Mahit Dzmare is young but has been chosen as the new ambassador from Lsel to the empire capital, Teixcalaan. The current ambassador stopped communicating with Lsel several months ago and Mahit's first job is to determine why. When she arrives she discovers immediately that he is dead, perhaps murdered.
This is a dangerous time to have arrived on Teixcalaan. The Emperor is aging and it is clear he is not healthy. What will happen to the Empire when he passes on? There is a group of advisors and a ninety percent clone who will rule then but the clone is only ten and the advisors are all maneuvering already to have the most power.

Soon Mahit finds herself drawn into the politics of her new assignment. She is given an aide, Three Seaglass, to explain what is occurring and help her. But Mahit is the victim of sabotage and soon finds herself caught up in a revolution, imprisonment and people trying their best to manipulate her. Her space station has developed technology that the Teixcalaans desire for themselves and then there is the horde of aliens threatening the entire empire. Can such a young ambassador find her way to a resolution?

This is a debut novel that was an amazing success. Along with other accolades, it won the 2020 Hugo Award For Best Novel and is the first in the Teixcalaan series. The novel is full of apt characterizations, political intrigue, a hint of romance and layers upon layers of deceit and spying. This book is recommended for science fiction readers.

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.

I do adore twisty political sci-fi, and this definitely delivered! Beautiful, mulit-layered world building and word play. A few points became a bit repetitive, but overall a great book and I am definitely moving the sequel up my list!

A Memory Called Empire is a space opera with a character-driven heart. Mahit Dzmare is the new ambassador to the expansive Teixcalaanli Empire, representing Lsel, an independent space station that wishes to preserve its remaining autonomy. Thrown into the middle of a political quagmire thanks to her ambassadorial predecessor, Mahit finds herself dropped into a culture she only knows from a distance (and which she admires with a certain amount of conflicted desire), where she must try to save her home from conquest while also trying to stay alive.

I was very excited when I first heard about this book and I wasn’t disappointed—it is a rich, multifaceted exploration of the complexities of imperialism, as seen through the eyes of a character with a love-hate relationship with the conquering culture of Teixcalaan. I found that the political structures and speculative technologies reminded me very strongly of the space opera works of Aliette de Bodard (and that is a huge compliment—she is one of my favorite SFF writers currently working). Language and the way words are used is an important component of the overall story; when the word for “city” also means the word for “world,” how do you determine where one ends and the other begins? This fluidity of language crops up throughout Mahit’s journey, highlighting how difficult it can be to draw a line between autonomy and community, between independence and need, between preservation and progress. Though it is full of political intrigue and mysterious conspiracies, this isn’t a story of good versus evil in an overt sense, but is something made subtler and more complex by its deeply human elements.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me an electronic copy of this book.

A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine is an expertly crafted science fiction fantasy novel that incorporates real-world cultures into the intricate Aztec Empire influenced mythos. It is shining and immersive and should be read and read often.

“This book is dedicated to anyone who has ever fallen in love with a culture that was devouring their own.”

Right from the first pages of the story, you know that you are reading something different, and doing a little research into author Arkady Martine I instantly knew why. Martine is by profession a historian and city planner. The city planning part thrilled me to no end as I was also a city planner once upon a time. She has many prestigious degrees, one of which is a Ph.D. in medieval Byzantine, global, and comparative history at Rutgers University. When you read this book, you will notice the excellent care and detailing that went into the language and worldbuilding of the Teixcalaani Empire with obvious influences from the pre-colonial/conquest Aztec Empire and influences from the Nahuatl languages. The Nahuatl language group is currently spoken by close to two million people in central Mexico and was spoken by the Aztecs.

“Released, I am a spear in the hands of the sun.”

Often you read science fiction and fantasy novels that are based on or influenced by a particular culture. They usually only “pay lip service” to that culture. Authors delve deep enough historically and sociologically to have a general understanding of that culture enough to be as respectful and authentic as they can in the depiction with varying degrees of success. I think that what is so exceptional about A Memory Called Empire, and why it won the Hugo award for best novel and a finalist for the Nebula for the same category is that instead of superficially glancing at the culture, it is intensely immersive. The worldbuilding in this story flows like rain flowing to the ocean. Every detail was imagined, and it coalesced into a much greater picture of the history, city planning, and generally the Teixcalaani. There were no moments in which the detailing was off that it threw me out of the story.

