made me reflect on several things in the real world, without being pointed on any one topic. The latter half of the book is especially strong because of this, and there’s definitely a good reason to pick up the second book for more on this.



Post will go live on 25th April

A Memory Called Empire was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, and while I do have a few niggling issues with it, if you like your space operas drenched to the neck in mystery, intrigue, philosophy, and intricate worldbuilding, then I can tell you that this might be the book of the year for you.

Martine has created a fascinating, incredibly layered world with Texicalaan–a multiplanetary empire whose culture is steeped in language and poetry. To which I’d normally say, “Hell yes. How do I apply for citizenship?” Except I probably wouldn’t last a week without decking someone and starting an intergalactic incident.

Because Texicalaan is, in many ways, stifling in its grandiosity. It’s an empire so wrapped up in its own depth, turning their nose up at outsiders (“barbarians”) and prone to waxing poetic about anything and everything. But, then again, it is an empire. And empires don’t get to be where they are on a bedrock of humility and blushy feet-shuffling coyness. And it would be hard for any society to abstain from arrogance when every aspect of their culture–from language and history to technology–is as spanning and rich as this. Martine does such an incredible job breathing life into this world that I couldn’t help but think of it as real and mull on it with equal parts exasperation and fondness. (And I would seriously love to read a collection of short stories set in the empire)

So it’s no wonder that Mahit, our newly-appointed ambassador from Lsel, has been utterly in love with it for the entirety of her life.

I’d call this the space opera version of “plain outsider gets inducted into elite private academy.” There are traditions to uphold. Passive-aggressive remarks to smile and nod at. Hoops to jump through. And a not-so-faint whiff of superiority trailing you as you try to navigate this new territory without drowning. Except our MC here also has a murder to solve and a brewing political plot to contend with, and a wrong step can lead to her death. There’s a bit of action. A whole lot of intrigue. And for a story that’s so politically-focused, I found the pacing to be pleasantly fast, at least for the first half; it did kind of let up in the second half and my attention ended up wandering from place to place.

Besides the technical aspects of story, Martine captures the emotional side of it wonderfully. Mahit’s loneliness of being a foreigner set adrift in a new land is palpable, as is her conflict of loving a nation for all its cultural nuances while also being painfully aware of its faults and danger. And the side characters are all interesting and well-realized–one Three Seagrass in particular, whose interactions with Mahit made me smile.

I guess my biggest gripe is with the prose. This is probably just a matter of personal taste, and I don’t really know how to explain it, but there was something about it that my brain could never latch onto. The way it didn’t quite fit with the story it was telling. And reading through it was sometimes like trying to gather water using a sieve. Which was frustrating because this is the kind of story that I want to gather up in a large bowl and look at it for days and days on end. But the book said, “Nope. No bowl-gazing for you today.” So that was that.

At the end of the day, I think this is more a book that I really appreciate and am somewhat in awe of, in terms of its scope and depth, than a book that I’m headlong in love with. And I’m perfectly okay with that! Not every book I read needs to induce first-kiss-clothes-ripping-off passion. But “appreciate” doesn’t mean “dislike” (not by far), and make no mistake, this is a fantastic debut and start of a series that will undoubtedly leave a lasting mark in the subgenre. And I cannot wait to see what more Martine has in store.

Cuando en otoño de 2018 me llegó una copia de prensa de esta novela al Kindle yo no podía creer mi suerte. A Memory Called Empire, de Arkady Martine es una de las novelas que MÁS ganas tenía de leer de este año. Prometía una historia que fusionaba lo mejor de la opereta espacial con una trama política estilo Dune. Intercambios interesantes entre personajes, tramas políticas complicadas, resoluciones y giros de guion... Y mirad esa portada. ¡ESA PORTADA! ¿Cómo no os va a dar ganas de leer el libro? Lo malo (y cierto) es que el libro da parte de lo que promete. Tiene mucha política, tiene conversaciones larguísimas entre personajes y la trama palaciega existe. Pero. Puede que hayan sido las expectativas, mi propio hype (algunos amigos saben lo ansias que estuve por conseguir una copia de prensa del libro que precompré con 5 meses de antelación), o quizá una cubierta que genera expectativas y una ilusión por encontrarme una historia de ciencia ficción nueva, original y espectacular.


