A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine

[Werthead]

A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine

Mahit Dzmare has been appointed as the new ambassador from Lsel Station to the homeworld of the vast Teixcalaanli Empire. The previous ambassador has gone silent under unusual circumstances and Mahit's job is to find out what happened to him and why he failed to return home for fifteen years prior and how he has maintained Lsel's independence. Mahit's mission is complicated by a malfunctioning implant containing the memories of her predecessor (fifteen years out of date) and by an internal web of politics within the Empire which threatens to undermine Lsel's position...whilst factions on Lsel itself are interfering with her work from afar.

A Memory Called Empire is the debut novel by Arkady Martine and the first part of a loosely-connected duology (a second book, A Desolation Called Peace, will be published in early 2021). It is a far-future, science fiction epic revolving around the Teixcalaanli, a civilisation that fuses cyberpunk technology (though with a proscription against brain implants) and Aztec and Mongol cultural influences.

As is always handy when introducing an alien new culture, our POV character is herself an outsider. Mahit hails from a much more practical, pragmatic society based inside a space station, a self-regulating habitat which is totally technology-dependent with no single points of failure. Every time someone dies, their memories and something of their personality are implanted in a successor, who gains access to their lifetime's knowledge and experience and can start building on it. As such every life is inherently important, as it contributes materially to the development of the culture and society as a whole. This is the inverse of Teixcalaanli, where brain implants are seen as anathema and the society is much more inherently conservative: with access to amazing technology which could be used to create entertainment, their primary cultural obsession remains poetry.

There's a lot of clever ideas floating around in A Memory Called Empire. The philosophical concept of identity and how it is built from memory and cultural influences is a key part of the text, but one this explored subtly and intelligently throughout. There is also a fair bit of worldbuilding of the Teixcalaanli and their homeworld, which is mostly achieved through plot developments and action. Infodumping is occasional but fortunately rare. Characterisation is strong, as Mahit expertly chooses which sides of herself (and her culture) to show to the Teixcalaanli, and is not above preying on their instinct that she is an uncultured barbarian from a society with nothing to offer.

A few people have drawn similarities in tone to Ann Leckie's 2013 debut, Ancillary Justice. I think there are a few such comparisons to be made, mainly down to the idea of a technology-driven identity crises, but A Memory Called Empire is also a stronger book, and in particular it does a much, much better job of laying pipework for a sequel whilst being a complete novel in itself (Ancillary Justice was very much a strong stand-alone somewhat undermined by two lacklustre and unnecessary sequels). I think comparisons to the work of Lois McMaster Bujold and to China Mieville's SF novel Embassytown can also be drawn, with regards to how identity, history and language are interrelated concepts which can define people as individuals and a culture.

If I did have one complaint it would be that the ending feels a little neat (I'm not sure if a symbolic gesture would be really enough to get a determined enemy commanding a vastly superior army to surrender) and abrupt, but Martine does enough good work here to make the semi-sequel an immediate buy.

A Memory Called Empire (****½) is a striking debut novel which muses on big questions and wraps them around a compelling story that is part identity crisis and part socio-political thriller. The novel is available now in the UK and USA.

 

[Rodders]

Sounds like an interesting read, Werthead. Nice review.

 

[Vertigo]

I'm afraid I didn't get on with the writing at all:

This is going to be difficult as, for me, this book is massively overrated. There I’ve said it up front. Yes, it won the Hugo Award and loads of people have heaped praise on it, but there have been a good many unworthy books that have won that award and I consider this another one; I just don’t think it’s well written and it has to have been one of the slowest books I’ve read in years, at least the first three quarters of it.

So, what was wrong with it? Well I’ll just list some of my major issues. As well as being one of the slowest books I’ve read in a long while it also has more telling than showing than any other book I’ve read in years; the vast majority of the prose was telling not showing. Endless recounting of memories (mostly not even in flashback form just recounting of those memories). Endless internal thoughts from the main protagonist (usually whining about what a terrible deal she has got), endless repetitions (yes, I know Mahit is lonely without her imago, you’ve told me this literally dozens of times already, I KNOW this). Endless detailed descriptions of what everyone is wearing and how they smile with their eyes not their mouths (I get it I really do, I don’t need to be told dozens and dozens of times). Bizarre use of expressions; maybe they were Americanisms I’m not familiar with, but most American authors seem to manage to not bombard me with so many odd ways of putting things. Constantly interrupting dialogue with several pages of thought explaining one item from that conversation, so that, by the time we return to the dialogue, I’ve forgotten the topic. Strange habits; everyone seems to hiss through their teeth and lick the backs of their spoons. I have nothing against such habits but I’m not sure I need to have it described to me quite so many times. Anomalous technologies: a vast star empire with jump gates and everything yet no email, instead message are encoded onto ‘infofiche’ sticks with wax seals (which even Martine admits are easily opened and resealed) that will display the message holographically but have to be collected by a person and physically delivered to the recipient. Oh and printed books, adverts and pamphlets, not on paper, mind, but plastic sheets!