“A MIND is a sort of star-chart in reverse: an assembly of memory, conditioned response, and past action held together in a network of electricity and endocrine signaling, rendered down to a single moving point of consciousness”

The story follows the protagonist Mahit Dzmare. She arrives as an ambassador to the imperial city of Teixclaan as a representative of the space station Lsel. She is to advocate on behalf of her fiercely independent homeland of Lsel Station and investigate the previous ambassador’s death. The Teixcalaani is a glorious golden empire that swallows and changes everything it touches. It is beautiful to behold, but so much so that places like Lsel Station will get swallowed by its magnitude. Mahit is new to her ambassadorial duties, although she has studied the Teixclaan culture, language, and history for most of her life. But studying something and living it are two very different things. She must figure out a way to protect her small homeworld’s independence in the face of everything.

Martine does an excellent job in representing the feelings of Mahit being a stranger in a strange land. Everything is foreign to Mahit, right down to customs of facial expressions and food. She desperately needs to belong and assimilate into this foreign culture, but she can’t because she is missing a critical piece of information. One of the important pieces of hardware that the people of Lsel station use is a device called an imago. The device is the memory and personality of people who have come before her, saved as data to be re-downloaded. It is used so that none of the experiences and aptitude of the Lsel citizens is lost at the death of the person. The experience is then added to the new wearer, and the personalities are blended.
Nothing is lost. But, for Mahit her imago is malfunctioning. The previous ambassador’s memory and experiences are gone. She is a fish out of water. Without the experiences and knowledge of her predecessor, how is she supposed to do this?

As befits her station, Mahit is assigned a cultural liaison named Three Seagrass. The naming conventions in this story are spectacular. While not the main protagonist of the story, three Seagrass is hugely important to the narrative and often steals the scenes with her wit and systematic efficiency. She is brutally efficient. As Mahit surfs the political intrigue of the city Teixclaan and its people must not pull her under.

“I could have told her the truth,” Mahit said. “Here I am, new to the City, being led astray by my own cultural liaison and a stray courtier.” Twelve Azalea folded his hands together in front of his chest. “We could have told her the truth,” he said. “Her friend, the dead Ambassador, has mysterious and probably illegal neurological implants.” “How nice for us, that everyone lies,” Three Seagrass said cheerfully.”

A lot is going on in this book. Right from the get-go, Mahit is thrown into a world of political intrigue. This book is called a space opera, but the genre title is misleading, as it often is. Space operas are usually around space battles, often having a plucky captain or a quest to save the universe. I love the genre, but I don’t consider this to be a space opera.

Instead, A Memory Called Empire is a deep science fiction story that asks questions on the nature of memory. What is memory? Can it be taken away? Is memory the collective history of a rich culture like that of the Teixcalaani people or a moment of a single individual? It can be so many things. Simultaneously, while A Memory Called Empire delves into what memory is, it also has a complicated mystery plot of “who done it” laced with wordplay, culture, and political intrigue. There are even cyberpunk elements laced into the story, which is hard to believe, but they work with the narrative perfectly.

The plotting of the story is swift. It moves from scene to scene with no lag and propels the narrative forward. Honestly, the story just got better and better as it continued.

“Nothing touched by Empire stays clean.”

A Memory Called Empire had me stopping and evaluating my thoughts on what memory actually is many times. It is a story that can be taken in sips or devoured for hours at a time. It is glorious and shining like the golden city of Teixcalaani. It has made me remember why I love science fiction as much as I do.

For all those readers who love deep, well-written, and intelligent science fiction and fantasy, A Memory Called Empire should leapfrog all other books on your to-be-read list for your immediate attention.

A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine is won both the 2020 Hugo Award for best novel and the Baltimore Science Fiction Society’s Compton Crook award for best first novel. This means fans considered this book by a brand new author to be better than novels by much more experienced writers.