La novela comienza cuando el emabjador de Lsel en Teixcalaan muere en circunstancias algo extrañas. La nueva embajadora, Mahit Dzmare, debe acudir al planeta para esclarecer los hechos de la muerte de Yskandr. Para ello cuenta con el elemento más interesante de la novela, un implante en su memoria con todos los recuerdos, conocimientos y memoria del anterior embajador y de todos los anteriores embajadores. De este modo ni una pizca de conocimiento se pierde. Además, este implante es casi una conciencia independiente en su propia cabeza con la que puede mantener conversaciones. A Mahit le implantan los recuerdos de Yskandr incompletos, pues su última actualización fue hace mucho tiempo, así que el propio Yskandr también se ve envuelto en querer descubrir por qué y cómo ha muerto su "yo físico".

En A Memory Called Empire no hay viajes intergalácticos, no hay conflictos planetarios ni a gran escala. Por supuesto no hay batallas espaciales, ni acción. Hay política, mangoneo y mucha puñalada trapera. Sutilezas, dobles sentidos, uso del lenguaje y de la cultura para beneficio político y demás. La novela de Martine explora las visicitudes de una embajadora que llega a un planeta donde la cultura, las maneras, las preconcepciones y todo lo que os podáis imaginar juega en su contra. No sabe si se la están jugando o no, no sabe si le ordenan o le sugieren. El libro se desarrolla en salas, habitaciones y pasillos de un palacio gigantesco, y la trama estará dominada casi por completo por tira y aflojas políticos.

Pero no todo es negativo, y es que de haber sabido de antemano cómo iba a ser el libro seguramente lo hubiera disfrutado más (me alucina la cf política y las novelas estilo Dune). Creo que A Memory Called Empire tiene suficientes elementos interesantes como para resultar una novela recomendable y destacable. Sin ir más lejos, el implante de memoria de su predecesor que he mencionado antes me parece una idea excelente y que juega muy a favor de la trama, dando a situaciones curiosísimas (con el añadido de la pérdida de fragmentos posteriores por ese supuesto boicot). Además genera muchas preguntas e incógnitas que la embajadora no puede resolver de buenas a primeras y que la conducirán a resolverlas de maneras diplomáticas. Además Martine usa la dosis justa de terminología alien para dotar de color el libro. Aunque no se queda en decorado ya que muchos de estos términos favorecen al ritmo y a la historia misma de la novela (de hecho hay un glosario al final del libro).

En definitiva, A Memory Called Empire me ha parecido una novela que ha sufrido el revés de las expectativas. La novela se vende como algo que no es. Pero que a pesar de todo no es una mala novela (os recuerdo que es novela debut, ya quisieran muchos este nivelón). Arkady Martine es una autora interesantísima a seguir y cuya visión de la sociopolítica, de las interacciones entre distintas culturas y del manejo de varias subtramas palaciegas y la forma de resolverlas me ha parecido muy interesante. Quizá destacar que hay un tramo bastante largo a mitad de novela en el que el progreso de la historia se detiene casi por completo, convirtiendo ese fragmento en un tramo que casi me hizo dejar el libro y abandonarlo. Tras un descanso lo retomé y terminé muy satisfecho con la conclusión de la historia. Yo, desde luego, seguiré la trayectora de Arkady Martine, aunque esta novela adolezca de algunos problemas de estructura y planteamiento, es un debut más que notable.

A Memory Called Empire is the first novel in the Teixcalaan speculative fiction series and is one of the most anticipated sci-fi reads of 2019. So does it live up to the hype and expectation you ask? Well yes, it absolutely does. I am in awe of Ms Martine (nom de plume) and cannot believe this is her debut. It indeed blows my high expectations out of the water. But this is no ordinary science fiction as it has something for everyone and reminded me of some of the greats of the genre - Isaac Asimov, Ann Leckie, Iain M. Banks. At its heart, this is essentially a murder mystery set in space, and because of this, I feel it will have wide cross-genre appeal. It's a complex, stunning and beautifully written novel and once you pick it up I'm sure you'll be as awestruck as I was.

