A Memory Called Empire Review

Wow, it’s been two whole weeks since my last post! So sorry friends (assuming my friends read this ever…) but life has been crazy busy! Between family stuff, kids stuff, and the broken nose and concussion a kid gave me, I have not been able to write as I would like. But today I will start again. 

The book review for today is one of my favorites from last year which also won a Hugo award. Arkady Martine’s debut novel A Memory Called Empire is just fantastic and book 2, A Desolation Called Peace, came out earlier this month. Before diving into book 2 I thought I’d review book 1 and make a few predictions for the one I’m starting today. As a note, the author uses a pen name because with her real name she’s published as an academic historian focusing on the Byzantine empire. Which is totally cool!! And makes her worldbuilding first class, which is where we will start.

The main character, Mahit Dzmare, is from a small space station called Lsel on the edge of the large Teixcalaani Empire. As the new ambassador from her station to the emperor she travels to the heart of the empire to help lobby for continued independence etc. Sounds great but not too unusual, right? Well, the Teixcalaani empire is a space-age version of historical Aztec culture and the whole thing is FASCINATING!  In contrast, the Lsel station culture is much more Byzantine with ruling groups and the way class and work structures are set up. The contrast is fabulous!! The tech is top notch, the flowery verse and layered meanings in the language contrast starkly with the Stationers advanced mathematics as language, and even the naming conventions are so much fun. Two of the tech advances that are shown in the story really stick out to me. First, as a mom, it was fascinating that reproduction was completely outsourced to mechanical/biological wombs so that mothers wouldn’t have to stop or lessen their workload to produce offspring. The way it influenced all of society from childhood and up was so interesting to contemplate, including the way sex and sexuality are expressed in the cultures. The second piece of tech is the Imago machine that the Stationers have, which is the memories of the past people in certain jobs have are recorded and then implanted into the minds of the next generation. Once you have an Imago in your head, you can learn from and assimilate (and sometimes converse with a version of) the memories of the person who had it before you did. It’s a great way to pass on the knowledge and experience of the older generation to the younger without so many years of education and apprenticeship, though I worry it may also make innovation a little more stagnant as a tradeoff. In all, it explores institutional memory and language and also ideas of colonialism in a really intelligent way.  

So with a new (to her) imago, Mahit our main character travels to Teixcalaan as the new ambassador after the former ambassador is dead. Was he killed accidentally? Murdered? Poisoned? We do not know at first. Big things are swirling around the empire though, with an Emperor on his last days and no clear heir politics is the big game in town. And to not spoil the excellent storytelling, Mahit is thrown way in over her head with Three Seagrass, her new aide. And together they have to stay alive and help the emperor, the empire, and Lsel Station all continue through the upheaval. It’s a fabulous ride.

Our main character is obviously Mahit, and her mission is fairly well stated above: help her Station and figure out what happened to Yksandr, her predecessor. He makes a few cameo appearances throughout, but his previous relationships with the powerful people of the empire become quite important as the book goes on. Three Seagrass the aide/cultural liaison is definitely interested in advancing her career through her service to Mahit, and she does a fabulous job of that. From helping answer mail and deciphering (and writing) intricate poetry on the spot, her help is invaluable. Also important is Three Seagrass’ friend Twelve Azalea who helps them with some spy work, and he is honestly a lot of fun to read. And then we come to Nineteen Adze, an aide to the emperor who at times works for and against Mahit. She is quite an interesting character with a huge amount of imperial experience and influence. And lastly, we have the aging Emperor Six Direction (aren’t all these names just interesting?! And they play in so well to the characterization of the story too!) who has all power and authority in the ever-expanding empire but also has people out to get him. 

Really, this is an expansive and also deeply personal story that left me in tears. It completely deserves its Hugo (and it was a Nebula finalist as well fyi). The writing, characters, and story are all compelling. The worldbuilding is top notch, above just about everything else I’ve read recently. The only detraction is the poetry. If you’re not great or practiced at deciphering poetry, this book will be more difficult to understand. But there are helpful hints and things in the exposition that help with that too.

Now, for book 2 predictions…

We know there are big bad guys coming into the area from beyond Lsel, so we have the enemy of my enemy to some extent. I expect to see Lsel and Teixacalaan work together to a larger extent (instead of working against each other) against this threat.

I bet it will be more on Lsel than in the empire, which I’m excited for since we didn’t get too much of that in book one. I want more of how the factions there are working (or not).

Mahit’s skill as a diplomat is one that she’s developed both with and without the imago, so I want her to be there for the first contact with these new aliens. And have it all go sideways when people don’t listen to her.

I want the people to get into their heads that institutional memory is stifling them and be able to move forward more than they have been able to previously.

This is Sci-Fi, I hope there are some space battles in this one! Especially since the Desolation called Peace can only happen when one side is extinct… Let’s see how that goes!

I want to see Mahit and Three Seagrass move forward (or not) in their relationship, though this will largely depend on lots of external circumstances. And I’d actually have preferred Seagrass to end up with Twelve Azalea in the end, but that’s not going to happen because of reasons. 

I can’t wait to see what Nineteen Adze does with her new role as well. She is well prepared for it, but the whole situation is really sticky (in so many ways actually…).

And that’s where I’ll leave it now. So excited to start this book, but then sad that I’ll have to wait two years or so for the next book (assuming there is a next book!).