Although some label the book is space opera it lacks space battles or space exploration. Instead, it can be argued this is an example of space diplomacy (along with the Keith Laumer’s Retief series and Ursula Le Guin’s Left Hand of Darkness.) The main character Mahit Dmare is sent from Lsel Station, a mining station, to the capital of the interstellar Teixcalaanli Empire, an elegant civilization whose leaders compete in spontaneous poetry contests, when the previous ambassador died under mysterious circumstances. Her leaders choose her in part because she is already in love with Teixcalaanli’s culture, which the book shows in opulent detail, but when she arrives, she realizes she can never be a part of it in the same way as those born to it.

Mahit was implanted with an imago, a secret device that carries the memories of her predecessor, which is supposed to advise her. Unfortunately, these memories are 15 years out of date and something goes wrong with the integration of memories when the imago-Yskandr sees the dead body of the real Yskandr, leaving Mahit by herself in an alien world. Her mission is to ensure the Empire stays away from Lsel. But she finds herself caught in the Empire’s politics, both in regard to the emperor’s heir and an attempted takeover, as the dying emperor sees the imago device as a way to continue ruling after his own death.

Mahit is aided by Three Seagrass, a cultural liaison and a necessity when Mahit does not have the access rights to open doors or read her own mail. Naturally, part of her job is to spy on Mahit for the empire. But the two gradually become very close. Also drawn in is Three Seagrass’ friend Twelve Azalea, who has connections with the rebel underground that Three Seagrass is careful not to notice.

My one quibble is at one point Mahit goes to a black market doctor, to perform complex brain surgery that not only has the doctor never performed before but had not even heard of before. Somehow, this surgery goes perfectly and Mahit is able to run for her life after just a short nap. Even for a far future adventure, this seems a little much. Still this is a small flaw in an excellent book. I recommend A Memory Called Empire to anyone who is more interested in the clash of cultures and characters than space shootouts.

I thought the world was so interesting and it took me awhile to wrap my mind around everything, but I enjoyed it. I found it most difficult to keep up with the names and take them seriously but in no time I was ready to have my own number than object name.

I really was exited to read this. The cover as well as the description made me extremely interested. However once I started it my mind kept losing focus. I am afraid to say that I only read about 17 percent before I put it down. I am going to continue to try to read it but I can’t say that I’m going to get thru it ever.

There are two phrases from this year that my friends and I shout at one another whenever we’re in the same room. "One flesh, one end" (from Tamsyn Muir’s Gideon the Ninth) is a fun little rallying cry, but it is this piece of poetry from Martine’s debut novel that makes me tear up every time I utter it: “Released, I am a spear in the hands of the sun.”

While I have always enjoyed space opera well enough, considering how many stories fit within the subgenre, this is the first book where I found myself delighting in all of the trappings. Martine dives deep into this byzantine far-future universe, clearly so excited about every detail that you cannot help but be equally enthusiastic… even when you rationally know that you should not be so captivated by colonialism.

But that’s the point. Teixcalaanli civilization, with its alien-yet-logical naming conventions and obsession with its own epic poetry, is so addictively interesting that readers are automatically as emotionally invested as diplomat Mahit Dzmare. After an upbringing on the empire’s fringes in independent Lsel Station, Mahit finally gets to visit Teixcalaan’s famed city-planet capital, only to be thrust into a political thriller full of mysterious deaths, sex-as-diplomacy, and an emperor with an unusual agenda. Not to mention, Mahit has her own cultural capital that she must keep from getting assimilated into the empire like everything else in the universe.

Read A Memory Called Empire knowing as little as possible, aside from the fact that you will meet a bevy of damn competent women and find yourself murmuring about spears released in no time. The fact that Teixcalaan is a culture obsessed with repeating the patterns of its epic stories in contemporary life is so endearingly geeky and very relatable to our present moment.