I must mention that the worldbuilding is some of the most detail-orientated I have come across in a long time and the characters are engaging and exceptionally painted. This is an intelligently plotted story you become immersed in quickly and the high-octane thrills and spills encompass prevalent real-world issues such as border politics, colonisation, culture, linguistics, war, exercise and abuse of power, rhetoric and propaganda, to name but a few. There are times when you are aware a book is setting up for the sequel, but this book did it superbly without you being able to recognise it happening; that in itself is no mean feat. Martine then masterfully ratchets up the tension culminating in a fitting and satisfying conclusion.

A Memory Called Empire is an assured and wonderfully accomplished debut from an incredible new talent and who will no doubt capture the hearts and minds of science fiction aficionados from all around the world. It will be a travesty if this doesn't become a classic.

Many thanks to Tor for an ARC.

When Ambassador Yskandr Aghavn dies suddenly of an unknown cause, no one in the host nation is prepared to admit that there has been a cover up and that he has in fact been murdered by person or persons unknown. Now the Ambassador Mahit Dzmare must not only negotiate a tricky path through Teixcalaanli high society, but at the same time solve the mystery of Aghavn’s death. All without creating a diplomatic incident or losing her own life in the process.

Imagine being sent to a society, the culture of which you have dreamed of becoming immersed in, but every move you make, every word you speak is meticulously scrutinised and different factions are at work behind the scenes vying for power, with you as the possible pawn. It is an appointment fraught with danger. Added to this you have no supporting body of a vast diplomatic staff made up of your own people. Instead you must rely on a liaison officer supplied by that planet’s government. Your only mentor, your internal advisor in the form of an implant, deserts you. Then you find that you are not only trying to solve the murder of your predecessor, but that you might be next if you don’t stay one step ahead.

You have been superbly educated, but Teixcalaan is not your first language, and although similar in physical appearance there is a world of cultural difference in body language and facial expression. So Teixcalaanli society is something Mahit must learn to navigate fast and on the fly to catch up on all the linguistic and behavioural nuances, while engaging in the correct protocol. There is also the matter of sidestepping every attempt to manipulate or wrong foot you. No small undertaking for a newly-minted Ambassador.

A Memory Called Empire is a hugely ambitious book in terms of scope, plot twists and world-building, particularly as this is a culture which revolves around word and syntax. It is a world that a non-native speaker must get her head around fast before she ends up like her predecessor.

I have no idea if Arkady Martine has read Asimov’s Foundation and Herbert’s Dune. I would be surprised if she hasn’t, given their prominence. Reading A Memory Called Empire certainly had a strong resonance with these science fiction classics in which society and culture might be subject to radical shifts in power on an epic scale, and how these world-shattering events might be addressed by those with foresight. Within them we see the detailed interactions of all the key players and the ingenious ways in which the seemingly powerless out think and out manoeuvre those who appear to hold all the cards. Certainly, the author has taken this concept and made it her own with a canny and compassionate female protagonist at a marked cultural and linguistic disadvantage.

A Memory Called Empire is essentially a political thriller utilising all the advantages and complexities science fiction has in its arsenal. I was left exhausted from the tumultuous political landscape Mahit must navigate during her dangerous tenure. In many ways the story is a rite of passage for a woman who arrives supremely educated, but still with a great deal to learn. Yet from the start she exudes an understated resilience as well as being a skilled thinker on her feet.

Apart from reports and one hint of what might have gone wrong with Mahit’s implanted mentor, the only perspective is generally Mahit’s, which really lends itself to ramping up the tension. The reader really lives Mahit’s isolation, experiencing the same anxiety of not knowing what might lie around the corner and that at the many crossroads demanding a decision there is potential disaster in store for more than one civilisation.

I really enjoyed the way in which the author expresses some really interesting cultural and political concepts. The notion of linguistics, as well as the importance of how words are used within this society was fascinating. The author treats the readers as intelligent people who like to juggle many concepts in their heads at once while treating them to some brilliantly crafted prose to put over how cleverly Mahit feels her way through an impossible situation. The clever use of words is also something employed by Martine to great effect, particularly when she puts the reader right inside Mahit’s head and you get a real sense of Mahit’s personality as an ambassador and the care she takes to craft what she wants to say.

