A Memory Called Empire

by Arkady Martine

Overview

Winner of the 2020 Hugo Award for Best Novel

A Locus, and Nebula Award nominee for 2019

An NPR Favorite Book of 2019

An Esquire Best Sci-Fi Book of All Time

A Guardian Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Book of 2019 and “Not the Booker Prize” Nominee

A Goodreads Biggest SFF Book of 2019 and Choice Awards Nominee

"A Memory Called Empire perfectly balances action and intrigue with matters of empire and identity. All around brilliant space opera, I absolutely love it."—Ann Leckie, author of Ancillary Justice

Ambassador Mahit Dzmare arrives in the center of the multi-system Teixcalaanli Empire only to discover that her predecessor, the previous ambassador from their small but fiercely independent mining Station, has died. But no one will admit that his death wasn't an accident—or that Mahit might be next to die, during a time of political instability in the highest echelons of the imperial court.

Now, Mahit must discover who is behind the murder, rescue herself, and save her Station from Teixcalaan's unceasing expansion—all while navigating an alien culture that is all too seductive, engaging in intrigues of her own, and hiding a deadly technological secret—one that might spell the end of her Station and her way of life—or rescue it from annihilation.

Arkady Martine's debut novel A Memory Called Empire is a fascinating space opera and an interstellar mystery adventure.

"The most thrilling ride ever. This book has everything I love."—Charlie Jane Anders, author of All the Birds in the Sky

Also by Arkady Martine:

A Desolation Called Peace

Rose/House

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250186447
Publisher:	Tor Publishing Group
Publication date:	02/25/2020
Series:	Teixcalaan , #1
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	480
Sales rank:	16,849
Product dimensions:	8.10(w) x 5.60(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Arkady Martine is the Hugo Award-winning author of A Memory Called Empire and A Desolation Called Peace. She is a speculative fiction writer and, as Dr. AnnaLinden Weller, a historian of the Byzantine Empire and a city planner. She currently works on clean energy policy and utility regulation in New Mexico. Under both names, she writes about border politics, rhetoric, propaganda, and the edges of the world. Arkady grew up in New York City and, after some time in Turkey, Canada, Sweden, and Baltimore, lives in Santa Fe with her wife, the author Vivian Shaw.

Editorial Reviews

A mesmerizing debut . . . it left me utterly dazzled.”

—The New York Times Book Review

"In a gorgeously detailed world, Martine delivers a slow-burning, twisty-turny tale of palace intrigue. Rich in big ideas about colonization and culture, belonging and betweenness, A Memory Called Empire is a remarkable space opera, sans explosions."

—Esquire

"[A] gorgeously crafted diplomatic space opera . . . Readers will eagerly away the planned sequels to this impressive debut."

—Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Politics and personalities blend with an immersive setting and beautiful prose in a debut that weaves threads of identity, assimilation, technology, and culture to offer an exceedingly well-done sf political thriller."

—Library Journal, starred review

"This is both an epic and a human story, successful in the mode of Ann Leckie and Yoon Ha Lee. A confident beginning with the promise of future installments that can't come quickly enough."

—Kirkus, starred review

“Exquisite . . . a compelling journey with a rich world and fascinating characters”

—The Los Angeles Times

"Interesting, detailed, lavish."

—The Wall Street Journal

"A Memory Called Empire perfectly balances action and intrigue with matters of empire and identity. All around brilliant space opera, I absolutely love it."

—Ann Leckie, author of Ancillary Justice

"In A Memory Called Empire, Arkady Martine smuggles you into her interstellar diplomatic pouch, and takes you on the most thrilling ride ever. This book has everything I love: identity crises, unlikely romance, complicated politics, and cunning adventurers. Super-fun, and ultra-fascinating."

—Charlie Jane Anders, author of All the Birds in the Sky

“Stunning sci-fi debut. An ambassador from a small space station has to survive in the capital of a galactic empire where everyone seems to want her dead. Add in a great will-they-won’t-they wlw romantic interest. Awesome.”

—Rick Riordan, author of the Percy Jackson series

“An elegant and accomplished example of the subgenre of subtle scheming with a background of stars. A delightful read. I couldn’t put it down.”

—Jo Walton, Hugo and Nebula award-winning author of Among Others

“Arkady is one of the best new voices in speculative fiction”

—Adrian Tchaikovsky, author of Children of Time

“A taut murder mystery entwined with questions of technological ethics, A Memory Called Empire is also an evocative depiction of foreignness. Martine creates an elaborate and appealing culture against which to play out this story of political intrigue, assimilation, and resistance. Daring, beautiful, immersive, and often profound.”

—Malka Older, author of Infomocracy

“A Memory Called Empire is a murder mystery wrapped up in a political space opera, and deeply immerses the reader in a unique culture and society. I very much enjoyed it and look forward to what Martine does next.”

—Martha Wells, author of The Murderbot Diaries

"A cunningly plotted, richly imagined tale of interstellar intrigue that does something new with space opera."

—Ken MacLeod

“A Memory Called Empire elevates space opera to poetry—clever, deep, sometimes tragic, sometimes violent, always transcendent poetry that shines like the edge of a knife.”

—Delilah Dawson, New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Phasma

“An intricate, layered tale of empire, personal ambition, political obligations and interstellar intrigue. Vivid and delightfully inventive.”