A MEMORY CALLED EMPIRE is Book 1 of
Teixcalaan, an award-winning novel: intellectual Science Fiction with a Byzantine coloration. The Empire rules, indeed the language holds only one word for "world," the word for "Empire." The newest ambassador from a tiny asteroid station must learn to balance the social politics of Empire while solving the murder of the prior ambassador, whose personality she carries as an imago in her brain stem, and preventing her own assassination.

4,5*

A Memory Called Empire opens with a note by author that book is dedicated "to anyone who has ever fallen in love with a culture that was devouring their own." I kept going back to it as I was reading, because, essentially, more than anything else, this dedication tells you what this story is about.
Sure, the story opens up with mystery which gradually grows into full-on conspiracy and that's always at center, furthering action on, but sociocultural aspects of foreigner trying to uncover what happened to her predecessor while also, despite her duty, can't help making new friends and loving their way of living, is layered in the background throughout entire novel. Mahit is a newly appointed ambassador from Lsel Station, "the largest of a string of mining stations that make up this small region of space, a region touched by the reaching hand of Teixcalaan but not yet subject to the weight of it." She travels to the City, capital and center of Teixcalaan Empire in rather unusual circumstances: Teixcallan space shuttle just flew into Lsel orbit demanding they send new ambassador not really making an effort to explain what happened to their previous. And here is where you, for the first time, start to comprehend the balance of power- Lsel station is not yet a Teixcalaan subject, but only because Teixcallan haven't decided to make them and they aren't in position to oppose to anything they want. It's the rule of might and Teixcalaan Empire has expanding tendencies, so both nations are of opinion, it's just a matter of time. But, Mahit is not sent without help. Lsel is secretly developing a technological tool called imago which is basically a personality transfer via technology: they get not just accumulated knowledge and experience of other person, but also their memories, feeling and biochemical responses to certain events and people. It's like gaining another person in your brain you can talk to, who can instruct you, but who will also occasionally try to override your response, so integrating with your imago is essential. As it happens, Mahit got imago of Yskandr, who served as a previous ambassador in Treixcalaan and the man she is replacing, but a younger version of him because his imago has not been updated for 15 years. The reason for this is logical, since Yskandr knows Teixcalaan better than anyone else, even in his younger version. Arriving to the City, Mahit slowly realizes that her predecessor was involved in things of highest importance for the empire neither her, nor Lsel Station were aware of. As she tries to navigate between diplomacy, Yskandr's incomprehensible actions and civil unrest in the Empire, she is also making friends and falling in love.
The mystery is definitely driving the plot but I found the resolution to be the least interesting part of it. Mahit's whole Teixcallan experience was what really stuck with me. Mahit is still young, very ambitious and she wants to do well as Lsel ambassador, but she is also absolutely transfixed by Teixcallan. There is a lot to unpack here: it's not like she is not aware of Teixcalaanli disdain toward her home- that's their default setting since they don't think of expansion as conquering- they think of it as bringing other planets to culture, as their opportunity to embrace the prosperity. Their privilege and righteous ignorance is wrapped up in intellectual ideology based on logic. Take this little tidbit for example: in Teicalaanli language the word for "world" and the word for "empire" and the word for "the City" are the same- the implication is quite clear because for Teixcalaan everything else, everyone else is not the world, not civilization, not really cultured. This is how author is showing the reader what Teixaclaan Empire is all about even though it makes you, just as Mahit, also like them. And I admit I found them fascinating: they are progressive in many ways, but also stubbornly traditional in others because, you know, they really believe they know better; their capital is truly a technological marvel, they are immensely curious to learn and discover more, their way of expressing is beautiful and clever and designed to make someone not just appear sophisticated, but witty and likable; they literally start wars with an invitation to be a part of the world and they start revolutions with songs. They never threaten or offend, they battle with nice words, they practice diplomacy with implied consequences if you do something they don't like. It's easy to depict the evil empire in scifi marching to the sounds of The Imperial March dressed in black, but Arkady Martine is telling a more complex story through internal conflict of her main character.
The writing is intelligent, occasionally brilliant and beautiful in a way that it felt like author measured every word, went back to think and rethink on their order in a sentence because it struck me more then once how melodic, how carefully crafted something was described. It's an effort of love and it shows.
If I have anything to say against it, it's that I liked the consequences of event that kicked the mystery plot and situations it forced our main characters in more than the actual resolution. I noticed right away one crucial mistake author made for suspense to work. Mahit meets many Teixcalli characters and her initial opinion of them, her first impression seems to determine if they are the bad guys or the good guys, and how the reader should emotionally position in regards to them. You know, like, "she instinctively knew not to trust him/her." If we are told she liked one character right from the get go just because, and she dislikes another who doesn't really do anything different it comes of as contrived; pointing you into direction where author wanted you to go. Hence, some revelations intended to be surprising ended up being just a thing I wondered when it will be revealed. Still, I enjoyed everything around it, the romance, the conversations, the ideas, and especially great female characters enough not to be bothered that much.