Possibly most annoying of all was how pretentious much of it felt. The prose crawls along with a perfectly acceptable level of vocabulary, then suddenly throws words at the reader like oxytocin happiness and encomiastic and many others. Nothing wrong with a bit of good vocabulary and I love having mine expanded with useful words. Those are not useful; I cannot imagine me every using them, spoken or written. And I’m sorry but I didn’t start this book expecting interminable lectures on different forms of poetry verse.

Somewhere in these pages is quite a good story but there’s not nearly enough to justify the current page count.

3/5 stars.

 

[Werthead]

A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine

The Teixcalaanli Empire stands on the brink of war with an unknown alien race. Fleet Captain Nine Hibiscus and her fleet stand at the edge of the conflict, tasked with defending the Empire from an enemy whose numbers, capability and disposition are all unknown. She calls in Envoy Three Seagrass to help formulate a way of talking to the enemy...who in turn calls on her friend, Lsel Ambassador Mahit Dzmare, for aid. These are the same two people recently involved in the circumstances surrounding the accession of the new Emperor, and this triggers a tidal wave of political intrigue stretching across light-years. But their mission must succeed, for the aliens pose a threat to far more than just the Empire.

A Desolation Called Peace is the second book in a loosely-connected duology, following up on A Memory Called Empire. That novel was as dramatically impressive as any space opera debut from the last couple of decades, a confidently-written novel about politics, identity and intrigue that won a Hugo Award. This book is the continuation, although the main story (about the first encounter with an unknown alien race in deep space) stands alone.

Desolation is not quite as striking a novel as Memory, maybe because it is trying to do a bit too much. The novel continues the political intrigue on the Teixcalaanli homeworld from the previous novel, albeit with some new players (most of the intriguers from the previous novel having been fired, killed, imprisoned or exiled), whilst also throwing in a widescreen, big-budget space war and an Arrival-style subplot with the protagonists trying to understand the aliens' language, which is difficult because it is rooted in concepts, ideas and fundamental biology that humans are completely unfamiliar with. Further subplots revolve around the new Emperor trying to assert their authority, the Emperor's heir learning important lessons about statecraft and Seagrass and Mahit's relationship, which was left on an awkward pause in the first book. There's also internal politicking within the Teixcalaanli fleet and a lot of business on Lsel Station as well.

It makes for a busy, breezy book with a lot going on, but the tight page count (480 pages in paperback) means a lot of these ideas are not explored in as much detail as maybe they could have been. Extending the duology to three books or making A Desolation Called Peace into a Peter F. Hamilton-class shelf-destroyer might have been a better way of expanding these stories more satisfyingly. Still, leaving readers wanting more and making novels as tight as possible is not a bad thing either.

Many of the themes from the first novel continue to be explored, such as the tension between the semi-decadent Teixcalaanli, whose overwhelming power makes them both arrogant and overconfident when faced with a potentially greater threat, and the much more pragmatic inhabitants of Lsel Station. The aliens are an added wild card here, with an interesting biology and impressive technical prowess, and a truly alien way of thinking that the author evokes well through the text. The aliens are also not over-used, deployed just enough so we get a sense of their strangeness but not so much that they lose their effectiveness.

If poetry was a theme of the first book, language is a theme here, and how language shapes ideas and ideology (and vice versa). Like some other plots, the Arrival-like storyline of talking to the aliens is a little curt, but what we do get is fascinating. There is also the way the Teixcalaanli use language themselves, and how they communicate and what methods of communication they use. This becomes a key point of the subplot involving the Emperor's heir, which initially feels detached from the main narrative but loops back in satisfyingly later on.

A Desolation Called Peace (****) is an accomplished, page-turning, idea-packed space opera which tells a lot of great stories, but the sheer number of stories it is telling in a constrained page count means that occasionally you find yourself wishing more greater elaboration of a storyline or character arc. But it also gives the novel a relentless, compelling pace.

 

[Rodders]

Nice review, Werthead. This pair is on my TBR pile.

 

[LostCosmonaut]

I've got A Memory Called Empire sitting on my shelf as we speak! I look forward to checking it out. As for when I'll get around to reading it, though, that's a different question. My backlog is insane right now.