“Everything about this was abruptly infuriating. Mahit was so very tired of disambiguating between tiny shades in meaning between one Teixcalaani phrase and another, the effort it took to rearrange the emphasis of a sentence to render it accurate.”

“Mahit paused, trying to find the edges of the question, the right way to ask it.”

A Memory Called Empire has to become a classic. It is certainly something I will buy as a hard copy to dive into repeatedly over the years. The next book in the series cannot come soon enough.

I have been rereading and listening to all my favorite books of late, mainly science fiction and history and although this is technically sci first I also got a sense of history in it in the same way I do with Banks Culture books, the building of characters and the world's they inhabit is phenomenal, the story moves along at a reasonable pace and you dont get lost in the intricacies of the plot and the names are glorious

Akaday Martine’s debut novel A Memory Called Empire continues a strong emerging tradition of modern space opera. These are stories less concerned with action and space battles than with cultural understanding, personal connections and political manoeuvring. They are science fiction that is focussed on characters and the relationships between them but do not shy away from the potential wonders of strange new civilisations, different cultures and versions of humanity. They are epitomised by the works of the likes of Iain Banks, Becky Chambers, Ann Leckie and Yoon Ha Lee.
Mahit Dzmare is the new ambassador from the tiny but independent Lsel Station to the mighty, galaxy spanning Teixcalaan Empire. She is like the country mouse visiting the city - a long time student of the Empire, its language and its culture, she is still awed by its central, planet-spanning City on arrival. Mahit arrives to find that her predecessor is dead, possible murdered. She is supposed to be helped in her task by his memories, implanted in her mind in a process that allows for the seamless continuation of Lsel knowledge. But the memories she has are fifteen years old and even these are corrupted, leaving her alone and out initially of her depth.
Mahit (and the reader to some extent) is helped in her struggles to understand this society by cultural liaison Three Seagrass and her friend Twelve Azalea (all Teixcalaani are named with a number and a noun). Mahit is put in increasingly difficult situations she tries to navigate not only representing her own little pseudo-world but also a fracturing political situation locally.
To say much more about the plot would take away from the pleasures and surprises of this assured debut. Martine conveys a deep understanding of her constructed civilisation which she manages to reveal through the narrative and action. But she also, as science fiction and particularly this form of space opera is want to do, dabbles in questions of what it means to be human, the exercise of power, and how we define “civilisation”.
Despite a lack of major space opera pyrotechnics, Martine builds to a tense and emotional conclusion which makes sense in the universe she has built. While it works perfectly as a standalone, A Memory of Empire is reportedly the first book in a series. Given where her characters and their milieu are left it will be fascinating to see where Martine goes next.

This is an impressive sci-fi debut and a fantastic introduction to this new series. It is clear that the author put a lot of time and effort into creating this interesting and intricate world. It did take me a while to become fully invested in the main character but it didn't really detract from my overall reading experience. The plot is heavily centred around the politics of the world and Martine writes this incredibly well. A mystery also plays a large part in the story and I loved the way Martine weaved these elements all together. Overall this was a fantastic book and I would highly recommend checking it out, especially if you are a big sci-fi reader.

This is such a lush sci-fi with an AWESOME premise!

Let’s begin with my favorite part: The Culture! Martine did an AMAZING job with embodying the culture and politics into this scifi world and it is just wonderful. It’s the best part of this book. Everything is described so beautifully, and you really get to appreciate it. From the clothing to the different places the characters travel to. It’s all just wonderful. The world building is fantastic! Okay, let's set up the plot which is basically a whodunit murder mystery... IN SPACE. We're following Ambassador Mahit Dzmare as she sets off for Teixcalaan and when she arrives, she gets the very unfortunate news that a fellow Ambassador has been murdered within her station and NOBODY wants to believe it's an accident so she makes it her mission to find out what "really" happened.

The writing was absolutely wonderful, the story flowed perfectly, the settings were really vivid & creative, the romance totally worked, and the characters were all well developed & realistic. I loved how complex the main character was. Even characters who weren't in a ton of the story were really strong!

I was just so thrilled to see a well-rounded story that had a full plot arc on its own, yet still set up the sequels perfectly. Soooo when can I have book 2 please?