This was such a great, nuanced and ambitious debut for Martin. I'm so happy I took a chance on her book and honestly, can't wait for the next one.

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for providing me with a free copy of book. I'm grateful for the opportunity to read it and it doesn't affect my opinion at all.

I read the entire excerpt of A Memory Called Empire in one sitting. I loved it that much. I’m also happy to say that I just got approved to review the full novel as well – which is good news, as now I won’t be pulling my hair out for the next few months.
This novel is so different and standout from everything else I’ve read. I love the application of culture and politics in what is otherwise a science fiction series. It’s a brilliant move. All the unexpected twists are a nice touch as well, such as the people living on space stations being considered backwards and primitive. I also love that they covered the lack of resources a long term space station would come across. Honestly, I loved all the details included. It’s clear that the author spent a lot of time thinking about all the minutiae of this world. It’s what made it all feel so real.
Naturally the excerpt had to stop at some point. There really was no way to cut it perfectly. Either they cut it too early and don’t give us time to get attached, or the gut it once we’re engaged in the plot. The drawback for that of course being that it usually means we’re in the thick of things by then. I prefer the latter, personally. I want a chance to get to know the story. This except clearly agreed. Now I just can’t wait to continue reading and see what happens next!

It's taken me some time to craft a review for this book because I'm not entirely sure how to review it; do I write something purely based on the book's merit or do I write something based on my own experience of the book? The eternal question. The thing is, I'm not really into sci-fi/space opera. I don't know what it is. Something about the worldbuilding and aesthetics of space opera just doesn't really click with me, so that's already a hurdle to overcome when picking up a space opera novel.

That definitely colored my experience with A Memory Called Empire, but looking at it objectively, it's a rather superb novel. I can completely understand why it's been nominated for a Hugo, and I wouldn't be surprised if it wins, frankly. It's really a superb accomplishment on so many level. The worldbuilding is astonishingly good, particularly the attention paid to subtle linguistic connotations in language. There's also a running commentary about the power of empire; the main character, Mahit, embodies this conundrum in how much she despises the empire's reach and yet loves the empire and wishes to be a part of it. She has so much longing about wanting to belong, to be a true citizen of the empire, and yet she recognizes that she should not have this desire. And boy, as a third-culture kid whose parents are from a country with a legacy of British colonialism? I felt that.

I was most impressed by the plot. This is some of the most complex and fascinating political intrigue I've ever seen. I can't tell you how much brainpower I had to expend just to keep up with all the moving parts; who is loyal to who, who wants what, who's working with who. It's made even more complicated becausae none of these characters are one-note caricatures or archetypes; they're all complex human beings with varying levels of loyalty to their empire, so it's not always simple to put them in neat columns. There's so many shades of gray here.

Thematically, the novel explores many ideas. There is the ubiquity of empire, of course, made clear by the book's dedication. But there are also themes of memory and identity, having to do with a particular kind of technology utilized by Mahit's people; these discussions bordered on the metaphysical. There's also a running commentary on AIs carrying the biases of their creators.

The characters are wonderful. Mahit is so smart and but also so very flawed and so very human. There were times when I was so frustrated with her hasty decisions to trust those around her, but I also understood her motivations, her desire not to feel so desperately, achingly alone on an unfamiliar planet. Three Seagrass and Twelve Azalea were spectacular, so vibrant and funny, with an intriguing relationship. Nineteen Adze was, well, frustratingly enigmatic but also just really, really cool. And Yskandr, who sadly is only present for a fraction of the novel, is just a bitingly sarcastic bisexual disaster.

