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A review by abditoryalive
A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
challenging
tense
slow-paced
3.5
That was the problem. Empire was empire—the part that seduced and the part that clamped down, jaws like a vice, and shook a planet until its neck was broken and it died.
He had his own epithet, of course. He who drowns the world in blooms. Mahit wondered if he'd picked it.
He had his own epithet, of course. He who drowns the world in blooms. Mahit wondered if he'd picked it.
📜 Have you ever wondered what the Aztec Empire would be like in space?
A Memory Called Empire is a deeply complex, and one of the most culturally unique Sci-Fi's I've read to date. The naming conventions alone are both bizarre and thematic (E.g Six Direction, One Lightning, Six Helicopter?!), you do adjust however. Such conventions really reinforces the cultural distinctness of the worldbuilding. Everything from bureaucratic etiquette to political poetry add an immersive layer that sets it apart from other books in the genre.
📜 Political Intrigue over Sci-Fi. If you are looking for your next traditional sci-fi book, complete with alien aliens, star maps, space adventures. This is not it. This is a tense political intrigue novel that happens to be set in a distant world. While there is AI, advanced technology the true heart of this story is focused on linguistic manoeuvring, power plays and espionage.
🌺Memory Technology (the Imago Machines) was an absolute fascinating concept in this book. These implants allow individuals to inherit the memories, skills, and even personality echoes of their predecessors, creating a continuity of memory across generations. Echo of the philosophical tensions of personal agency, inherited wisdom and ancestry throughout the novel.
📜 Dense/Slow pacing: It took me longer to get through this than I'd like to admit. Mostly because I was confronted with so many new words and concepts - which is sometimes a feature in complex fantasy/sci fi novels (bless the glossary). A Memory Called Empire is deeply intellectual, which is wonderful but can sometimes move at a glacial pace in the first half.
📜 A Large percentage of the story is pure dialogue. A Memory Called Empire, is largely powered through careful conversation, subtext and coded speech/poetry. Its a words over weapons narrative, and personally I could have done with some more showing rather than explaining.
🌺 I initially picked up A Memory Called Empire after hearing it mentioned as an LGBT novel, particularly for its sapphic relationship. However, while there are LGBT elements, the romance is incredibly subtle, almost blink and you miss it and has more of a unspoken tension than a central storyline. I liked our FMC, Mahit but I just truly never quite connected with her - I still don't have a good idea who she is, despite finishing the novel last night.
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📀Fans of: Adrian Tchaikovsky Sci-Fi (Children of Time), Smart Woman Sci-Fi - Ann Leckie, Lois McMaster Bujold, Ursula Le Gruin & Viewers of late night History Channel shows that summarise that Aliens and Aztecs played wordle together.