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A review by tsunni
A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
adventurous
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I stayed up way too late finishing this and didn't sleep enough, but a sleepy day at work was totally worth it.
A Memory Called Empire did a wonderful job of presenting a setting that's both distinctly foreign/alien but understandable, and main characters that fight their battles through word and guile and intrigue rather than expertise at arms and battle.
All the touches that the author added to show Manit's desire to be a Teixcalaanli citizen, conflicting with the experiences of how she's perceived, directly correlated with some of my own experiences (and I think might be similar for a lot of ethnic minorities); I connected really well with Manit as a result and got emotionally invested in what she was doing. There's a lot here thematically about imperialism, language, heritage, and culture to explore. All the other characters are great and well fleshed out; I did wish we could've spent more time on them, but the overarching plot was in full control of driving the story.
The plot itself was done really well; the unraveling of the core mystery in the context of a foreign culture was done very gracefully and believably. There was a lot of urgency that prevented deep character dives for everyone, but enough time was spent that I didn't feel like characters were paper thin. I felt like everything plotwise ultimately fell into place in an understandable way.
End of the day, the setting was probably the main star of the story, but that's absolutely not a bad thing; the author has a PhD in history and it shows in little complexities of the cultures she created, and she managed to do it without being plodding or dry in any way. I genuinely want to know more about Teixcalaanli culture and I would happily visit if it was a real nation.
To sum it up, when I read the blurb for the sequel, I actually got legitimately, jumping giddy for a second when I saw which characters would be reuniting; really shows how much I enjoyed this.
A Memory Called Empire did a wonderful job of presenting a setting that's both distinctly foreign/alien but understandable, and main characters that fight their battles through word and guile and intrigue rather than expertise at arms and battle.
All the touches that the author added to show Manit's desire to be a Teixcalaanli citizen, conflicting with the experiences of how she's perceived, directly correlated with some of my own experiences (and I think might be similar for a lot of ethnic minorities); I connected really well with Manit as a result and got emotionally invested in what she was doing. There's a lot here thematically about imperialism, language, heritage, and culture to explore. All the other characters are great and well fleshed out; I did wish we could've spent more time on them, but the overarching plot was in full control of driving the story.
The plot itself was done really well; the unraveling of the core mystery in the context of a foreign culture was done very gracefully and believably. There was a lot of urgency that prevented deep character dives for everyone, but enough time was spent that I didn't feel like characters were paper thin. I felt like everything plotwise ultimately fell into place in an understandable way.
End of the day, the setting was probably the main star of the story, but that's absolutely not a bad thing; the author has a PhD in history and it shows in little complexities of the cultures she created, and she managed to do it without being plodding or dry in any way. I genuinely want to know more about Teixcalaanli culture and I would happily visit if it was a real nation.
To sum it up, when I read the blurb for the sequel, I actually got legitimately, jumping giddy for a second when I saw which characters would be reuniting; really shows how much I enjoyed this.