Throughout the novel I kept thinking, "Arkady Martine is so much smarter than me." Just, the clever and careful way the plot is constructed, the tiered way in which the political conspiracy reveals itself, the layering of various different motivations, the integration of literati culture, the complexity of the politics. It was all just astonishingly good and clever, and I loved that the book leaves us with some tantalizing and exciting threats for the next book, which I very much look forward to!

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.

I really don't like it when books are full of made up words that seem unpronounceable. It's very distracting and annoying. Thankfully, there wasn't too much of that after the initial chapters. I did find myself sucked in to the story and very interested in the characters. Looking forward to book two.

I received a free e-galley from Netgalley.com

I know this has had huge accolades, but to be honest I found it tough going at first. I always have difficulty with unpronounceable names and it took me a few pages of boggling to get used to the naming system in the Teixcalaan Empire. Though to my slight annoyance I found a glossary and pronunciation guide at the end of the book which by that time were superfluous. The author is obviously deeply into linguistics, and I'm not.

Mahit Dzmare is sent from fiercely independent Lsel Station as ambassador to the centre of the Teixcalaan Empire only to discover that her predecessor, Yskandr, has been murdered. Teixcalaan is an empire which regularly expands and swallows all civilisations in its path (except Lsel, so far). Lsel has imago technology. Imago machines capture memories which can be implanted and handed down to successors through many generations. Unfortunately when Mahit is sent to Teixcalaan, all she has is an imago of Yskandr which is both fifteen years out of date, and faulty. He shares her headspace for a brief time and then crashes. So she's a fish out of water on Teixcalaan, and short of a whole load of facts. She's assigned an aid, Three Seagrass (I told you the naming system was weird) with whom she strikes up an immediate friendship, bonding over their love of poetry, and comes across several characters whose motives for befriending her are suspect, in particular Nineteen Adze. Mahit has to navigate her way through court intrigue, the riddle of Yskandr's murder, and a palace coup, all while defending the interests of Lsel station and trying to discover what Yskandr promised the ageing and ailing emperor, Six Direction.

Is it good? Yes. It's well written and the worldbuilding is superb. Did I enjoy it? Not altogether. It's a bit of a slow start, information heavy and action light, and there were things that annoyed me, mainly Teixcalaan and Mahit's obsession with poetry, and the over-long excerpts from texts (Lsel and Teixcalaan) at the beginning of each chapter. I felt that really slowed the pace down. It is, however, an extraordinary achievement for a writer's first novel.

Published by Tor Books on March 26, 2019

Notable for its focus on the diplomatic and political interaction of different cultures, A Memory Called Empire reminds me of the work of C.J. Cherryh. The story explores a crisis within a human empire of the far future and the role that an ambassador from a small and relatively autonomous mining station plays in defusing it.

Arkady Martine is the penname of historian AnnaLinden Weller. An appreciation of the history of empires clearly informs the novel.

Teixcalaan, homeworld of the Empire, has demanded that Lsel Station provide a new ambassador without explaining what became of the last one. The former ambassador last downloaded his memories 15 years ago, so his successor, Mahit Dzmare, is going to Teixcalaan hardwired with an imago holding very dated memories of her predecessor (an imago being a memory storage device that, when implanted into another person’s brain, causes the memories of both to integrate).

The Teixcalaanli place a high value on poetry. Martine portrays Teixcalaanli culture through the lens of its art, and particularly the intersection of its poetry and politics. Just as national politics on Earth can be understood by analyzing political rhetoric, politics on Teixcalaan can be understood by analyzing political poetry — a more difficult task, given poetry’s reliance on allusion rather than directness (not that any political rhetoric can be taken at face value).

Lsel is a mining station. Its Council has a couple of problems. One, its ships are being lost at a jumpgate. Maybe there’s a new empire in town. Two, the old empire is expanding to a sector of space that lies beyond Lsel. The annexation force will likely sweep up Lsel Station as it expands, swallowing the republic as part of the conquest. Lsel will eventually ask Mahit to help it tackle both issues.