—Aliette de Bodard, Nebula Award-winning author of the Xuya Universe stories and The House of Binding Thorns

“A cutting, beautiful, human adventure about cultural exchange, identity, and intrigue. The best SF novel I’ve read in the last five years.”

—Yoon Ha Lee, author of the Machineries of Empire trilogy

“An exceptional first novel recommended for fans of Cherryh, Leckie, Banks, and Asimov.”

—Elizabeth Bear, author of Hammered

"A Memory Called Empire . . . is so frigging good. It's like a space opera murder mystery combined with all the political parts of Dune."

—Dan Wells, author of I Am Not a Serial Killer

From the Publisher

Arkady Martine's A Memory Called Empire is a mesmerizing debut, sharp as a knife that threatens as much by the gold filigree in its hilt as by the edge of its blade…With incredible clarity and precision, Martine folds layer after layer of complexity into this book, such that it, like Mahit, is a fusion of Lsel Station and Teixcalaan: welding beauty and efficiency, building engineering out of verse. It left me utterly dazzled.

The New York Times Book Review - Amal El-Mohtar

★ 11/19/2018
Debut novelist Martine sets a careful course in this gorgeously crafted diplomatic space opera that strands its protagonist amid imperial politics and murder. Mahit Dzmare, summoned from tiny Lsel Station to replace the previous ambassador to the Teixcalaanli Empire, Yskandr, must negotiate both for Yskandr’s corpse and for the safety of her home world, an object of Imperial annexation. Her fluency in Teixcalaanli language and culture (“for a barbarian”) helps her decode the messages hidden in their poetry, even as it inclines her to the same starry-eyed admiration and involvement with the Imperial court that overcame her predecessor. Her secret implant of Yskandr’s memories should be aiding her, but it is 15 years out of date and, apparently, sabotaged. Mahit instead relies on her need to establish an identity of her own while juggling an aging Emperor’s desire for technological immortality and a threatened military uprising to his rule. The Teixcalaanli culture comes so fully to life that the glossary in the back of the book is unnecessary. Martine allows the backstory to unroll slowly, much as Mahit struggles with her intermittent memories, walking delicately upon the tightrope of intrigue and partisan battles in the streets to safely bring the tale to a poignantly true conclusion. Readers will eagerly await the planned sequels to this impressive debut. Agent: DongWon Song, Howard Morhaim Literary. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

03/01/2019

The Lsel Ambassador, Mahit Dzmare, arrives for her first assignment to Teixcalaan, only to discover that her predecessor is dead and the technology used on Lsel that could allow her to communicate with him is not working. It doesn't take her long to figure out that sabotage and murder are likely involved. With the help of her Teixcalaan Guide, Three Seagrass; some newfound allies; and her own abilities, Mahit navigates a political minefield. Revolution from within the Empire begins even as a new threat looms over her home of Lsel. Mahit must protect her home at all costs, in this complex world in which poetry is the language of history, culture, and communication. This is a complicated and dense space opera that may take teens some time to get into. But mature lovers of science fiction who are ready to make the jump from Robert Heinlein, Frank Herbert, or Andre Norton have much to enjoy here. VERDICT For avid sci-fi fans.—Connie Williams, Petaluma Public Library, CA

School Library Journal

A riveting story of character interplay and politics, this audiobook features the cool, calm narration of Amy Landon. The political space opera follows Mahit Dzmare, a mining station colonist who is sent as an ambassador to the world-consuming alien empire of Teixcalaan. Her first order of business is to investigate the untimely death of her predecessor. Incredibly dialogue-driven, this story requires Landon to distinguish important nuances between characters with her word emphasis and pronunciation. She does so in a way that allows listeners to become engaged with the story and easily follow the political maneuverings. Her smooth delivery combined with Martine’s story makes this sci-fi audiobook perfect to absorb one’s attention. N.H. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine

MAY 2019 - AudioFile

★ 2019-01-21

A scholar of Byzantine history brings all her knowledge of intricate political maneuvering to bear in her debut space opera.

The fiercely independent space station of Lsel conserves the knowledge of its small population by recording the memory and personality of every valuable citizen in an imago machine and implanting it in a psychologically compatible person, melding the two personas into one. When the powerful empire of Teixcalaan demands a new ambassador, Lsel sends Mahit Dzmare, hastily integrated with an imago the current ambassador, Yskandr Aghavn, left behind on his last visit home, 15 years ago. Once arrived at the Empire's capital city-planet, the Jewel of the World, Mahit faces the double loss of Yskandr: Sabotage by her own people destroys the younger Yskandr copy within her, and she learns that the older original was murdered a few months ago. Bereft of the experienced knowledge of her predecessor, she will have to rely on all she knows of the sophisticated and complex Teixcalaanli society as she struggles to trace the actions that led Yskandr to his tragic end and to ensure Lsel's safety during a fierce and multistranded battle for the imperial succession. Martine offers a fascinating depiction of a civilization that uses poetry and literary allusion as propaganda and whose citizens bear lovely and sometimes-humorous names like Three Seagrass, Five Portico, and Six Helicopter but that can kill with a flower and possesses the military power to impose its delicately and dangerously mannered society across the galaxy. Love and sex are an integral aspect of and a thing apart from the nuanced and dangerous politicking. This is both an epic and a human story, successful in the mode of Ann Leckie and Yoon Ha Lee.

A confident beginning with the promise of future installments that can't come quickly enough.

Kirkus Reviews