Mahit does not know about the war plan or the alien threat when she arrives on Teixcalaan, but before long she has a couple of other problems. One is that she is being held hostage during the prelude to an insurrection, although in a polite way. The other is that her imago has gone silent, so she does not have the benefit of the former ambassador’s memories. The former ambassador may have been shocked into catatonia when Mahit learned why Teixcalaan requested a new ambassador. There may also be a more nefarious explanation for her imago’s sudden failure.

A Memory Called Empire is not an action novel, but it generates excitement with political intrigue. The aging Emperor’s hold on the Empire is threatened, leaving Mahit caught in the middle of a growing schism that may end her life just as it ended her predecessor’s. The plot plays out to a satisfying resolution that completes the novel while setting the stage for the next book in the series.

Martine’s world-building is remarkable. The Teixcalaan culture, a mixture of bureaucratic formality and aesthetic appreciation, is unveiled in intricate detail. There’s even a glossary at the end to help readers keep track of words and place names, although I only discovered it after reading the last chapter.

Mahit is smart and likeable, as are the sympathetic Teixcalaani characters who assist her in her mission. Key characters struggle with internal conflicts that emphasize their human connection despite their very different cultural backgrounds. All of this adds up to a strong start to a series that is likely to be a valued addition to the science fiction genre.

RECOMMENDED

All the hype was justified on this one. It was unlike anything I've ever read - brilliant and beautiful. I can't wait for the next book in the series.

This book is difficult to review. I say that because I am not sure I have ever read anything quite like it.
Like any good far future sci-fi, this starts with a spaceship leaving a station. We quickly find out about a multiple-system-spanning empire and that the station is a plucky independent nation on the outskirts if that empire. The main character is Mahit, the new ambassador from the station to the empire. Mahit is steeped in empire culture and language and must quickly move from barbarian outsider to well-connected insider or risk losing all she holds dear.
The thing that makes this sci-fi/political-drama unusual is the detailed way the writer focuses on the language of the empire snd how it contrasts with the language of the station the ambassador originates from. The imperial language is ideographic (like Chinese- at least in my head) and everything and is usually rendered in poetic forms. I can honestly say that I have not read so much about poetic forms and meter since college. The author is issuing this to show that language and culture define and inform each other and that one cannot truly know a language without being touched by the culture it comes from.
My complaints are mainly from missing some of the hard-sci-fi elements. Why are there different varieties of human when the empire originated on one planet (where did the off planet humans come from)? What ARE jumpgates? What are the mysterious alien ships? I want these answers. The book is not about such things though. These are merely place-settings, accepted parts of the reality the book it set in and thus nothing to be considered at all by the characters in the book. Since this book does not scream "sequel" or "first in series" by its rhythm (actually a bit refreshing) I will likely never know.
If you enjoy language, political intrigue, and sci-fi, you would enjoy this book.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.

I'm going to attempt, in my last five minutes as a conscious human being tonight, to sum up why I love this book so much: It's smart, it's rich in character, it has a highly nuanced and appropriately complicated approach to systems of power and government, and it takes its time without losing the plot. This isn't what I would call a rip-roaring read, a can't-put-the-book-down one-night stand, but rather a pleasurably slow burn that sticks to your taste buds long after you have finished the meal. I'd put it in the upper echelon of science fictional books I've read this decade in respect to worldbuilding, in the same sentence if not the same breath as Ann Leckie's Imperial Radch series, or Ian McDonald's Luna trilogy. Each author is coming at the whole systems-of-power thing from a different angle, but they all share some DNA in that they all tackle the messy congealed monstrosity of a thing we call government through relatable and accessible characters. It's hard to believe that a debut can be this good ... but guess what? It's THAT GOOD. And it demonstrates that, once more, the simplest and most rewarding of pleasures is as a reader to witness an author in full and perfect command of their craft, doing what they do best: building worlds and inhabiting them with people we don't mind spending a couple of evenings with.